A Dream Monday

Monday July 28th, 2008 - Milwaukee, WI/Lake Villa, IL

Today was abnormal but in a very good way. Most Mondays I’m up extra early and on a train headed for Chicago to be on WLS with Jerry’s Kidders. Jerry Agar is on vacation for a week so we had the day off. It felt good to let it rest and we’ll continue again next week.

Monday nights usually find me at Zanies on Wells Street hosting a showcase for up and coming comics but tonight they had a special ‘diversity’ showcase which was looking for ‘different’ comedians. Translation: non Caucasians. They won’t say that but it’s the truth.

Bert Haas picked me to host that showcase because I’m a strong emcee but the one who approves that gassed me right away. She took one look at my picture and said ‘Oh, uh…is there anyone more….uh…diverse?’ Bert told me about it and we both laughed. It’s stupid because it makes their show weaker but they’re going to do it how they’re going to do it.

Actually it felt good to have a whole Monday off. I can’t even remember the last time it happened so I wanted to make the whole day count. I moved even closer to ‘the source’ I talked about yesterday and went inside my skull and started stirring up some brain yogurt.

Everyone has things in their head they haven’t gotten to and today was my day to get all my ducks in a row and start quacking to a steady beat. I took a day to just let my mind go. I dreamed. I imagined. I brainstormed. I visualized myself having already achieved all the challenging goals I always wanted to accomplish and I wouldn’t let those images turn off.

Who doesn’t have a repressed fantasy of some kind deep inside the folds of the brain? It isn’t a bad thing at all but the tragedy lies in not going after it. That’s unfortunately far too common for most of us and it sure was for everyone in my family. Nobody chased dreams and I just refuse to be like them. My father died miserable and I don’t want to follow him.

Whenever I’ve been depressed I’ve always felt out of sync with the universe. When I’m in a groove like this I feel like I’m totally in harmony with everything. Some may call that manic depression and maybe I’m in my manic cycle now but whatever it is I feel fantastic so why fight it? I love it when my creativity is out front and ruling my waking thoughts.

Why do I feel so good right now? Part of it is that I know what I need to do to get where I want to go. Whether I do it or not remains to be seen but I think I have at least a skeleton of a plan and if I keep heading in that direction all that I ever dreamed of will come true.

I took a nice long walk in the sunshine this morning and let my mind go where it would. I took a notebook along and jotted down ideas when they hit me and it got to the point of where they wouldn’t stop hitting me. I felt like Mike Tyson did against Buster Douglas.

One thought after another came flying into my head like bugs on a windshield. I had to sit down and just start sorting them all out but I loved it. How many people ever take one whole day out of their life to just THINK? I highly recommend it. It’s a mental enema.

The main thing I accomplished today was getting all of the projects I want to work on in the immediate future down to one page of ideas along with a skeleton plan on what I need to do to accomplish them. It sounds oversimplified but I really did make major progress.

Part of the reason I think I was able to do that was I’ve been bathing my brain for a few days in the Brian Tracy audio program ‘The Luck Factor’ I talked about previously. It has a very well stated message that luck really isn’t a factor at all - it only appears that way.

He goes on to say how hard work and preparation and having a plan all need to be in the mix and THEN the ‘lucky break’ can happen at any time. It put my head in gear and made me revamp my thinking process. It’s so easy to keep focusing on what is going wrong and not what I want but I need to get focused on exactly the opposite - what I really DO want.

This is the same message ‘The Secret’ has and even the Bible too. There are universal laws we all can use to change our lives and it all starts with changing our thoughts first. I have known this for years. It’s not always easy to stay in that groove but I am in it now.

I made a major step in the right direction today by putting those thoughts down on paper and actually seeing both in my brain and on my paper what I want to accomplish. I put my whole being into it and really had a mental workout. I thought of ideas that surprised even me and I’m excited to get out there and make them happen. This was a breakthrough day.

Since I was on such a roll I started to contact my very top connections in every facet of my life just to share the vibe. I started by sending an email to the booker of the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. I had some contact with her in the past but then she was gone for a while and now she’s back again. She sent me back an email and told me to resubmit.

It was very nicely worded and she used terms like ‘so glad to hear from you again’ and ‘let’s pick out a date’. Those are REALLY good things to hear and I will do just that. It’s exactly what I need to be doing and a shot on Craig Ferguson will be a tangible reward.

I also wrote a very heartfelt bulletin and posted it on myspace. I have over 1000 friends of all different types and I wanted to see who was on my side and in my groove right now. We all fluctuate but I’m on a good buzz right now so I sent out the note hoping to connect and reconnect with others who can help me and I can help them too. I heard from several.

My cousin Brett in Milwaukee is probably the closest human to me in my life. He is the younger version of me in many ways and he fights some of the same demons I do. He is a Pisces and is left handed and comes from the same pissed in gene pool I do and we have a lifetime of memories to share every time we get together. We always cheer each other up.

Tonight we went to Famous Dave’s in Milwaukee and had a fantastic meal. I love to go to Famous Dave’s because I think he’s a brilliant marketer and a great businessman. He’s very sharp and I met him in person in Salt Lake City years ago. I respect his work ethic so I’m glad we had our dinner there. It was a perfect way to end a special Monday on a high.