S3 E40 To Thine Own Self Be True

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Well, hello, and welcome to the Comforting Voice podcast. I'm your host, Shastere, and I'm joined in the studio by Emmy the Minimacaw, and she has been getting very, very vocal. So we'll see how jabbery and talky she gets tonight. And the giant dog is out in the hallway. He had a snack. He was getting very loud in his snoring skills tonight, so he is definitely on the other side of the door. Alright. Did you want to say hello? Yep, as you can tell, Emmy is in rare form. She saw me digging through the cigar box. I had to reach in and grab a tea tag and a fortune cookie slip, and she about went out of her mind just on that. She's kind of occupied with a snack right now. And she has her toy box here too, so we might hear her root around in there like a mole. You never know. You done? Sometimes she laughs and giggles when she eats, so she might do that. She's definitely happy. Alright. I hope this is relaxing for you. Let's get you started on some relaxation and just some chill time at the very least. Maybe you're here to fall asleep. Whatever the case, this is gonna make your day better. It's gonna get your sleep and your rest off to a good start. It just is gonna get you off to a good start. So when you have everything you need, right at your fingertips so you don't have to go hunting around for stuff later, make sure if you always keep water close by or an extra pair of socks, an extra blanket or pillow or something, whatever you do, squish your pillow up into that perfect shape so you're most comfortable, and get your listening device set at that perfect volume. And then when you're ready, engage in a really productive stretch. Reach through your arms and legs into your hands and fingers, your feet and toes, flex all your fingers and toes, wiggle them real quick, and then release all your muscles. And you're gonna feel some instant relaxation kick in. You can do that a couple of times. Really engage those muscles all through your whole body in that stretch. Follow that up with a couple good, productive, deep breaths of air. You want to inhale about to the count of four, hold it to about the count of three, top it off real quick, hold it another second or two, and then exhale very slowly to about the count of six, eight if possible. And that is gonna set you off for some amazing, amazing stress-free relaxation. You're gonna fall asleep a lot easier, and you can do that any time of the day when things get stressful. If you feel some anxiety amping up, it's excellent. Do both of those. Do that combination, mix and match it. You can do miraculous things just with that. Okay, let's get into that thing that Emmy gets so jealous of here. We're gonna read your tea tag and fortune cookie slip. Your tea tag. In life, don't create just an impression, create a trust. Very good advice. And your fortune cookie slip. Your efforts will be worthwhile. Ah, excellent news. Excellent, love it. Okay, your lucky numbers off of the back of the fortune cookie slip eight, sixteen, nineteen, twenty five, twenty eight, and thirty-one. Good luck if you play number games or the lottery. I hope you win big or at least win something. Get that into the archive receptacle. Okay, so you guys have been busy out there. Oh my gosh, you've been busy. See, it's a really good thing that we take a minute and we just decompress, we go through the stretch, the deep breath, we find out some really good happy thoughts from the tea tag and fortune cookie slip. Because you guys have been just going crazy out there. We've been adding countries, we've been adding cities to our listener base. So let's take a look at this week's Join the Fun and the next three countries on our listener base list. All right, first on our list tonight, Azerbaijan. Okay, so this is the land of fire because there is natural gas escaping from the ground that creates flames that have burned continuously for centuries. That's fascinating. Azerbaijan is one of the few places on earth with natural mud volcanoes, hosting nearly half of all the mud volcanoes in the world. And Azerbaijan sits in the crossroads of Europe and Asia, giving it a fascinating blend of cultures, traditions, and history. So if you're joining the fund from Azerbaijan, you represent enduring energy, natural wonder, and a place where different worlds come together. Next on our listener base list is Japan. Japan has more than five million vending machines, selling everything from hot meals and umbrellas to flowers and fresh eggs. Japan is home to some of the world's oldest continuously operating businesses with several companies that are over 1,000 years old. And Japan has a longstanding culture of repairing broken pottery with gold, and this celebrates the idea that flaws can become part of an object's beauty. So if you're joining the fun from Japan, you represent ingenuity, lasting dedication, and the beautiful reminder that imperfections can become strengths. Last on our list for join the fun this week is Bermuda. Bermuda is surrounded by some of the northernmost coral reefs in the world, making its marine life especially unique. Bermuda is famous for its naturally pink sand beaches created over time by tiny coral organisms mixing with the white sand. Bermuda has colorful roofs designed to collect rainwater since the islands have no rivers of freshwater lakes. So if you're joining the fun from Bermuda, you represent resourcefulness, natural beauty, and the ability to make the most of what nature provides. Why don't you play with your toy box? Yeah, play with your toy box. Hi dear. She seems unusually happy. Let's check in with Lon for this week's Got a Minute.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

We have all heard this, but do we live it? Judy Garland reminded us always be a first rate version of yourself instead of a second rate version of somebody else. And that's very true. We must free ourselves from the expectation of others and give it back to us. That is our power. Self-respect. We should all observe which way draws our heart, and we must make sure that we choose the way that is our strength. To thine own self be true. When we start to compare ourselves to somebody else, in that moment we start losing ourselves and become little more than a copy, not ourselves. So we must make sure that we remember, since we are the ones that live with our choices, we must make certain that those choices are our own. Thrive.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

Awesome. Thank you, Lawn. That was terrific, and it was terrific to write a podcast episode too. I think that is something we should all keep in mind. We should all do our best to, you know, try to live by, at least here and there. There is so much benefit from those words. And there's so much interesting things to be said about the words to thine own self be true. So let's take a deep dive into that and let's see how we can be true to ourselves. Let's pick this apart and let's have some fun with it. As always, oh my gosh, guys, the world is so stressful right now. I was talking to a very good friend of mine on the phone the other day, and we were just chit-chatting about this, that, and the other, and some attitudes we've seen online about people angry about this, that, and the other thing, stress that she's seeing in her family members, stress that I've seen just when I've been places in and um yeah, it's crazy out there. So when we can have some positivity, you know, to toss around in our own minds when we're going about our day-to-day tasks and stuff and whatever we do, sometimes it's good to focus on the good stuff instead of all that bad stuff is always going to be there for us. It's always going to be waiting for us to engage in. Sometimes it's nice to just think of some awesome stuff we can benefit from. And that's what Lon and I are here for on Tuesdays is to just celebrate you and help you be your best you. And um, yeah, it's like I've said to you many, many times, we're not psychologists, we're not professionals, but we've got a lot of miles on our shoes. We've experienced a ton in this life between the two of us, and wow, sometimes it's just easier to, you know, find easier ways. Let's dive into this. To thine own self be true. Hmm. What's that mean? Okay, so have you ever caught yourself playing a character kind of in your own life, so to speak, just to keep the peace and avoid stepping on toes. Maybe it can be likened to those situations where you feel like you're walking on eggshells, so to speak. We throw around the phrase, to thine own self be true, like it's the easiest thing in the world. But most of us really have no idea what our own true self actually is. And so, like I said, we're gonna look at this famous phrase, we're gonna see where it comes from, we're gonna see what it means to some other people, and um we're gonna maybe even have some psychology hacks. Basically, we're gonna just break down in a very easy way what it really means to drop the act and just be yourself. Right? Don't worry about what everyone else thinks. Okay, so here's some origin trivia. Many, many, many people think and erroneously assume that the phrase to thine own self be true is from the Bible. It's not. Didn't come from the Bible. It came from William Shakespeare. And not just William Shakespeare, but William Shakespeare's famous work called Hamlet. The words are actually spoken by a character named Polonius. Am I saying that right? Why do I always pick these words? Polonius, that tells you how much I'm familiar with Hamlet. I know of it, I know a little bit about it, but I've never really watched the whole play. It's actually one of his best works in many ways. So anyway, back to Polonius. He was a notoriously long-winded, scheming, and foolish old man. He is tossing out this grand philosophical advice as part of a rapid-fire list of superficial platitudes to his son before the son leaves on a trip. And really, the entire play of Hamlet is a massive masterclass in identity where the main character spends five acts trying to figure out who he is amidst the sea of family drama and expectations on him. And I'm just gonna take a moment right now, I think it's very important to state this. If you need kind of the cliff notes version of Hamlet, if you need a humorous way to grasp the concept, watch the episode of Gilligan's Island with Harold Hecuba and their production of Hamlet, and you'll get the gist of it. And you might get a laugh or two at the same time. Alright, back to being true to yourself. Let's look at the modern psychology of authenticity. Modern psychology tells us that being true to yourself is not about finding some hidden magical treasure deep inside your soul. It's actually about closing the gap between how you actually want to live and the masks you wear to keep other people happy. And there is a term for the chronic stress of maintaining a fake persona. Psychologists call this self-discordance, and it'll drain your energy faster than anything else. And a super easy way to apply this daily is the rule of one small no. Just consciously drop one tiny obligation this week that you only do out of misplaced guilt. Do that once a week. We might have to add that to our anti New Year's Resolution challenge. I think that might be a good one to add to the list. Let's do that. Make a mental note of that. Okay, moving right along. There are tons of famous people out there that reinvented themselves, they were true to themselves, and they did crazy things later in life. In the time of life, we're all saying, Oh my gosh, I can't do this. One is Colonel Sanders. Harlan Sanders didn't find his true calling or launch KFC as a massive success until he was in his sixties, after decades of failed jobs and tough breaks. He stayed fiercely true to his uncompromising vision for his secret recipe and his iconic white suit. So basically he turned his eccentric personal brand into a global empire. That's pretty impressive when you think about it. Julia Child. I love Julia Child, and I have loved her since I can remember. Julia Child did not step into a professional kitchen or write her legendary cookbook until she was nearly fifty years old. She had previously worked in intelligence during World War II. She completely ignored the rigid, intimidating rules of traditional French cooking and brought a fun, clumsy, joyful authenticity to TV that made cooking accessible to everyone. And I I personally remember I was very young, her show was on, and I used to just watch it every day as a little kid. My mom said that, you know, there is Sesame Street and there is Mr. Rogers, and I was glued to Julia Child. So oh my gosh. Okay, so the next one on our list is Vincent Van Gogh. Vincent didn't experience mainstream fame during his lifetime. He is the ultimate example of someone who flat out refused to paint what the commercial world demanded. He stayed violently true to his emotional swirling style of self-expression, ultimately laying the foundation for modern art centuries ahead of his time. That's pretty amazing. He really made his mark on the world. Think about that. If he had done what everyone told him to do, we may never have heard of him, right? You gotta be yourself. So, really, this is a really great topic. Here again, make it part of your day-to-day life. Tiny little itty bitty baby steps. Just remind yourself that reinvention has zero age limits, and authenticity doesn't require a dramatic, life-upending epiphany, right? Be true to yourself, a simple daily practice, listen to your own gut instead of turning up the volume of everyone else's opinions. If you know something's good for yourself, it's okay to do that. Not everyone knows what's good for you as well as you do. And as I've said in recent episodes, I've had to totally reinvent myself with my career lately in recent months. Wow, it can be hard. I'm still just kind of trying to figure out where I fit in, find my groove with that, and how that fits into my day-to-day life. But you know what? I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't listened to my gut and done what I knew was good for myself. And the process of doing that, I actually had to listen to my gut and do what was good for myself about four times. And I am very happy I did it. It pays off. So anyway, that's just an example from me, a little bit from Lawn, a little bit from life, and I hope it gave you some good food for thought. I think we're expected to be so many different things to so many different people, and it's very easy to get lost in all that. So make sure you listen to your own self too, alright? I think that's all we got for you this week. I hope the rooting around of the crazy bird in the box has not been a distraction too much. And don't forget to tune in Friday, we have another amazing chapter of Through the Looking Glass. We are ramping up to the end of the book. It is approaching the conclusion, and you will soon find out what our next book is. Oh my gosh, that's exciting too. Alright, until then, sleep tight, good night, and bye bye.