I heard on the radio that there will be a film racing contest in St. Louis later this month. It sounded like it would be a lot of fun. Long story -short: you pay an entrance fee, the judges email your “assignment” which is the theme and they throw in a surprise element that must be in part of your film. So at 10pm on the scheduled night, you gather all your overly-caffeinated friends to write a script, act it out, shoot the film, edit the film, add sound effects, etc. and hand it over within 24 hours! The theme could be something as simple as “Birthday Party” and the surprise element “the trash can falls over”. This makes it so that no one can cheat. The only thing you can do in advance is gather your team. All entries are played on a movie screen in the respective cities within a few days after the contest is over and there are also cash prizes. This is the 8th annual race and it goes to 17 different cities. Who knew!? I guess since film editing software is relatively inexpensive and video cameras are practically a household staple these days, making films isn’t just for Hollywood (or Bollywood) anymore. In fact, documentaries and short films have become increasingly popular in theaters. They tend to get all sorts of “artsy” awards, which to me tends to translate into “boring” (no offense to any penguins). I doubt if I’ll partake in the film racing contest this year because my only experience with videotaping is 12 minutes of my kids’ band concert followed by 37 minutes of a blank wall and snippets of conversations by passersby, not exactly compelling videography; although it would be a great bonding experience to gather co-workers for this type of project. Maybe we’d luck out and our theme would be “binding a Professional Liability policy with an affordable rate for a start-up Computer and Technology Consulting business” and the surprise element: “exceptional customer service”. We would totally dominate! We wouldn’t need 24 hours, we wouldn’t need to write a script or use professional actors because we shoot that film everyday! Grab your popcorn and cool beverage, pull up our website or give us a call. I’m betting you’ll give us two big thumbs up!

I asked around the office to find out who has been keeping up with the Olympic Games. Most of us gals enjoy watching gymnastics and swimming. The guys seem to gravitate towards the basketball, volleyball, soccer…pretty much anything with a ball.   I was watching the swimmers line up the other night and I wondered what was going through their heads while their adrenaline must be redlining?  Right before the line-up some seemed to be praying, meditating, maybe talking themselves into peak performance or visualizing while stretching.  They seemed so focused and in total control of their minds and bodies. But I wonder what goes through their minds after that, say when the gymnast starts sprinting towards the vault or the swimmer comes up for his fifth breath of air? I imagine in a team sport the players are focused on where the ball is, and the other players’ positions. What do athletes focus on when there’s no ball, racquet, or opponent trying to stab them with a sabre?  I remember in college when I had to perform a piece of music that I had practiced all semester, I definitely did not have the mental game conquered. I remember sitting down to a gorgeous, intimidating Steinway on a silent stage in the concert hall. I took a deep breath and placed my hands on the keys. After only a few seconds I felt like I had no control over my fingers anymore.  I was flying through a Bach Fugue, going much faster than I had practiced, thinking,  “oh no, this next part is tricky, I hope I don’t mess up…what the…!@#$, that wasn’t right, now what do I do? Should I start over? What a loser. All my hard work down the drain, I hate this”. Tears, sobs, vomit, etc., etc.  Fortunately, now that I’m older, I have since learned to quiet my mind and experience the “zone”, although I haven’t had to hone the zone while under the pressure of the entire world watching a defining moment in history, like the Olympics. I can’t even imagine the psychological challenge. I think the mental game is the pivotal point determining who takes home the medals, especially when the competitors are so closely matched with skill, strength and talent. You can sure tell when someone is in the “zone” because they make whatever they are doing look effortless. I think a couple of our underwriters are in a zone right now.