How to turn living into playing ￼￼

Sooo…I participated in an open mic on Sunday.

I know, you’re probably like “Yes, we know you do stand up, you’ve talked about it many times before.”

But the thing with this time is I hadn’t done it in over 3 months! I didn’t know if I was going to do it ever again. Honestly, with the preparation and the performance, it was almost too much for my nervous system and my mental state.

After my stand-up class was over in December, I was relieved to know that I didn’t need to go out and practice for anything. I could stay in the comfort of my own home, write and create my own comedy and not have to stand in front of people telling half written jokes, who really do not care if I bomb or not.

So why did I do it this past Sunday? That doesn’t sound fun! Why not just hang up my hat on stand up and move on?

Well, because unfortunately, IT STILL STAYS IN MY HEAD, RENT FREE!!!

I would write joke premises down in my notes, I’d tweet them, I’d tell them to other people just to get them out of my head, but those small bursts of energy were very short lived. Then I would move on to the next joke premise I thought of or encountered in my life.

It’s like being a pitcher in a baseball game with absolutely no stakes. (I don’t know why I always make sports analogies, apologies if they’re not your favorite 😂).

But as the pitcher, you throw each pitch and it feels good to get it done, get it out of your system, but then you realize that those pitches don’t count towards anything. The # of innings isn’t 9. Instead, the # of innings are infinite.

You finally realize that you’re throwing pitches just because you’re a pitcher, not because you’re trying to strike the batter out, not because you’re trying to win the game, and not because you want to make it to the World Series.

I wouldn’t even call it good practice, because the intention behind it is nowhere to be found.

This is how it felt when I wasn’t doing stand up. I was throwing jokes out there to anyone who stepped up to the plate. No intentions, just the nice feeling of getting it out of my system.

And my message today for you and for myself…

Let’s start treating our work or our craft as if we are playing a game and trying to win. We aren’t focused on the World Series, a booked show or a final deadline. We are focused on the game, performance, or project in front of us.

Put the necessary work in today and be ok with the result.

When we practice and put an intention behind it, the practice becomes a game in itself.

Most people don’t like practice as much as the game, though.

Why?

Because no one is watching. No one is applauding us for it.

But when we can switch our mind to love practice as much as we love the game, that’s when playing becomes living.

Not saying it’s a comfortable switch, but if we want to become great at our craft and truly level up, the switch is necessary.

“To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.” – Kurt Vonnegut

What would you like to practice? What does that practice look like?

Feel free to send a reply and share with me!

Talk to you next week…
Shay ♥️

Please share with anyone who you think would get value from this. I’d love your help to spread the message.

LEVEL UP WITH SHAY PODCAST

On this week’s Level Up! With Shay, I interviewed actor, stand-up comedian, founder of Laugh Lab, and co-host of the Cheaties podcast, Lace Larrabee.

After doing stand up for over 10 years, she finally recorded her first album last Friday, which she mentioned in the podcast would be a goal for her this year. She’s definitely a level upper!!!

Listen to the episode here!

Have a great week, y’all!

Level Up! With Shay