Un-Roboting

It is interesting how everything happens in the timing it does.  One can ponder many “what ifs” if they punish themselves enough. I've come to believe that to really live, you can't wonder about these things. But to know that everything really does happen for the learning and path of a journey, the way it is supposed to happen.

The other day, I was at work and I ran into someone who is now very successful in the stand-up comedy world. I will not mention his name to respect his privacy, but I will discuss what I appreciated about the situation at its core. The situation struck me because when he started doing stand-up, it was precisely when I started doing stand-up. We did a solid 6 months of shows together at the same clubs around Los Angeles, knew the same MCs, and went through all those newbie nerves together. I continued to do standup for about 5 years, and he obviously stuck to it.

We were not close friends at all, but I ran into him the other evening, and he is pretty much famous now! He remembered me, and we caught up a bit about mutual friends from that circuit of people. It was pleasant. It makes you sit there and wonder, though…. where am I? Was it supposed to make me think that?  I would rather just be stoked for another human being and not experience a confusing emotion. 

Well, I kept writing, that's for damn sure; I know that.  I just published the book I started about two years ago, and I'm proud of myself for that. I'm also confident in saying I did it without any of this AI mumbo jumbo. That book was all pen to paper right there. I know stand-up wasn't for me, but when I met this other comedian, he had a spark in him and seemed so comfortable up there from the start. He was made to do stand-up comedy. I know that. I'm so proud of him for sticking it out and becoming so well-known now. It is very inspiring, but I have to admit, for a moment, it made me question whether this is where I would have been if I hadn't stopped doing stand-up. What would have happened if I hadn't kept drinking, going out,  and been more focused in the last 10 years like he did? 

 I think society allows us to question all those things, but when we do, we neglect entirely what we have done. We forget how much we have accomplished because it's not yet so public. Keywords, just yet. I had to go through the life I've had for the last 10 years. I was constantly being creative the whole time, even though I knew how to enjoy being a night owl, unfortunately. I am always working on a project; some are paid, while others are for pure collaboration with other legit creatives that I respect. I also saw that in the midst of the nightlife, I preferred and learned to love being a homebody, allowing me to get more things done creatively. I can get more done and better because I feel good. I also saw that when I'm not being creative, it's when nightlife takes a bigger and darker priority. But mostly,  I learned I need to be inventive, imaginative, and inspired for my health and sanity. I know, as a creative person, how much being creative and productive can feel like a high and rush all on its own. I feel I speak for a lot of creatives when I say, it's not a matter of showing off. Seems like it, especially to unhappy onlookers… definitely. But it's a matter of staying healthy, and artistic people need art. I NEED to be creative, plain and simple. I now crave building and creating something, which is important to me. Running into this old friend showed me that I'm not only in a good place, but exactly where I'm supposed to be.

Furthermore, I had to learn these things about myself, and I will never regret it. I am so happy when I see people kicking butt. I guess it is selfish to say, but seeing someone I started with now doing so well lit a fire under my ass to keep moving forward with myself, whatever that means. Continue to kick butt, but in the lane I'm in. We are all just driving our own little cars. Going off the path means moving away from the robotic thoughts that we are on a competitive one-way street. To “un-robot” is to create happiness and make discoveries of self on your own path. To unprogram oneself of societal pressure that there is just one path we are to take. Be happy for others, let it inspire you, stay inspired, and also see it as a way of the universe wanting that for you too.

Stay good.