20AnythingYouWant10

2009 proved to be one of the best years of my life. Coming off of 2008 as my worst, I decided that I needed to start making things happen. I had 2 distinct themes for 2009 that would, in a sense, assist with a turning point in my life. I based my themes off of two songs… Jason Mraz’s “Make It Mine”, cause I’m a mega fan, and T.I.’s “Live Your Life”, because I’m clearly a gangsta. Not every word in those songs mirrored what I needed to accomplish… but the titles were right on. I wanted to make “it” mine… “it” being my dream of improv, and clearly stated… I wanted to live my life. So, running with those themes all year, I made my way to NYC, am now enrolled in an improv class, and am, in fact, living.

The theme thing seemed to work well for 2009… so why not continue it for 20-10? This time I only have one song… but I do have two themes.

So again, I go with a Jason Mraz song. This year it’s “Anything You Want”. The words in the title are also in the chorus of the song, which fully states, “Anything you want can be yours at anytime.” Yep. I feel like I live in a place were things can happen if you want them to. Of course, I understand that with this comes non-stop work that I’m completely ready to put effort towards. I already work two jobs, and am signed up at The Upright Citizens Brigade. Though I already have these things on my plate… it’s not enough to accomplish my goals. I have people here telling me that I need to completely submerge myself in improv. Go to shows, good and bad, and take as many classes as I can and that I can afford. So with that… as you know I work at a university. Since I work at the university, I get to take undergraduate courses absolutely free. It was brought to my attention by a co-worker (Thank you Sarah!) that The New School is offering an improv class for this spring semester. So I’ll be enrolling in that, which is a class concentrated on theatre improv as opposed to comedy, staring January 25^th. I’ll give myself time to adjust to going to two classes a week while working 5, sometimes 7, days a week before I start going to as many shows as I can. Baby steps my friends… baby steps.

My second theme, as I said before, isn’t a song… just an idea. Mind, Body, and Soul. I’ve found that since I’ve been here… I have had a craving to exercise all three of those things. I have read about 5 books since moving here. I actually like reading for leisure now… strange, I know. I just feel like, in my old age of 25, that I’ve let my mind stay still for no reason. If I plan on staying sharp… I have to get some gym clothes on that cerebellum and make it sweat. I’m sure I can be doing more in that area… but let me have my books to read first… then I’ll move on to more boggling “mind exercises”. Body… duh. I’ll admit it... I’ve let myself go since being a Cross Country runner. By letting myself go I mean gaining 10 pounds since I graduated college. I’m an exaggerator… deal with it. It’s important that I stay physically fit while working as hard as I intend. The more fit I am, the more energy I’ll have to take on what I need to take on. Last, my soul. I’ve always been a believer but in 2008, my worst year ever (I’m not bitter), I was at a point where all I could do was surrender and let someone else take control of where I was in life. In doing that, I’ve gotten to where I am now while still letting this vehicle of a body be driven by the big guy upstairs. He provides for me directly, and uses the beautiful people in my life to show his grace. I’m also in a good environment here with new friends that, as “workout partners”, will only make my spirituality grow stronger.

My themes- past, present, and those still to come- are specifically tailored around my life and what I want out of it. To all of you I say take 20-10 as what you want it to be. Get a goal, or a theme, or your dream, and stick it all up in your 20-10. Some of my friends’ 20-10s for example are:

20Honest10

20BelieveWithin10

20MakeAChoice10

20GetRight10

20Educa10 (Education… clever play one words CL)

20Perspective10

And yours?

Look at it as your best friend going on a date, and not telling the details.

So my last post was December 10^th… and it wasn’t even an update on anything having to do with my journey here, but again… kudos to Nate for the title picture on my blog. A few more people than I expected actually read my post… so it’s time to get back on the horse. I guess I’ll start with December. After all, it proved to be a good month. Exciting things happened…

I moved to New York to attend a specific improv school, The Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB). It’s a very famous program that has birthed several comedic stars that we all know and love today. With that, classes are, or seem, to be really hard to get into. The moment they are posted, they are filled. It’s like losers hover around the UCB’s website waiting for them to post classes or something. So there I was one night… hovering over the UCB’s website waiting for them to post some classes. To my surprise, there was an Improv 101 class open with three spots left in it. I HAD TO GET IN THAT CLASS. Knowing I was short on money (stay tuned for a blog on that), I immediately had to figure out what to do. So I did what anyone else would do. I went to my Facebook and Twitter accounts and let the world know that I needed to figure out how I was going to come up with $350 to take an improv class at the UCB. In retrospect I can now see where my social website updates could have been mistaken for pleas for help… which in all honesty… was not the intention.

Not 5 seconds after I posted on Facebook, an old high school friend, Emily Pontero, sent me a message. Emily, I hope you don’t mind… but here’s our conversation and what she offered. Just to preface… Emily and Jessica’s Pontero’s BEAUTFUL mother has passed away…

“EMILY: Matt, take the class if you can! I’ll send you $350 out of some life insurance money of Mama’s… she would want you to do it! So do it! Money is not an excuse. Let me know.

ME: Emily! I did not mean for that to be a pity status! Ha Ha. I could never do that! But thank you SSSOOO much!

EMILY: I know you didn’t mean it for a pity status! Matthew Morgan dag nab it!! You better let me help you if I can.

ME: Emily… you have no idea how much you moved me tonight… pretty much to tears. I really do appreciate it. I just can’t d that. You, Jessica, and Mama are such beautiful people!!!! And you’ll never know how much just that suggestion means to me!!!!!”

Now when I told her she about made me cry, I wasn’t joking. I couldn’t believe someone would do that for me. Thanks again so much, Emily!

So minutes, literally minutes, after the convo with Emily… I get a phone call. It’s Joe, one of my new friends here in NYC. I’d only known Joe for maybe a month and he calls and says something along the lines of… “Take the class you wuss. I’ll give you the money and you can pay me back.” (Oh Joe… he’s abrasive at times… but I’m ok with that.) So after about a ten minute conversation of Joe paying for my class and me saying no… I made a promise that if I couldn’t find the money by morning… that he’d spot me the mullah… and I’d pay him back.

After the call with Joe… I had a conversation with my mom too trying to find a way to help me pay. My parents had just bought my $600 plane ticket home for Christmas break and I just couldn’t have them dishing out more.

After all the beautiful people in my life trying to offer help…I manned up and just used me own money (The “me” in that sentence is a typo and I left it as “me” cause when you read it out loud it makes you sound Irish. You’re welcome for that… ha ha) Now… paying for the class caused me to get behind on a few bills, but I have to make sacrifices every now and then in pursuit of my goals… and this was one of those times. So, as most already know, I am now enrolled at the UCB!!! I start classes on January 26^th which will be the 6^th day that I’ll be 26 years old. Got that? Has a cool ring to it.

Ending the improv talk… I got to have a great 10-day break back in Weaver, Alabama for Christmas. You REALLY don’t know how much you can miss a place until you’re not there for months at a time. I never thought that’d I’d actually miss Weaver… but by God I did. It was so stinkin’ great to see my family AND my friends. The break replenished the love, fun, relaxation, and laughter from home that I left months ago. I got to see my family and some of my friends… but didn’t come close to seeing everyone I wanted to. I’m sure I will next time though!!! I got some much needed things for Christmas, including help with the deposit on my first legit NYC apartment in my name! Thanks Mom and Dad… I’ll rethink putting you guys in a “home.” KIDDING!!! I move to Brooklyn with my friend Joe (from above) this Saturday and I’m crazy stoked.

Well I’ll wrap this one up. It’s getting kinda lengthy and I wanna keep you all on your toes. Thanks again for all the prayers and wishful thoughts. I couldn’t do this without knowing that there are so many people behind my efforts. I love you all so much! Till next time…