S4 E6 Changes are afoot, but not for long!

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Good evening and welcome to the Comforting Voice Podcast. I'm your host, Shasta Rey, and I'm joined by Emmy the Minimacaw. She's sitting on my lap right now, and we're coming to you live, pre-recorded from just outside the birdroom. This is my temporary setup that I mentioned on Friday. So, um, yeah, we've got some changes going on, just some temporary changes, but kinda necessary right now. So I'm gonna get you up to speed and then we'll get going with tonight's presentation. So what's going on is I got this bright idea recently to go hang out with some doctors and nurses, and they told me that they felt I needed to get sliced open and get the deli prep treatment, right? And so I'm gonna be going under the knife very soon. I'm kind of doing some preparations for that, and then I'm gonna be doing some recovery after that for a while. That's gonna be a lot of fun. Well, probably not. Anyway, I'm gonna need to rest a little bit. I'm gonna try to get a whole bunch of stuff done a little bit in advance and get some episodes queued up, and this will allow me to do so very quickly. But the problem was I had originally had this great idea that hey, maybe Lon wouldn't mind doing a few episodes and kind of taking the driver's seat for a few weeks, see what happens, you know, give the guy some creative freedom, let him go crazy. And well, I texted him and I didn't hear back. And I texted him again, and he still didn't text back, and I was like, Well, he must be busy, and then I got a voice message from him, and I thought, well, that's weird. We never talk. So we always text each other, and he goes, Yeah, I can't even text you right now. I'm really sorry. I hurt myself, and I'm gonna be needing surgery soon. So he's gonna be getting the deli prep treatment, and we're both gonna have some really cool Frankenstein scars to impress all our friends with for Halloween, I guess, this year. We, oh my gosh, I don't know how we timed this, but that that's just incredible. So our Lawn is kind of down for the count right now, and I want everyone to send him some great energy because what he did is tear his rotator cuff, and that is extremely painful. So send him some good healing vibes, let him know you love him, and uh let's get him healed up. And Lawn, don't worry about the driver's seat. We got reruns, yes, we do. So we're gonna be doing some fan favorites for a few weeks. I'm gonna do some quick little intro, and then we're just gonna jump right in to some of you guys' favorite episodes. And if you missed them the first time, well, hey, it's gonna be brand new for you. It's good stuff, very popular. You can't go wrong, right? And if you did catch it the first time, well, hey, two times is twice as nice. It was great the first time, it's gonna be better this time. So, there you go. I will be checking in with you guys at the beginning of each episode and let you know what we're listening to and why I chose it. And we're gonna keep up on the Hardy Boys mysteries because I mean, it's the Hardy Boys guys, we gotta keep up on Fridays. So I'm gonna try to get those recorded a little in advance. Okay. So the episode we are listening to tonight has been a definite fan favorite. It originally aired on December 9th, 2025, so just before this last Christmas, season two, episode 26, Joy to You and Me. And this was before I started the intro music. So this was an original format. When I started this podcast, I had no idea if it would stick around, if people would listen, if people would find it, if I would want to continue it. And I thought, well, we're gonna call it the comforting voice. So it's gonna be voice only, and that's all it was for a number of months. So, without further ado, I present to you Joy to You and Me. Well, hello, and welcome to the Comforting Voice podcast. I'm your host, Shasta Ray, and it's just you and me in the studio tonight. Yes, it is. I tried to have Murray down here. I thought it would be easier than the mini macaw. No, it was not. He decided to start singing and yelling, and oh my gosh, he was just going crazy. And then he wouldn't stop. So we played for a little bit and I took him back upstairs, so I'll go hang with all them. In a little while. Oh my gosh, let's just you and me tonight, just hang out, no distractions, nobody to whistle the Andy Griffith song, nobody to sing the baby shark song. Oh my gosh, he was just out of control with his happiness. And but hey, enough about the bird. What about you? How are you? Did you survive your day? Did you survive Monday yesterday? Did you survive the weekend? Are you off to a good start on your week? Oh my gosh, so many things to ask and think about, all that stuff. It's a busy time of the year for everybody, stressful, and we're all tired, and there's a lot to do. So take a load off, kick back, settle in, let's hang out a little bit. If you're here to doze off, well, you're at the right place. I'm gonna say some nice things, I'm gonna be helpful, nothing's gonna be terribly exciting, but it will all be positive. And you know what? There's a lot of you'd finding this little podcast lately. I have been watching all sorts of new little locations come up on the map. So welcome if you're new here, and of course, for our tried and true listener base, welcome back. It's always good to hang out with you, of course. Oh my gosh. And let's do something really quick before I get too deep into the episode and I forget. That's no good for anyone. We need to go through our sleep prep, our relaxation station, whatever you got going on there. Whether you're just gonna kick back on the couch, or maybe you're in bed and you're wanting something nice to doze off to, whatever the case. This is where I'm gonna ramble for a minute or two. I'm gonna talk about a lot of nothing, and you're gonna get your blankets where you want 'em, shuffle those covers around, your pillow, all that stuff that makes noise when you miss the important part of a podcast. This is the unimportant part of the podcast, but the important part for you. Then when you're ready, give yourself a good stretch, engage all those muscles really good, and then release it, and make sure that you release some of that tension from the day. Follow that up with a couple good deep breaths of air. Inhale slowly, hold it a couple of counts, exhale just a little more slowly, do that a couple of times. Do it in a way that's right for you, and I tell you what, you're gonna blow some of that tension right out of you. Yes, you will. It's good for you. And then, of course, I probably should have said this first. Make sure you've got your bottle of water, your cup of tea, whatever you need within arm's reach. If you have a listening device, you need to get that volume set wherever you need it. Get all that stuff done. Settle in. I'm gonna tell you about my Bluetooth speaker. Oh my gosh, I have the Cadillac of Bluetooth speakers. I'm a big fan of the Ryobi Power Tools, and they have the rechargeable batteries. So I have the USB port charge station, so you can charge your phone or plug a Bluetooth speaker or small device into a little charge station. It's awesome. And I got so hooked on that that I was looking at some of their other things, and I got an early birthday present from a friend who gave me the mini itty bitty bitty mini vacuum. So it's portable and runs on a Ryobi battery. Awesome. Awesome, awesome. Really good for little tiny areas or something where you can't just get a traditional vacuum in the space, right? But I had to buy this for myself. I dug into my piggy bank and splurged a little bit and got myself the Ryobi Bluetooth speaker. It is amazing. There were some reviews online where people didn't like that it only gets FM radio. There's no AM radio, but I just use it for listening to podcasts, and the sound on this is phenomenal. And one of those batteries holds a charge for days, especially for something like that. So if you're looking for a really good Bluetooth speaker and for multi-purposes, it's actually meant for more of a noisy shop kind of setting. So the sound quality is truly, truly amazing. Give that a whirl. Alright, what do we got next? Well, I think it's important for us to take a quick dive into the cigar box and get your fortune cookie slip and your tea tag for the week. Let's see what we got going on. Alright, your tea tag. The purpose of life is to enjoy every moment. I like that. That's positive. Your fortune cookie slip. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. And your lucky numbers off of the back of the fortune cookie slip fifty-four, forty, thirty-one, eleven, twenty-eight, and four. Good luck if you use those numbers in a number game like the lottery. Win big. Alright, let's put this into the archive receptacle. We don't have any crazy mini macaws to drive us nuts. And um does anyone have a burning yes-no question that you're just dying to know the answer to? I want you to get that yes-no question in your head. Okay, focus. We're gonna consult the magic eight ball. Now make sure that this is a non-important question because this is a children's toy and we're just doing this for fun. Alright. You got your question in mind? The magic eight ball says, don't bet on it. Don't bet on it. Not gonna happen. Sorry about that. Alright. Last but not least, let's check in with the emotional support pickle.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

Whether life is sweet, sour. It's spicy. You can handle it.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Well that was nice. Whether life is sweet, sour, or spicy, you can handle it. I love the emotional support pickle. It always has something nice to say, and you feel loved afterwards. Alright, let's just take a minute and see what Lon Senan for this week's segment that we affectionately refer to as Got a Minute?

SPEAKER_00 11:58

As humans, we all seek happiness. We all seek joy. Joy to the world. There's a difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is the result of individual things occurring. That thing made me happy. That person saying hello made me happy. The finding of a good deal at the grocery store that made me happy. That is happiness. Joy is long-term happiness, the ability to hold those moments in our heart and continue with them throughout our day. Whenever we have moments of unhappiness, we must learn to turn that, to go back to kindergarten, as I like to say, by uh giving our brains the ability to list the smallest blessings in our life. Whenever we have dark moments, dark thoughts, to get back to happy, try and specifically think of three things that make you happy. My puppy wagging, that person saying hello, that thing that I like to have for lunch always available, coffee in the morning. Those things will make me happy, and if I think of those when I am down or in dark mood, that will become joy. The long term version of happiness is joy. Thrive.

SPEAKER_01 13:45

So very, very true, very true. We should always strive for happiness and then in the long term joy. Keep joy in your heart. It's a good thing. It's so much more fun than being bummed out. Sometimes we need those little bumps and bruises that life has to provide for us so that we really appreciate happiness, joy, smiles, good vibes, all of that good stuff, right? It just makes us appreciate all the happiness and joy even more, doesn't it? Oh my goodness, thank you so much, Lon. That was so appreciated. So what do we want to talk about this week? I really didn't come down here prepared, but let's just talk about that a little bit. Sometimes we bypass all of those little moments of happiness because we don't recognize them. Sometimes we don't recognize the small little victories that we should be celebrating, then we would have those moments of happiness. So first and foremost, I like to mention all the time, and this goes way back years ago. I've been saying this forever. Consider a gratitude journal. First and foremost, and even just taking a couple of minutes at the end of the day to jot down five things that you are grateful for, that can change your attitude so much. It will help you appreciate those little moments of happiness when they occur. It will help you recognize long-term joy, your mood and your attitude and your outlook. Everything about you in those directions is gonna morph into positivity and it's just gonna happen seamlessly. You're not gonna be overly enthusiastic bouncing off the walls, you're just not gonna have that negativity that sometimes life dishes out. Seriously, we don't even know we do it sometimes. So, yeah, that's one thing you can do. Just start a gratitude journal. And how do you do that? You can do that with an old notebook, go to Walmart or Dollar Tree or someplace like that and just get a cheap little notebook and use that. That's the easiest, easiest way to get started. I have a gratitude journal on the Buy Me a Coffee Shop. I have a link for that in every show. If you're looking for something that works really well on your tablet device, you can do that too. Then it's not out for eyes to see, you don't have to worry about someone finding it. A lot of us have those paranoias, don't we? So yeah, you can do that too. You can buy a fancy notebook. You can buy a fancy, expensive journal. You can do anything in that direction. So just do what works for you. There's no right or wrong, and start a gratitude journal. Find a buddy that's looking to do something in the same direction, you know, kind of an accountability buddy, and check in with each other. Someone that you text all the time, one of your, you know, your best friend, your sister, your brother, whoever it is, if you've got a like-minded person in your life, start a gratitude journal at the same time and and encourage each other. It's awesome. Sometimes we get really exhausted in this world. Things are so busy you can't keep up. I know I can't. And I just sometimes I need to sit down and then I feel guilty for watching TV for a while or something when I know I need to just sit down and do something like that. But what zaps your energy and what motivates you? Well, little tiny rewards can motivate you, but someone's not gonna be there to put a gold star on your chart, you know. When you're adulting, it's it's all on you. You gotta find your own victories sometimes. So, an example I'm gonna give you. Are you here? Come here, Rex. Oh my god. Look out, look out, you're very happy. Okay, back up. Is it? Is it? Oh, I love you too. Good dog. Okay, so the giant dog has joined us in the studio, and after a bit of drama and excitement and a grand entrance, he is now laying down comfortably and he should start snoring or breathing heavily. That's how it goes. Okay. So where were we? We were talking about those those moments of happiness. If you have a giant dog in a podcast studio, sometimes the giant dog joining you can be a moment of happiness. Maybe as a listener, that was a moment of joy for you. Put it on the list. But speaking of household stuff, I remember what I was gonna say. So sometimes those things that overwhelm you are gonna be your tiny little victories. They're gonna be your happiness in the moment. And you will be utterly amazed at why it was so overwhelming. But that's what happens when we turn into adults in today's world. Holy cow, the struggle is real. So I understand what you're going through on that. But I needed to clean my bedroom. I had a major, major, major get it all done laundry day. So I dedicated myself to getting it all clean, all dry, everything put away, and all of the laundry baskets and all of that put away so they're not out and stuff like that. You get into some bad habits. It's very easy. You know, you leave a basket of socks out and you just deal with that. Not only did I get all of the laundry taken care of, I took the vacuum cleaner up and pulled the bed away from the wall, vacuumed back there where all the dust that accumulates back there, everything over time. It's not something I do regularly. So I got that all dusted out and vacuumed, put the bed together, vacuumed the room, detailed it really well, did some dusting, put some other stuff away, and the energy changes up. When you clean up your space, there is a change in the whole area. You feel good about it, and you feel really, really good about the accomplishment. And then I think it gives you a little bit of momentum to make sure it doesn't get so out of order next time. Some of that chaos can really drag us down, and we don't even know that it's dragging us down, simple as it sounds. So that was one little victory that I had, and I've been riding that wave all day today. Another little victory that I had today, and it was exhausting. Oh my gosh. At my age, I just it gets tiring, and I gotta just put my nose to the grindstone. But I've mentioned I'm getting back into my coloring book production and I'm getting ready to list digital products in my Etsy shops and my website. So I'm learning how to do that with a correct presentation so it doesn't just look thrown together. I want it to look professional, I want the images to look good and you know be a good representation of the product and also be a good representation of the brand, recognizable, and then a system that it's easy for me to use. So I'm making templates for myself and a variety of them, so they're all done. And that takes time. All of the layout, and if you don't know design or anything, wow, that will not just take up the day. It can take up a couple of weeks, literally. But what I'm doing is setting up a system for myself so not only do I have a publishing schedule of sorts when I put a book together, and then I put the left-hand version of that book together, and then the digital version, and I get all of those properly uploaded where they need to be uploaded and published where they need to be published, and wow, that is another one where it's just a huge relief, and then you feel accomplished, you learned something in the process, and maybe you invent your own process so it's something new. There's exilation. Exploration in that. And when you do something for yourself and you finally figure it out, wow! And I'm gonna tell you a secret, guys. If you're trying to learn something like this on your own and you're turning to YouTube, like we all do, you're gonna find all these gurus out there, and they make it sound so easy, and you just do this, do that, slap it together, do this motion with this tool, and do this with that tool and that software, and boom boom boom. See, you're done. Now you're making hundreds of dollars a day off of this one thing. Okay, they need to tell people exactly what the realistic expectations of the process is. So if you feel overwhelmed, that's normal because what they do is funnel you into a coaching program that you don't need to buy, and some of those can run thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars and you don't get much out of it. So the learning process is real, the answers are out there and you can do it, and you don't need to spend money on it, but uh wow, the sense of exhilaration that I've felt, just with the little bit that I learned today and accomplished today, I'm really happy about that. So that's just another thing. Learn something. Even if it's a little hobby, if it's a little art or craft kind of a thing that you've been wanting to figure out how to make, even if it's seemingly not important to anyone else but you, go do it. Go see what you can figure out. And if you have a little fear of moving forward, and you move forward past that little fear because of uncertainty, something like that, that's another little thrill in the moment. And all of those little things are drops in the bucket for your lifetime joy status, so to speak. You see what I mean? All those little wins, they just continually add up because you have a good mood started from this little happiness moment, you have a good mood started from that little happiness moment. Oh, here's another mood that just popped in out of nowhere because of another little victory, another little spontaneous win for the day. And you start recognizing those little moments. I had this overwhelming thing, I've been digging my heels in at this thing, and I did the thing, and now I have that wave of relief, and you're gonna ride that like someone on a surfboard on a gigantic wave. Oh my gosh. Think about stuff in the mundane world. Another little win that I did recently, and I have to do this on a daily basis, but then I have to deep clean, is the bird room. I did an extra good down across the baseboards of the whole room, under stuff, move things around, other areas of the room, and really organized some personal items in there because it was getting kind of cluttered, and with all those birds, you know, what in their play space and stuff like that, oh my gosh, it was good to just get that done. And the whole energy of the room, it's it's more open, it looks twice as big, and yeah, that was another little win, and I did something for my own space, so I benefit from it, the birds benefit from it, and it was another little mundane win in the adulting life. Organizing my desk, getting some of those pesky pieces of paper into the file cabinet. I don't know why we all hate filing so much. It's not hard, especially if you had the files set up, but it's just one of those things that you don't like to do. You get finished with something, you stick it on the to-be-filed stack, and it stays there until it's a big stack. So those are little wins also. And when you start recognizing those little victories, those little moments of happiness that we all have to deal with our chores and our expectations, our responsibilities, turn those into little moments of happiness for yourself. You don't even have to tell anyone. Lots of stuff gets us down these days. You have to look for those little moments to keep your mood up and feel good about yourself. Sometimes it comes down to those chores we hate, you know, sweeping the floor. But how good do you feel about your space when it's done? So yeah, that's where my vote goes as for long term joy. Sometimes it's it's looking for it and seeing it. Sometimes that goal of that long term joy, you know, in our life, that perspective of joy, yeah, that's totally reachable. Sometimes we feel like it's not, but it is. So start looking for things that can bring you happiness in the moment. Try that gratitude journal. Go get yourself a notebook, jot stuff down, think about it. And if you can't think of some grandiose thing to write down that's gonna impress yourself if you go back and read it later, first off you're not trying for that. It can be very little. I had a wonderful sandwich for lunch. My shoe stayed tight all day. Think of something. Find that tiny win, write it down, and the process of doing that, it's recognition. And when you recognize it, you will see more. When you seek, you will find. So it's kind of a learning process for our perspectives and our overall attitude. And then you're gonna see that you're gonna have a lot more joy just developing and getting bigger and bigger as all those little happiness moments add up. I heard somebody say once, try not to think of it as having a bad day. You should never look at it as a bad day. You may have had a handful of bad moments in the day, but don't call the day bad because it's kind of like turning something that's actually quite pleasant into something negative. You don't want to make the day a bad thing. You want to look at those individual moments within a day and those individual instances and call those frustrating bad or something like that. But don't associate the day with it because then you're gonna start associating in your deep psyche that days are bad. And it's true. So sometimes perspective is everything. As weird as that sounds, give it a try. Give it a try. Alright, that's all I got for you tonight. Just a little gibber jabber about how to stay positive, how to keep a smile on your face and a bounce in your step, and always work towards seeing the good and seeing the positive. Alright, Doggy is really snoring it up down here. He's he's getting old, folks. I'm getting worried about him. He is aging, and it's it's a hard thing to watch. He's a giant breed mix, and they tend to have respiratory struggles as they get older. Things just wear out on them. So try to keep him happy, try to give him those little moments of happiness throughout the day so he has joy in his life in his golden years. He's almost 10 years old, and he's a Mastiff Rottweiler mix. So he's a big boy. Yes, he is. Alright, everyone. I will be back here, same time, same place, Friday for our Friday night bedtime story extravaganza, as always. Alright, until then, sleep tight, good night, and bye bye.