Izabela | Filmmaker and Actress | Music lover | Enthusiast of chocolate and all things sweet | Los Angeles, CA Instagram: @almostnormalproductions and @izabelavidovic Website: www.almostnormalproductions.com
1) THE BEST THING THAT HAPPENED TO YOU IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS? I am a woman of many passions... and, while that can be a great thing, it can also mean that I'm spreading myself too thin sometimes! Over this past year, I've learned how to manage my time in a way that allows me to do the things I love: filmmaking, acting, making music - without feeling like my wheels are spinning. I realized how important it is to actively make time for the things I want to accomplish, and that's resulted in significant growth that I'm very excited about.
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. 2) THE WORST THING THAT HAPPENED TO YOU IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS? Honestly, the pandemic has left strong emotional effects on myself and on the people around me. I think that, in this time, many of us have realized what an impact isolation can have on our well-being. This global situation has created both a closeness and division in my relationships, which has been difficult to grapple with at times.
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. 3) YOUR BIGGEST WISH FOR THE NEAR FUTURE? I want to see people living with a greater desire for togetherness. Despite the fact that social media has connected many of us, and created more of a collective awareness around what's happening globally... society, as a whole, is largely disconnected. I would love to see people actively choosing to help one another out, rather than just consuming, then sticking to what's comfortable and, ultimately, living in oblivion... and I think that applies to virtually every current event.
. . 4) YOUR BIGGEST WORRY FOR THE NEAR FUTURE? Off of what my biggest wish is... my biggest worry is that people grow further apart and that this pandemic creates a greater divide than we've ever seen before.
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. 5) A CONTEMPORARY WOMAN YOU CURRENTLY ADMIRE? My grandmother. She's lived in a small town in Central Bosnia for most of her life and still has a more worldly, unprejudiced outlook than most people I know. She is also a force to be reckoned with and I admire her for it.
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6) A ONE-SENTENCE MESSAGE TO OTHER WOMEN?
Be unapologetic about fulfilling your own needs first.
A few more questions about the current situation (covid-19, lockdown, black lives matter protests, politics, finances, mental health, health, and so much more):
7) THE WORLD HAS BEEN CHANGING DRAMATICALLY IN RECENT MONTHS, HOW ARE YOU COPING? Admittedly, managing anxiety isn't my strong suit. So, I've found that I am best able to cope by taking breaks from the outside world and the plethora of information that is social media... Sometimes it's necessary to just take a breath and unplug, you know?
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. 8) WHICH CHANGE HAS AFFECTED YOU THE MOST / HAD THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON YOU PERSONALLY? The inability to interact with people as we did before, in person and face to face! That's been a challenging adjustment, and the absence of those day to day interactions has made me realize how positively they really impacted me.
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. 9) WHAT ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THE MOST? I think I'm most concerned about our rebound to normalcy... like, how long before we aren't afraid of physical interaction? How long before we no longer need to check off the "mask, gloves, sanitizer" list when leaving our house? I'm also concerned about the long term effects of this new, coronavirus-induced mindset on people's level of empathy. Many of us tend to associate acts of love with physical connection, whether it be showing up to your friend's house with a cup of soup when they have a cold, or cuddling up to a movie night in with your S.O. when they're under the weather... Much of this used to feel like "no big deal" and, now, the concept of close contact has taken on a whole new meaning. So I guess, overall, I'm just worried about what this pandemic is doing to us as a society - but I'm certainly not all "doomsday" about it. We as humans are capable of overcoming and adjusting to much more than we think.