I just completed my 54th trip around the sun last week. This birthday was a "simple pleasures" birthday. I took the day off of work and spent quality time with my husband, running errands. One of our "errands" was a trip to the Pinball Museum in Tarpon Springs. I love pinball! We played pinball for hours, did window shopping, and then headed home for a lobster and shrimp dinner. We had friends over Friday evening for a birthday party and cocktails. It was just perfect.

With my research on Hashimoto's over this past year, I discovered there may be a link between thyroid health and amalgam fillings. I checked in with my dentist and found I had amalgam fillings, one on each corner of my mouth. I remembered getting these fillings vividly, kicking and screaming the whole way. It definitely made a severe negative neural impression on my brain. I get reminded of my fear every 2-3 weeks when I get my nails done. I love how my nails look when I'm done, but sitting through the part where they drill the hard coating on my nails is torture.

Earlier this year, I found myself with 2 pianos. I tried selling one, but no one was interested after 6 months on the Facebook marketplace and another online dedicated piano listing service. I decided to keep it and moved the second piano to my home. What, exactly, does one do with two pianos when one can only play one piano at a time? You make musical lemonade.

In elementary school, my father would head out on Tuesday evenings to attend "Rotary." All I knew was that it was a businessman's organization, and they did businessman's organization things.

I am juggling a lot of projects right now, and most days, I feel like I can’t possibly get everything done. A few weeks ago, I went through my entire To-Do list on an excellent to-do list app called ClickUp and found projects I had given my assistant to do almost a year ago. He did them…but I found myself too busy to check on his work. Another project needed to be done…and it sat in my past-due box. I happened to glance at it and see that 300+ things were “past due.” Oops!

I screwed up. I admit it. I fell off the wagon.

Since I discovered I had Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism, I have had to drastically change my diet. For over a year, I’ve mostly followed an AIP (Auto-Immune Protocol) Paleo diet, which means I avoid Gluten, Dairy, Soy, Nightshades, Refined Sugars, Caffeine, and most liquor. This was not an easy adjustment. As a comedian, I loved having my Crown Royal shot before a show and visiting the Waffle House at 2 a.m. I loved going out to eat every night. That had to stop. I ate AIP Paleo for over a year, and my joint pain disappeared. My digestion got better. My sinuses improved. It’s been a hard-fought year.

I spent this past weekend evaluating several programs designed to scale up my business. I’d see a program that looked like it was the most amazing thing ever, and while it said it offered a key feature I wanted, it didn’t. This must’ve happened 7 or 8 times. I’d give them my info, start plugging things in and then I’d look for the scheduling features and they just weren’t there. This got me thinking about the FAKENESS that is everywhere in our society.

There. I said it. I hate “To-Do” lists. I have tried nearly every To Do list app on the planet, and they ALL have the same problem…the app expects ME to complete the items on the list! The app tracks what I haven’t done and reminds me what a failure I am for as little as $3.99 and as much as $99.99.

I got my first taste of "modern medicine" while caring for my mother in 2015. She was in the Emergency Room four times in four months. She ended up in four different emergency care centers. Each time they changed her meds without checking why she was on them, gave her new meds that disagreed with her and sent her home.

Much of what I do as a hypnotist is helping people correct their self-talk, what I affectionately call "un-hypnotizing my clients." Each week, I hear people say the same things (and these are just a few examples):

I returned last night from Hypnothoughts, the largest hypnosis conference in the world. I was there to teach three classes: Yoda-Nosis, Psycho Patterns, and Comedy Writing for Stage Hypnotists. I was also there to take two courses from David Snyder; Identity by Design and Vibrational Healing. It was an action-packed two weeks.

I’m wrapping up a tumultuous few weeks that have been nothing but GO-GO-GO. I’m tired and unable to get caught up because I've been at Hypnothoughts this past week. Hypnothoughts is the world's largest hypnosis conference, and I'm teaching and taking classes there. I'm having a great time, but at the end of the day, my body tells me I'm doing too much. I need to start saying “NO.”