09.28.08
Born to Run–Or Ride a Bike
Comedy Around the World stops in New Jersey this week. In honor of Bruce Springsteen’s birthday this month, I decided I’d reflect on my attempt to meet him. And I’ll reflect on how this journey mirrors how we can use our sense of humor.
The journey began with a 3-hour bike ride from Princeton to Asbury Park. It was during the opening of the Rock & Roll Museum and I was fortunate enough to get a tour. And a hotel. A hotel that allowed me to keep my bike in my room. I was thrilled. Point #1: be easily impressed with the small steps. When you first use your sense of humor, people may not laugh. They may not even notice! But you will, and you will be proud of yourself for taking this one small step for humor-kind.
Because I was under 21, going into the Stone Pony was out of the question on this trip. Point #2: roll with the punches. If one door closes, stay calm, it will re-open (and this one did, 3 years later). Like Point #1, when you don’t get the response you thought you’d get, move on to something else. Don’t try to explain your joke, just try it out on another person.
The trip back to Princeton was long and excruciating. After getting lost somewhere around Monmouth shooting range, my total trip stretched to 5 hours instead of 3. Point #3: keep at it. There isn’t a finish line to using your sense of humor. Instead it’s just a beginning of a whole new way of relating and communicating.
The story has a happy ending that incorporates all three points. Three years after that odyssey, I did get to meet Bruce at the Green Parrot in Neptune (NJ, not the planet). Because I kept at it, I didn’t get bogged down by seriousness or a fixed schedule, and because I kept having fun.
“Get Your SHINE Together!” even in New Jersey!
