Last week, after one of the storytelling shows I performed
in, I stood next to a table presenting Around
Seattle in 80 Dates, when a woman approached me. The name of the show by
the way was: Bad Date
Storytelling.
I never met this woman before but she was very determined to
let me know what she thought about my performance, “You are Amazing, but this
is not for me,” Kate said.
“What exactly is not for you,” I asked her. Kate was in her
late 40’s – the smart type, never married. She had a nice smile and round
glasses. Kate explained to me, that she wants to find her life partner
organically. Why did I think about a carrot right away? I don’t know.
By Dating Organically Kate meant that she wants to be lucky
and find her prince by accident. I asked her if fender bender counts.
She didn’t smile. Kate loves to read books and her organic story sounded like
that: Kate used to visit a local book store next to her rented room in downtown
Seattle. One day, this handsomest dark man will walk into the store. He will
see her and immediately approach her. They will start talking about books and will
find out they have the same taste in books, music and so much more.
Kate kept talking for a few more minutes, but my mind was
already in a different place – Dating Organically? I heard about it but it
never happened to me. Every time I meet a couple, I ask them how they met. When
I meet couples that met organically, not online and not a set date, I hug them
and say: You are Soooooo Lucky. And by luck, I mean: you were in the right
place on the right time with the same needs. And then I think to myself: how
rare is that!?
Reading the post AU
NATURALE: WHY MEETING SOMEONE ORGANICALLY IS THE BEST WAY made me want to
do the same to the writer of the post – hug the author. By the way, the person
that wrote the post does not sound very lucky or reports any success with their
decision to date organically.
There are options out there,
one that I love is meetup.com. Find a group that you are interested in their
meetings and join. This handsomest guy/amazing woman just might be there as
well, or not.
Going organically sounds
great and very romantic but not a practical solution in my eyes. It is for sure
an option, but I would still use the online options that are in place.
True, many first dates are
not followed by second dates and I think that this is just fine. The idea that your
prince is the next date and both of you will figure it out in an hour is a
beautiful and romantic idea, which I remember I had when I was in my early twenties.
But hey, I am not anymore and there are some benefits in being in your early 50’s.
I feel wiser.
If you are an English
speaker, I bet you heard the phrase “Mazal Tov” – which literally
means, good luck. Mazal Tov is a greeting used by Jews all over the world and
became part of the English language. The phrase is in Hebrew, The word “MAZAL” in
Hebrew means “Luck” in English.
The Kabballah talks about
the fact that MAZAL is an acronym for:
M = In Hebrew – Makom; In English
= Place
Z = In Hebrew – Zman; In English
= Time
L = In Hebrew stands for Limud;
In English = Study, experience, what you have learned and made you who you are today.
So, to be lucky in life,
according to the Kabballah, you have to be in the Right Place, in the Right Time
with the Real you – that is who you are in life today thanks to everything you
went through, college, relationships, life – you are a total of your experience.
You need to be out there so you can get lucky. You know what I mean.
Organically meeting people
is nice, but might be a complete waste of time. Also – limitation people!!! Not
at work and not with your best friend’s ex-boyfriend/ex-girlfriend, unless you
want an ex-best boyfriend/ girlfriend. Just saying.
Go build a great profile,
take a few good pictures WITHOUT A FILTER, and write 15 lines about yourself
and what interests you in life. KISS – Keep It Simple Sweetheart.
Leave something to talk about
and just enjoy the ride! It might not be your next partner but you just might
meet a fun person and discover the best martini in town! Attitude, attitude, attitude.
Cheers, and I hope you do
choose to enjoy the ride. All the rest comes organically.
It all started a little more than a year ago, Feb 2018 when Around Seattle in 80 Dates was published and my story became public.
A lot of people around me were involved in my life when I was living the stories. When I finally published the book many of them were surprised. I met a lot of people that had good stories and many of them declared on a regular basis, that “one day they will write a book”. They just “have to” and they are planning to. But it is hard to start – and finish.
When I was laid off from a company that I was employed with for fifteen years Mike #80 said: “That’s it, the universe is telling you something.” I had a bitter smile on my face when he said it. A lot of dreams were crashed the day I was laid off.
At that point in time, I was about to relocate to India for three
years and Mike #80 agreed to join me. This meant that he had to quit a job that
he loved very much and take the risk of relocating to a country that his professional
future is not clear. India is not the best place for a blood bank technologist.
But we were in love, living in India was a dream that we both had before we met
and we decided that this is our chance. What will be will be – we are doing it.
Being laid off and losing the relocation dream was not an
easy pill to swallow. The universe could have been nicer to me and my bank
account. I still had to pay a mortgage.
“The universe is giving you the time to finish your book,”
said Mike #80. Mike loved the stories I told him and kept saying that I should
share them with more people – “so they can learn” he said. Everybody around us
was online dating and we were a couple that ‘made it!’ We met online and our
life changed.
Mike is a smart man, so I decided he is right – this is my
chance to finish the book that I’m talking about for a year now.
Between job hunts, which is a full job by itself, I managed
to sit down and write. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. The writing was natural
and kept flowing. Mike used to come home, sit down and read what I wrote that
day – he was and is the first person to read anything that I write and I take
his feedback very seriously.
February 2018 – we were on a cruise to Havana when the book was
finally published – which means it was available on Amazon. And then things started
to happen. Standup comedy shows, storytelling events, meetups for singles all
over Great Seattle, authors’ events, interviews, articles, and podcasts.
Do you think it was tough to write the book? You are right.
It was hard, stimulating and emotionally challenging. I wanted to get through
with a clear message to the people out there about dating: “You can do things
differently and enjoy them. It works!” I also wanted to share stories with my
own voice and have people enjoy reading a good book. And the feedbacks were
amazing.
When I was approached by Stroum Jewish Community Center on Mercer Island I could not believe my good luck. I was offered a time slot, as part of the amazing and diverse shows that JCC is hosting.
Me? My own show? Where people pay money to see me? That was a crazy and tempting idea. I love challenges and this was a huge one – plan and execute a one-woman show all by myself. Oh, and then make sure that enough people are interested to come to see it and pay for a ticket.
Last Sunday – April 28th – is where a new achievement
was made.
The show was SOLD OUT almost a week in advance!
I took the One Woman show and created a family show. My daughter and her soon to be wife started the event by playing and singing their own version to: “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” I continued with a short standup act that I wrote and from there we followed with an interview led by Paul Currington. Paul is a dear friend and also one of the major contributors to the storytelling world in Seattle. We met when I told my first story – 5 years ago – in his very successful storytelling meetup, Fresh Ground Stories – not less than a hundred people in each event, amazing crowd and all true stories. Love this man.
The fact that Mike #80 joined the final discussion and shared
his own experience with the audience was the best way to end the show – I could
not ask for more. Nobody wanted to go home, and two hours later we were kicked
out of the room. Sigh. It was a wonderful event.
As I said – I will
never forget April 28th, 2019. I shared one of my best moments in
life on the same stage with the people who are my family and friends. They all provided
their voice and together created a unique and interesting show that everybody
in the room was fascinated and involved. I loved it!
I know, what’s next you are asking… what’s the next mountain
you are going to climb?
I can only promise you that I’m working on a few new ideas and the most important one is a Screen Play! Around Seattle in 80 Dates should be on TV – this is how I feel.
