I often think about how quickly stories can change. How I can’t turns to I can just because it has no choice. I think about the things we hold to be true at any given time. I’m not smart enough. I’m not very creative. Good things never happen to me.

Here’s one I hear a lot: I can’t listen to the sound of my own voice. That’s a big one.

When I ask other comics if they watch tape of their sets, many tell me no. And the majority of those cite not being able to listen to themselves on tape as the reason. Nobody can stand to hear themselves on tape! It doesn’t sound the same as when I talk! I could never…

I know because I used the argument for many years when I began, as an excuse against the work.

And yet, I watch hours of myself on stage now. I’ve seen my own show so many times the words coming out of my face might as well be spaghetti or neon paint. I know that to do what I do well, listening to myself is a necessity.

I fought it early on because it’s the natural response. And then, once I accepted it as my new reality, it lost all its power. It was an imagined can’t. Completely. Our brain adjust quickly.

I could never…

Never what? Listen to yourself on tape? Live with one leg, travel solo, write something good, run a marathon, draw, dance, sing, move out, be loved, say no, say yes.?

All those things are possible once we realize we’re not trapped by the stories we’ve yet to question.