Tricia and I goof around in front of my camera while our children entertain themselves nearby (click on photo to see in full)
We did it! My friend Tricia Orchard and I sent in our application to the Amazing Race Canada. Making the video was a truly fascinating experience, and perhaps a tiny taste of what being filmed for a tv reality program would actually feel like. Tiny taste. Tiny. I'm pinching my fingers together to show you. But nevertheless, it was a real taste, and did not, apparently, scare me off.
Click here to see our audition video.
We had the help of our friend and neighbour, Stephen Edgar, who happens to be a professional videographer/photographer, and my brother Karl provided the addictive background beats (they really stick in your head.)
We spent a couple of hours one afternoon splashing through a muddy swamp, running up a grassy hill over and over again, and dashing around a forest obstacle course; the weather that day was unseasonably warm for January. Which contrasted nicely with a shoot we did more recently, in fact on one of the coldest days of the year so far, when we repeatedly ran down a big hill in a farmer's field just outside of town -- it looks like we're running the tundra. We also met for a shoot at Tricia's house, which Steve had transformed into a miniature studio for the afternoon. There, we got a sense of what it would be like to be interviewed at length.
We got some head shots and team shots too.
The most excellent part is that all the way along, I could completely imagine Tricia and me competing together as a team, no matter the scenario. I think we'll be laughing a lot. We're both good sports. We both show up and do what needs doing without complaint. And we know our limits too.
I've never had a huge desire to be on television, but I've loved watching the Amazing Race with my kids, and Kevin and I have had fun over the years imagining ourselves trying to navigate the race as a team -- and no, he wasn't offended that I went with someone else, when the opportunity presented itself. I love to compete, but I'm also, by nature, curious. I want to know: not just where would we go and what strange tasks would we have to perform, but could I still be myself -- recognizably myself; my better self -- in this situation? Of course I hope so. But the discovery is in the doing.
I can't decide whether this audition is in character, for me, or a bit of a departure. Is life about being consistent? I remember one of my favourite professors saying to me, "Don't get predictable, Carrie." (She probably doesn't remember that. But it's really stuck with me over the years.)
In some ways, this is the year of the application form. I fill in the blanks. I do my best. I cross my fingers. It means a lot of hoping, and waiting, to see which possibilities open for me -- and in this case, for us, Team Snorchard. Yeah, our names don't mash up all that well. Thanks for our friend Zoe for this suggestion; I think it just might stick. Yikes. Go Team Snorchard!Labels: adventure, friends, fun, photos, play, race, running