On Monday after my epic doctor afternoon we had another meeting of the mentees of my Women In Film mentoring group. I was really happy that the meeting was that evening because it gave me something to look forward to while nervous about all the pain from the medical stuff. And I tried to focus on that while in the middle of each thing (sometimes focus can help me not pass out with shots, but it’s not a guarantee).
This meeting ended up being a bit small. We try to figure out when a majority of the group can make it, but everyone is really busy and with all of us being creative types sometimes last-minute schedule conflicts come up. But even with a small group, we still get what we need out of the group.
We started as a more social gathering than anything else, but that’s maybe because we were waiting to see who else might be coming. Once we realized that everyone who could be there was there, we went around the group sharing what we had done over the past few weeks since our last meeting with our mentors.
Sometimes when we do that, I feel a bit pathetic. It always seems like everyone else has amazing updates while I just have my same old things to say. And I know that it’s because many of the other women in the group (and almost everyone who made it this Monday) are writers so they are able to control their work a bit more than I can. They can always start a new script while it’s not as easy for me to find a new project to act in or put together my own project.
My updates are pretty simple but even with the little things, my fellow mentees are very excited for me. They love that I won my delegate seat for the SAG-AFTRA Convention and that I’ll be there all weekend this weekend (I’ll share some posts about that next week). And I told them a bit about the blogger conference I was at recently and how I think that will improve my blog in the long run. Their excitement about my baby steps makes me feel better about what I’ve gotten done.
After we all went around and shared our updates, gave advice, and cheered each other on; we were back in social mode. I know I keep saying this, but I love that we’ve gotten to become friends and we can have a lot of fun at our gatherings. It doesn’t feel like there’s ever pressure to impress each other (even though I put that pressure on myself) and I feel more like I’m spending the evening with friends instead of a networking/goal accomplishing group. I think the best goal accomplishing groups are made of friends, and I love that we have organically become that.
It makes me wish that I had made a bit more effort with the 2 girls who showed up regularly with my original mentoring group. I think that if I had tried a bit more, we could have created something great among ourselves even if our fellow mentees didn’t come to meetings or we didn’t have regular meetings with our mentors. But knowing that I can do this now motivates me to continue doing this in the future.
I know that my current mentee group is going to continue meeting after the official mentoring time is done. At our next mentee meeting, I think we are going to set up the plans for how we want to keep this going for the long run. I’m glad that everyone else seems to be on the same page as me, because every time I meet with these women I feel more and more grateful that I was placed in a group with such like-minded women and that they have encouraged me to better myself without pushing me or making me feel less than.
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A Quick Happy Hour (or Making Myself Be Social)
Less Networking More Socializing (or Another Evening With My Fellow Mentees)
Another Evening Of Mentees (or Advice and Socializing)
