In this episode we meet Joani Peacock. After 12 long years of enjoying the single life, Joani Peacock takes the stage to tell us about her adventures in the dating game at age 60! In this heartwarming video, Joani relates the ups and downs of her new experiences, proving that it's never too late for a fresh chapter in the story of love. Spend Valentine’s With Story District! Tickets to Worst Date Ever on sale now storydistrict.org/tickets Worst Date Ever: A Valentine’s Day Contest 💔 On February 14, head to the iconic Howard Theatre for “Worst Date Ever.” Witness local daters turn dating mishaps into comedy gold as they share their wildest and worst date stories. Become the judge as the audience votes for the absolute worst date, awarding the coveted Golden Plunger 🪠 . Get ready for a hilarious and entertaining night that proves even the worst dates can become the best stories.
In this episode we meet Joani Peacock. After 12 long years of enjoying the single life, Joani Peacock takes the stage to tell us about her adventures in the dating game at age 60! In this heartwarming video, Joani relates the ups and downs of her new experiences, proving that it's never too late for a fresh chapter in the story of love.
In our third season of the podcast, we bring you I Did It for the Story as part of Story District Presents. All new episodes will feature true stories told live on the Story District stage and insights about storytelling from the host, Amy Saidman, Story District's Executive Director.
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This podcast is produced by Christopher Lee and Amy Saidman.
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Joani: And at my age, I am terrified. Is anybody ever want to go out with me? I know, right?
So, to help me out, a friend of mine lends me this book, How to Get a Date Worth Keeping, and it is full of common sense. Chapter one says to start walking up to attractive strangers and talking to them.
So I start chatting up guys at the checkout line at Whole Foods.
Amy: Welcome back to I Did It for the Story. February is the season of love. So this month we'll focus on stories from Story District's annual Valentine's Day show, Sucker for Love. In this week's episode of I Did It for the Story, you'll meet Joani Peacock. Now I first met Joani when we collaborated on a show called Unhinged, True Stories About Living with Mental Illness, and this show was inspired by her blog, Unorthodox and Unhinged, Tales of a Manic Christian.
You can check that out for more stories that she's told on stage and other writings. I'm Amy Saidman, the director of Story District. Story District is a Washington DC based nonprofit dedicated to teaching and promoting the art of storytelling. In this podcast, we aim to do two things. Showcase great storytelling, and for those of you interested in telling your own stories, we aim to teach something.
So stick around to the end for some kind of educational takeaway. A well told story is powerful. It opens hearts, challenges our assumptions and connects us to the universal human experience. Now let's get to our storyteller.
Joani: I was in a happily married state for 28 years. Been happily divorced for 12, and now I am ready to get back out there. Woo! Right? Divorce sucks, and single life has been good. You see, it was a baby when I got married, and I've never lived on my own. So since my divorce, I have loved living by myself. I love being mistress of my own domain.
But after 12 long years, I am really longing for that human touch, a little companionship with the opposite sex. After 12 long years, I am really craving that crazy little drug called love. So, I am ready to be wined and dined again. I am ready to be flirted with, courted, ravished, and seduced. In other words, I am ready to get up, all dressed up, and go out on a date.
But I don't have a clue how to do that. The very idea makes me feel like a 13 year old at a middle school dance. And at my age, I am terrified. Is anybody ever want to go out with me? I know, right? So, to help me out, a friend of mine lends me this book, How to Get a Date Worth Keeping, and it is full of common sense.
Chapter one says to start walking up to attractive strangers and talking to them.
So I start chatting up guys at the checkout line at Whole Foods. I get up my nerve. To flirt with this guy in the bus. His name was Clark, retired military, a film buff, and divorced, I think. The whole time I'm talking to him, I'm thinking, Joani, get his number, Joani, get his number. He gets off the bus. I don't get his number.
Alright, okay. Chapter 2. Chapter 2 says join some clubs. So I joined this meetup group called Monkeys with Typewriters. And it is full of all kinds of creative types. Writers and artists and cartoonists and they are all half my age. Alright monkeys, anybody here from a broken home? Anybody here want to fix me up with your handsome single dad?
Really good idea but it's not happening. Alright, chapter 3. Chapter 3 says join a dating site. So I sign up for eHarmony because that's the grown up site, right? So, I plop down my money and I fill out the questionnaire and I'm all, eHarmony, work your magic. But all they match me up with are these crazy, flaming fundamentalists.
Now, I am a Christian. In fact, I'm a professional Christian. I am an Episcopal priest.
But this, this is ridiculous. While the last book I read was a biography of Einstein, the last book he read was the Bible. My profile picture shows me hiking on the Potomac. His profile picture shows him sitting in a pew. The three things that matter to me most are my rocking adult kids, my profession, my independence.
The three things that matter to him most are the father, the son, and the holy ghost! Oh my god, this is terrifying! Is this really who is out there? I just want to chuck this stupid fucking book and give up.
But then, I need an actual date for an actual event? And I realized that during all of this time I have developed an actual crush on a real, live person. A frequent flyer, researcher, he's handsome, hip, funny, and age appropriate. I check out his Facebook page and start flirting with him in the library where I work.
Hey friend. Want to check out the books in the Z section? Follow me. Into the stacks. I decide to ask him out and get up the nerve to text him for coffee. Okay, alright. Hey friend, do you think possibly in the future No, alright. Hey friend, do you and your schedule, could you look on your calendar and maybe No, okay.
Hey friend, would you like to have a cup of coffee with me? Sometime, a week later, yeah, a week later, he comes by and says, yeah, coffee. Let's do it. When Friday I say, and inside I am screaming, Oh my God. Oh my God. He said, yes. Giddy as a teenager and flying high as a kite, I consult my daughter Colleen over every little thing.
What am I going to wear? What am I going to say? And I come up with this cockamamie list of things to talk about. Like Disney World and Clericus meetings and how much sunscreen he uses. I am so excited, but ridiculous at the same time. Because I am 60, not 16. So, the day arrives, and I wear this rocking red dress.
Approved by my daughter, Colleen, of course. I get to the coffee shop early and sit down and pretend. To work on my Mac. He arrives right on time Dressed for success in his Rhodes Scholar t shirt.
He orders his coffee, but he gets his muffin to go. I know I'm like, oh my god He's already planning his escape! But he sits down and we just talk we talk about books and music and politics and kids and everything under the sun You're a closet Unitarian. So am I. You went to Catholic U? Oh my goodness, I did too! And coffee turns into this great two hour date. And I didn't have to use any of the stupid stuff that I had come up with. He gets up to leave and says, well, this was great fun. I said, you want to do it again? He says, sure. I say, when?
He says, well, I'll come by in a couple of days with my calendar. A couple of days goes by and he doesn't come by. Oh my God, he doesn't know that was a date. Oh my God, he thinks I'm a stalker. A couple of weeks goes by. Yeah, right, a couple of weeks goes by and he doesn't come by. And that is all the time I get to obsess, my daughter Colleen says, is a couple of weeks.
So I guess, like that other book says, he's just really not that into me. But that is okay, because it is his loss, not mine. You know, and then it dawns on me, it dawns on me, I didn't get this wrong. I didn't get this wrong. I got it right. I got it right because I did it all by myself. I did it all by my 60 year old self.
And if I did it once I can do it again.
Amy: I love this story so much. The audience is completely with Joani from as soon as she starts. With every episode, we like to use the story as something that we can jump off of to teach those of you who are interested in telling your own stories. To help you build those skills. And one of the things, I want to use this story to highlight um, the idea of how to make a story funny.
People often are really worried about how to make a story funny and they're worried that oh, I don't and they think they maybe need jokes, but what we often coach people to do is not worry about it that often just the truth of your story. Is funny and just having the courage to be radically honest, which is vulnerable, is funny.
And you'll notice in this story that Joani gets huge laughs. Like she just, but just by stating the truth that she bought a book, that she's following the instructions in the book, it's not a joke. It's just telling the truth of her experience and people, because they relate to it, because she paints the picture vividly enough that they can walk in her shoes and relate to the awkwardness of it.
They get that it's funny that this whole thing is funny. So maybe give this story a second, listen and pay attention to where she gets laughs. And how she gets those laughs. I also want to give her a shout out for this great structure. I love that she introduces the book and she uses each chapter as a way to structure this story.
So she gives you the premise and then an example of how she executed it in real time and the results. And, um, so I think she does a wonderful job with that as well. And so, so that sets a great example. I encourage you to check out her blog, unorthodox and unhinged tales of a manic Christian, because she has other stories on that blog and, um, she's a great role model.
I hope this story is getting you to think about your own stories and Story District can help. We have classes, coaching, consulting, we work with businesses, we work with individuals, we have lots of stuff in person in the Washington DC area, but we also do stuff online. You can find out all about all this stuff at our website, storydistrict.org. Join our mailing list, follow us on social media, check out our YouTube, all the above plus. Remember to subscribe to this podcast, tell your friends about it and leave a review. All of that really helps. Until next time, I'm Amy Saidman, and this is I did it for the story.