New Blood

[bmadccp]

Hello,

I'm Brad. I'm from Iowa. I have a wife, 2 kids and a dog. I have a nice house and a car and a career and I suffer from depression and spiritual malaise. I am a mental health therapist specializing in substance abuse. In my practice, we do cognitive behavioral therapy, we don't use the 12-steps or AA, we have a different path that is pretty successful. I am also a former addict (recovered...not recovering) and I'm pretty happy most of the time these days. I've been piecing together material to try my hand at the local open mic nights. I've got just the sort of life experience and outlook that will make me a pretty good standup. I've been doing public speaking for years, so I figure I might as well talk about the things I REALLY like (namely me) and make people laugh in the process.

I signed up for this forum because of something Jimmy Dore quoted on a recent episode of the podcast. "People aren't looking for the meaning of life, people are looking for a sense of having been alive." I found this to be utterly eloquent and succinct, it's true. The times that I've been the happiest in my life are the times where I have truly felt "alive" living in the moment of a roller coaster ride, the first kiss with a special girl, seeing a breathtaking view for the first time, snorkeling in the ocean, laughing with family and friends. I felt as if hearing this quote was a "eureka" moment for me and I fully intend to exploit it and share it with my clients as well.

Many of my clients talk of feeling a "hole" in their soul/heart, or of having a vague sense of something missing in their lives, so they try to fill the hole with sex, shopping, drugs, alcohol, pretty much anything that makes them feel alive. Anyway, this isn't the proper thread to hash out this concept. Just wanted to tell you all who I am and why I'm here.

I'm a new fan of the podcast, an old fan of "diner and a movie" and a REALLY old fan of stand-up. So...I look forward to chatting with you all.

[Eternally Learning]

Welcome bmadccp! Glad to have you here! Hope your stand-up goes well. FYI, there's a "Share Your Humor" section so if you want to bounce some jokes or just share recordings of your routine, we'd surely love to hear it.

[Paul Gilmartin]

Bmadccp,

Thanks and welcome! I forwarded your note to Jimmy Dore. I think he will be flattered.

Paul