One of my
favorite things to do is talk comedy. I
appreciate a good joke like most people enjoy a good bottle of red wine! (I don't enjoy red wine.) I’m somewhat of a comedy connoisseur; I study it and know
it well. I have been listening to these
podcasts lately and all I want to do is talk to my boyfriend, or whoever will
listen, about Will Ferrell’s point of view and Will Forte’s background in
writing. It’s my happy place. (Which is
why I love teaching so god damn much. It’s my job to talk comedy and teach
people what I love – and they WANT TO LISTEN!)
The
problem with that is… when you get a lot of comedians together talking about
comedy, it can get pretty negative.
Sometimes it’s awesome and you’re excited over the same things and
swapping stories and experiences and it’s all well and good. But then, there are times where it can get to
a point of, “What are we doing?” and everyone gets dragged into the
conversation. It goes a lot like this:
“We’re
not getting paid and that sucks.”
“You’re
right. That does suck. And you know what else sucks? The hours.”
“Totally!
It’s like, I’d like to get a weekend off and travel but I feel guilty and
terrible about it – and for what?”
“And we
don’t even have benefits!”
“I’m in
debt!”
“But
we’re doing what we love, right?”
“Totally...”
Those
conversations leave you feeling like nothing. I’d walk home from those kind of nights
completely defeated. I’d crash in my
bed, put on Netflix and hate my life.
Talking out your problems/issues/concerns can be great sometimes, but
sometimes it just creates more problems!
I feel bad enough on my own; I don’t need anyone adding to it! Spending all of your time complaining can
turn you into a real cynic, and that is the worst kind of person to be.
So, my
goal has been to cut that shit out. It’s
better to maintain a hopeful mentality and focus on the reasons why you love
what you do. This could be about
anything – say you’re in marketing (another field I work in) and you only talk
to your co-workers about how annoying clients are and how awful the hours are
and how you hate egos and personalities of certain people – then that’s going
to be your impression of that company/field/etc. You’ll never be happy if that’s ALL the field
is to you. But why’d you get into
it? Why do you love it? What projects or tasks fill you with
pride? What’s a good day?
It’s so
easy to be another negative voice in the pool, and it’s totally OK to vent
every now and then, but it’s not going to help you live a happy and healthy
life. Just contain that negative voice,
be hopeful (and honest with yourself about what you want), stop comparing
yourself to other people and focus on yourself and your own success. It may sound naïve, but being honest and
setting distinct goals can really do wonders.
Instead of saying “I want to be a successful comedian”, it’s easier to
break it into smaller goals like, “I want to publish a book of essays” or “I
want to be a Groundling” etc.
Regardless,
it’s going to be hard. Everything’s
hard. Life is literally the worst! But, it doesn’t help to be cynical and
negative because then the only obstacle in your way of success is yourself and
your attitude. So check that shit! Before you wreck… that shit. I’m sorry.
I don’t know.
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