December 31st, 2009
I just ate breakfast with a woman who works with at-risk youth in Chicago, a music promoter from Nashville, a lady who works for the Chamber of Commerce in Nantucket and a Native American energy healer from Flint, Michigan. As I mentioned yesterday, I was hired to teach my “Humor for Health” workshop at a fancy destination spa in Austin, Texas. I’m fortunate that I was brought out here because this particular getaway costs approximately $1000 a day. It sounds like the premise for a reality show where all the people are in a high tax bracket. I won’t be able to afford this type of vacation until my baby doo-rag line takes off and makes me rich while providing babies in baby gangs some edgy fashion sense. In the meantime, I just market my services to interesting places that I cannot yet afford. My friend Carrie says, “Jax makes them feel like they need her. And they believe her.”
I’ve been doing my “Humor for Health” workshop for a few years and have been brought to fascinating places that promote wellness in the United States and Mexico. There is truly nothing more rewarding than teaching people the rules of comedy improv (which are synonymous to life) by getting them on stage and having the opportunity to act like kids again. Ego is totally stripped away because it’s not about perfection. It’s about expression. I’m blessed to be on the outside seeing pivotal shifts in people willing to step out of their comfort zones in the spirit of growth, honesty and letting go. I’ve always felt that we should strive to live compassionately, consciously and creatively. Over and over, I see my students tapping into all of these and it’s a welcome bonus that these experiences turn out to be exponentially advantageous for my own mind, body and spirit. It seems almost serendipitous that I was invited here as we enter a new year. I am gently reminded of something that I already know. In this vortex of good energy, it just seems so obvious that we need to release old emotional baggage, physical clutter and certain people in our lives who are no longer serving us. So, if we’re still in touch…congratulations. You made the cut. High Five.
It might sound harsh and counter intuitive, but moving forward and implementing a clearing philosophy has consistently held true for me. I have experienced amazing results when I have committed to it and undesirable effects from avoiding it. There is something very empowering about this deliberate act of detachment because I find myself being in control of my life as opposed to it controlling me.
On the last day of 2009, I’m writing to you from the safe bosom of Lake Austin Spa and Resort where my biggest stressor is deciding whether I should go kayaking at 2:00 or take a cooking class on meatballs. It reminds me a bit of the syllabus at my childhood sleep away camp, Camp Seafarer, where we forced to greet other campers and counselors with an enthusiastically earnest, “Ah Hoy there!”
I wish you the most joyous of New Years filled with self discovery, laughs and brightness.
“While we have the gift of life, it seems to me that the only tragedy is to allow part of us to die - whether it is our spirit, our creativity, or our glorious uniqueness.”
–Gilda Radner
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