I woke up at 2:50 am for my audition for Oprah’s OWN Network Reality Show. Being blessed, my dad agreed to bring me to the audition and he shortly arrived at my house around 3:30 am. He brought his own rendition of a Mc Muffin with just egg and cheese and some hot tea. At around 3:45 I realized how lucky I am to have him in my life. He is and always has been my number one supporter throughout all my crazy endeavors. Not once has he ever looked at me with total dismay as I explain one of my off the wall concepts. Everyone and I mean everyone needs a sounding-board. The go-to-person who makes you feel human, normal and somewhat connected. That person is often hard to find when you’re a dreamer. Our ideas are often lofty, pie-in-the-sky and non-existent in the “real world”. I asked him on the ride up why he always went along with my crazy ideas. He simply said, “It’s just so much fun, I don’t know what’s going to happen next”. LOL
And there you have it. It’s not always about the execution of dreams, but it’s the ride that is well worth it. Oh and we’ve gone on many rides. I remember when I was 21 and told him that I wanted to buy a condo; he would often accompany me on Open House trips. I would always talk about what kind of party I would throw in the backyards. Some of the homes were mansions, others were condos but we would discuss their potential. He could have stopped me. After all, I didn’t have $100 in my pocket. I was in debt from going to USC. But he just went along for the ride. And then something happened rather magical. We stumbled upon “the” condo on the edge of Downtown Culver City. I told my dad that it was the one because I felt it. This was before Culver City was going through its many renovations and the neighborhood just had potential. I just knew it in my gut that I was going to buy it and gave the guy my word. So I did what any rational person would do, I started calling banks. I called 20 to be exact and they all turned me down. I had been working for less than 6 months as a teacher and had $0 in the bank. I still don’t know why the seller literally went off a handshake with a kid. What was he crazy?
But there is magic in pure belief. In that same week, my dad received a check for his car accident that happened 2 years prior and I was about to receive my federal student loan money for graduate school. I promised my dad if he would give me $8,000 as the down payment, I would return it to him the very next week. Finally, a lady from Wells Fargo called and said she would do her best to close the deal. Now looking back, that was totally crazy and backwards thinking. Back then, I would believe first when I had nothing. Then I would act as if I already had it. And like magic it always appeared. I’ve been dreaming my whole life but I digress…
We arrived at Kohl’s in Laguna Niguel around 4am. There was already a line of about 300 people. The parking lot was closed. But my dad simply dropped me off and went to a nearby parking lot to read. Meanwhile I took out my beach chair and copped a squat. I met a couple of really interesting folks: a very attractive blond, early forties who was an ex-cheerleader, married to a pro-football player; an ex-drug addict who became sober after a prison bid; a mid-aged woman in a wheelchair who survived a car accident and a young, stay-at-home mom. Boy one thing was for sure, this wasn’t going to be a long, boring wait. I mean when else would I ever get to talk to all of those folks at once? What an adventure life is.
Finally, we were close to the front of the line but I noticed a slim, athletic built, blond woman to my left. She was an athlete for certain who happened to be missing one of her legs. I couldn’t remember how I knew her. Did she go to my gym? Where we in class together? And then it hit me. She was on one of my dream boards. Not a woman that looked like her, IT WAS HER. I had no choice but to go up to tell her that I knew her and how I knew her. And I remember telling her that she inspired me to run. If she could run marathons, then I could run them too. Man it’s still a bit crazy that I actually saw someone from my dream board. I LOVE IT!
But of course when I actually got to the auditioning part 10 minutes later, I think I was a bit high off life and unfocused. I didn’t exactly give the concept pitch for my show as succinctly as I would have liked. BUMMER! And as a result, I didn’t get a call back. DANG! And I decided well on to the next opportunity. First, the very next day, I decided to research someone that is currently doing ALL that I want to be doing day in and day out. I knew it would be difficult to find the vision of the person I wanted to be. After all, I am a writer that aspires to be a published author, an inspirational coach that aspires to get PAID for what I do, a speaker, actress, blogger. I was determined to find someone as close to this vision as possible. And it took all of 5 minutes. She was already in my favorites on my work computer. Her name is Jennifer Tuma Young, and although she’s not an actress, she does all the rest.
And as I begin reading her blog, I noticed that she too had attended the Oprah audition in NJ. In addition, her dad aided her in scoping out a location super early in the morning. Furthermore, she said it herself that she didn’t give a specific enough concept for her show idea so she didn’t receive a call back. BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT, there is a caveat here. She had decided that she was going to also submit a video audition and that she wasn’t giving up. Had I already decided to throw in the towel? Why? I’ll admit I felt a bit defeated like we all do when things don’t work out as planned.
And I learned a very important lesson. When we give up, others are picking themselves up and attacking the mission. We all will stumble in the beginning. We’re novices and have limited experience with our dreams. It should never be taken as a sign of failure though. Failure is when we call it quits. And quitting on our dreams are unacceptable. At that moment, I remember the woman who runs marathons, the woman on my dream board. I wonder how many times she had to pick herself up before she could run.
Today I film my video portion for the Oprah Audition. It should be completely edited by Friday and I will post it. I guess you can say this is ROUND 2.
Shak
100.
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