The Soundtrack of Self-Care: Masterful Listening, Stick Figure, and the Snow Day Ritual

Speaker 1 There's what's written and what's read. There's what's heard and there's what's said. There's what's spoken and what lands. What it all means, well, that's in our hands, and minds, and hearts. Welcome back to Masterful Listening and uh enjoy the tunes just a little bit longer today.

Speaker 1 My dear friend, brilliant musician who created this track, composed this song that we've called Moldovan Red. I hope you liked it, listener. I basically sent Smoothie some of my favorite music. I sent him a bunch of stick figure songs and some Theory Corporation. I was like, can you just like make me uh a podcast song that would like be all these vibes that I love? And then he did. So today's episode is dedicated to my favorite band, Stick Figure. Shout out to Stick Figure, who I just saw two times in three days, which has never happened before in San Francisco at The Warfield. So I wanted

Speaker 1 to give the listener a little uh a better, deeper taste of the song that was created for this podcast because it was inspired also by the music that Stick Figure has created. And if you've been listening at all to this show or if you know me, you know that I talk a lot about how music is medicine. Uh, I met a stranger about four years ago. I actually looked it up recently because I was like, when did I discover Stick Figure? Which has legit become my favorite band. And I didn't discover them until October of 2019, which is almost five years ago, I guess, at this

Speaker 1 point. But the point is, I'm 38 and I discovered them when I was 34, which is so cool because by the time I was 34, I was like, could I ever discover a musician or a band that I'd love even more than any other? Yeah. I mean, it's wild, right? Like, we're always here to learn and grow and evolve and fall in love and masterfully listen. So again, thank you to Smoothie for making this rad tune for the show. But thank you to Stick Figure because world on fire, that album was sent to me. And once in a lifetime, that song that I now saw performed

Speaker 1 twice, one from the balcony, and the next time from right below the stage, it really, I can't say it saved my life, but it helped me save my own life because those words, those lyrics spoke to a part of me so deeply and so masterfully that because I listened, I think I'm here today, partially because of that. It got me through so much darkness and and since then, all of your music has gotten me through so much goodness and light, sunshine, rain, snow days. Hence why I think this is the perfect episode to actually share the concept of a snow day, which is a concept I've

Speaker 1 had for a very long time, and it's not about the weather. All right, guys, it's not about the weather. And by the way, did I already say welcome back to Masterful Listening? I probably did, but welcome back again. This is, of course, the world's first super rad listening school that you actually really want to go to. And by the way, Rad, the dog, is literally chilling right at my feet in his cute little sweater with hearts on it since it is Valentine's Day, and he is obviously my Valentine, and also I've been having a very crappy day up until about 20 minutes ago. And then I

Speaker 1 thought, let's do it. I'm recording this episode because it's a few days late. But you know what? It's never too late to record a podcast. It's never too late to start your day, it's never too late to start your life. And this probably is the best time for me to do it because it's the only time that I can do it, right? You know, what's wild is that I don't know why Scott of Stick Figure wrote certain lyrics, right? I hope to ask him one day on the show, right? I don't know why any band or musician or artist or poet or who anyone. We never

Speaker 1 know exactly what leads someone to write or create whatever they do. There's what's created and then there's how it's received and read and what it means, right? And this is so tied to masterful listening, right? Because what do I always say? Right? There's what we say and there's what people hear, right? It's not always the same thing, right? How we're listening, are we even listening? Do people feel like we're listening to them if we are or are not? All right, guys, school is in session. Going to rad school. We're gonna talk about snow days. Okay. So remember when you were like a little kid, or not

Speaker 1 even a little kid, a big kid, high school, you woke up and you thought it might snow and there might be a snow day, and then you get up and it's like, yeah, it's a snow day, and you're like, woo, yeah. Rad just looked at me. Yeah, buddy, that's right. You got a snow day all the time because he gets to chill and do what he wants every day because he's a rad dog. But you know, we human beings, those of us, most of us, who have jobs and you know, things we gotta do as adults, we can't usually just take a day off. And yet,

Speaker 1 can't we? Here's the thing: I was in my first corporate job, probably this was wow. I mean, I really cannot actually still believe I'm almost 40, almost 20 years ago. And there was a moment that I had where I really did not want to go to work. And um, you know, in school, you could have like a sick day, you can like get a note, stay home because you're sick. Um, I guess you could do that at work too. But I just thought, man, why don't they have snow days at work? But like the idea of a snow day being, it's not actually snowing, it's like

Speaker 1 a day that you just get off work as if it was a snow day. And so I decided back then that if I ever had a company, which I do, this is it, enterprises, I just me at this point. But when I have more employees, and I might at some point, I imagine, I will have this snow day policy where once in a while, and I probably will not be located where there is snow often, because I'm in California, but you know, who knows? I'm just gonna have this like random snow day policy where as a surprise, people will just get a snow day notification. It's

Speaker 1 like take the day off, you don't gotta work, chill, do what you would do on a snow day. Just as a little break. So that's the idea I came up with. I didn't know how possible it was. Possible that it was when I messed up up. I okay, I gotta keep going. Oh man. But seriously, right? Snow days. I want to give people snow days. I want to give myself snow days. And so, how is this connected to stick figure, connected to rad, connected to this moment? Everything is connected. Everything is connected. But before I get into the story, I'm gonna do a quick little masterful

Speaker 1 listening reminder because we are in school, and I'm gonna invite you to listen in a certain way today. If you've been here before, so rad. You know this. If you haven't, cool. Remember, we got to hear things many, many, many, many, many, many times. I think 17 to actually remember. So again, if you're new, thank you for joining. If you're not new, if you're old, meaning if you've been a guest and a listener for a while, so so cool. Um, masterful listening, and do this right now. Check in with yourself. Masterful listening starts with do you care? Do you want to listen? Is this a good

Speaker 1 time? Uh, this is not a podcast to have on, just in the background, you know, just hearing my voice every now and then. I mean, I would appreciate anyone wanting to hear my voice, yes. And this isn't about just enjoying it. I want you to really practice listening. Listening can be challenging. There's a million things you could probably be doing as you're listening to this podcast. And if you're someone who actually focuses better by, let's say, me, when I listen and I doodle, like I draw, that helps me focus. But if I'm listening and scrolling on Amazon, that is not listening. That is not masterful listening.

Speaker 1 So, first thing, check in with yourself. Do you want to listen? Is this topic of a snow day essentially a self-care day? But connected to stick figure, super amazing music. Uh, is that interesting for you? Because yeah, cool. First step done. Next, listen. Masterful listening is about listening to my words, but also beyond my words, my tone. How am I speaking? Where am I pausing? What am I not saying? What's my energy? What's in the space? I've actually had uh probably three of the roughest days that I've had in a very long time. And so I'm actually shocked at how much energy I'm expressing at the

Speaker 1 moment, but also that could shift any moment. Pay attention fully with your full being to my full being. Okay. And I'm gonna give one other uh lens for today. Okay, because you know, we put a lens on a camera, it shifts what you're seeing. We're always adding on these masterful listening lenses because there's so much to learn. I want you to listen like you're listening to a song, you know, feel the colors, taste the smells. I know I said that all over the place, but the point is feel and listen with all of your senses. Yeah, listen with that child-like wonder you had on your last

Speaker 1 snow day. Listen like there's nowhere else you'd rather be in the whole freaking world. All right. And if you don't have the space to do that, then you know, turn it off and come back when you do. Best thing about a podcast is you really can't always rewind it. But I want you to have this as a practice because it makes life so much more. It's just so, it's just more delicious, you know. Really is. Uh so yes, that is the invitation for how to listen. So now I'm gonna get into this story. Okay. So adults typically don't have, you know, snow days. And uh I

Speaker 1 am an adult who has talked a lot on this show, or if you've seen the, you know, hundreds of and maybe even thousands of videos at this point that I've made or articles I've written through the years as a mental wealth advocate, I have constantly tried to raise awareness around mental health issues because I have had some severe times in my life where I just was not okay. Uh honestly, in the last six months, I have never seen an epidemic of mental health like I have now. Interestingly enough, I've been pretty balanced. Meaning, you know, I've gone through a lot, but I have so many tools

Speaker 1 at this point that between my like daily cold plunges and all day stick figure sing-alongs and coaching and the podcast and Rad, Rad, by the way, is like the greatest medicine. I keep looking at him, my little doggy. Rad, by the way, um wants to meet um Coco, the tour dog. I'm gonna keep coming back to Stick Figure this whole episode. And if by the way, you know who Stick Figure is, then you probably know that they're super badass. If you don't, go check them out. I'm gonna link my favorite songs. I've never been like a groupie for a band, uh, but I've all I've actually

Speaker 1 never had a band impact me, I think, as profoundly as this band, which for those who know me and know some of my other favorite musicians, like Jason Mraz, who I hope got his rad hat at this point, Michael Fronti, who did get one this year. I handed Scott a hat, by the way, at the last show. I hope he got it and he loves it. But the point is, I love music and I love musicians, but Stick Figure is not just, whoa, they're a great band. Those lyrics are so powerful. And you know what else is super cool? And then I'm gonna jump into this

Speaker 1 Snow Day story because the day I went to see Stick Figure, I had a snow day. Um, I heard recently that they decided to be like, if not the first band, but one of them, to give concert. Like when you buy a concert ticket, there's always like a you can't sell it, you can't return it, you know. So they decided that they're gonna allow people to get a full refund on their tickets that they're purchasing for like their next tour next summer, um, within like 10 days, because shit happens in life. And I'm like, that is masterful listening to your freaking audience. How cool is that?

Speaker 1 Because shit does happen in life. You go, you buy an expensive concert ticket, which by the way, thank you also, stick figure, for keeping your tickets affordable enough where I could go two days in a row, which is also pretty much impossible to do with most bands these days. So, again, in so many ways, I admire people who show up in a way in this world that feels masterful to me and that shows that they're listening truly beyond where I think most people are. That's the whole point of this show. So

Speaker 1 Monday. Monday, it was today's Wednesday the 14th. It was the 12th. Okay, Monday the 12th. I knew that I was gonna go see Stick Figure in the evening, and I had just seen them on Saturday night um the 10th alone, by the way. That was the other thing. I saw them last summer for my birthday at Stanford alone, and it was so epic. I loved it. I realized I'm gonna go to concerts alone all the time because I actually bought two tickets because I was like, I'm gonna get someone to go with me. And then it just kind of happened that no one that I knew

Speaker 1 was like a big fan of theirs, and then I didn't just want to like bring someone who didn't really want to be with me, because that's not the vibe I'm trying to have. So I ended up literally just giving a ticket away when I got there. I went alone. I had such a good time. And so when they knew that they were coming back, I bought a ticket for Saturday night. And it was the first time I was actually gonna go to a show alone, like in the city at night in a closed venue. And I was super excited to go, but I hadn't been to

Speaker 1 the Warfield, uh gorgeous venue, by the way, but I forgot that that part of the city is intense. It's it's the tender loin. And for those who know San Francisco well, you know, it's just unfortunately where the homelessness, homelessness, homelessness, mess, the mess of that. Yeah. It it's it's very sad. It's intense. The energy is just, you know, being alone at night walking through blocks of blocks of like not the best feeling neighborhood kind of got to me energetically. So I was having a bit of a hard, energetic night on the way. But then once I got in and I felt that energy and the music,

Speaker 1 I had tickets like way up though in the balcony. And it was amazing. I loved it. I got a good spot. I was right. I always like to be kind of right on the edge by the stairs because I like a little more space because I knew I was gonna be dancing like crazy. Like I know every song, all the lyrics. I had a really cool couple behind me, funny enough, at the end of the night when they were uh leaving, the guy handed me his card and he he's like a dog guy, like a pet trainer. And I told him about Rad and Coco is

Speaker 1 there. Coco is Scott's dog, who always is there on the stage with the band. I've never seen such a chill dog on a like a stage with a band. And Coco's demeanor is just like my dog Rad, who's so super chill that I really do feel like they'd be buds. Um, so it was just such a great night. And the next day, when I was reflecting on how amazing the show was, I'd posted a few videos uh that I took and stick figure reposted some of them. And I was like, oh my God, that's so cool. And then I thought, man, but it would have been

Speaker 1 so cool to be up front. Like, I want to see them so close. So I was like, I wonder if there's still any tickets. And I literally go online and I see that they just posted few tickets left for tomorrow's show. And I'm like, no way. And when I saw that the tickets that were available were for the floor right below the stage, and they were like 60 bucks with fees 85. I thought, screw it. Obviously, I'm gonna go again. But this time I invited um a friend. She's actually my trainer, and she knows how much I love stick figure. I mean, everybody knows. Literally, my

Speaker 1 upstairs neighbors a few weeks ago messaged me. It was kind of funny. They're like, hey, um, like all I hear all day is stick figure. Can you like turn it down? And I said, no. Oh my God. So um she said she'd come with me. So I bought two tickets and I was like, awesome. Now we're gonna go, we're gonna be right in front of the stage, and I'm gonna make Scott a hat. For those of you who don't know, I have a hat company, like I'm wearing one right now. This is one of the OG rad hats. I got it on the North Shore of

Speaker 1 Hawaii. But how that even started was I was always an artist. I was drawing like this piece of art behind me. If again you're watching the video, the art of my life is always words and lyrics. I've been so obsessed with language that I just started drawing my feelings, the words that were in my mind. I started drawing them on paper. I've, you know, drawn them all over my body as tattoos. I've designed a lot of tattoos, and then I started making the hats because I was at the beach one day at the edge of the ocean. Yep. And I thought, well, wait a minute, I'm

Speaker 1 wearing this baseball cap and I'm painting on this paper. Why don't I paint the hat? And that's where it started. This was like seven years ago. Gosh, I don't even know. And then I did that for a while and I just like drove all around the Hawaii that I was on the big island then. Yeah, the North Shore was a different trip. But basically, I would just find cool hats and I would just take my favorite lyrics, mantras, and draw them as different images. So I thought, oh my God, I gotta get Scott a rat hat because I had a stick figure hat and um I

Speaker 1 was gonna paint it for myself. But I thought if I go and I'm by the stage, maybe I'll get a chance to hand it to him. And I did, which was super cool. Um, I was gonna write a little note on it, like a more personal note, but I of course somehow last minute left my pen at home. Yep. So he didn't get a personal note, but it it does say rad hat for rad human. So maybe the story will get to him. But I painted the lyrics The Choice Is Yours and Sunshine and Rain into the hat, because every hat that's rad, meaning every rad

Speaker 1 hat that I make, is a message, a message. Mantra, a reminder of something that keeps you going, that helps you in life. And that day I had a plan. I was gonna make Scott the hat. I was gonna record this episode. I was gonna do all kinds of things I'd been needing to do. And you know what happened? I felt like garbage. I had a really um hard interaction with someone, and I got very sad. Like not just sad, but like deeply sad. And I felt so much uh grief and pain that I I know myself enough at this moment to go, okay.

Speaker 1 Is is this a snow day? So that's the snow day idea. You know, uh people call them self-care days, right? Do you need to take a self-care day day? And and and yet still most people are just pushing themselves. Go, go, go. Taking a snow day means you choose, you choose to take a day because you need a day. I I really felt into it. I thought, okay, for the things I have to do, like making some art for someone I love, recording a podcast, um, gosh, I had work-related stuff. I mean, I had so I had so much to do that in the energy I

Speaker 1 was in, the only thing that I really felt like I could do was lay with Rad and just like um nap or cry or just rest. I needed rest. My my emotional body was so overwhelmed. I was overwhelmed. And so I said, okay, I I laid out, I have this really cool swing bed on my porch, and we laid on the bed, and then I kind of was like, you know, I'm a coach, so a lot of what I do is like, come on, get through it. And I thought, well, get in the cold plunge because that's gonna help. But I like just didn't feel right.

Speaker 1 And so I said, okay, you know what? It's what? It was like noon or one o'clock at this point, and I hadn't gotten much of anything done. And I laid down on my couch with Rad. I came inside and I closed the curtains and I noticed myself laying down, but my mind was spinning about, oh my God, but you only made half the hat and you didn't book those tickets to New York. And uh, what about the like and I literally noticed the thoughts. If you've listened to another episode, there's one called Shit Spiral to Love Loop. I noticed them and I said, Okay.

Speaker 1 Took a deep breath and I said, either you actually rest or you get up and you do that stuff, but you are not gonna lay here and uh spiral. And that is the point I want to make about the snow day. It's kind of the idea of peaceful productivity that I've talked about before. It's this idea that so many of us are so overwhelmed and so anxious and so stressed that even when we do take the time to like sit on the couch, we're not masterfully listening to the TV or to our breath. We're sitting there thinking about a million other things and distracted. And then

Speaker 1 by the time that you are done with that break, it wasn't even a break. It was just another distraction that led to now the stress, because now not only did you not do the thing, you know what I'm saying? I said to myself, literally, if you're gonna lay here, you're gonna lay here and you're gonna rest. And I literally said that to myself and I put my hands on my heart and I just laid back in, like, kind of like I was in a coffin, swear to God. And I just melted off into this like slumber. And I swear to God, like two and a half

Speaker 1 hours passed, and I woke up and it was like five o'clock. And I got up and I walked myself to the cold plunge. I got in there, it was freezing, took a shower, finished Scott's hat. I didn't like it, also. I want to say it wasn't my best work. I wish I had more time with it. So then there was a little bit of that, like, oh man, why didn't you make it? Blah, blah. And then I was like, it's good enough. You're giving a gift, it's cool. But I'm just saying, like, it was a day where I needed that day. I needed, I needed to

Speaker 1 just process what I'd heard that morning. It was really hard, made me sad. I also want to acknowledge I had the privilege and the freedom to just take a day, right? Um, because I work for myself. But then I also had the privilege of beating myself up about the fact that I, you know, I'm not working hard enough for myself. So, whatever situation you're in, you probably can have a day once in a while for yourself, a snow day that you really need. And on that day, not only did I need to not do all that shit that I was spinning out about, I needed to

Speaker 1 actually let myself rest. And when I did, I got to that show, I brought the hat. I, my friend came with me. She actually, funny enough, had also a pretty crappy day at the beginning. But unlike me, she didn't take a snow day. So she shared when she arrived when we were on our way, I said, Yeah, this is what happened. I felt really crappy. I kind of took a snow day. And she's like, Yeah, I thought about like, should I cancel my day? But then I didn't. And I said, And how do you feel now? She said, I feel better. I said, Me too, which

Speaker 1 showed me once again that there is no right thing to do. Sometimes taking a snow date is great, sometimes not taking a snow date is great. Nobody can tell you what is right for you. But if you masterfully listen to you and to the people that you trust, right? Your VIP crew, not everybody in the world who has an opinion, but if you masterfully listen to yourself, and what do you need today? I knew that what I needed was to just process a lot of grief and sadness. And that trying to force myself to do all this shit was not gonna work. So then I needed

Speaker 1 to lay down. And then what I also masterfully heard was I am not about to spend three hours laying here spinning. I'm either gonna let myself rest or I'm gonna get up. And that's when I could just fall into that sleep. We are a lot more powerful than we've been taught, and I'm not saying it's super easy to just turn off that shit spiral in your head because honestly, I spent most of my day again today in it. But here I am, it's 4:41. So it's not the end of the day, and I am feeling better. So I think what helps me remember that things can

Speaker 1 change well music. One of my songs that I love uh that made me think of snow days as sunshine and rain by Stick Figure. And you know, it's like it's not about sunny or rainy or snowy or windy. You know, at the end of the day, you are the writer, director, performer, star of the show, right? The choice is yours. We always have a choice in what we focus on. Now we might not like the choices, we might not feel like we have a choice, but we always have a choice. And sometimes you might very well choose to have a snow day or a slow day

Speaker 1 or a sunny day or a rainy day. It's all good. Just choose your choice and stick to your choice and then change your choice. Go figure, right? But like that's a choice in itself. So I want to first of all remind all of you out there that you do get to choose not what happens in your day, but how you show up for that. And it is a thousand percent appropriate and healthy and smart to take a snow day once in a while if you feel like that's what you need. Okay. Or maybe you don't take a snow day, but you take a slow day, slow

Speaker 1 things down. Remember, one of my life mantras that I still, oh my God, it is so present right now is I am exactly perfectly on time. And a no is a yes to something better. When life feels like it's just overwhelming, it can be so hard to believe that.

Speaker 1 But keep believing it, keep trying to believe it. Listen to music that helps you, read words that help you, surround yourself with people that help you. Our choice, the way we choose to show up, the way we choose to listen, man, it it is it's beyond powerful. And I'm saying that as someone who is literally coming now off of a third day in a row of a really crappy experience of this world. Despite the fact that I saw my favorite band, and that in a lot of ways everything is great. I have a lot of people in my world deeply suffering. And it is definitely having

Speaker 1 an impact on me, right? There's always this kaleidoscope of humanity happening. I talk about that a lot. Holding the good and the bad and the dark and the light, it's just this freaking mess. But like amidst that chaos, it's kind of somehow magic and weirdly perfect. And I can say that even now, when again, man, I almost feel like I'm waking out of some sort of dream right now. I'm looking outside and it's raining and misty, and Rad seems to have gone back to bed because he's super cool. Um, so wherever you're at, if you're already feeling good and inspired, fuck yeah, good for you. Ride

Speaker 1 that wave because it will crash at some point, as all waves do. And if you're feeling like you are being pummeled by every freaking wave in the ocean, I've been there and I love you and I'm sorry, and know that too shall pass. Shine on like the sun. So if it's sunny, shine on. If it's rainy, I mean it really does pass. It just gets fucking annoying after too much rain. And anyone in California recently could probably attest to that. And don't make fun of us, those not here, okay? Listen, I'm a New Yorker at the end of the day, so I remember what it's like

Speaker 1 to have all kinds of weather. But when you're not used to it, it affects you differently, right? That's actually very connected to what we we've been talking about. Let's not have pain Olympics anymore. Let's not let's not have our connections be about this, the divisive shit, right? I'm allowed to be uncomfortable in the rain. You're allowed to be uncomfortable in the sun. In fact, look at me. I'm so pale. I much prefer a rainy day at the beach than a super sunny one for real, because I burn. So let's stop judging one another and looking actually at one another, you know, from that place of comparison.

Speaker 1 Let's just come together and love one another a little bit more. Because this is it. This moment is the only moment that exists. And you don't get pretty much to do anything more than once in a lifetime, which is a song, by stick figure, on the World on Fire album that was given to me. That I want to read a few lyrics from as we end, because this song really, I must have sang these lyrics thousands of times. And I'm telling you, neurologically speaking, when we say words over and over, we rewire our brain. So when Scott comes on the show, and I'm just creating that

Speaker 1 in my mind before it happens, um, that's what I want to also talk about. Like his words, and I mean any musician out there, your words that you are writing, that you are then singing, sharing, that others are singing along to are literally rewiring our brains. And these words saved my freaking life. So thank you. And I'm just trying to see where I want to do it.

Speaker 1 Okay. I'm just gonna start right here. And if it's really uh if I'm embarrassed, I'll cut it. Just kidding. I ain't cutting shit. All right, something's happening.

Speaker 2 This feeling's setting in. I refuse to give in. Hold on hold on. There's a vibe in the air when the truth comes clear, you can find it here. Hold on

Speaker 2 Hold on one, two, three, woo! I'm done running away, I'm coming, I will escape. Take me away. This place is never the same, never the same, this is once in a lifetime. Yeah, but I'm done running away. It's something I can't explain. Ready for change, you know that I can't stay. It's never the same. This is once in a lifetime.

Speaker 2 That line. Yeah, but I'm done running away. It's something I can't explain. Ready for change, you know that I can't stay. Those two lyrics, ready for change, you know that I can't stay.

Speaker 1 I don't know why you wrote that. I don't know who it's about. But for me, when I felt like in I was in a dark night and I was fighting to survive, to me, that was me saying to me that I'm ready for change. And then that part of me needed to change. I needed to leave. Like, you know that I can't stay, meaning this part of me that was trying to destroy me can't stay anymore. That was like my prayer to literally let a part of myself die and a new part of myself be born.

Speaker 1 I also feel like something just drastically or dramatically fell in the background, which would have been a perfect moment because you know what? I was ready for change. And you, whoever you are out there, you might be feeling like you're ready for change. But you know what? Change is hard, right? You know, our brains register change, uncertainty as a gap. They try to fill it, which is why what do most people do? They fill it with all kinds of distractions. And uh my chair is extra squeaky right now, and I'm noticing that as I'm gonna start to wrap up. I recommend that you embrace the fact

Speaker 1 that change is coming and there's nothing you can do about it, but you can choose the choice is yours. The choice is yours. How do you want to show up for that change? You want to fight it? Because you know when you fight with reality, you always lose, or do you want to hug it? Do you want to

Speaker 1 do you wanna dance with it? You know, or not? It's a lot more fun to have a dance partner when they're not stepping all over your toes. And, you know, dancing with life is very important. It's a coaching principle, dancing in the moment with another being. But are you dancing in the moment with yourself? Are you listening to the parts of you and others that are the parts you want to be listening to, not the sabotaging brain that we all have that spirals us so fast into a dungeon of despair? Or are you listening to the part of yourself that's uplifting that says, yo, this is

Speaker 1 once in a lifetime, this moment, this opportunity, MM just came into my head when I said it like that. But guys, this is it. I'm sharing a super vulnerable moment that I'm having even in this week, where I have been on a two and a half day snow day. Um, but I'm still showing up and I'm still living my life. I'm being honest about it. I'm doing my best. And I feel so much better in this moment than I did uh an hour ago and seven hours ago, that I just want to share this to show that it is never too late to start your day.

Speaker 1 It is never too late to start giving yourself a snow day. It doesn't even have to be something you tell anyone else. You can just, you know, have it your own little fun thing. Because I remember how I used to feel when I woke up and school was canceled because it was a snow day. And there's just something about giving ourselves the chance to have that childlike wonder and joy that feels really cool because we're still those little kids. We really are. We're just the adults who now have to take care of all the adult shit and the little child within us. And I want to

Speaker 1 thank everybody in my life who helps me do that every day because it is a big job. It is a it is a big job. Thank you again to Stick Figure for the two incredible shows, for all the music, for all the albums. I'm sure I'm not the only person, even though I'm assuming I am your number one fan, whose life you've changed, but to all the musicians out there, Smoothie, all the other people that I love and appreciate your art, uh, what you do, how you listen, thank you. And you, the person listening right now, masterful listener. Ooh, 4141. That was the timing of when

Speaker 1 I said that. How you doing? How was that? How was uh the snow day landing? How'd you like when I sang? That was kind of interesting. I'm curious to see how I feel about that when I re-listen to this. Um, if you know stick figure, are you like so on board with how rad uh they are and how many times I mentioned them? If you have no idea who they are, are you inspired to go and find out? Um what is going on? How was the listening? Was that challenging? Was it inspiring? Check in with yourself and let's get you some homework because you know we're

Speaker 1 in school. So the homework this week, and my homework is to get a chair that's less squeaky. I'm very curious if all that sound is being picked up, but I digress. Your homework is make yourself a snow day playlist. Ask yourself if there was a day that I just had to have a snow day, what would I listen to? What's the vibe on that day? And uh yeah, make yourself a snow day playlist and then extra bonus credit. If you've been feeling overwhelmed, like you need a little break or take a freaking snow day, you deserve it. All right, you deserve it. You know, if we

Speaker 1 do the things in advance proactively that support our mental health, wealth, we don't get a sick. You know, it's like snow days boost the immunity of your spirit so that you don't have to get a sick.

Speaker 1 And share and subscribe, right? Yeah, I'm gonna link stick figure, some of my favorite of their albums, songs. Uh, what else am I linking? I don't know. I might link some other stuff, but for now, I'm gonna wrap this up. Uh, thank you again to the sunshine and the rain and the snow and the wind and to all the weather patterns out there because guess what? We don't make weather wrong. So let's stop making our own selves wrong. You are allowed to feel what you feel, and it really is the crappy frickin' days that make the good ones feel even better. All right.