Rethoughts Out Loud

In this episode of Rethoughts I sit down with Jaelin Ivory, a health and life coach with a passion for adventure. Jaelin shares how he began his journey as a coach and imparts his wisdom throughout our conversation. I hope you find his insights as valuable as I do. You can follow Jaelin on Instagram @jaelin.ivory

This episode is a toast to entrepreneurship, innovation, and the artistry of distilling a legacy in the world of whiskey. Join me in my conversation with Chris Seals, Co-Founder of Still Austin Whiskey Co., as he tells us why he started his business, how they build a culture around their whiskey, and where they are going next.

James Smith runs a Facebook ad agency and loves traveling, learning about the world, creating life frameworks, learning new languages and building businesses. In this episode we discuss his thoughts on how to optimize our lives through rapid learning and experimenting. Follow James on instagram @Jamesp_smith Follow Rethoughts on Instagram @re_thoughts Shop Rethoughts at https://www.rethoughts.com/products Support and subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/rethoughts

Join Maddie Kane and I for a conversation about her purpose in this new season as she navigates life in a new state and job. She describes how she is going to approach this transition and keep her mind right. She is a proponent of an “all gas no breaks mindset,” so listen in to understand what that means to her. Maddie is a personal trainer, online coach and sports performance specialist. You can find out more about her through Instagram @maddiekane09 Follow Rethoughts on Instagram @re_thoughts Shop Rethoughts at https://www.rethoughts.com/products Support and subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/rethoughts

Shannon is specializes in marketing for gyms and martial arts schools. Lately he has been thinking about what it looks like to create and design a life of meaning and purpose based on his own intentions and standards VS the thoughts and beliefs of those he grew up around and the people he has spent time with. Follow Shannon on Instagram @mcneilfitness Follow Rethoughts on Instagram @re_thoughts Shop Rethoughts at https://www.rethoughts.com/products Support and subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/rethoughts

Nathan Herzog is a close friend of mine who has been a longtime student of philosophy and meditation. He hosts the YouTube channel "Let's Consider" and always has an interesting perspective. In this conversation with Nathan we cover the topic of anxiety and our experiences with it. Let's Consider Rethoughts Links

Derek Porterfield is an author, musician, filmmaker and father who hates writing bios. In this episode we touch on several topics from poetry to parenthood. He is a man with his hands in many pies but as we discuss, he is the master of no pies. I hope you enjoy the conversation! Derek Porterfield links: For Music/books/etc thatporterfield.com For Video business petrichorvideo.com Rethoughts Links

My guest today is Karl Nielsen who is also known as Sparkle Karl or The Sparkle Wizard. Now, I know many of you may be wondering what exactly a Sparkle Wizard is or does, and that's what we will be diving into today. Karl's mindfulness practice began when he first started sewing clothing in 2012, as a means of finding and creating his own personal way of expressing himself. Little did he know that the creative outlet of sewing would lead him to his Spiritual Path. Over 10 years later he continues to explore facets of himself through travel, permaculture, nature based therapy, and of course sewing, and is excited to begin the next chapter of his journey by exploring men's work through his own lens of Sparkle Masculinity.

Cole is an animator and visual artist. As an avid fan of philosophy, he enjoys combining the two in creating visual art that ideally invokes out of the box thoughts. In this episode we cover several topics from authenticity to purpose and meaning. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Follow Rethoughts on instagram @re_thoughts Shop Rethoughts at https://www.rethoughts.com/products Support and subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/rethoughts

Austin Nobles is originally from Redding in Northern California where he did seasonal wildland fire fighting for six years. In 2012 moved to Los Angeles and Started working for the state of California with the Department of rehab and has since also become a health coach while dabbling in drone work on the side. He has a masters in kinesiology with a concentration in counseling and is also a certified health coach. Follow him on Instagram @austinjnobleshealth "John Haegele — living in LA on the cusp of fifteen(15) years, John is an actor with a roller coaster of a journey, continuously figuring life out. A few of the things he is proud of is working commercially for a fast food company, having roles on TV (Mistresses, The Young and the Restless) and film (MOPE, upcoming sci-fi feature). You can find John on all social media outlets @Haegster. Thank you to Jonah for the opportunity to jump on board his podcast! Much love brotha." Follow Rethoughts on Instagram @re_thoughts Support us on Patreon or through our Shop

Eric and I work together so we get to have these types of conversations on a consistent basis. He recently expressed that he wanted to shift his perspective. Naturally I gave him a reading list so we could expand on topics and frameworks of thinking that he's never considered before. During our conversation we touch base and discuss many topics that he's reviewed including: -Becoming process-oriented -Teleological approach -No wrong emotions -Feeling inadequate We hope you enjoy the episode! Follow Rethoughts on Instagram @re_thoughts Become a patron on Patreon Or shop our merch

Chris Riley and I discuss what he's been up to lately, my upcoming trip to Utah, and our experiences with the Wild Mind. Chris Riley is one of the most genuine souls I've had the pleasure of knowing and I look forward to seeing how he changes our community for the better. I hope you enjoy the show. Follow Rethoughts on Instagram @re_thoughts Support Rethoughts on Patreon

RJ Soleyjacks and I begin our conversation with education in Amarillo and how he is making changes at Bivins Elementary to lead the way in developing a new educational experience for kids. We discuss many topics throughout our conversation including leadership and being a father. You can follow RJ on Instagram @soleymotivated Follow Rethoughts on Instagram @re_thoughts Support Rethoughts on Patreon

In this episode I sit down with co-authors Daniel Winter & Andrew Monroe to discuss the fundamentals of their book, Dead by Tomorrow, and what it means to live your life as if you could die at any moment. You can find their podcast on Spotify at: https://open.spotify.com/show/4515gfqBGzNYn4TudtnXHL?si=fY-M_AKRTKG2LRS9_fYmAQ Follow them on instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/deadxtomorrow/ Follow Rethoughts on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/re_thoughts/

I love having my brother on the podcast because you never know where the conversation will lead. In this episode Roman and I break open a few cans of worms and dive deep into what life has been like for us. We cover everything from a recent car accident to emotional breakdowns. I hope you enjoy this episode. Thanks for listening, and keep on rethinking. Support Rethoughts Go to Website

Guy Brown is an old friend of mine. We've been through many years of staying connected then not talking for awhile but we've always managed to stay friends regardless of our time apart. In this episode we discuss this past year and what it is like uprooting your life to be with the person you love most. Guy's story is one of romance, pain and triumph, and we get to cover some Rethoughts throughout the conversation

I always love talking to my close friends and in this episode you get an insight into how we shoot the shit! I sit down with two of my close friends, Alejandro and Chris, and discuss a range of topics. I always thoroughly enjoy bouncing ideas off these guys and I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I do!

This time I sat down with Andrew Monroe, a good friend, author of A Leaf and Pebble and co-author of Dead by Tomorrow. Andrew and I cover several topics in our conversation including: -His new book -Mindsets -Working out during COVID-19 -Free Will This is just the first of many conversations with Andrew Monroe.

Point of Departure: “Becoming Brothers” Roman and I began our conversation with a brief history lesson on what it was like growing up together and not really being that close. Looking at our relationship now, you would probably have a hard time believing we were once enemies. We transition from talking about our relationship into various topics including: Emotions Videos Anxiety attacks New projects And the list goes on. I always enjoy my conversations with Roman so he was naturally my first guest on Rethoughts Out Loud. I hope you enjoy this conversation, there will be many more in the near future.

This is a combination post, the two requests posed as Rethoughts were “addiction vs. love,” and “how to get over a break up,” which I think go hand-in-hand. Rethoughts is not a website for “how-to’s,” which is partially why it took me so long to write this one. For one thing, I can’t point to a single step I took to mourn any of my relationships. For another, I don’t think those steps would help you anyway. About a year ago I helped my brother make a video. He doesn’t usually ask me for help unless he’s working on something more heartfelt than he’s used to. He sent me a few songs that he was going to use and told me to think of the pain of a breakup so he could set the tone for whatever I ended up writing. I let him read through several poems that I’d written a few years before when I was going through my last breakup. One line stuck out to him “I am consumed by a memory.” He told me “that’s what I want but I need more.” The next line was “a ghost in passing,” reminding me of mourning a death. A breakup is the death of a relationship and we are required to mourn not only the memories we make but the potential, too. We, these anticipatory creatures, must suffer through remembering that which happened and that which never will. That became the theme of the video; consumed by a memory that I have not yet made. It turns out that love and addiction are very similar. Let me clarify, ROMANTIC love and addiction are nearly identical in that they follow the same neural pathways in the brain. We also show symptoms of withdrawal from love just like we’d experience in addiction. So which is it, are we like widows and widowers of the ideas of a lover, or are we junkies coming off a high? I think it’s a little of both. Love is unique in that it has a special side effect of insanity that new users quickly show symptoms of, and there’s no known cure, no treatment, no separation from it. There are few things in our human experience that can drive even the most rational person into madness like a broken heart. We are tethered, domesticated by it and giving up our wild dreams for one more taste and the only wild we know is the gnashing of our teeth until we get more. Not out of our wildness, but just another symptom.

It’s common that we go into a scrolling-induced trance before drifting off to sleep. Click, type, scroll, double-tap and repeat until we acknowledge the time and groan with dissatisfaction accompanied with dying a little inside. We wake up wondering why we are so exhausted and why we can’t be morning people as we smash “snooze” six times. I could just be speaking for myself but I’m not so sure. We know good and well that what we are doing is detrimental to our health, so why do we continue to do it? We have forgotten, or maybe never realized, the value of time and hand it over to many distractions. It’s hard to see the opportunity cost of displaced time, but let’s take watching too much television for example. I didn’t do much research into how much time we spend watching TV so don’t lose your mind over these numbers, but according to a quick search the average adult will spend nearly 5 hours a day watching TV (a little more than 77 days per year). WTF?! If that’s accurate, then the average US adult gives over one-fifth of their life away to TV. I hate that, so let’s be a little more generous and assume it’s just 50 days per year (before I make myself sick). That is still 1,200 hours... Hours that could be going toward learning a skill or following a passion in your free time. Today’s youth watches less TV than our older generations, but I think we could insert other distractions and see that we are still misusing a significant amount of our time. Instead, why aren’t we mastering something with the time we are given? So recap of our two main questions: Why do we continue to do things that are detrimental to our health? Why aren’t we mastering something with the time we have? There are so many variables but I want to highlight the ones that I have had to rethink. Although we know that some of the things we do are detrimental, we keep convincing ourselves that they are the right things for us until we are finally brutally honest with ourselves and understand just how wrong they are. What does it take for us to see that we are so often shrouded in smoke and clutching at dust? Perhaps the realization that we have no idea what we want to do with our lives. I know it seems counterintuitive, but being active gives you energy, spending time learning satisfies your curiosity, and doing the work that you have passion for, even though you may not get paid for it yet, will invigorate you. And you will know what you want to do with your life, but you can’t wait for it to come kick you in the teeth while binge watching Friends for the tenth time (that’s not a personal attack).

It’s common that we go into a scrolling-induced trance before drifting off to sleep. Click, type, scroll, double-tap and repeat until we acknowledge the time and groan with dissatisfaction accompanied with dying a little inside. We wake up wondering why we are so exhausted and why we can’t be morning people as we smash “snooze” six times. I could just be speaking for myself but I’m not so sure. We know good and well that what we are doing is detrimental to our health, so why do we continue to do it? We have forgotten, or maybe never realized, the value of time and hand it over to many distractions. It’s hard to see the opportunity cost of displaced time, but let’s take watching too much television for example. I didn’t do much research into how much time we spend watching TV so don’t lose your mind over these numbers, but according to a quick search the average adult will spend nearly 5 hours a day watching TV (a little more than 77 days per year). WTF?! If that’s accurate, then the average US adult gives over one-fifth of their life away to TV. I hate that, so let’s be a little more generous and assume it’s just 50 days per year (before I make myself sick). That is still 1,200 hours... Hours that could be going toward learning a skill or following a passion in your free time. Today’s youth watches less TV than our older generations, but I think we could insert other distractions and see that we are still misusing a significant amount of our time. Instead, why aren’t we mastering something with the time we are given? So recap of our two main questions: Why do we continue to do things that are detrimental to our health? Why aren’t we mastering something with the time we have? There are so many variables but I want to highlight the ones that I have had to rethink. Although we know that some of the things we do are detrimental, we keep convincing ourselves that they are the right things for us until we are finally brutally honest with ourselves and understand just how wrong they are. What does it take for us to see that we are so often shrouded in smoke and clutching at dust? Perhaps the realization that we have no idea what we want to do with our lives. I know it seems counterintuitive, but being active gives you energy, spending time learning satisfies your curiosity, and doing the work that you have passion for, even though you may not get paid for it yet, will invigorate you. And you will know what you want to do with your life, but you can’t wait for it to come kick you in the teeth while binge watching Friends for the tenth time (that’s not a personal attack).

Invisible Light Sometimes I forget to see when I look. I cast eyes searching for invisible light in you. Light that, sometimes, You also forget to see when you look. We only see what we are supposed to, through a criteria of seeing things, which measures how well we see things like Beauty. Or how others think we should see it. But just as you couldn’t sufficiently describe beauty, I don’t think we could see it because if it is in the eye of the beholder, We must look directly at what is happening in the eye when we’ve beheld. So, in a way, it is not the thing that is beautiful, but the experience of it. Before you judge, try to think of a single word that completely describes you. Every single complexity must be encompassed in this one word which you’ve chosen. May we call you that word? Would you answer to it like it’s your new name? Henry David Thoreau said that “it’s not what you look at that matters, but what you see.” I don’t go to parties often but the last party I attended a guy approached me and the girl I was talking to and said something I couldn’t quite understand. I asked him, “What was that?” and I think he took it the wrong way because he offered to take this outside and fight. The girl I was talking to became fairly annoyed and got a few words in, but before it could get any worse I calmly asked him “Why would we fight?” He looked at me with drunken confusion as I told him, “we are friends, man. I wouldn’t fight you.” I didn’t really know him but he responded, “you’re right, man, I’m sorry.” After he was eventually pulled away by his friend to do something else at the party, the girl asked me how did I respond like that when it was kind of pissing her off. I told her that it was like looking into a reflection, and that I knew he didn’t really want to fight me. I saw myself and didn’t get mad because I recognized the frustration, the incoherent drunken reasoning, the creation of problems where there were none. When we judge, a thousand mirrors are held up and we can see ourselves everywhere we look, and since it is “out there,” we can point to it and say “there it is.” However, if we physically stand in front of a mirror we wouldn’t argue that the flaws we see in the reflection are not ours at all but in the mirror itself. We only see what we’ve prepared ourselves to see. It’s this self-fulfilling prophecy and form of confirmation bias. Perhaps that drunk guy really does want to hurt someone and so he looked in me to find that same longing, to see if I’d mirror him. Instead, I wanted to show him the reflection I saw, a light that he may not be observing. I could pass judgment on him and say he’s just another drunk guy, but it really is so much more complex than that. I could be cliché and say don’t judge a book by its cover; the cliché holds true.

Technology is receiving quite a bad rap lately. It’s easy to blame it since it cannot defend itself. I think we have a tendency to do that; blame the defenseless. It’s especially funny that we’ve created these incredible tools yet we’ve demonized so many of them. A true Frankenstein story. We often create these things then judge them as monsters, as evil, as the problem laying waste to us. We rarely ever have the intention of designing a monster. I’d say we are the creatures, why else are we so inclined to find one? We are the monsters, unintended byproducts of instant gratification and addictive behavior, and symptoms of internal evils that we often fail to face. We look for external causes for what is going on internally because it is so much easier to face the tangible than the intangible because we can point to it and say “there it is!” We long for an evil to exist outside of us or a villain that explains our suffering, but sometimes we don’t need to look past ourselves. I had a conversation with a friend of mine who had just returned from a backpacking trip where he’d had no service. He told me of his many revelations in the wilderness and the clarity he experienced but then described how he felt when he finally checked his phone. No messages, no snaps; heartbreaking. He’d hoped for anything from his friends that indicated they were thinking of him. I think he had another revelation as he described this experience because he found the situation humorous after saying it out loud. Like amnesia settled in and he forgot the clarity of the wilderness, then he forgot the amnesia. Initially, he felt abandoned without notifications as if no one cared about him. I asked him if he thinks that’s true, “do your friends not care about you?” He knew it wasn’t true. His mistake was confusing his connections; a mistake I think most of us make in this Age of Communication. Meaning, the technology should be the tool that we use to increase our connection with others. Instead, we’ve made the people into tools that help us connect to our devices. Stay with me because this next part bites. Driven by our want for belonging, we’ve built relationships with our creations that were intended to cultivate stronger relationships with the people who use them. We are no longer humans. We are tools; tools using each other to connect with the technology we’ve created and we seem deeply confused about our relationships with each other. Another friend of mine requested that I cover how we essentially post our highlights to social media then compare our real lives to others’ highlights as we grow subconsciously envious and distant from others. I feel as though that subject gets enough coverage, so I’d like to drive home another point. We’ve grown up in an Age of Information and Communication, but without the guidance of a previous generation that has navigated this new landscape of mass communication, we have maladapted to this era. We are the first to be able to communicate across cultures with incredible ease and yet we feel more and more divided in our own homes. This is the Age of Misinformation and Miscommunication. What are we actually saying with the highlights of our lives? That “this is where we belong,” but it is seemingly driven by a sense of unbelonging. So instead of feeling as though we truly belong, we provide an appearance of belonging. I sense a reform in social media, though. More influencers are stepping up and exhibiting raw and vulnerable material, and encouraging the use of technology to actually help their followers instead of contributing to the oversaturated content streams of eye-candy and comedic relief. There is nothing wrong with the occasional indulgence in either, but I think we have used technology as an escape for long enough.