Today, I have a very special episode to share with you...with my son Jonah. He is heading into his sophomore year at University, currently on summer break. Jonah has some incredible insights to share about the lessons he's learned and the person he is becoming through his journey of personal growth and self discovery.
Enjoying this podcast by theheadwrapsocialite….Like, follow and share! Comment below to keep the conversation going.
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Today, I have a very special episode to share with you...with my son Jonah. He is heading into his sophomore year at University, currently on summer break. Jonah has some incredible insights to share about the lessons he's learned and the person he is becoming through his journey of personal growth and self discovery.
Enjoying this podcast by theheadwrapsocialite….Like, follow and share! Comment below to keep the conversation going.
IG: theheadwrapsocialite
Good afternoon and welcome to everybody. the podcast which shares stories that highlight people in life, that make the world an interesting place, which ultimately ties us all together in unique and wonderful ways. And who am I, you might ask. I would be the headwrapped socialite Weith mom, micro-influencer in the fashion and etiquette world, but on this podcast I will be introducing you to some people who I've had the opportunity to meet along my journey, who have helped enrich me in my life in beautiful ways and who I hope will do the same in yours. What are some of your favorite memories that you have?
Speaker 2:That's a good question. I'd probably say some of the most memorable, their favorite memories, like when we're fishing, because you don't really like fishing, but it'd always be funny when we catch a fish and then we try and get you to hold a fish or someone would chase you around with a fish and you just lose your mind. That's the best. We're with all the brothers at home and then we're just hanging out.
Speaker 1:When you mentioned fishing, Jonah has been the fishermen in our family. Do you remember when you would go to camp and you would win the little trophies because you would catch the most fish and they're drawn to you.
Speaker 2:Which I still have the trophies in my room.
Speaker 1:But they're drawn to you. I've never seen a kid. I mean, he doesn't even have to put bait on his rod, The fish just come to him. It's just like a swarm of like. they're not piranhas, but what are those little fish called Like sunnies or wallies or I don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker 2:I can't even lie.
Speaker 1:Okay, there's little fish swimming, those fish.
Speaker 2:Those fish.
Speaker 1:So we'll get to the interview now. On today's episode, i am delighted to introduce you to someone whom I've known forever, someone who has a piece of my heart, or, should I say, has allowed me to love and experience a love greater than I could have ever imagined. I have witnessed his growth and maturity over these past 20 years and I'm excited to see what the future brings for him. Now I get to sit back and watch as he passionately pursues his dreams amidst the beautiful and enormous possibilities that the universe holds for him. Please help me in welcoming my son, jonah, to today's program. Jonah, thank you so much for being here today.
Speaker 2:I love being here.
Speaker 1:Can you first start off by telling the listeners a little bit about who you are?
Speaker 2:Sure, so obviously I'm Jonah Morris. I'm a son, friend, cousin, i'm a college student. I like to say a leader, i like to volunteer, so that's a big one. I like to say humble because I really don't like to talk about myself too much.
Speaker 1:You will be heading into your sophomore year in college in a few months, and what are three things that you learned in your first year at university?
Speaker 2:The three things I learned. I guess the most important things Could be time management, just because you're super busy in college, where you have a lot of opportunities Not necessarily school-wise, but you just have a lot of opportunities to do stuff that will conflict with your school. So you just really gotta manage your time and make sure you get your work done. The second would be just find the right people and just say yes to a bunch of things because something good's gonna come out of it eventually. And then the last thing is probably not necessarily time-flying when you're having fun, but when you enjoy something truly, it doesn't feel like work or a burden.
Speaker 1:That's good. I would like to ask you a question Do you ever reflect back on your journey to where you started and where you are now as a student And, if so, what things, or what are some of the things that you marinate on when you think about it?
Speaker 2:I don't know, I was kind of an average school kid going through middle school, elementary school like flip switched And then I just really started focusing on my grades. I just really started focusing on getting involved, Be trying to just like put my best foot forward.
Speaker 1:I will say you and your brothers grew up in a very unique place. Our town is. It's a larger small city, but we've had these conversations before. But now that you've gone away to college, you've come back and you've experienced a different group of diverse people that you interact with on a daily basis, coming up by racial in our community here. What things did you learn about yourself once you moved away?
Speaker 2:I guess really I learned to appreciate myself and know my self worth. I also gained a sense of confidence and reassurance in myself where others, other people's opinions, really didn't matter to me and it was whenever I thought of myself mattered. So no matter if you doubt me or something, you think bad about me, i know who I am Right I'm just. I'm strong in that belief where you're not going to sway me off my course. Another thing I learned about myself was more so. I learned that home isn't just a building where you grew up. For me, home is just wherever the people I care about and I care about me are. So I learned that while you can have a biological family, you can have a family you establish just for connections and relationships and experiences, and I realized that's a really important part to me.
Speaker 1:That makes me think of a quote, and I'm not sure who actually said it, but friends are the family you choose. The people that you do surround yourself with become a larger part of your story, especially when you're at college, because you all are on this new learning journey experience together. Within the context of what we were talking about, i know that society often imposes expectations and they have stereotypes based on race. How have you navigated and challenged these preconceptions, and what impact has that had on your self-confidence and your personal growth?
Speaker 2:Moving away. It really like, reassured myself and who I was. So, even though you are challenged, with people challenging your identity and trying to fit you in a box, they're like you're just who you are. I'm a more sophisticated person. I'm not just black, white, six, two, a man. I'm Jonah Morris. I fit multiple boxes. The cut could be a circle. I'm a square. I'm not going to fit into what you think. Every time I think a lot of what it's made me think about myself. It hasn't made me think too much about myself, but on other people I have seen that I've matured in a different way than other people have. It's really interesting to see like for me, when I look at someone I'm not looking at like I guess they're like physical or stereotypical traits I'm just trying to look at your personality. I know that's like a big cliche, but if you're a genuine person, that's all that really matters to me. It doesn't matter how you look, talk, act. Just who you are is who you are.
Speaker 2:And I can really appreciate that when someone's not faking anything.
Speaker 1:I like that and that's real.
Speaker 2:I really just hate identifiers. A lot of people just know me as like six, two light-skinned guy, some curly hair, but that's all you see. I think that's stupid. I know there's a bunch of people who still think like that, which I think they just need to-.
Speaker 1:But you're like get to know me, Get to know who I am.
Speaker 2:If you're not going to give me a chance just because of the way I look, you're not worth my time.
Speaker 1:I'm just a mentor to youth. What are some things you have learned about the world that you share with those that you mentor?
Speaker 2:So I think the things I've learned about like myself in the world, about mentoring, is that No matter like, no matter how like the age gap is, you can always learn something. You shouldn't look at it as like I'm trying to help you. You should just try and like be with them and be present in the moment because, like that's how you have like the most fun, how like you'll learn how the kids will learn how I can truly show them how to be like better people, what the right things I do, like what's right, like wrong things I do and it's to be organic And it's not.
Speaker 1:It's not to have it like all planned out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like one time I was playing like basketball with the kids and, mind you, they're like middle school, is like just a 10 to 13. Okay, we were playing basketball and we're getting wrapped up and they were getting mad at each other and like they were just Scrapping for the ball and then, like one kid, started getting frustrated and I said like hold him. I was like it's not really worth it. Sure, you're angry right now, but play the game. It's gonna be there your whole life, like people are gonna try and get you mad.
Speaker 1:She's like trying to be the bigger person right And it's to teach those kids in a moment, because maybe you know, you are the first person that they encountered who actually told them that, somebody who took an active interest in How they were feeling. You know, i think sometimes, like we all Society, we look at different situations and we take for granted that Everybody in the world has those exact same experiences. And I'm sure by you taking an active role and really caring about that young person, change a little bit of his brain, saying the next time, possibly something like this happens, maybe he'll just kind of take a pause.
Speaker 2:One thing I want to add is a big reason you shouldn't come in with like I'm helping the mentality is Because, like you're not gonna be like as fulfilled and like is happy. Because I remember, like the first, the first month I started volunteering and like trying to mentor them and like try and hang out, they like some of the kids would know my name. Some of the kids wouldn't know my name, but there was one kid I always knew his name, mm-hmm, and like the one day he said like hey, jonah, my like face just lit up and I got so happy I could see like I'm making a difference and like he's making a difference on me, like it's just making my day. I'm making his day right.
Speaker 1:I just think that's that's beautifully said and It goes back to saying like we're all in this beautiful tapestry of life together. You need me, i need you, that young man need you, you need him, and it constantly is a building block for us all. I guess the next question would be, like I stated in the beginning, you've always been a free thinker. You've always been our spirited child, energetic. You have created for yourself a lot of independence, which I admire as a mom. How has this quality influenced your decision-making process and personal growth thus far?
Speaker 2:Yeah, i think it's definitely been like a big shape of my life. It's caused me to want to I don't know try and live my own life and like, even though I have like a life here with you guys That I gotta live to myself. I think that was a big, a big like successful thing and why it made my college experience so, so good for me. It's just I really just tried to go out there and do stuff for me. I'm like I tried to take like advantage of all the all the circumstances I had, so it was just really nice.
Speaker 1:I think that's another beautiful thing to say, and You're right. As parents, we try to give you the knowledge and information, but ultimately, the knowledge and information that we give as parents, we hope that one day that you can exist outside of us Just to see you thriving. Don't get me wrong. You know we talk a lot and I really enjoy, you know, those conversations, but you Exists in your own space. You get yourself up for college. You know mom's not calling you Hey, did you go to school? You know, i know that you've taken care of what you needed to take care of and I think there's no greater joy than that A parent could have didn't to see, you know, their child being Independent.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but backtrack in a little bit, i think it's. It is important to note that even though you leave, like the house, you're not totally independent. Because I think the first week of college I was still trying to figure out people and And someone told me like oh, you shouldn't really like mess with this person And I like I kind of took it as like oh yeah, yeah, i probably shouldn't. But then, like I talked to my dad and he's like you know, it's your college experience, you're gonna have a totally different relationship with them. Like give him a try first and now, like I don't know, i can call them anytime. Like I have a great relationship with that person. So like it's definitely important to realize that just because you leave the home, your relationship doesn't have end.
Speaker 2:Right and you guys can still impart wisdom on me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it. Just our relationship now grows in a different way. Of course, you know we'll always be mom and dad and we'll always be here for you if you ever need to chat, but it's also to Understand that, in this, this is your experience. Another thing that I was thinking of is your energy, and And your energy is contagious and has always been, and it can inspire Those around us. How do you channel your energy to motivate yourself and up with others? This could be in your role as a sibling, as a friend, as a son.
Speaker 2:Hmm, i'd say for myself, my energy is more like sure it helps if I'm in like a super energetic mood to get stuff done, mm-hmm. But I've also realized that I need to take it upon myself, no matter what energy level I have, that I need to get stuff done. Okay and when I like, when I bring that energy to other people, i just try and be like as genuine as possible. I try and be like nice to everyone. Right cuz like. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.
Speaker 1:That's fair.
Speaker 2:So my energy is more of. I'm gonna give you your props. I'm gonna love you in all facets, even if, like you, do me wrong. I'm still gonna give you your props.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm cuz.
Speaker 2:Like that's the last thing I want, like that's lasting my energy once yeah is to hurt someone's feelings. That's nice.
Speaker 1:Thank you for sharing that, and we kind of touched on this earlier how, even though you're having your own college experience, that mom and dad, brothers, you know will always be here as pillars of support, how do you maintain Those strong relationships with your loved ones while also pursuing your own dreams and your aspirations?
Speaker 2:I think it's knowing, like the balance you need to have with everyone, because I know, or my relationship with you and my relationship with dad Like they're just different things to maintain that level of closeness.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:I think, especially with the brothers, i call you guys a lot more than I call the brothers because, like I realized, like We're always gonna be close and we don't need to talk every day, and like when we do talk We're just like really chop it up.
Speaker 1:So, jonas, driving to put your best foot forward each day requires motivation and determination. Mm-hmm. What drives you to maintain this mindset and how do you sustain it, even in the face of adversity?
Speaker 2:Like. Once you build daily routines, it just it helps you push like forward in the face of adversity. Like I know, like you and dad would always say, like we'd wake up before school Don't be mediocre, like Like, why would you be? average can be like exceptional.
Speaker 1:It's exceptional in your own right. You know, whatever your exceptional is, reach your highest potential. That strive for that day in and day out. Give the best of who you are. Because not only does that and I say you know, don't be mediocre but we also say there are no do-overs.
Speaker 2:Where is?
Speaker 1:this, this one life, to be the best you that you could possibly be. Do everything you can to that, five years down the line, ten years down the line, fifteen years down the line, you're not having any regrets, as any parent you know. We hope that you will all Exceed your own Wildest expectations of where you can reach to in this world, because there are no limits. The only limits, i believe, that we put is the limits that we put on ourselves. If there was one thing that you could say to somebody who was younger and who was looking to maybe Try something new, or they wanted to put their best foot forward but didn't know where to start, what thing would you tell them is like Imperative to them starting their day off right.
Speaker 2:I'd say it's really just like two things.
Speaker 2:Okay one just like keep an open mind Because, like, if you close yourself off, you're limiting like a lot of opportunities You have and that could be like the breakthrough moment you have. And then, two, you really can't put stuff off like, oh, i'm gonna do it tomorrow, like it has to be today, where that excuse is just gonna build upon itself forever And, like what you said like a month ago, you're still gonna be waiting to do tomorrow hmm, in college we would always recite excuses, and I Was thinking about that, basically the whole gist of it.
Speaker 1:I will not, you know, recite excuses, but those of you out there who know.
Speaker 1:No, you know, you know, you know. But excuses, they help build nothing, and When you constantly are putting excuses, you are constantly limiting your own possibilities. So don't put excuses out there in the universe. I always say the universe here is in the universe, acts on what you Feed it and it's like if you put excuses out there, i can't do x, y and z because this happened or this happened or this happened. You will live up to that expectation because you've already put it out there in the world. So don't give yourself any opportunity not to be your best. With that being said, i know that in this life, growth becomes a lifelong journey. We grow every single day, in small ways and large ways, and This growth journey never, ever stops. Are there any specific areas of personal growth that you are currently focusing on, and How do you actively pursue these moments of self-improvement?
Speaker 2:I really said it doesn't end, you can't come, become like in place and with yourself. So really, like all aspects of life I'm trying to improve on daily, but those are yourself like where you can't, you can't prepare for, like You can't study from. you really just have to live it out in the moment and see how you respond and like challenge yourself, like how could you be better? So I know, like school wise, i learned this thing called the learning mindset. Well, like, instead of just saying like I haven't learned this, it's like you haven't learned this yet. Like I don't have good study skills, well, i don't have them yet. Like I haven't done on this test I'll never do good, i won't, i haven't done good yet. So it's really just trying to honor, encourage yourself I and look upon like what you can do in your future.
Speaker 1:I really like that And, again, that's something I think all of us people who already have their jobs, people who are trying to still figure out you know where they're gonna be in life younger students It's like you may not be able to do something now, but it doesn't mean that you won't be able to do it in the future.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm. One thing I'd also like to add, not just like socially, but like trying to be a better person. It really changes every day, Like what was being a good person like 10 years ago is so much different than what it's being now. On the least for me, like you have to be like supportive of everyone, And that's like something important to me. Like no matter the decision, you just have to be proud of someone for who they are and really supporting them.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And I think, like going even further than that, like socially I'm just, i'm still trying to be like a better friend, a better listener, mm-hmm. So it's really just trying to like improve on yourself.
Speaker 1:Well said Thank you, and I will say that, throughout this conversation that I've had with you, the one thing that I will share with you that it is neat to see that, as you guys grow up and you start to chart your own journeys, that the relationship that I have with you is still and will always be mother, child, mother, son. But I now get to have, like these conversations with you that are deep and not only are you my son, but you're my friend, and you and your brothers teach me so much about how I am to move within this world And for me, there's nothing that fills my heart more than just seeing you thriving in college, doing what you love, finding your people in this journey, finding out more about who Jonah is meant to be in this world, just to be able to be on the outside looking in and to witness this transformation from boy to young man. It's been. I know it makes my heart. It makes my heart happy.
Speaker 1:Not through at all. I've seen your relentless pursuit of education, the relentless pursuit of again who you want to be in this world And as an inspiration to not only myself but to your brothers and to your friends, the lessons that you've learned and that you've spoke about today. I know that those of us who listen to this episode will be able to implement different parts of what you said in our lives to make our lives better, and for that I thank you.
Speaker 2:It makes me happy saying and even looking back even though this isn't the family I chose that can say I'm proud to be part of this family and I love being part of this family.
Speaker 1:Okay, mommy moment.
Speaker 2:Oh.
Speaker 1:Just a mommy moment. I'm just taking this in as I sit across from you and I'm taking in this moment. So I love you, kid, i love you too. I love you from the bottom of my heart.
Speaker 2:Ready? Maybe we'll just adjust.