What I Learned From Making a Music Video

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve become a huge internet star in the past week. My Parody music video “All I Want For Christmas Is Sleep” had over 200 views on Youtube. And I only paid for 150 of them.

The video was inspired when my husband traveled for a week. By the time he returned home, I was tired from being the parent on call 24/7 and was in need of a mental break. All I wanted was to sleep. Like a lot of sleep. Like for at least a day, maybe more. I am sad to report I didn’t get any sleep, but it’s not Christmas yet….

Anyway, I knew becoming a huge internet star would change my life in ways I never imagined. And while I still put my yoga pants on one leg at a time, I learned a few things in the process:

In The Internet Age – You really CAN be WHATEVER you want to be!!!

If I had told you when I was 12 years old I wanted to be a famous music singer, and make music videos, you probably would have told me not to quit my day job. Which would have been weird, because I was 12 and unemployed.

Now that I’m 30, I’m still unemployed. But thanks to the internet, a camera, editing software, autotune and a little search engine optimization – I can consider myself a Popstar. Well, maybe not a Popstar – but I did make a music video once. Which leads me to number 2.

Don’t let your fear of criticism or judgement rule your life:

I told my husband I had a funny idea for a video but it wouldn’t work because I couldn’t sing.  He assured me I could sing, just not well.  He encouraged me to just have fun and not to worry about anything else.

Doing a video made me feel self conscious that it would seem obnoxious to those who don’t know me. (Or worse – to those who do know me.) However, anyone who knows me, knows I find myself hilarious. And love laughing at myself.

Writing the lyrics, learning how to edit vocals, making the video, and watching it all come together was a lot of fun. I’m glad I didn’t let my fear of what other people might think or say dictate whether or not I would proceed with the project. It’s debatable if the video was obnoxious or not, but my friends and fellow mamas were able to laugh with me. Or at me. Either way, we all  laughed.

At the end of the day, people judge other people all the time. I personally love judging people. Its how I feel good about myself. And you know who judges other people the most? People who don’t have anything better to do. Which leads me to number 3.

 

We really do NEED another outlet in life:

Being at home with kids is amazing. But there is nothing glamorous about being a stay at home mom. Everyday is like groundhog’s day. Everyday is like groundhog’s day. Everyday is like groundhog’s day. Did you see what I did there?

Suddenly less and less is occupying your mind. You’ve seen all of this before. So now your kid tells you he wants an apple instead of a banana for lunch. You already pealed the banana, there is no going back. He throws a fit. Now – the old you would laugh it off, you might even pretend to be a monkey and eat the banana yourself. Man, you used to be cool.

But the psycho Phil Connors you has seen this same fight 100 times, and will see it 100 more. Suddenly this is the hugest freaking deal ever. You’re pissed. Telling your kid he isn’t eating anything ever again until he eats that damn banana. You’re texting your husband the play-by-play.

So what does having an outlet have to do with a banana? I don’t know. I lost myself there, too. Maybe my point was – with SOMETHING else to think about, suddenly those minor annoyances don’t feel like the biggest deal in the world. That stupid banana isn’t the ONLY thing on your mind anymore. I know this is crazy, but you find you actually don’t even want to fume about a stupid banana because that’s silly.

You would much rather think about your next hit as a famous internet music star. Because let’s be honest, that is way more glamourous.