9 Short Days Away From FringeArts “Dirty Joke”

Today was a typical day in my life, 9 short days away from the FringeArts performances of “Dirty Joke:”

7am: Get my daughter to her first day of school.

8am: Coach my first client.

9am: Leave for an audition.

10am: Have audition at Voicebox.

10:45: Back to coach another session.

11:45 Pick up my daughter and enjoy play time during which we make each other laugh.

1-4pm: Rehearse my show “Dirty Joke.”

4-6m: Fun/Play time with Lily who insists on dancing one particular number from my show 33 times. I then make her, my husband and myself dinner.

6-8pm: Coach 2 more clients

8pm: Write this blog.

In the midst of this (4:48pm) my stepdaughter’s boyfriend asks “Jennifer, how do you stay positive all the time?” This really took me off guard because I don’t believe that I am positive all the time. When I admitted as much he said “Seriously, I would pull my hair out over just half the things I watch you go through every day.”

I received the recognition and explained “Well we have to give without expecting anything. If we do that it becomes about the giving and not the getting. And I know that it will probably require 4,788 actions for me to achieve just one of my goals. With that in mind, I proceed, knowing the smaller goal is to do just another thing on the roster and whittle that 4,788 things to do down to 4,787.  Sometimes I get freaked out that I don’t have enough time, so I just do my best to proceed, knowing I I may not be able to do anything to change it anyway.”

He said “Jennifer, I wish I could be like that. I wish I were patient about it all like you.” I told him, “Start collecting evidence for how you are all the things you wish you were. Get aware of how you already are patient. Notice how you are reliable right now. The biggest dirty joke we play on ourselves is thinking that someone else has what we ourselves wish we had. So, start affirming that you do indeed have it, and over time it will start to take root in you, and you won’t have to work so hard to see it inside yourself.”

I admitted that I also get a lot of energy from the fact that I am just 9 days away from my show at FringeArts. Today in rehearsal my director Vashti taught me how to speak “like a black girl who went to private school,” and I was able to pull it off.

Hope you can make it to my FringeArts show to see how I pull everything together. Tix at www.jenniferblaine.com