Showing up…

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of attending a play written and performed by John Leguizamo, Latin History For Morons. Several years ago I watched his HBO special Sexaholix and instantly became a devoted fan of his stand up. When I found out he was coming to the West Coast I immediately purchased tickets.

In 2011 I saw John perform Ghetto Klown on Broadway in New York and was brought to tears. He tapped into a part of my soul that was asleep. Here was this regular guy speaking about his buddies, girlfriends, mentors and family members and I was hooked on his every move and word because that is what I dig. I dig real life shit. I watched him on stage as he danced, laughed and cry when he spoke about his relationship with his Father. He shared the moment he was served with a lawsuit by his Mother and Father for talking about them (this is my fear. Not that my family will sue me, but that they will get offended by what I have to say). I left the theatre inspired. If he can do it, so can I, I thought to myself.

This past weekend John taught me about Latin History (some of you may already know this and I might have learned it also if I wasn’t so caught up with ditching parties and boys). Through a family situation his was forced to learn what he was not taught in school. He did the homework and taught himself, his son and in turn reminded us about the Mayans, Aztecs, Incas and Native Americans. Turns out the Latin population ran DEEP (this was before diseases and massacres) and also participated in the Civil and Revolutionary War. I was never a good student, but if my teacher’s had taught me the way John did in ninety minutes, maybe I would have attended school more often.

I was able to meet John after the show. I shared with him how he inspires me and in his cool New York swag he said, “Aw, thanks baby.”

John’s stories remind me I can talk and write about my story without any fear or shame (because most of the time that is what STILL holds me back). He is raw with his sharing and I respect him for that. I was really looking forward to seeing John this weekend. I needed a boost in my journey. I find it necessary to support someone who has kept it real by being real. John shares what made him and where life is taking him and at a moment in my life where I find myself questioning and doubting every post, it’s important to me personally to be surrounded with liked minded people. At times I feel I’m all over the place. I want to share this (my memoirs) and that (my dedication to eating clean) and it may not make sense at times, but I mean well. What I learned this weekend was it’s not just ONE thing. I don’t have to stick to just ONE thing. This is my life and shit is constantly happening. One day a post might be about some raw ass heart wrenching story and the next post might be about what I learned about parasites in our gut.

This is me.

X