Press send - get it in

I'm sitting here, late in the evening. Just seen a movie with my wife 'I Love You Too'. Written and co-produced by Melbourne comedian, Peter Helliar. It had some wonderful Melbourn-ish references. I know people hang signs expressing loving messages off road overpasses in other parts of the world.. but it does happen quite a bit here in Melbourne.

What I love about the movie is that it wasn't perfect. It didn't quite knit together but it had more than a few flecks of gold in it. It is going to be very hard not to seem patronising here but Helliar has gone and done something a stretch beyond what I thought it was that he does. He broke out of the mould of his national persona and made something that can be shipped to the world beyond Australia's shores. It has got some genuinely touching moments... just see it for the scene where Charlie, a photographer (played by Peter Dinklage of 'Death at Funeral Fame') prompts a memory as he talks to, asks questions of a senior couple. He tries to capture in one shot, the years of love they have built up.

I've really been thinking alot recently about Seth Godin's concept of things being 'shipped'. If you want to get stuff done, it seems fairly logical but you have got to get stuff done... that means pressing send or 'post this blog' and not worry about things not being perfect. It doesn't mean, 'be deliberately sloppy'... or that is it is OK to always do things in a half baked fashion. It does mean though that it is so important not to be frozen by the fear that what you do is not going to be perfect. I've read a couple of reviews of 'I Love You Too' - one gave it a bit of a bake. I say, more power to Helliar for getting the movie out there. He published.

My son plays soccer for a local team. I help out with some things on the junior club committee. The other day we applied for a community grant... it wasn't absolutely ready. A couple of the pieces of information we were asked to provide weren't ready. I just put 'xxxxxxxx' in that box on the e-form and sent it anyway.

Guess what - we got the grant!

As I write this in our home office, my daughter is here too on her computer pleading that I go to bed soon as the sound of my typing fingers, heavy on the keyboard are driving her nuts. She has been working on a history essay that has to be in by midnight. She thought she had until the end of this week. There was a choice there, ask for an extension or get it done. A few moments ago I heard a really compact summary of the battle a group of women took on to get the vote in the early twentieth century... she has been chipping away for a few hours now and it sounds good. She just pressed 'send' (got it in at 11.59pm) and in a moment I will click 'publish post'.

Thanks for taking some 'Time & Space' to read this.

Bill Jennings

http://www.time-space.com.au