MEET AIDAN PARK

Hi! I’m Aidan. I’m a nationally recognized stand-up comedian headliner, working actor, published author, certified life coach, public speaker, certified master level practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and creator of the wellness lifestyle brand, The Art of Being Yay!

Considering I got a D in Miss Archer’s English class sophomore year, I can’t believe I get to say I’m an author. To be fair, English realistically is my second language. I was born in Korea. Don't freak out, south, South Korea; relax come out from under the table.

With pure certainty I can say, I’m a consistently optimistic person. Ask anyone, truly. Because I'm tall and I genuinely like to smile, it reads as though I naturally had a lot of love and milk growing up. However, I was not born to a pair of prominent dentists in suburban Orange County; growing up wasn’t sunshine and rainbows.

In Korea, I was raised by a single mother because my father had a separate, secret family. When I was nine, I was brought to the United States as an undocumented immigrant. Upon arriving in the US, my mother moved halfway across the country to find work. Once there, she was blackmailed into supporting a man through dentistry school, under threat of being reported to the INS. During that time, I secretly lived in my grandmother’s senior government housing. While living there, I had to be quiet which is probably why I am so loud.

Here's the cherry on top; I'm gay. My family is hardcore Christian. During my teen years, I was depressed and even attempted suicide a few times. Somewhere along the way, I developed an eating disorder. Despite my depression I was promptly accepted to a few colleges but could not attend due to my undocumented status. I was unable to secure a job due to my unfortunate lack of citizenship documentation. So, I instantly became a budding entrepreneur; selling sexual services on Craigslist. I promptly retired from that job at age 19, when I contracted HIV.

Lucky for me, just as I was feeling like my life was over caring friends sent me to a weekend workshop called, The Liberty Experience. I had no idea what I was signed up for that weekend. Their mission was to get people to actualize their potential and contribute to their communities, and they achieved this via various course offerings. The specific purpose of The Liberty Experience was to provide attendees tools to efficiently manage their lives and experience momentum. I was 19 years old, and I literally did not know that taxes were filed every year. Or that car insurance was needed to drive a car. To say thank you and please, as well as, common manners had to be explained to me by well-meaning friends. So it’s safe to say that before I attended The Liberty Experience, I had never experienced education in the area of empowerment. It completely transformed my life.

I left that memorable weekend with a bit of hope and optimism none of which seemed at all possible for me. I thought I would die alone as an HIV positive young man. I thought I would die alone, uneducated, poor, homeless, shameful, lonely and worst of all, acne-ridden (yes, this actually crossed my mind). After the weekend I saw a small potential for a successful fulfilling life. I resolved to dedicate my life to feeding myself with as much education in the area of empowerment, growth and achievement as I possibly could. Over the next 15 years, I privately studied the mindset of successful people and attended seminars and even earned a certification as a master level practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming. I did not want people to think I was a weirdo so I kept my studies to myself. I found the tools incredibly useful as I made my way through life. I properly applied the knowledge I learned and ran three businesses. I produced four to five comedy shows a month at Hollywood’s top comedy clubs, the Laugh Factory, Hollywood Improv, The World Famous Comedy Store and Icehouse. I performed my way to becoming an international headlining comedian and working actor.

I studied Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), various communication techniques, concepts of EST training, spirituality, as well as, therapy tools for trauma and PTSD recovery. I even became a certified Life Coach (for my own benefit). I read 100 plus books on skills, empowerment and development.

My friends would ask me questions and I would advise them for fun. They’d ask me how I could give them such insightful answers that actually helped them. I would say, “Gurl… it took years!”

There was one barrier still. My self-esteem at the time was dependent on my achievements. I was always in a precarious position and I was easily knocked down. If something like COVID-19 had happened years back, I would have had a complete meltdown.

Things really changed when I lost the love of my life. I fell in love with a man and we lived together for five years. Michael James. We were truly, madly, deeply in love, like that Savage Garden song from the '90s. A true and unique romance of a lifetime. Which made it all the suckier when he got cancer and passed away.

Michael’s death made me rethink everything in my life. You see, I was really in love with him. Like Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” or Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” and George Michael’s “I Want Your Sex” kind of fireworks romance of a lifetime. Nothing was more important to me than my love for him. And, my “achievements” really meant nothing to me at all when I lost Michael.

For a few months I wanted to die. I would wake up in the morning and be angry I was still alive. I would make it through the day desperately trying to keep myself so busy and not think about my grief.

Ultimately, I made myself a deal. I’d stay alive, but not feeling they way I felt. I refused to live that way. I had to feel better; so I focused on feeling better. Instead of relying on my achievements to make me happy, I started applying the tools I had learned during my 15 years of self-education.

I made amazing discoveries:

· I learned I can have influence over how I felt day to day

· There are ways to get my emotional needs met

· I can apply tools for positive focus and intentionally engrain them into habits

· I COULD BE HAPPY WITHOUT MICHAEL HAVING TO COMING BACK FROM THE DEAD.

Something else I found interesting was my happiness level. On a day to day and moment to moment basis, my happiness level was higher than when Michael was alive. When Mike was alive, I might complain or feel powerless or feel annoyed, etc. Once I directed negative thinking and negative emotion in the direction of positivity, I felt better, way faster. I started adjusting my deeply held beliefs towards a ‘better feeling’ result.

Then the magic really happened. It turns out, the side effects of being happier includes more energy, more optimism, more joy. When you are joyful, energetic and optimistic, you are friendlier, nicer, more easy going, more solution oriented, inspired, more witty, faster, pleasant and resilient. All of a sudden everyone wanted to hire me. I was asked to write a book. I was respectfully asked to give an academic seminar on the topic. Friends called. Guys wanted to date me. People wanted to pay me. Mentors wanted to support me.

My life isn't perfect; my life is far from perfect, really. I naturally have my struggles, and I don’t like prettying them up (as you will see) and I will always tell it like it is. But I have developed a closer relationship with my emotions. I am powerfully moving in the direction where I want my life. I feel good about myself. I am proud of who I have become. I am excited about what is coming. And it’s not because I’m especially talented or unique, or on some magical prescription medication. But because I'm equipped with thought tools that I genuinely want to share with you and everyone in the world. So that’s my driving mission! To share tools you can use to be stronger, more resilient and joyful.

This official website is all about you. Check out my blog for entries from me and friends. You may pick up helpful tips and tools for your own life. You may get a copy of my book too! In my book, I get into the nitty gritty of my life happenings. I also show how you can use the tools in the book to guide your life to more YAY!

We're all in this together.

Love,

Aidan