Moments of Note 2018

At the end of every year, I take stock in all that the previous 365 days have brought. It’s an exercise I recommend to everyone as a means of bringing some meaning and clarity to all that has come before. Days, weeks, months, and even years have a way of flashing by in an instant if we’re not careful, so recognizing those unusual, exciting, unexpected, and unforgettable moments from the previous year (and writing them down) is a way to feel good about what you have experienced and accomplished before turning over the calendar to the coming year.

I’ve been keeping my list since the beginning of 2018, but it wouldn’t be hard to take a moment and reflect back on the moments that made 2018 special for you. You’ll undoubtedly forget some, but some is always better than none.

And perhaps you could make it a goal to record those moments next year as they happen, so none of them can get away.

Here are my Moments of Note for 2018:

• I served as guest minister, including delivering sermons, for Universalist Unitarian Churches in Harvard and Groton, MA.

• I taught storytelling on a Mohawk reservation in Canada.

• I was hired as a creative consultant on by a major advertising firm to work on a national advertising campaign.

• I competed in and won two Moth GrandSLAMs in Boston and competed in and placed third in two Moth GrandSLAMs in NYC. 

• I competed in a no-hands apple pie eating contest at the Coventry farmer’s market. I did not win.

• I participated in and won a lawsuit against Donald Trump that forced him to unblock me on Twitter. I was later blocked by Eric Trump on Twitter. 

• I published my first book of nonfiction: Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling

• My book launch event for Storyworthy included Elysha playing ukulele and singing publicly for the first time. 

• I recorded my first audiobook. 

• I performed stand up for the first time. I was also paid to perform standup for the first time and performed in both Connecticut and Michigan. 

• I performed my first solo show at The Tank in NYC.

• Elysha and I launched our podcast Speak Up Storytelling and published 30 episodes in 2018. Our podcast has been download more than 50,000 times in 99 different countries.

• Elysha and I were honored by Voices of Hope for our work with second generation Holocaust survivors. 

• I performed for a charity event for a local public access channel. The venue lost power so I stood atop a chair as guests shone their phone lights at me and I shouted out three stories before losing my voice.

• Elysha, the kids, and I went on a summer-long ice cream adventure to shops throughout the state. Elysha chronicled our adventures on Facebook.

• I met actor Jesse Eisenberg at a book launch party and had a lengthy conversation with him.  

• A United States Senator told a story for Speak Up.