As someone who blogged her way through almost a decade deciding to make videos was new. Something I’d never done. And let me tell you, team, sucking at something was hard. I really struggle with it. Before video, I felt like I had arrived! I’d conquered the online world in my own way. I was sitting pretty on a throne of ‘made it’ and ‘been there, done that’.
But week after week, as I released a new video, I was disappointed with my efforts. They were bad. I’d tried hard, they were the best I could offer, but they were still bad. It was frustrating; I’d taught myself photography, how to write in a conversational tone and even some much-needed grammar and spelling.
Much. Needed.
But here I was back at square one again. Sucking. If it wasn’t the sound, it was the lighting. If it wasn’t the lighting it was my frame rates or shutter speed. I mean, I’ve stuffed every single thing up that I could. Once I even exported a video with a chunk of sound missing. Another with the sound out of whack. I mean. ARGH.
Why couldn’t I just be GOOD at this already? Why was the learning curve so steep and horrible. The struggle made me feel like I knew nothing (because I didn’t) and that I would never get there (but I would, or I will). Video by video, a minute of footage by minute, I was reminded that I suck at this.
You can’t be good at everything!
Yeah!? Who said? Watch me try.
You get the idea, right? You can see right through to my soul in just that one statement. I’m okay with that. Because somewhere along the way, I learnt to embrace sucking at things. I discovered that the world wouldn’t end if I didn’t know how to make it work. Somewhere along the way, I remembered when I used to suck at things.
I’d forgotten the years it had taken me to take better photos, and the years after that spent learning to process those images. Not to mention that there are still days when my photos just plain old suck. I’d forgotten that I’ve been writing since childhood, honing my ‘voice’ and the way I shape words with every book I’ve read and story I’ve told.
These things didn’t just come to me; I earned them.
Through practice and patience, persistence and perseverance I earned them. I keep reminding myself of that as I learn to make videos. As I keep being pushing and challenged past the point where I am comfortable. It’s different, and I’ve never been here before, but I have. I’ often outside of my comfort zone.
And that’s all this is, a girl, at the end of her comfort zone, hoping that one day soon what she sees in her mind catches up with what she sees on the screen. A girl who is pushed and stretched learns something valuable and important, a skill that will change the way she communicates. And, a girl, who NEEDS to stop talking in the third person, A-SAP.
But you get me, right? You’ve been here before and won? All we need to do to do it again is embrace the sucking. Keep learning and keep growing so that inch by what seems like impossible inch we get better. Then one day, it’ll be like writing a blog post or snapping that photo, it’ll be second nature.
And I’ll be wondering what all the fuss was about.
Find me on YouTube, sucking, at www.youtube.com/c/Sugercoatit. You’re going to love it. Haha. Probably not, but thanks for your support. And in case you missed it, season three of the podcast has been uploaded there too, it’s SO funny to watch us talk it out when we’re used to recording without video. Fun!
Hi! I’m Melissa Walker Horn. Around here, they call me Suger. I’m the Chief Blogger and doer of all the things here at Suger Coat It. Blogging since 1901; I love a casual ootd, taking photos, and writing about things that irk or inspire me. I love wine and cheese, long days at the beach and spending time with my family. I make stuff for the internet over at Chalkboard Digital. You know, living the sweet life.
Oh I totally hear you on this, especially related to video! I remember being so frustrated when I started, it would take hours upon hours upon hours to create just a one and a half minute video! Now I can smash one out in under 2 hours and I have to remind myself of that sucking feeling now that I’m teaching & helping others to create their own films. Embracing the suckage is so important though, it motivates us to keep working and getting better.
I couldn’t agree more, the embracing it and doing it anyway gets you through the sucking faster. Which is, a sentence that feels pretty strange to type. Haha. I’m getting there with video, I just need more practice. One more sucky video after the next. 😉
I suck at a bunch of things but I’m okay with that! If I want to be good at it, though, I make it my business, so I hear you!
Right!? I’m am 100% going to make it my business.
“Failure is the key to success; each mistake teaches us something.”- Morihei Ueshiba.
You’re 100% on the money, Pat! (and sorry for the delay replying, you ended up in the sin bin for some reason. I’ve added you to the safe senders list).
Hahaha! It’s ok to suck initially at things. I’ve had to accept this, although it grinds my perfectionistic gears and I’d much prefer to give up sometimes. Nothing worth having comes easily, skills included!
I hear you. Learn to sucking, or at least being okay with it while it’s happening, has been a struggle for me but I’m getting there. OMG, giving up felt like SUCH a better idea sometimes! Haha.
For the record, I think your videos are ace. I think being out of our comfort zone is where we learn and grow the most, don’t you?!
Thank you, Sam! Now that the last episode of Season Three of the podcast is done, I’ll have to start coming up with some ideas all on my own. Eeeek. Time to head back out of that comfort zone, for sure.
video is such a difficult thing for so many because you are very vulnerable, especially if they are live. Like anything – the more you try the easier it gets. I still struggle but always let it go now.
I certainly have a bit of a newsreader voice until I relax into it. It’s hilarious to watch when editing. Glad to hear you’ve become more comfortable with it, such a win.
Video is an interesting beast. I’ve found I like editing video more than photos or words. Because I will edit video and won’t for photos or words. But it’s ok to be on a learning curve. In my most recent video I have the sun across my face in a weird way cos I wasn’t paying attention. Not that I really need to for my random videos becuase they are what they are.
Right!? It’s a whole new beast, and I think your videos are SO fun. I love the editing part of things (now, to be fair, haha). I spend a lot of time playing around with the videos we make for my kids channel, but my stuff never really warrants the same style of stuff. It’s hard to when you’re just cutting between clips of me talking. Haha. That’s my aim, to keep improving and be okay with learning.
Yeah I’m not sure how much I’d love editing if I did more serious videos or had to spend two hours finding the right piece of music. My attention span wouldn’t last that long.
Haha. This is true. The music struggle is real. 😛
OMG, the music finding part is the longest part of any video post-pro! I admitedly spend hours listening to music on Soundstripe and favouriting stuff as I hear it on to lists so when I am about to work on a video I can go straight to those lists and find something. Doesn’t quite work for wedding films though, coz it needs to be a really individual choice based on the feel of the day, but for my other more fun stuff having those pre-listened to lists is such a time-saver!
I’m of the connection marketing/facebook live style of video, not youtube polished and edited (although my kids love digging into the videos they can find, before I created a new channel and left them unlisted!)
I must be following the wrong people, most the lives I’ve seen are usually to make me buy a course or join an online workshop. Haha. 😉