I’m writing this only for myself.
October 30th, 2006 | by Scott Jennings |I share an office with a very good guy; a bit older than me, married, father of three. He’s a big Red Sox fan, listens to Johnny Cash at his desk sometimes, drives a van, brings home pizza from Little Caesar’s once a week or so, and coaches his kids’ sports teams at his church, where he’s an active member of the community. I like this guy.
We were chatting the other day, and he asked how things were going for me with that whole comedy thing. I probably didn’t have much to say about it, and I probably floated a few vague feelings. But we kept talking about the sorts of things I’ve done and the sorts of things I’m doing now, and I probably mentioned that I used to live in New York, and I probably dropped a few names. He asked what was going to happen when I “make it big.” And without realizing what I was saying, I told him, “I’ve already made it big.”
When I was a senior in high school, I became interested in church because of, wait for it, a girl. She invited me to Bible study, and how the fuck was I going to say no to that? It wasn’t awful, and the people were all really nice and welcoming, and I went for a few weeks before I realized I wasn’t getting anywhere with the chick. (Fine, a few months.)
The church had a large banner in the auxiliary building that read, “Faith & Fellowship.” I asked the chick what that was all about, and she told me, “it doesn’t matter if you believe in something if you don’t have anyone to share it with.”
I direct an improv team, and that’s the most fulfilling thing in my life right now. I host an improv show as a ridiculous character, and that’s the most fun I have on a scheduled basis. The people at the theater are my friends; these people are who I call when I need help, these people call me and I come running. I believe in improv — I believe in it as an artform and as a force for social good. (Seriously.) And I share that belief with these people, and I’m a better person for it. I’m living the best days of my life right now. We don’t agree with each other all the time, we’re not all close friends, some of us have a bad habit of standing in the corner and acting a little standoffish, but we see the big picture, we’re all playing on the same team, we all want to share what we love and believe in, and we each find the balance between our faith and our fellowship.
That’s how I’ve made it big. I don’t aspire to anything more than artistic growth and expression in a community of artists that supports each other and understands each other. I’m not perfect and the people I surround myself with aren’t perfect, but we do the best we can, we want to make it work, and we do what we think is best in order to share what we love. My life’s not everything I might have dreamed of when I was a senior in high school, but I’m a happy guy because of what I have and what I believe.
P.S. — Dear God, I’m only loosely drawing an analogy as far as personal fulfillment and a need for community. Thanks, Scott
