Meltdown Karaoke

There are few things in life worth getting worked up about.  In fact, I've gotten pretty good at rising above things like stress.

"That darn stress won't get me," I snarl as I see it taunting me from across the room.  Nope, I'm better than that.  I'm in charge.  I'm focused.  I can handle anything!

Except that I can't.  Not always.  A couple of days ago, when the weekend was still so very far away, I could feel the stress seeping into my pretty, little head in a surprisingly fierce way.

The domino effect of another change in our shooting schedule did it to me.  As a film kicks into gear, filming locations move around all the time based on proximity, budget, conflicts, pairing with other locations, etc.  Eventually, the whole enchilada of things fall into place so I don't let it phase me.

That day however, I felt I'd been on the rollercoaster a tad longer than I'd intended.  When I felt the stress storm coming on, I locked myself in the bathroom on-set and had my mini-meltdown. 
 [I hate crying at work, but occasionally it does happen.] 

I emerged about five minutes later looking tired and depleted-- sort of like a melted crayon some kindergartner had left in the backseat of a car in the middle of summer.  Only, it wasn't summer.  There had been flurries that morning.  I was freezing.  I don't like winter, that's why I live in California.  And no, my day was not going well.

Mini-meltdown behind me however, I tried to re-focus.  This was followed a series of feverish texts, phone calls, e-mails, and me flipping through my notebook countless times while accomplishing seemingly very little.  It was then a crew member turned to me and said:

"You know who you remind me of?  Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada." 

I looked up at her.  Yes, I'm brunette--  I got the bangs and the straight hair, and a similar body type (minus the boobs.)  Like Hathaway's character in the film, I also had the worrisome look on my face and my phone clutched in my hand at all times.

Yes, that day I felt like the devil wears Prada--  only in my case, I didn't know who the devil was.  Meryl Streep certainly wasn't anywhere to be found.  We didn't cast her in our film, did we?  Not that I'm aware of.

Moments later, they were rigging up karaoke to be used in a scene the following day and they needed someone to test it out.  As another woman was making her way to the stage, I unexpectedly jumped up to join her. 

It should be noted that I am the least likely to volunteer for karaoke ever.  In fact, I don't think I've ever volunteered for karaoke in my life.  I've always been dragged into it by some overzealous friend.  But I needed karaoke right then and there.  I needed to get the stress out of my system.  Kick that devil to the curb.  So, I sung my heart out with this woman I'd never met.  In fact, we bonded over that short-lived experience. And that's how my stress fled back into the shadows and out of my day.

Copyright © 2012 by KLiedle