I’ve been living in L.A. a month now.
At one point I wasn’t sure I’d make it this long.
If you’ve read my last entry you’d know that apparently I hired one of the shittiest moving companies because in the span of 2 and a half weeks I was promised my stuff was loaded and on it’s way 4 times, only to find out it was still sitting somewhere back home.
Since I couldn’t be home I spent a lot of time walking and of course, going through the normal feelings of homesick and loneliness that comes with a move this big.
I knew I’d feel a lot better once my stuff was here, but day by day I was beginning to feel that I might not get my stuff at all.
Support from back home and the knowledge I was able to land an agent pretty quick kept me going, but yeah, it was tough coming home to an air mattress around midnight and forcing myself to sleep.
Two days before I was surprised with my stuff, the air mattress I was sleeping in got a hole in it. I tried to fix it but somehow made it worse. So for two days I slept on the floor with no idea when my stuff would be here.
On the third day I woken up by a call saying my stuff was a half hour away.
I went outside and waited. Almost 3 hours later, a huge truck finally pulled up.
Since I had a lot of time to wait, I began to think of the way this moving company had been dicking me around and the two nights on the floor.
I began to fear that my stuff would be damaged or missing, so I made up my mind:
If anything was missing or damaged real bad, I was going to go home, regroup, and figure out my next move.
Nothing was damaged and everything was accounted for.
I told the two polish men that hardly spoke English to just unload and leave as soon as possible –no need to help me unpack.
As a last gift from the shitty moving company, they both asked to use my restroom, and both of them took a dump. Both of them.
I’ve never had so much fun unpacking in my life. I now feel 100 times better and like I actually have a home here.
That was followed by more audition calls and the start of a week-long Improv festival being held at the iO Theater here in L.A. where I got to see a ton of old friends and make new friends.
So the closing of the first month of living here ended on a very good note.
It ended on an emotional one as well.
Last night I was flipping channels and I came upon a pretty good movie called “The Rookie”, starring Dennis Quaid.
The movie is the true life story of Jim Morris, and it’s basically about following your dreams. The tag line of the movie says more than enough:
“The incredible true story of a man who never gave up on his dream”
If you’ve seen it you know what I mean, if you haven’t, Please rent it.
Watching this movie reminded me a lot of the things I have been through, am currently going through, and what I hope to one day go through.
Dennis Quaid does an incredible job of selling you the moment Mr. Morris gets the call that meant all his work and sacrifices had finally paid off.
I imagine that call must feel pretty incredible. Watching that scene makes you think and hope of getting a similar call and what it must feel like to have your work pay finally off.
Watching that scene, and culmination of the movie itself, really hit home for a lot of reasons. Fear…anticipation….hope…the unknown…confusion…..Did I do the right thing?
Then I lost it.
I think everything finally hit me at the same time and I don’t know….I gave in to human emotion, fear, and hope.
I quickly recovered and gave myself and my doggies an assurance that everything will be Ok.
I just have to believe in what I know I can do and be patient.
What do I want? Why I am here?
I want to entertain and be able to make a living doing it. It’s that simple.
In front of the scene, behind the scenes –anywhere, just as long as I’m able to be part of the process that makes people happy by doing what I love doing.
It’s the reason I love being part of the iO Theater and the community that comes with it.
If I don’t ever get that call, I’ll be Ok because at least I’ll know I gave myself an opportunity to get such a call.
Until then, I’ll make sure my phone bill is paid, just in case.
So yeah, I finally feel like I live here and feel a lot better.
Now I have to hustle like I live here, and that’s the area I think will be tough for me personally ‘cause that involves selling yourself, which is something I’ve never been good at.
But I’ll give it my best shot. I promise.
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