"Every cloud has a silver lining", attributed to John Milton, and "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger", now popularized by Kelly Clarkson, are phrases commonly said to encourage you to see a positive side to every not so positive situation in your life. But when half of your crew cancels on you a few hours before the shoot, the first person who says either of them or any similar one makes you wish you had laser eyes. These are the times when Plan B is so much more than just a morning pill.
Whenever we are planning for anything in our lives we usually put all of our efforts in the best case scenario, but we tend to forget that things can go wrong. And if you ask Edward A. Murphy, they will always go wrong. So to avoid getting an ulcer, I always try to aim for a perfect fail-proof plan but then I make my just-in-case-contingency plan. It sounds like twice the effort, but it saves you a lot of headaches when things don't go as you expected.
And even with all the planning in the world, sometimes life puts your patience to the test. That's when you must understand that there is only so much that you can control. You must be flexible enough to come up with creative alternatives that save the day and you must always try to remain calm and don't let anything affect your mood. You owe it to the people who showed up.
Photo credit: Behind the scenes photography by Stef Mic
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