Big Dog Talk w/ Charles and Shayvon
Finding The Path To Mental Wellness: Real Stories & Practical Advice - Ep 47 | Big Dog Talk Podcast
When the weight of the world feels like it's resting on your shoulders, how do you push forward? Join me and special guest Big Shea as we open our hearts, sharing our raw and real experiences with mental health struggles under the strain of work and home life. Our conversation exposes the harsh realities and intense emotions that come with transitioning from corporate life to entrepreneurship, including the often overlooked impact that taking on the caregiver role can have on one's intimate relationships.
We've all got battles from our past that loom over us, but it's how we confront them that shapes our future resilience. This episode delves into the significance of tackling childhood traumas and crafting the mental fortitude needed to withstand adversity. You'll hear how life coaching and the creation of the Big Dog Talk podcast became beacons of hope during personal crises, and why the journey to mental wellness is as individual as your own fingerprint. We don't just brush the surface; we dig deep into the heart of mental health challenges and the bespoke paths to healing.
Wrapping up, we reflect on the lessons learned from stories of grief and loss, and how they can fortify your mental toughness. We explore the science behind willpower, located in the anterior mid cingulate cortex, and discuss how being vocal about our struggles can encourage support from those around us. Our episode concludes with an impassioned discussion on the importance of mental health awareness, leaving you with a sense of connection and a renewed appreciation for the power of the human spirit to overcome.
When the weight of the world feels like it's resting on your shoulders, how do you push forward? Join me and special guest Big Shea as we open our hearts, sharing our raw and real experiences with mental health struggles under the strain of work and home life. Our conversation exposes the harsh realities and intense emotions that come with transitioning from corporate life to entrepreneurship, including the often overlooked impact that taking on the caregiver role can have on one's intimate relationships.
We've all got battles from our past that loom over us, but it's how we confront them that shapes our future resilience. This episode delves into the significance of tackling childhood traumas and crafting the mental fortitude needed to withstand adversity. You'll hear how life coaching and the creation of the Big Dog Talk podcast became beacons of hope during personal crises, and why the journey to mental wellness is as individual as your own fingerprint. We don't just brush the surface; we dig deep into the heart of mental health challenges and the bespoke paths to healing.
Wrapping up, we reflect on the lessons learned from stories of grief and loss, and how they can fortify your mental toughness. We explore the science behind willpower, located in the anterior mid cingulate cortex, and discuss how being vocal about our struggles can encourage support from those around us. Our episode concludes with an impassioned discussion on the importance of mental health awareness, leaving you with a sense of connection and a renewed appreciation for the power of the human spirit to overcome.
And my mental health declined so rapidly that I don't even think I was there for a year.
Speaker 2:Now you were sick.
Speaker 1:Before my butt had to sit down.
Speaker 2:You got sick. You could barely breathe.
Speaker 1:I could barely breathe.
Speaker 2:That was a bad time.
Speaker 1:That was a bad time, and it was bad before I got sick, because you were basically handling every single thing in the household. We had absolutely no relationship. All you did was make sure I went to bed, make sure I got up Can?
Speaker 2:you imagine a man not being able just to get that good, loving that good tender, rubbing that good tender? You know what I'm saying, not me. Me that good gender. You know what I'm saying, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:You play too much. As you all know, on the Big Dog Talk podcast, we have a slogan Therapy is always in session, and that is why we are now sponsored by BetterHelp. During hard times, it can get really difficult if you don't have anyone to talk to. Being alone with your thoughts can be an isolating feeling that can allow negativity to consume you. Betterhelp has customized online therapy that offers video, phone and even live chat sessions with your therapist, so you don't have to see anyone on camera if you don't want to. Some of the things that we have learned from our therapists on the Big Dog Talk podcast are how to be emotionally available, why it's important to practice self-care and calming activities to ease anxiety.
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Speaker 2:So, big Shea, that's enough of talking about me, but when was a time that you remember that your mental health was declining? I know we talked about plenty of them on the podcast, but I mean a lot Like.
Speaker 1:I have so many times that I could talk about in all fairness and honesty that my mental health was declining. But I kind of want to talk about when I transitioned from corporate America to becoming an entrepreneur.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:I had been working for a company for about 12 years at the time and a promotional opportunity came up. And I was like oh, you know, this is when you know more money. Was like ooh, the promotion, you know more money, not really calculating. More money means more problems. More responsibilities, more responsibilities Less time with your family, more driving, things like that. So I went out on the ledge, you know, took the promotion. The job was about an hour and 15 minutes away from home and I had to be there at 4 o'clock in the morning.
Speaker 1:Right and 15 minutes away from home and I had to be there at four o'clock in the morning, right.
Speaker 1:I would work about 12 hours, sometimes getting off between 4 and 5 pm, then driving back home and getting home around, I don't know, sometimes close to seven o'clock, but in order for me to get back up at 3 o'clock I would have to be in bed by 7.30, 8 o'clock Right, which meant that I had a lot less face time with my family.
Speaker 1:Eating was bad, sleeping was bad, felt really unhappy, felt like I actually made a big mistake taking on this promotion and it really just started to decline my quality of life, how I felt, how I looked, what I cared about, how involved I was in the day-to-day operations of my home, and the job actually even made me get ill. I developed just by the environment that I was working in. It was really really cold or really really hot, so I developed like a respiratory infection and it took me off of work for some months, which, looking back, was a blessing in disguise, because in that moment, is what led me and you to having conversations about okay, you've been with this company for 13 years. This don't look like it's working out. Okay, yes, taking this last promotion was definitely probably not conducive to your lifestyle, but you were doing it for you know the family growth.
Speaker 2:It was a big financial jump as well.
Speaker 1:It was a big financial jump that's for the family growth. But here we are now. Here we are now. What are you going to do? What do you want to do and what do you want to do? And that is how my business birthed.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That is how my business birthed and I just remember sometimes having to stay on the phone with you my whole drive, because it was too foggy and I was scared to drive in dark fog or I was tired. And once I stepped foot into the workplace, when I tell you, the stress happened as soon as I put my key in the door. I barely had any time to think, breathe, use the bathroom or eat in that environment.
Speaker 2:How many of us are like that, though, and don't forget that. But I just wanted to point out what you just said. I'm miserable people to overlook how our jobs can cause so much mental health, mental illness, mental decline. When you're doing something that you don't love or that you don't like, or that's not nice, that's bringing, that's not bringing any satisfactory or satisfaction towards you or for your, for your well-being going working in the workplace eight hours a day, 10 hours a day and 12 hours a day, and you don't really like it.
Speaker 1:Listen, that is one of the other quickest ways to experience mental decline.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:But you know, like you said, you don't like it, but a lot of us we do it because we feel like it's for financial gain. You know, for our families, financial gain for our families, to make our situations go round and round, which is why I did it. I had had other promotions within the company, but this one had seemed so promising and when I got there, it was nothing like what I thought. It was terrible and my mental health declined so rapidly that I don't even think I was there for a year.
Speaker 1:Now you were sick Before my butt had to sit down.
Speaker 2:You got sick, you can barely breathe.
Speaker 1:I could barely breathe.
Speaker 2:That was a bad time.
Speaker 1:That was a bad time, and it was bad before I got sick, because you were basically handling every single thing in the household. We had absolutely no relationship. All you did was make sure I went to bed, make sure I got up Can?
Speaker 2:you imagine a man not being able just to get that good loving that good tender, rubbing that good tender? You know what I'm saying, Not me. You play too much. Can you imagine how stressed out I was. My brain was about to explode and, I have to mention, I got sick right before that as well. All of this was happening and I wasn't getting any.
Speaker 1:And we bought our second home around that time. So it was so much happening and my mental health was when I say trash like trash, and back then I did not have the tools that I have now, because I did, I wasn't self-aware and diving into mental health and all the things. At that point I was just, I literally was running a rat race.
Speaker 2:Can I give one of the biggest hacks, though? Sure, we share our life experiences on here. We've dealt with mental health, we've dealt with everything. Everything we've dealt with, we give our life experience. We've been married a while Right Over 12 years and some change now that we can talk about certain things, mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:And I remember my mental health was declining in one of my darker moments, when this was birth, when Big Dog Talk podcast was birth, and I was at my darkest moment, one of my darkest moments I've ever been through. And this is why I was like okay, I have to introduce this to people, because I know I'm not the only one. I just know I'm the only one, one of the few, that's willing to have the courage to talk about it, because I don't have no image. I don't care what people think about me, right, right, no, I don't have no image, right? I don't care what people think about me, right, right, right, right. So I'm going to let you know, because everybody, I was always the hope messenger on Instagram.
Speaker 2:I always gave hope, yep, but everybody always saw me from a. Everybody always saw me from a light of being positive all the time, not knowing that I was having mental struggles internally, yep. So when I realized that I was, I would that my power. I've gained more power, even by being more vulnerable, you know. But my hack, I found out, is this is why I say it's so important to deal with your internal dark world, dealing with what your experience is from your childhood, because if you don't, if you don't face your childhood trauma, it usually turns into adult drama in the future. Years down the road Say that again.
Speaker 2:If you don't face your childhood trauma, it usually turns and spills over into adult drama, true life, adult drama, true life. So a major hack is going not easy is going back and dealing with everything, every thought, every dark area in your life. And here's the thing. It's a scary journey and once you outgrow one area, something else will pop up along the journey. Once you figure this out, something else will pop up on the journey and sometimes you have to take a break. This is the beauty of it, but you have to become comfortable with living in darkness by dealing with darkness, and sometimes you need it.
Speaker 2:I wish I would have had a life coach, right, right, and. And I wish I would have had more support, you know, but I didn't Right. This is why we created this, because we wanted to make it normal here. But dealing with your internal world is a major hack, and why? Because it creates space mentally. It creates more mental real estate in your mind, especially like when life hits After. I've dealt with everything internally, from my childhood through my adult trauma. I've dealt with all of that. I've cleared up my mental real estate. Now, when life decides to hit me again, I have the capacity.
Speaker 1:Yeah To deal.
Speaker 2:To deal with what's going on in my life, Cope with it, and cope with it in a much healthier way where at first. Much healthier way where at first. If I didn't deal with everything that I've from my past, I don't have the capacity and the weight to deal with any more. I can't take no more, Right? Imagine how many people are going around with the mindset of I just can't take no more because I haven't dealt with the other BS, whether it be childhood, teenage or adult trauma.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, yes, yes. There are some experiences that we've all have had, that may have impacted our brain negatively, that we need to deal with.
Speaker 2:We have to deal with it. How do we know if we have to deal with it? Because we constantly think about it or when something comes up, it makes us feel a certain type of way. We're walking around and we're nasty. People are asking you why are you mean all the time? Why do you nag so much? Why don't you smile? The self-observer we have to observe self and have these real conversations with self.
Speaker 1:Well said, and I think I also want to talk about what is good mental health too.
Speaker 1:Okay. But before that I want to say that, like in more recent years, you're talking about hacks. I just kind of want to piggyback on that. In more recent years, I feel like you have been my hack because you are a life coach. You have been on this journey for over a decade, like a very long time, and I've watched you start from like a baby to, in my eyes, really being like a sensei at this point, and there's been some really really dark moments where grief or dealing with healing you know at this point, and there's been some really really dark moments where you know grief or you know dealing with healing from you know certain things I experienced in my life where I literally would have sessions with you about coach me through this, because I don't have the tools. Like sometimes, and sometimes too with mental health that we have to understand. Like sometimes, and sometimes too with mental health that we have to understand, sometimes we just get so inundated and overwhelmed that we really don't know what we should do next.
Speaker 1:Like you said I just can't, like I can't take it, no more. And then we just become defensive and then the negativity creeps in and so I literally use and have will explode. You know, I literally have used you in the past, you know, four years or so, as my life coach and it's made the world of indifferent, of difference, because I then felt empowered, right that's the goal I then felt empowered that I had a cheat code yeah and it makes a difference it makes a big difference.
Speaker 2:It makes a big.
Speaker 1:I didn't have to sit in my dark space by myself rehearsing and replaying. Yes, the things that we know um from our life experiences have held us down mentally. Instead of rehearsing it, by working with you as my husband, but also my life coach, it helped me to get out of it faster with a plan, because here's the thing everybody's situation is different and it has to be tailored around your makeup, your life, my brain your brain your experiences.
Speaker 2:So, even as a life coach, I don't give answers. I pull them out of you and you discover the answer.
Speaker 1:Yep, that's true, which can be very, which has been very, frustrating.
Speaker 2:Sometimes it would make you not even want to talk to me.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I'd tell you about it. Never mind, I don't want to talk about it.
Speaker 2:You know, because every experience is different. I remember, not too long ago, one of your recent, not recent, but one of your. It was a few years. You was like I think I'm depressed, and I said you are not depressed, you are fighting against depression and I feel like that was.
Speaker 2:I believe that was a great pivotal moment because you almost accepted something that wasn't reality. You were fighting against it. You were getting up. Yeah, you had your routine. Life was beating your ass, but you kept getting up. You had your routine. Life was beating your ass, but you kept getting up, going to the gym, reading, going to certain events. That was creating an opening, a space for you to relieve. You looked at me like I think I'm depressed. I looked at you and said you are not depressed.
Speaker 1:You are fighting against it, you are fighting, and that's a major difference.
Speaker 2:You are not in a sunken place, you are fighting. You're in a battle right now and y'all going toe to toe and it feels like you're losing, but you have the tools to continue to fight back. You got the weapons. You got your faith. You got therapy. You got a life coach. You got your faith. You got therapy. You got a life coach. You got exercising. You got reading. You got eating healthy. You have your friends. You have your environment. You have what you you locked and loaded. You are ammoed. You have everything in your clip to fight this battle.
Speaker 1:I mean, I remember when you looked at me and said, no, you're fighting against it. It was like a big aha moment, like you fucking right, you're right, man. I got my butt up and I thought I started. I was thinking differently from that very moment of that conversation. I am not depressed, I'm not about to accept that. I'm fighting against it and everything that I'm doing every day when I wake up is keeping me out of that state of depression.
Speaker 2:Exactly, I was so empowered.
Speaker 1:I remember that like it was yesterday. It was only like a couple years ago. I remember it like yesterday.
Speaker 2:I have to tell you some of my secrets that I do to build mental resilience. Am I moving too fast?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so let's get into it, let's get into it? No, you right on track. So we talked about mental health.
Speaker 1:Now we need to talk about what is good mental health. What is that? You know, and so, for me, good mental health. I know what it doesn. Doing this podcast, I feel like I am in good mental health. Tomorrow, I might be faced with some mental illness crisis. So, in order to be in good mental health, that doesn't mean that you won't experience some mental crises. We have to learn to accept that too, too, because mental health happens on a continuum basis. It's throughout our lifetime. We're going to experience emotions and behaviors throughout our entire lifetime. That's going to impact the wellness of our mental health correct.
Speaker 2:That's facts. That's facts. A major hack for me when it comes to my mental. So what is good mental health for me is being able to observe and accept your present moment of how you are feeling mentally, spiritually, physically, emotionally, all around the board and accept it. Today I'm having a bad day. I accept it. I accept also that I can go to bed and try again tomorrow. I can express it to my group, my wife, my friends hey, I'm having a tough day. I feel like I'm getting ready to explode. I accept where I'm at.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes.
Speaker 2:Without putting a judgment on it and being embarrassed. That's good mental health for me, knowing that it comes with a roller coaster. Yeah that's a good mental health. Knowing that it's up and down, mm-hmm, knowing that life is good and bad, happy and sadness, and knowing that I have the tools and the capability and I'm equipped enough to deal with what comes to me at that present time.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:No matter how I feel. If I feel at my lowest, it's okay for me to say I feel low. Right, this is mental health. This is being the manager. This is growing above, spiritually above mental health. Right, being the orchestrator, almost Even when you don't being able to say okay, I'm in a storm, and this type of storm, I just have to weather it. Right, I can't do anything. So what's a good mental health for me is it's a certain level of mastery of spirituality and awareness right and accepting where you are at that present moment because your mental health can fluctuate.
Speaker 1:Within one day that's life. One day your mental health can fluctuate and there is no period Like oh, I've gone through so much in my life, I've gone through losses and griefs and this and that, and now my mental health is great, period that doesn't exist.
Speaker 2:You have to work it. It's a muscle that you have to work over and over and if you're not intentional about it, if you're not intentional about this, we give information. Like I said before, we are a world of knowledge, but we lack application. Yes, we know these things, but it's harder to apply these things, these things, but we, it's harder to apply these things, we, if we don't practice these things, your mental health will decline and decline, decline without any storms hitting yes, yeah without any storms hitting.
Speaker 2:Yes, oh, I'm okay. I don't need to wake up and say what I'm grateful for because you put a period after it, I don't period after it.
Speaker 2:I don't need to be appreciative. You know I work. Listen, I'll give y'all a hack. I wake up, big Charles, do things. I put myself in mentally tough situations every day to condition my mind for tough times, because in my mind, I am the Jesus of my family. I am the one that everybody depend on, and when you are the one that everybody depend on, less than often the one that everyone depend on usually get checked on the least. So I have to build a mental catalyst where I am tough in the worst times, so everyone can, so we can survive the storm. Yeah, I remember we were going through a phase where it was just tragic and my kids was looking at me like pops. How are we going to handle?
Speaker 2:What do you mean by doing certain things to challenge your, your mental toughness? Big charles, I do things that are hard daily. You know I said this before in one of the other uh podcasts anterior mid cingulate cortex. This is now. This is science. This is where the wheel lives. Doctors and scientists have done their homework and they and according to the Huberman lab, um, this is where the the wheel lives. The anterior mid cingulate cortex is where the wheel lives and every time you do something that you don't want to do like going to the gym when you don't want to go, like eating that healthy meal when you don't want to eat that healthy meal Doing something that's challenging to your normal routine the more you do that, the stronger your will becomes.
Speaker 2:Denying self, sometimes Denying self, yes, I want to go out on a party, but nah, I know it's not the right thing to do. Or I want to go and do this. I want to go hang out party, but nah, I know it's not the right thing to do. Or I want to go and do this. I want to go hang out with the friends, but that's not the right thing to do. I want to go. It's not the right thing.
Speaker 2:I'm going to make a more sound decision, a tougher decision that brings more long-term gratification and that moment your will is being built. So I do things daily to build my will, because big charles know that hard times hits everyone right and we have to condition our mind. Just for example, you can get hit. Let's just say something. Something really tragic hit you in your life, right, right, well, I'm just say this. I'm gonna give an example.
Speaker 2:They have this young lady or this older lady she's like 60, 70 years old that I work with. Her daughter died last year. That is something that is unimaginable. I can't. I have no understanding of experiencing that and pray that I never have to witness that. She was in such a dark place last year, depressed. I'm doing, I don't even know, but I'm doing things just to make her smile when she's at work.
Speaker 2:Few months later, almost a year later, her brother died and I'm giving you this example on and to hear I'm getting ready to break this down to you her last year, her daughter. Her daughter died. One year later, her brother died and I year later her brother died. And I asked her last week I said how are you feeling? She said well, you know, experiencing my daughter's death prepared me so much mentally because to me that's like the worst experience that you can possibly feel in life to experience your child dying before you and that brought me to such a dark place. Now that my brother I knew that he just passed away. I can handle this one a lot more differently because of this situation that I experienced with my daughter. It built up something in the mind that gave her the capacity to handle this situation in a different way, right, in a more accepting way, like you know I'm down about it.
Speaker 2:I'm sad that he had to go, but he was in so much pain, Right Like. I'm hearing that she learned how to deal with grief in a different way. Yeah, Based off of her experience with her child.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, god bless her.
Speaker 2:So it's a that was heavy. No, it's really. It's heavy because we, we have to think about it though. Mental health it, like you said earlier, our genetics have to do a lot with it. Our brain chemistry have to have a lot to do with it. Our life experiences, our social environment, the way we a lot to do with it, our life experiences, our social environment, the way we are wired to deal with art, the way we've learned how to cope with tragedy yes, Yep, Yep.
Speaker 1:And which is why? To talk about mental health. I felt that it was important to talk about what good mental health is. You know what I mean, if we're going to talk about it, and a lot of what you said for yourself was around just being self-aware, like knowing that I'm not my best self today, or I'm not showing up as my best self today. But don't criticize it, that's okay.
Speaker 1:It's okay. It's okay. I'm aware of that. Excuse me, guys. I'm aware of that, I know how to counter it and it is what it is. Tomorrow's another day.
Speaker 2:I'm going to get another chance Exactly, and sometimes you have to express it. I remember a pivotal moment with my children when I was having so much back pain and carpal tunnel and neck pain from my job for years. I was so grumpy, because pain alters your mood, your attitude.
Speaker 1:It's very mood altering. What are you saying?
Speaker 2:I had to sit my family down.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Children. This is what's going on. Daddy's in a lot of pain, I'm in a lot of pain, I have my patience. In short, Yep. I can't do what I normally, what I want to do. I'm a very athletic, you know, mobile parent.
Speaker 1:I can't move like that Right and.
Speaker 2:I have to just express it to them and having them having their listening ear and having them to understand that this is a phase, that I will get through it, and just telling the truth about it.
Speaker 1:They were able to give you compassion, which automatically changed your mental around it.
Speaker 2:It created more space for me mentally.
Speaker 1:Now you know you have compassion. I don't have to hide it, I don't have to mask it.
Speaker 2:I don't have to mask it, right? I'm gonna tell you this is what's going on. This is what's going on in my life, right? So like to just to recap it again once. One, if you a book that I recommend is cleaning up my mental mess by dr carolyn leaf. Two, so I wanted to talk about something real quick because I wanted to by Dr Carolyn Leaf, mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:Two. So I wanted to talk about something real quick because I wanted to talk about something that I just discovered personally Okay From managing my mental health. So shout out to Passage Nautical. They now put on Uncork my Creativity painting event. Sorry guys, allergies, it's called Uncork my Creativity Painting Event. Sorry guys, allergies, it's called Uncork my Creativity.
Speaker 2:Start over again. You said Passage.
Speaker 1:Shout out to Passage Nautical. They're located in. It's a yacht company located in Point Richmond. They now put on an event called Uncork your Creativity, which is what we would call like a paint party, but it's more than that, because it's therapeutic.
Speaker 1:When you walk into the event, there's people there with amazing energy. First of all, Everybody's coming there for different purposes, and so I went a couple of weeks ago with my daughter and I had so much anxiety around it. Because I do not. I do consider myself a creative, but I do not consider myself a painter.
Speaker 1:So, when I got there and we went around the table and we all were asked to share a little bit about ourselves and I said to them I said I am really anxious about this because art is not my forte- you really didn't want to go.
Speaker 1:And I didn't want to go because activities like painting I'm going to say that I always say activities like painting and yoga are too slow for my brain, but I also think that I force that upon myself too and I'm not open to them to really see what they will do for my brain.
Speaker 1:So I went and, like I told the people there was wine, so that definitely got me there. But when I got there and I sat down and you know we did some breathing techniques and we meditated and you know we had the opportunity to go pick up our brushes and pick the colors that we wanted. It took me like 10 minutes to actually start painting because I was still telling myself I am not good at this, I'm not going to do a good job, I'm intimidated by it, I'm not going to do it. The moment I put that paintbrush in that paint and put that paint on that canvas, something inside of me just ignited. It was one of the most therapeutic things that I have done in a very long time, like it. Just I didn't want to stop.
Speaker 2:What's the name of it again?
Speaker 1:It's called Uncork your Creativity.
Speaker 2:It's in Point Richmond. If you guys want to know anything about that, DM us. Dm us and we will give you the information.
Speaker 1:I think it's a fee as well. Yeah, there is a fee, um, it's 65 a fee. Your canvas, your paint, um is all included. There's snacks, there's wine, it's like what we was called. We'll call a sip and paint. But it's more than that. The experience is more than that. So I got so engulfed in my painting that I didn't finish it, like I just kept getting more ideas of what I wanted to do with my painting. So I'm going back this Thursday to finish my project and I would have never thought that I would find a free painting so therapeutic Like me, like sitting down and painting and being calm and you know seeing what my mind is telling me, what colors I want to use. What am I trying to translate onto this canvas? Like I would have never thought, but it has just become one of my new favorite therapeutic activities to maintain good mental health for me.
Speaker 1:Wow, yep, you were gone for hours too, I was gone for hours and I cannot wait to go back to finish my painting.
Speaker 2:I'm happy for you, though I cannot wait. I'm happy for you.
Speaker 1:I cannot wait.
Speaker 2:That's good, that's really good.
Speaker 1:I wanted to share that because sometimes when we step-.
Speaker 2:Outside of your comfort zone because you didn't want to go.
Speaker 1:I was not interested but I had to go because of you know, I'm very connected and I love um, the owner of passage, passage nautical, so I had to go. It was one of those commitments I had to make um, and she really wanted me there and, um, I stepped outside of my comfort zone and, to my surprise, like I thoroughly enjoyed it, it really did something for my mental, um, and it really really did something for my mental and it really just did something for just the energy that I was even feeling that day.
Speaker 2:Who want to meet Big Shea at the art gallery? Meet me at the gallery, can I call it that? Yeah, who want to meet Big Shea and Point Richmond at the art gallery?
Speaker 1:And uncork your creativity.
Speaker 2:We going to make it a thing, then yes, we going to make it a thing, then we gonna make it a thing, we gonna make it a thing.
Speaker 1:Meet up with me.
Speaker 2:Big shake.
Speaker 1:Meet up with me. The next one is gonna be on the 30th of May. Paint party, Paint party Wine snacks, good energy, diverse people, just good support in a positive environment. You get from it what you put into it.
Speaker 2:Talk that, talk then.
Speaker 1:I'm coughing y'all.
Speaker 2:Big Shea got bad allergies.
Speaker 1:Bad allergies, y'all.
Speaker 2:Well, before we get out of here, we're just going to do a recap, man, you know. Like we said, we told you what mental health was earlier. We also said the factors that influence mental health, which is genetics, brain chemistry, life experiences, social environment. We also talked about what is good mental health and what is bad mental health. When did we realize that our mental health was declining? Yep, we talked about all of these things. We also even recommended a book called Cleaning Up my Mental Mess by Dr Carolyn Leaf. Yes, guys.
Speaker 1:We also recommended an event, a therapeutic event, by Pastic Nautical Uncork your Creativity. Join me, big Shea, on May 30th. If you want to see what I'm talking about. That's one way that I'm going to start using to manage my mental health, outside of what I already do?
Speaker 2:we actually gave two events.
Speaker 1:Oh we, because of the the brother, kariga resources, kariga bailey the man's wellness yes, oh yes yes, in oakland he does it twice a month yes, guys, hit big charles up if you want to go spend some time with.
Speaker 2:Big Charles. If you want to go spend some time with Big Charles, this is stuff we like to do. Yeah, yes, yes.
Speaker 1:Step into the bad side.
Speaker 2:Listen. The more aware you become, the better life gets. Yes, guys, we love y'all.
Speaker 1:We put it on the table today.
Speaker 2:We put it on the table. This was a lot Matter of fact. We're going to have to break this one down in probably the two parts.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yep, it's going to be two parts y'all. We put a lot on the table today, but I'm really proud and happy that we were able to tap in happy that we were able to tap in Get some quality, because this was like church today.
Speaker 2:It was good, I liked it. We're going to leave in 10 minutes y'all. No, give me five more minutes. Give me five more minutes. 30 minutes later, I'm huffing and puffing. Be sweet.
Speaker 1:I'm ready to go. Yeah, me too.
Speaker 2:I love you guys. Thank you guys for supporting Big Dog Talk podcast. Y'all, we love y'all so much. Meet us at those events. Meet us at the events, hang out with us, hang out with us Peace and shout out to Mental health awareness. Mom, yes, great episode.