Ready? March.

Ahh the first weeks of March in New England.  This is the month that tries our souls. March. Where the happiness of the holidays is but a distant memory.  Where the resolutions of the new year sink deeper into the couch cushions.  Where the joy of the first snowfall gives way to that time honored question- “where in the hell is our plow guy?!!" Everybody knows February in Boston has but one redeeming quality-  the annual Patriots Super Bowl parade!  And before we apologize for being smug, please consider that it does happen in February in New England.  We need the satisfaction of rubbing it in.  It's all we've got!  It's one of the few moments of outdoor joy away from a ski mountain at this time of year.  Yes, for the most part, February stinks.  It's cold, lifeless, cold, grey, and also very cold.  But as New Englanders, we're resigned to it and we can take comfort that at least February is a few days shorter than the other months.  But March.  March, man.  March is ruthless, especially these first couple weeks.  It’s Johnny from Karate Kid, and Old Man Winter is Sensei, yelling,  “Finish him!” Dude, enough already.  We're already down, March.  February already beat us up. No Mas, March, no mas.  They say March comes in like a lion, but just so we're clear, it ain't Simba.  It's mean, possibly rabid, and doesn't care about you or your happiness.

 It feels like they named it right.  March.  As in get in line, shut up, and if you want to see spring, you better pick up your feet and get through it.  

So what does March have to do with anything related to the Boston video production business? Nothing really, except perhaps to serve as a good analogy for the benefits of sticking with something, even when it would be easier to just pack it in.  The video production industry has gone through a lot of changes.  Budgets are shrinking, and it seems like every intern with an iPhone thinks they are the next Scorsese.  And in some cases, they are!  There's a lot of talented people out there just waiting to showcase their creativity, and we Welcome it (wordplay intended).  It's fun and exciting to work in this industry, and let's face it-it’s not coal mining.  There are a lot of very tough ways to make a living.  This isn't one of them.  That said, it's important for all you aspiring young producers to remember that at some point in your production career calendar, there will be a March.  Or two or three.  Whether you're lugging your video equipment through a snow bank, sending out another dozen proposals with no response, or in that edit suite watching the clock turn past midnight, you'll start to wonder,   "Are TPS reports really all that bad to file?  I mean, sure, my dumb manager might take credit for my ideas and then give me a 2 out of 4 on my annual compensation review (true story), but an office job can't be worse than this, can it?"  You never know.  But as Welcome Productions enters its second decade as a full-time endeavor, we promise you.  It gets better.  And worse.  And then better again.  No matter what you're doing for a living, sometimes your only job is to just endure whatever you're getting through in the moment.  In this Instagram, f.o.m.o-fueled world,  it's easy to think that the grass is greener somewhere else. In March in New England, it's even easier to think this, because it literally is. The grass here?  Straight brownish grey, y'all!  But maybe that's the point.  Perhaps March is here to remind us.  Nobody posts a picture of that "meh" meal, or that really bad outfit,  or the giant line in airport security, or that trip to the dentist's office.  Maybe we need a little March once in a while.  March is a one-way ticket to something better, and in our on-demand lives, maybe it's just the non-shortcut we need.  So chin up little Boston video production campers.  The ride is bumpy, but that drip outside your window tells you we’re almost there.  All aboard!  Next stop-Spring.   And hey, March.... Thanks for the ride, buddy.