I do, therefore I be

So how do we start this? We're doing this completely differently, and we can look at each other. This is an improvement already.

Yes.

Next week on the podcast.

What was that smell? I want to play what's that smell.

Yeah, this week on what's that smell.

What is the smell of my breath?

It was very interesting.

So I was in the closet, put on lip gloss or whatever I was doing. By the way, I'm Jeff. Oh, I'm Amara.

Yeah, I walked in and you're just like, "What is that glorious aroma?"

Well, you were behind me and I was like, "What is that smell?" I was like, "Did you eat my salami?" He was like, "No." And then I was like, "Oh, is it like the Siete Queso chips?" He was like, "No, not that." So, I literally have no fucking idea. What else do I even have?

Yeah, you wanted to start this episode with guess that smell, so let's see what you got. So, it's not salami. It's not Siete potato chips.

It was like very specific. Was it something that I've made or is it something we already have pre-made?

I can't give you too many clues. It's food.

Oh! So, you didn't lick the toilet?

No, not this time.

I have no fucking idea, cuz like the two things that I would have guessed…

You did guess.

Yes, so…

So, what would you…

I don't even know what the fuck I've made lately.

Where would you categorize it? What the smell smelled like?

Not great! It smelled… So, it smelled savory, definitely smelled savory.

It smelled like it had a little bit of spice mix, not like spicy spice, but like spices. Were you eating Kentucky Fried Chicken?

And you'd say it's meat?

Yeah, meat-esque. Was it liver bites?

No.

Oh, I fucking hate the smell of those. Oh my god.

Well, you just don't like liver.

No, I can't do it. It's too like bloody for me, I think. Like I'm fine with blood, like I like really rare steak, but there's just like a certain flavor to that I don't particularly enjoy.

So, what if I said it's not meat?

It's not meat? No fucking way! A lime?

So, you thought it smelled like salami.

But it's not a meat!

But it is not meat.

And it's not chips.

No.

I mean crisps.

Roast beef? No.

So, you have 15 seconds. You have to make as many guesses as you can, and then I'm going to say it.

Bananas, cherries, coffee, what do we even have? Pickles? No.

Salsa, queso? We don't even have queso. Fuck.

What is it? Cheese? The new cheese?…

It was harder to count time than I thought, so I'm just guessing. So, that was actually the coleslaw you made.

It was cabbage, mayo, and like some pepper. And you did not like the smell of that?

No.

I mean, I do go really heavy on the spices, because I like to taste things. I like things to taste good, so… Wow, that did not smell good!

Seriously, he like entered the closet, was right here, blah. And then like 5 seconds later, it was like… That was a lot.

I knew it, because vegetables.

Well, next week I will do guess that smell, and it will not be from my top end. Stop! That's so cute.

I'm not going to talk about… We have an inside joke on something, but that won't make the show. So, this is MAVEN, we are MAVEN.

What do we do? Who are we? What do we do?

I guess what he smells like, and he smells.

Basically what we do, well, we do a lot of different things, but the main thing is we do video for realtors. Made simple, it says it on our website. But yeah, we have Top Bananas that we get to film with, travel all around the country, so we can come to you.

Select us, select us, go to the website. I haven't podcasted in so long, I'm very rusty. Like my podcast is currently on hiatus, this one has been…

Well, yeah, so we're trying to get this rebooted of sorts. It didn't go away, but make something super simple.

Yeah.

So, if you're watching this, you'll notice we have multiple cameras now, which makes it more complex, seemingly.

But it's actually way simpler.

Well, we're testing some things out to try to automate the process of switching between cameras. So, if this works, it's switching between me, when I talk,

And me.

Yeah, if it's working correctly.

We'll find out.

And then we have way too much gear out here. So, if we like this, we're going to streamline a lot. I won't need the RodeCaster, we won't need…

You have an Elgato Wave XLR in front of you, we have a Cloudlifter, we have so many different things.

So heavy!

But we can streamline even more. So, if this works,

Yeah.

It'll look even more streamlined in the future.

How has your day been, also? I feel like I haven't like seen you all day.

Well, yeah, I had a great chat with Mars.

Good!

Mars Dorian, the artist.

He's awesome, check him out.

Yeah, and actually from that conversation was the topic I was going to prompt today.

Nice. Lay it on me.

Because, yeah, I think this is nice, too, because we're talking to… I like that no one knows what that's from.

No, and it sounds so mean!

If anyone knows, though, if you know where "lay it on me, fatty" is from, please let us know, because you're even more so a best friend than we thought.

Yes, 100%. That would be a defining moment. We will be automatic best friends.

That's crazy. But…

What? So, your day was good?

Yeah, it was good talking to Mars. I was going to take the topic from that,

Cool.

Just talking about him and his art journey and everything that he's doing from where he's at now, moving forward. What about you?

I've just been editing all day. Oh, I watched a little bit of the Surf Championship, which was really cool.

Which is funny to bring up, because you never watch anything during the day, like…

Never. It felt very weird to have it on. So, after I watched the two…

The yeah, the two heats that I really wanted to see, then I was like, "Okay, I need to turn this off, because it like… It makes me feel gross watching things during the day." but it was very exciting. And my fantasy team is…

Yeah, who knew there was fantasy surfing? And also, for the listeners, we talk about everything together, and she never even told me that she was in a fantasy surf league.

No, but I have told you that I watch professional surfing. You knew that.

Oh, I know that. Yeah.

You've known that for a very long time, since you've known me. I would watch it at work, and I was always afraid that people would yell at me, but I was like, " fuck it." yeah. It was fantasy surf league, so if you do, too, let me know.

Anyway, very niche. But yeah, good. What have we been up to?

A lot.

I mean, we've done so much. I almost feel like…

We've literally been to five states in the past four weeks.

Probably.

Or eight… Three. I can't count.

Oh, four including ours.

We've been to a lot of states, yeah. Also though, I want to try with this podcast to just do this frequently.

Yeah.

So, not even… Yeah!

Not even like on a schedule, necessarily, where we're like once a week,

No, whenever we think of things, because we always fucking do this, where we're like, "Oh, that'd be a good idea. I'm going to write it down in my notes." And then it's like it just sits in my fucking notes doc forever. That was me, mimicking me, not you.

Yeah, so… But I want to see if we can just… Even if we recorded twice this week or three times this week.

I just want to record when we're ready.

Yeah. I'm ready and willing!

So, we can get into everything… But, yeah, we can get into everything that we've been doing, too. Just over time, but, yeah, we're filming with a lot of people, traveling all over, and in a few weeks we're going to Orlando.

Orlando! Yeah, that'll be interesting. Florida's butthole.

It's going to be beautiful. Orlando's amazing, if you live there.

I've only been there once when I was a child. I mean, I'm sure it's fine, but…

I said, if you live there like I live there, I meant like for anyone listening who loves Orlando, we love it, too, and we love you.

Well, yeah, we love you. Maybe not Orlando, but we'll see. We'll see.

Surprise me.

No, but it should be fun.

Oh, yeah, it's going to be awesome.

It's going to be really fun because everyone is going to be there, but also we just found out we might be involved in an event….

We're killing someone.

Nah, I don't think that's it, but…

Yeah, but it'll be really exciting. I'm actually very nervous.

Yeah, we'll talk about it more, though.

Yeah.

So…

So, let's talk about it while they're not listening.

Okay. So, the question that I had…

I have no idea what it is.

It's just like a prompt, but it's something that Mars asked, which I thought was really interesting.

And he said, this isn't like word-for-word, this is my version of it, because we were talking about action and like, you know, for me, why are you smirking like that? You ding-dong.

I thought you were going to do it with an accent.

No! You can do accents if you want.

Yes, I can.

No, but,… So, my thing and what you and I talk about all the time is action and how important action is, and a lot of what we do with MAVEN is getting people to take action by making it simple for them.

So, we all struggle with action. It's way easier to think about what we're going to do and how we're going to get there.

So, the question being: what are the reasons why we can't think our way to our goals?

All right, you lost me at "what". You didn't even say "what", you said "why", didn't you?

Oh no, I said what are the reasons. Yeah.

Jesus, I fucked that up!

Well, no, but like…

What? Okay, so what are the reasons we can't think our way to our goals?

Yeah, because like, talking through this with him, I was like, "Oh, this is a really interesting…"

See, it's always hard answering these questions, because it was in the middle of something that you… You were already in a discussion, so there was a lot of groundwork there. Also, I'm not good on the spot, which is why I'm very proud of our Top Bananas, because I would just give up!

Oh, yeah, it's the inverse of what we do with people. Like you don't normally do on-the-spot stuff, but just as a question.

No, I like to sit and think.

So, and this is just for you. Why… So, it's easy, I think you'd agree, easier to think about all the things and ideas that we're going to do and achieve and where we're going to be.

It's easier than doing the things.

Well, yeah, because it's it's way more glamorous in your head, also, because it's like, "Oh, all I need to do is post 14 times in a day and then like I'll be fucking famous!" And it's like, "Okay, cool, but like what are you going to do?" And then it's like… No. But, yeah, it is way more way more better.

It's way better, way easier, yeah, to think about all of it and just be like, "Oh, well, I'll do all this content and I'll be able to…" I'm only saying content, just because that's what we work with all the time.

Well, yeah, I think that's a good sort of pin to stick in it, is like this is We're talking about content here, but it applies to everything.

Yeah, because I have the same thing, where I have I will have 4 days off before we go to Orlando and like I haven't taken a break since maybe October? Like from editing and stuff like that, which is totally fine, because like I really love it. Like I don't need a break, but it's good to get my creative juices…

Anyway. Massaging the table.

Now we'll find out if these pick up sound, these new mic stands, so we'll see.

Oh, find out! Yeah, aren't they pretty? I like them….?

Yeah, it's easier, so you even mentioned like, "Oh, I want to post 14 times a day," and then it's like, "Well, what are you going to post?"

Oh, yeah, but then during the 4 days, I was like, "Oh cool, I'll record all this fucking content." In my mind, that's a cool idea, but it takes so much work to actually… Like that's why my podcast, my personal podcast, is on hiatus, because it's not fancy or special or anything, but it does take a lot of time to like prep everything and record it and then edit it.

It takes me one full day a week totally devoted to that podcast. So, right now, that's just like extra that doesn't need to exist, so it's like, "Okay, I have to focus on other people who are way more important right now and like get all that done."

Which is why we're doing systems for this.

Yes.

Using Riverside, using a tool that we can try and automate camera cuts and different things like that. We'll see if this works, to make this just simple, simple.

But, yeah, it's just it's easier to think about doing stuff, because you're not actually doing the work yet. And then once you start doing the work, it's like, "Ugh, this is difficult," or like with you with all the stuff that you do for SPYR, for your company, it's like, "Oh, cool. I'm going to make progress on this today." Well, fuck, I have to problem solve 5 million different things today, or like, "This is broken." Like not that like things are breaking all the time, but just like different things happen that you need to problem solve, and then it sets you back and then it's like, "Well, fuck, I could have like made progress on this." Sorry, I just…

For context…

Only if it cut to me, will anyone see your hand going "Wob" in front of the camera.

Oh, no! They will! Oh, dear.

One day you'll tell your story on this show. To our tens of listeners.

It's the dumbest story, but I laugh like a lunatic.

But, for context, it's like there's some law that I'm sure there's some name for, where as soon as you have time,

Jeff's Law!

Yeah, as soon as I have time, I'm like, "Yeah!"

Yeah, anyway!

But as soon as I have my time carved out for something, usually if it's something new, that's the moment something else happens, like we had some issues with our server, like our… Not a restaurant! Our web server.

Yeah, I went and slapped them around!

But, yeah, because like we host websites for ourselves and for clients, so there was an issue that I had to address and it turned out to be a multi-day thing, due to like, basically, there were attacks, like hack attempts on our server, so we had to take action right away, so people couldn't end up causing issue. But that happened right in the moment when I was going to be working on the next thing, and it was I forget even what it was now, it doesn't even matter, but that just inevitably always happens.

So, it's sort of like everyone has a plan until you get punched in the face, the Mike Tyson quote.

It's true.

And I think that's along the lines of this, too. Like why can't we plan it and get there just from thinking? And I don't mean not taking action, but just that thinking never gets us as far as it feels good.

Like thinking feels good and planning…

It's funny, it just made me think of that Descartes quote: "I think, therefore I am."

-huh.

Which is funny, because then we're saying the exact opposite, I think, in a way.

"I do, therefore I be."

Yeah, like basically! Just call me René, René Descartes.

Putting the cart before the horse.

I'm glad you liked that so much.

Yeah, we're diving into Cartesian theory. But it is interesting, because like I've always liked that specific quote, I guess, for lack of a better term, but it is false in a way, because like I could think I'm a fucking potato, but I'm not actually a potato. Like, but then I guess, would I not be?

Because I would think I am, so… Ew. So, then it's like, okay, well, maybe I am, because my brain, like your brain controls everything.

So, that's like going into perception… We're going down a whole fucking tangent, but I like this shit. I find this really interesting.

That's why I thought this… This is why I thought this question…

He always asks the best questions. Like, both of you always have such great question- or conversations. Like, I mean, I don't hear it, but when you talk about it afterward, I'm like, "Wow, I want to be in that," because it gets very philosophical, which I very much enjoy.

But yeah, your brain literally controls everything, and it controls your outlook and your perception and everything, which…

Microsoft Outlook.

Yeah, which is what… I agreed so readily! And I was like, "Yeah, fucking Windows 94," or whatever!

Windows 94! She was born in 1993.

Sorry, I'm young and cool! But it's interesting, because then… Like, your reality is truth, because that's your reality.

Like, I'm not in your head, even though I try to be, but like, you are in your head, so that's your reality. You see things in a specific way that I will never see or don't see or can't see or… Help, I'm blind!

But… It's just interesting how that works, and I think that's why there's so much miscommunication. And then that also reminded me of how we have people who like are really excited to work on projects and who like announce something way before they're even ready to announce it, and then they never do it, which is really unfortunate, because it's like they're putting it out there, and like how you've talked about where you've said like, "You're…" I forget exactly what it was, but you read it.

You get dopamine.

Yeah, exactly, where you get that reward hit, cuz it's like, "Oh, cool, like I did it!" But you didn't actually do it, but you said you did. Therefore, you are a potato.

Well, no, but telling people about what you're going to do gives you a dopamine hit. There's a positive feeling from that.

And that then reduces your drive to actually do it by a little bit. But you tell one person, two people, 50 people, you're lose- You're getting so much from telling people that you lose that need to do it. So, in…

Which is really interesting.

It's the opposite of the accountability kind of thing, like…

Cuz I would feel like you would be more… You would… For like risk of social embarrassment or something, for like a lack of a better term, I feel like I would feel more accountable, like, "Well, fuck, now I said this, like I have to do it, and like I need to hold up that end." But I guess it doesn't matter for some people?

Like not like shade or anything, but…

Well, no. No, no, it depends what you're getting out of it.

Yeah.

Are you…

Cuz I would feel nervous as all hell and be like, "I need to put this out like yesterday."

I think that's are you worried about what other people think?

100%, all the time.

No, and I know, I know you are!

I live in my head.

But I think if you're worried about what other people think…

See, if I was a potato, I wouldn't have to worry.

You never know. Potato… Nick Cage!

That's what I was waiting for. But because you're worried about what other people are going to think, that's why you don't, then you might operate differently, but also you don't naturally tell people what you're going to do.

No.

So…

I don't tell people anything! Welcome to the podcast! He didn't even know I was in a fantasy surf league, and we live together!

And I think we… I tell her everything.

Yeah. Everything.

That's why I don't have time to tell you! Just teasing. But…

Yeah.

Yeah, that is something that the more you're sharing about what you're going to do versus sharing what you have done, it's such a different product, and it's so important. You need to You need to make the thing and share it. You need to have the drive and be like, "I can't wait to share this and show someone."

So, then we're very big on documenting while you're learning something or documenting the journey. So, how then would you say that differs? Like does that still give you dopamine or is that something different?

So, that is what I a few people in the past couple weeks I've told this to, exactly that. So, instead of telling people what you're going to do, you want to get micro-wins.

So, if you're writing a book and you write the first 200 words or something…

You don't have to share those 200 words, but you can share something about like, "Ooh, this is a This is a long day, and it's expected to be such a like arduous task to write 200 words, but check, Day 1 accomplished." You don't have to keep everything in to yourself, but you don't want to get the positive feelings from that final destination of what where you're going.

Great movie! All 12 of them!

But you don't want to get the dopamine from telling people where you're going to end up, but little wins, daily or weekly regular tiny wins, those are very valuable. You'll get dopamine from them, but you need to do it in a way that you're not then screwing yourself over and just being like, "Oh, I have this grand vision.

I'm going to create the next Facebook. It's going to do this, it's going to do that, it's going to come out next year, and the reason I'm doing this is because of that, and because of this." And then it's like, "That's a grand idea," but how about, "I'm learning to code because I have this idea, this thing that I really want to do.

I'm learning… These are some of the things I learned. Are you doing something along the same lines?" Like, "Join me on this journey, and let's see if we can get to something special." Like that's a different framing, and you're also then giving some people…

You're giving everyone else something to be interested in, because just saying "I'm going to do this", people will be like, "Oh, great! That's awesome! Good luck!

You do it!" And that's it. There isn't like… You can parlay that into a storyline of "this is my journey", which that's great, but so many people struggle with doing that and then just that's sort of the end of the line, is that "this is what I will do".

Yeah, that's hard, and it is hard to document what you're doing, because like I've thought about it, because literally I am recording people on camera all the time. I cannot fucking record myself at the same damn time. But that's why I'm there, too.

Yeah, but then like you're my B-roll, B-cam guy, so that's also difficult, because then it's like we need our own videographer, so I've decided, because I really want to start recording stuff. And like we're on the road doing videography. There are very few people, if fucking anybody who's crazy enough to do it, also, who do that!

Like…

We are a category of one with what we've created.

Yeah, for now, because like eventually things will pop off, or whatever.

Well, we're a category of one, period, though, I think. Other people can do this…

Is it because we have the same hair?

Yeah, same hair, same color shirt, that's the problem. No one else can do that.

Ta-da!

… No, that's the thing is at least 50% of the product is us, if not more than that. Like the final resulting product is the video, but the working together, filming together, like we're the only two of us, thankfully.

No, I'm kidding!

Other than the clone that I have in the basement.

Huh? If you know what that is… No, no one would ever know that, because that is so fucking niche.

He does it all the time!

Huh? But yeah, the other the other thing I wanted to that I thought about, that I hadn't thought about with this idea, why can't we think our way through to it, even though we want to? Why doesn't it really work?

And you sort of alluded to this: what's in our mind, like what we think when we're planning and what we think about the world, is made up. It's not truth in any way.

Which is scary, but also very freeing.

How so?

Scary because you're… If you don't… I guess if you don't know, it doesn't matter, but…

We see the world very similarly for like 98 to 99% of things. For some psychotic reason, you also don't watch professional surfing, which I don't understand, but…

I would watch it.

Oh. Well, then… I need something of mine!

No. I don't know, it's just something I do.

It's like when I was trying to order a jacket and she ordered one for herself before I got mine. Just saying.

He got so upset with me this morning, like actually upset!

But, see, I wasn't upset with you, I was disappointed that I'm like…

He threatened to not feed me.

See, you can't… You can't do this on recording! She does this in person and she makes me seem like an evil, evil person, and I'm like, "If this is recorded…"

Cuz it's funny, because he's like the exact fucking opposite. That's why it's funny!

But people who don't know us, that's going to be a problem. But, anyway…

But what's on the inside?

Like what we think isn't reality.

Yes. Oh, but that could be a little scary, because then people… Like that's what's so scary about mental illness, like schizophrenia and things like that, where it's just like or Alzheimer's, like anything having to do with your brain and the deterioration of it or just the I forget what the fu- See?

Fucking woo-hoo! But like anything with your brain that can happen, that is very scary, because then you're totally out of control. Like you have no idea.

Out of control, man! Cool-Aid!

But you've you've said that before, like, "What if What if I'm just crazy?" And I'm like, "You're not crazy, cuz I'm not."

But then it's also weird, because it doesn't matter, cuz then like I wouldn't fucking know, so what the hell do I care? Like I'll just be wandering the streets in like a diaper and it doesn't matter.

Well, and that was what we talked about. You're like, "What if you're crazy, too?" Cuz I'm like, "You're not crazy." And I'm like, "What if we're both crazy?" And I'm like, "Well, then it's fine, we're living a great life, we're happy." Like at the end of the day, I mean, we're not hurting anyone.

He knows the secret. We're both just really fucking crazy. That's fine.

But so our internal view of the world is made up, and this was the thread that I sort of came to, was that's why it doesn't work. Why are you smirking at that?

I'm not smirking.

Ay-yi-yi!

Continue.

What thread are you laughing at?

Not thread.

That I came to it? That's the one!

So, this is the thread that I have arrived at. I've arrived!…

God, we're exhausting. I'm exhausted!

We're good. We're good. But our internal world and how we see the world is made up.

The external is different. So, the problem is no matter how much we plan and look ahead, as soon as an idea, a product, a business, a step toward something leaves us, it's completely out of our control. The only place we control is what's in our mind, and that's only to a certain degree, even, cuz again like you were just talking about, brain chemistry and everything, like we're not in control of everything that goes on in our heads.

But it's the place where we have the strongest semblance of control. So, the problem is as soon as…

Which that itself, I feel, is an illusion in a way.

-huh. But how so? I agree, but…

Just because like what we think we have control, but do we? Cuz now we're getting into fucking free will. Free willie!

It is interesting, though. I'm not going to derail us too much, because this'll be a 4-hour long podcast.

Well, no, but you can like stimulate a part of the brain and have someone smell something or do something, and then it's like, "Oh, well, if that can happen, what about the chemicals in our environment? Like the actual, not toxins, just our environment is made up of chemicals and scents and things." So, yeah, what are we in control of?

Am I in control of this? Am I saying this right now or is it inevitable that I would be saying this right now? That's the weird stuff.

That will trip me out forever.

-huh.

But so once it leaves our body, so say it's just me saying this to you, what happens next is completely out of my control, and that's what makes it so hard to take action, too, because we can't take action in the steps that we have mapped out in our head. And I think that can be debilitating at times, because it's like, "Oh no, like this is this is how things should be." Like "should" is just an awful way to look at stuff.

It's…

Well, it's an expectation, where it's just like, "Well, no, it should be like this. Like I expect it to be like this, because I am X, Y, and Z," or "You are X, Y, and Z," or "We live in X, Y, and Z-ville," or whatever. Which is unfortunate, because most people live like that, which is like, "Well, you aren't owed anything." Like you shouldn't have any expectations of anything, you should just do what you want to do, within reason, to build something and like specifically talking like business, I guess.

Like just do it.

Well, make the most of where you're at.

I think that's really the thing, and there was that quote that I just came across recently, and it was…

"Descartes before de horse"?

You know it. That is definitely the line.

That one always cracks me up!

Which I don't have it written down in here, do I? I need to find it. I put it right here, right there.

In the meantime,

So, this is Montesquieu, Montesquieu?

Montesquieu, Lord Montesquieu.

So…

Wrote great books, by the way.

"If one only wished to be happy, this could be easily accomplished; but we wish to be happier than other people, and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are." And that's the whole like expectations and comparing to others actually is to the detriment of us. And I know that's that sounds like…

Well, that's the Seneca quote, right? Seneca? "Comparison is the thief of joy."

Yeah, I don't know if it comes from Seneca, but, like, that is a That's a good one.

Yeah, I thought it was. Or no, Marcus Aurelius.

Okay.

I think… Some fucking old Roman guy! Dead.

But, yeah, it is like huge, because if you're just like, "Oh, well, why am I not…" I'm just going to say GaryVee. "Why am I not at GaryVee's level?" And it's like, "Well, this motherfucker's been working at it for 20-plus years, and like he was busy doing various different things throughout the whole time." I think that's also something that stops people, is they think it has to be absolutely perfect and ready to go before they even start.

So, it's like, "Well, no, I can't have edits or iterations of this. Like this has to be one perfect thing ready to go." And it's like, "No, fuckface, just start and like you'll…"

Figure it out.

Well, that's the only way life works, is cuz nothing's figured out anywhere.

Edison, who was not a great guy, but did a lot of different things to try to figure out how to make a light bulb. You only needed one to make it work. Bring Nick Cage back into this anyway.

Which that sentence makes no sense to anyone, but I understand what you mean.

National Treasure. But you need to start working on things, because then eventually you'll figure out where you want to go and where you want to be. But like, I mean, I started fucking on TikTok doing art history things, just because I thought it was fun and I was going crazy during the pandemic.

So, I was like, "I'm going to put this crazy into something constructive." And then it ended up in a multitude of different things, including this business, oddly enough.

But that's the thing, is every little step along the way makes us who we are. So, every time you stop and don't take action is one less opportunity to more fully form who you are.

-. And I think also then, now we're going down like Buddhist train of thought, but like even… Recommendations.

Even that, even having the negatives and like maybe the not-so-good things happen in life, like you need to look at those as positives, because then otherwise it's just going to be this dark cloud hanging over you forever. And instead, if you're like, "Okay, well, that really sucked, but like how can I change things for the better?" Like not like in a grand scale like, "Legislation!" or something, but like, "How can that even influence me to be a better human or just do something better with my life or take better care of someone," or whatever.

I think that's hugely valuable, just to be more constructive with it.

Well, and how did you say it? Just that something bad happens or whatever and look at it as a positive. So, that's why I like to say…

Or not even as a positive, but as like even just like a neutral. Just like, "Fuck that, but like here's what I can do to either never have that happen again, here's what I can do to make that something better for somebody or for myself or whatever."

Well, we put so much weight into everything, so that's why like I'm always like, "Everything happens…"

And that's where it ends!

And that's where it ends! It's not "for a reason", like everything happens.

And I like that so much better than "for a reason", because it was like, "Oh, cool. That's like…" This sounds bad, but that was like "too positive", where it was falsely optimistic instead of being realistic. And like that's something that we talk about, too, which is more important: realism or optimism?

But then now we're back to the fucking other question, which is like, "Well, nothing's real." Like cuz everything's in my head, everything's in your head, and I think that's why we're generally very happy or like content. Content and joyful. Like cuz happiness is fleeting.

Happiness is a moment. To be happy is a moment. To be content, to have joy, is a way of being.

Exactly. Like, I mean, this stupid fucking bracelet, it is like the dumbest little thing, I never would have worn it otherwise, but now I just like, "I love this little bracelet!"

Try holding that up to this camera if you can.

No. It just says "Be Happy", and it has a bunch of little stupid smiley faces. It looks like something like a 4-year-old would wear, but it makes me so dumb happy when I see it, so now I'm like, "Oh, it's so cute!" Like I get excited to wear it.

And you get to make your own now, like it's like inspiration, too, to be a little creative.

Yeah, I'm going to buy all the stuff. But yeah, it's just like so stupid, but like this brings me joy every day when I see it. It's like so stupid.

Not that material objects need to bring you joy, but just very minimal things. Yeah. So, anyway, I think that's why we're able to be joyful and like content, because we understand that everything is within our control or not.

Everything just happens.

We're accepting what's within our control and what isn't is like that's sort of the key.

Yes. Still being proactive to make sure that things happen.

Yeah, so then that's what's within our control is action.

Like… Yeah! We hit the table.

We'll bring it back to the whole thing is the only thing within our control is what we do.

Yeah, action is the only guaranteed thing. Like any action, whether, again, positive, negative, or neutral. Like any type of action, like, "I'm going to fuck with this, because…"

Hey, hey, hey!

I don't want to hear you.

But that's one of the things I said earlier to Mars was you can go back so far to the inciting incident, say, that gets you where you are, and you can never go far enough back. So, like we could say, like I was taking photos with the iPhone 3GS and posting them on Facebook. I loved taking photos and editing them on the phone and doing all these things when the tools weren't very good, because it was a challenge.

And then I was posting for a while and someone that I knew through someone else was like, "I love the photos you post. Will you shoot my wedding?" And it's like if I wasn't posting those photos, I wouldn't have ended up shooting a dozen weddings for people. But also, I wasn't going to shoot the wedding on an iPhone.

-huh.

So, what happens is, like I talk about this all the time, but action creates experience. Experience creates opportunity. Opportunity requires more action.

So, the experience of editing photos and posting them got me the opportunity of someone asking me to shoot their wedding, which then immediately made me say, "I need to learn how to use a professional camera," more action, "and I need to invest these next 8 months to be as good as I possibly can," experience, and then the actual action of shooting it created more opportunity, because then other people wanted me to shoot weddings, which is a weird thing that I've never…

I was never a wedding video- photographer, ever. That wasn't like a thing, it was just something one of the many things I did, because it was fun. But now how can you keep pulling on that thread to be like all the photo and video stuff I've done since then, that then you also did, and now we do together, like that thread can just keep going in either direction?

Like, why did I start taking photos there? Like it's just such an interesting thing when it's just everything happens and the more action you take, the more opportunity you inevitably are going to find, but you'll never know where it's going to come from.

-. I think cuz like pre-you, like I had gone to art school, so I was familiar with like photography Fe- Jesus Christ! Photography and videography, but not to the same level, obviously, because it was more of a fleeting thing, but just like this is so surface level.

But just I think that was why I struggled at I didn't struggle at school, like I was fucking phenomenal! But I struggled picking a major, because I wanted to do everything, cuz I was like, "Well, no, like I should learn how to do all this shit. Like I took like a year of ceramics, because I was like, "You never know!

Like this could come in handy." When? When am I going to need to like make a fucking teacup to save my life? Which maybe one day, who…

But you don't know! Like that's why, too, I joke I wanted to become a spy, and that's…

I do want to say that everything doesn't have to have a purpose, a utility. Cuz there is a utility in art in creativity. It doesn't have to save your life.

It could. You don't know what my life holds, or maybe you do. But that was also I joked with people like I wanted to be a spy, because that was why I learned so many different languages, which there is a little bit of truth there.

But why not? Like you don't know what is going to tickle your fancy, so to speak, and that's why it's so important to try so many different new things, too, cuz so many people are just like, "I've eaten at the same diner for the past 85 years, never going to go anywhere else, I'm going to see the same fucking people, I'm going to do the same things," like that sucks!

That sounds terrible!

Well, it sounds terrible to you.

No, it is terrible.

No, but that is the thing, like we also can't Don't judge my joy, is kind of the thing, that…

But is there joy in that?

So, for us, there's This is the tough part, you know, because we're projecting what's made up in our mind.

But I would argue there is more joy in experiencing new things. You might not enjoy it. So, there's always human hesitation whenever anything new enters the arena.

That's why being the new kid at school sucks fucking dick, because everybody's like, "Who the fuck is this guy?" Or girl, wha- whatever. Who is this?

Wait, were you a guy? Is that… What's up?

It's your boy! How many schools? Just quickly.

A lot, I don't even know.

Yeah.

Many, many schools. I was the new kid.

So, you have first-hand experience.

Yes, so being the new kid sucks ass, don't do it to your children unless you absolutely have to, then maybe still don't. But you learn so quickly… I forgot where the fuck I was going with that.

But, essentially…

So, don't judge my joy. What's made up in our mind…

You should have new experiences. It's very uncomfortable being in that sphere, of like being uncomfortable is uncomfortable, but it's beautiful, too, because you don't know… If we never experienced discomfort, we would not be living in…

Nothing would exist. You have to have that discomfort of trying new things in order for anything to progress. Not that progression is necessarily necessary, but it kind of is, like for a species, not to get super dramatic, but it's like if we didn't try that berry on the tree, well, maybe this whole fucking population of people would have died, because they wouldn't have had that option to eat when it was negative 5,000° outside.

Like, so, you need to try knitting is what I'm getting at.

But you can't have good without bad. That's the whole thing.

Yeah. Oh, of course, there are always going to be negatives.

Like that quote about we're only as happy as we are in relation to how happy we think other people are.

Yeah.

That's a way a nega- a negative way of using that the same concept, but there has to be an up There has to be a down to have an up.

Exactly.

That's the whole thing.

And so you'll have to try a lot of different things in order to be able to find that one thing where it's like, "This makes me so jazzed! Like this is awesome, I hated everything else I tried before, but that one thing was really cool."

Yeah, the more you do, the more you learn, the more you experience, and sort of where you want to spend your time. It is hard, though, because people who haven't experimented and experienced a ton of things, it's it's not our role to judge and like say that they are not having a good time, but from our perspective, that isn't a good time.

That's what's so hard.

It's hard for me, because I don't think I could ever argue that they People who are not trying things or doing new things are content, but falsely so, and then like…

But this gets back to "Are we…" If we're crazy… Remember, though? If we're crazy,

Yeah.

But we're happy, is that enough? It's sort of the same idea: content, but you don't know what you're Content because you don't know what you're missing out on, is that enough?

I guess it's fine for the person, but it's depressing for everybody else around them.

Or at least when you want the best for someone.

Yeah, of course. Like I want…

You wouldn't say for everyone. No, no, no, but like you, like we want the best for everyone. Like that's just sort of how we're wired.

Most people I don't want to say most. A lot of people don't care. A lot of people are just like, "Oh, whatever.

What about me?" kind of thing.

Well, yeah, it's just depressing, cuz like you should just try new, different things in my opinion, because that's fun. Like even when we go out for something, you like a classic something, which I also do, too, but then I'm like, "Give me the one with fucking lollipops coming out of it and what-zuzus," or whatever, cuz like I find that fun.

Well, there's comfort in sameness and…

Yeah, and like I definitely have things that I like gravitate toward, but when I'm feeling funky…

Yeah, comfort in sameness and growth in change.

Yes.

So, there's it's a balance between the two, and we can go either way, where everything's change, everything's different, and then you're you're not likely to actually progress, because you don't You don't spend time on something. If it's like, "Oh, I want to play basketball," and I shoot one free throw, I'm like, "Okay, good, done.

Next!" You know what I mean? Like you can't get anywhere if there's no sameness, but if there's only sameness, you're also not going to get anywhere, so it's a weird push-pull.

Well, yeah, sameness in that if you're trying to get to a goal, like then it's consistency. So, it's funny…

We'll have our consistency frequency chat another time, cuz I feel like we can go down so many rabbit holes. I like this format of the show. It's 45 minutes and so a little a little more than we normally do.

Well, now I want to tell you about my favorite philosopher. No.

Well, no, but like I like this being able to talk to each other. This was something we wanted to try.

Yeah, this is a lot better, cuz sitting next to each other it was like, "Who's this guy?"

Well, and also we're talking to the camera, where this we're just we're talking to each other like we would talk about things.

I mean, this is exactly like a conversation we would normally have.

Well, yeah.

I'm trying to let less F-bombs fly.

Why?

I don't know.

I liked that one comment I got.

Oh, yeah, read it! Pull it up.

So, yeah, before we go, we have two things: you're going to pull up this an actually…

I think this was one of my…

…an actual nice comment on YouTube.

It's like kind of nice!

Well, like somehow positive, I don't know. There's something interesting, it's an interesting comment on YouTube.

I actually very much enjoyed it.

And then I have something to share with you.

Let's see if I can find it in this century.

Well, also… Here it is! You have it?

Okay, cool. So, this is Oh, speaking of taking action. So, I was doing Etsy shop videos for a long time, cuz I have a an Etsy sticker shop you can check it out.

I literally have not updated anything in there in such a long time, but…

But, you still make sales.

I still make a decent amount of sales. I still make many moneys from that Etsy shop, which is very interesting.

And you ain't doing things.

Yes, and I was documenting as I was creating. So, I'm so glad I did, because if I was like, "Oh, I'll do it like later," MAVEN took off at exactly that same point, so then it's like, "Well, now I'd never fucking do it." So, the videos suck, but they get so much traffic. So, the comment was…

I love it! It really, I was so happy. "Subscribed because…" So, in the video, I go on a whole rant about why you need to send a thank-you note, because so many Etsy sellers do not include thank-you notes, they literally put the shit just in a package and then they send it to you with without anything, like it's it's so not romantic.

So, anyway, the person said, "Subscribed because I'm not very…" So, in the video I go on a whole rant about why you need to send a thank-you note. "WTF, sorry mom. This ditzy, very entertaining YouTuber instructor reprimanded me in a very cost-effective and to-the-point manner that only she could.

If she ever has kids…" I won't. "…I'm pretty sure they will learn this lesson you couldn't drill into me. It got drilled today.

Thank you, kind, annoying, entertaining lady teacher. Now I have to come back and learn more stuff from you." That's the nicest thing anybody's ever said to me!

Like it's like It's not even like a backhanded compliment, it's just like interesting.

No! It's perfectly my type of communication and humor. I loved it.

I'm I opened my phone I need to respond to it, but I opened my phone and I was like, "That's amazing!" Anyhoo!

-huh, and I have one thing to share with you.

Is it a picture?

I'm going to AirDrop it with you to you.

With me?

So, we have there's someone on Twitter and Instagram and everything, he goes by Del Carmat.

Oh, I love him!

Yeah, he's so awesome.

I bought his Girl with a Pearl Earring, and it's like an animated GIF.

Yeah, he does all of his art using a mouse in Photoshop, and it's wild that he can do this. And I'll throw this on the screen afterwards, but I am AirDropping something to you right now.

Now I need to find where I just put that. God, I am such a boomer today. That's awesome!

Isn't that cool? So, he did He's been doing caricature-style things.

Oh, that's so cute!

And he did one of us. Isn't that fun?

When did you do this?

I asked him like a few days ago, like last week maybe,

Oh, that's so cool!

And I've had it for a couple days, but I wanted to save it for yeah, for on here to show you. And like obviously it's on the screen right now for everyone else.

I love it! Isn't that fun? We look like twins!

No, I don't think we look like twins, even though maybe we look like twins, but…

In real life.

Like we look like very different people, we just have the same kind of hair.

I love it.

Isn't that so cool? And basically I was just like, "Oh, the Instagram probably like my Instagram's probably enough to get an idea." But he's been doing this with a lot of like actors and celebrities and things.

You have leather jacket!

Which I thought was wild, like I didn't say, "Put her in a leather jacket." Nothing recent, are you in a leather jacket? Like he just…

Yeah. It's been a while since I've worn it.

Yeah, to find the essence, and like isn't that fun?

My essence is leather!

But I thought that was cool, I wanted to share it with you.

That is so cool! Oh, I love that so much!

And you know what's so weird? So, we have something coming for our Top Bananas that we're not sharing yet,

I know.

But we're so excited.

I am so fucking excited.

And it is from an artist, and it is awesome.

But…

Do you remember what you said to me?

Who?

You. You said…

Sorry, I'm still looking at this.

You said, "I wish we could get him to draw us," and I was just like, "That is the weird- I already had this."

Oh, that's weird!

I'm like, "How strange!"

See? Twins.

-huh, but yeah, and this is a different artist, but Del Carmat, like highly recommend you check out his stuff. He is

Yes!

Just a really nice guy and…

He's so sweet! He was doing pole dancing for a bit, so I asked him like, "Oh, how's that going?"

Yeah, he posts about his workouts and stuff. He's just He's a real person and he does art because he loves art.

I literally have my Girl with a Pearl Earring saved so then I can just look at it, like it's literally right there, so I can just like open it from time to time. That's so cool!

But, yeah, it's I thought that was really fun.

He's so fucking good. Just like everything he does.

Isn't it great? And he does all with a mouse, so he's going to post it on Instagram, probably,

Which is so impressive, cuz like I've always needed like a pad of some sort to draw on.

Well, yeah, I don't know how he does it, but he usually posts the progress video, too, so he's going to post on Instagram if it's if it's out, no, this video will be out way before that, but…

I love that he's doing this now!

…you'll be able to see the process, yeah. And so he's he's not really doing it for people, he's just honing his skills and I asked about it, so if you're interested, actually, anyone listening and getting this,

Yes.

He'll be linked in the description of this, also it's Del Carmat, D-E-L-C-A-R-M-A-T on Twitter and Instagram, so…

He has so much cool shit! Like he has motion graphic like work, he has just stationary illustrations. Love it!

He did a whole Zodiac thing. I remember it. This was like years ago, but it was so fucking cool.

Yeah, and he is another one who takes action.

That's awesome!

He learned how to code, because he wanted to use his drawings in a little like JavaScript game.

Yeah.

Like I don't know if you ever saw that, but like yeah, so it's a game you can play on the computer that he made, because he wanted to make it with his art.

I love that!

And it's like, that's just what you do.

Yeah.

So, anyway, that's all for this week.

I love it! Okay, let's stop looking at it. That's so cool!

So, I think with that, we'll wrap, yeah?

Yeah!

Okay, how do we close the show?

I'm not playing any music anymore, or at least not now. The music will be added later.

You want to smell me?

And guess my smell?

And guess your smell!

I mean, I was just thinking words, but…

You want to guess my words?

Yeah, guess your words.

Buongiorno. Di dove sei? Was that, "I'm a potato"?

Yes!

Okay, good!

We're in Italy, folks.

We actually are.

Yeah.

Anyway, I think we're wrapped for this week. Thanks for tuning in, thanks for watching, thanks for subscribing, liking, thumbs up, smashing that like button, whatever.

What are you smashing? I'm hungry.

-huh, it's time to go.

Bye.

See you next time!

Bye.