Wednesday, September 9, 2009

A Full Day's Work

Tuesday September 8th, 2009 - St. Charles, IL/Chicago, IL

Here’s my current strategy for changing my life: SHUT UP AND DO SOMETHING. It might be unimaginative and simple but today it worked pretty well. The good thing is that nothing I do now will matter in 50 years and probably a lot sooner so the pressure is off.

I want to get all of these things done for ME, plain and simple. I have a vision of things I still want to accomplish in my life and I’m now in the process of seeing how close I can get to making that vision a reality. I suppose I could just coast the rest of the way but I am never going to be satisfied with that. I have a burning desire inside that’s getting stronger.

We’ll all be dead soon enough or at least not in the current form we’re all in now so I’m not going to worry about anything but the present. Every day is a gift and even though it’s easy to forget that it really rings true. My goal is to squeeze all the life out of every day.

Today I got up and made a decision to go to the mall and take at least one lap to break a sweat. Time was an issue and I didn’t want to make it any more of one so I settled for one brisk lap. It really does feel good to walk and I’m starting to make it a part of my routine.

I felt the pump in the car as I drove home and took a steaming hot shower. I love taking showers because I often have some of my best ideas in there. I let my mind wander and it shoots me back a variety of ideas I rarely get any other time. I don’t ask why, but it does.

After my shower I got dressed and looked around at all the piles that surround me and I felt nauseous. There are books and papers and sports cards and clothes and things I know I need to keep more organized but for whatever reason I just haven’t. It’s overwhelming.

There’s no way I can clean it all up perfectly in a day and that’s what’s so frustrating to me. It took months to get like this and it will at least be weeks before I can untangle it all. I’m always running somewhere and it’s going to have to be an ongoing project if I expect to get it done. It can’t be all or nothing no matter how much I want that. It‘s a big mess.

What was bothering me the most was my email backlog. I had that under control not all that long ago but again it’s hundreds deep and I felt choked by it. I sat down and started to weed out the ones that were either totally useless or not relevant anymore and I slowly but surely started to make progress. I shut myself off from everything and got into a rhythm.

Six and a half hours later I pared the mountain of 600 emails down to right around 150. I personally answered people and apologized for being so far behind and after a while the load felt lighter after every single one. It was an amazing feeling of both accomplishment and relief as I watched the numbers dwindle more and more. It was like a mental enema.

I knew as I was doing it that was the absolute correct choice for today. The piles of stuff in my living area can wait. Nobody else cares but me. Emails involve other people and for every one I answered it started or restarted interaction with someone. That’s very positive.

I had a comedy class session begin at Pheasant Run Zanies in St. Charles, IL tonight so I made sure I was ready to go. I’m always tweaking and updating and making it better so I spent an hour doing that again. One thing I can absolutely guarantee is nobody who takes my class will EVER get cheated. I won’t allow that. Period. I’ll work harder than anyone.

We had a really fun class and even though I don’t enjoy doing all he administrative stuff for now I’m doing it anyway. My ex business partner is NOT going to keep me from what I love to do and five minutes into class tonight I remembered how much I enjoy teaching.

I never ever get sick of being around comedy. In it’s purest form it’s a drug better than any other I could imagine. It’s part intoxicant, part puzzle and part lifestyle. My entire life is centered around that time on stage and no matter what else I have to do to earn a living I will always love everything about the actual art form of comedy. It’s my reason to live.

Michael Jordan had basketball as his passion and he was spectacular at what he did, but his prime is over and it won’t ever come back. He’s got money and fame and memories to last a lifetime but the actual process of him playing the game is absolutely 100% finished.

He can coach basketball or buy a team or just about anything else he wants but playing, at least on the highest level, is not an option anymore. I have to say teaching a good class runs a very close second to actually performing. The students really get into it and I know I’m teaching them from the heart. When it’s clicking I feel like I found my life’s purpose.

It’s very much like an athlete transitioning into a coaching career after playing. I’m still in the mix but someday like Michael Jordan my days will be finished as well. It’s a much longer shelf life in comedy though and even if I pull a hamstring I can still go up on stage and get laughs. Either way, I love being around it. I get energized when I’m near comedy.

After class I drove into Chicago to be a guest with Jerry Agar and the Kidders on WGN at 1am. Jerry is filling in on the overnight shift and asked if we wanted to come on for the last hour and talk about what it’s like to be a comedian. Ken Sevara and Tim Slagle and I probably have close to 90 years of experience between us and we all have lots of stories.

I love listening to the radio late at night on long drives and I know WGN is a monster of a signal so we probably got exposed to a whole bunch of people who would never hear us on Saturday mornings during our regular spot. The station put a pod cast of it on their site at www.wgnradio.com and Jerry will get a copy and put it up on www.jerryskidders.com.

During a commercial break we talked about how cool it is to be just hanging out on one of the biggest radio stations in America. It’s like a 50,000 watt tree house where four guys are hanging out and just swapping stories and busting balls. It felt like we were hanging at a diner after a show, which comedians have been doing for years. We all really enjoyed it.

I wish I could have productive days like this more often. I got a lot done in many facets of life and all of it felt right. I didn’t get home until 6am but that’s ok. I needed all of this.

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