Usually newsletters, even end-of-year holiday letters, are filled with positive information that is also self-congratulatory to make the reader feel impressed. But Dobie's newsletter from this month has sincere feelings that are pretty much never seen in newsletters or in those boastful holiday cards that make the family seem extraordinary. Such honesty is also rare nowadays in blogs (which I've mentioned before), but he's consistently written such posts at his blog, too (though he discontinued it last year to write a book).
Anyway, he said I can post an excerpt from his newsletter, so here it is:
My whole life is taking on a new direction of late, and I’m not 100% sure where it’s going but I know I’m really liking it. Gone forever are the days when I devoted the all of my being to chasing the dream of being an entertainer. No more being on the road 45 to 50 weeks a year – year after year after year. I’ve had my fill of that.
The thrill of being on stage is still fun, but only to a degree. When I’m off stage I am finding there is a lot more to life than just trying to get to the next gig. There is a huge price that comes with chasing the showbiz dream, and I just don’t think it’s worth it – at least not for me. I feel myself yearning to experience new challenges.
One of if not the most delightful things that has happened in my life has been the continuing reconnection with my siblings. It has been exactly what I have wanted since I was a small child, and having it happen has been nothing short of a miracle. I never thought it was possible, but after a lifetime of waiting it really is happening.
Not caring in the least what happens show business wise has ironically given me a new found power I have never felt before. There is all kinds of sucking up to be done to people of questionable integrity, and that’s pretty much what show biz is. I never enjoyed that part of it, and it has showed. I have managed to alienate myself with more than one “powers that be”, and that has caused undue pain and stress.
Now, I could not care less about any of that. The people that don’t like me aren’t going to change their opinion any time soon, so why try to change their minds? I’m not going to let them control my ultimate destiny, even though they think they do.
They might be able to book or not book me for some comedy shows, but that’s as far as it goes. They can’t stop the growth of my soul, and that’s what has happened in this past year with my family reconnection. There is a part of me that was asleep for decades, and now it’s wide awake and enjoying life. Comedy can’t touch that.
The newsletter is longer than what I've posted here, and if you want to sign up for them, email him at dobiemaxwell@aol.com
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