Welcome to a new week of a At Home Diaries. On today’s episode Clifford rolls out a change to the show’s format (for the better, of course!) Simplifying the podcast by detaching from the theme restrictions will give you, the audience, a more fluid experience and allow me, the podcaster, to record more personal perspective episodes that will only make the show stronger. The evolution of the show is leaning more towards drawing on personal experiences to explore various strategy forms. This episode is dedicated to pineapple pizza!

A saga began two months ago when I turned to Facebook to profess my love for pineapple on pizza and in came the naysayers! But it was fun naysaying! A fun debate between the pineapple on pizza lovers VS the pineapple on pizza haters erupted and it’s been a meme war ever since! It’s been a refreshing retreat from the typical online vitriol that plagues are social media spaces.

Well, one day, my friend Jesse wanted to up the stakes. He said, “If you really care about pineapple pizza as much as you say you do…then put your money where your mouth is and tattoo your pineapple pizza loving heart on your sleeve!”

I wrote a blog about it. I made a poll. I raised the question… should I? Why not? And then people rallied around the idea. It was fun to see the saga escalating so quickly to absurd heights.

For years I wanted a tattoo and never knew what to get. When I saw how, in its weird way, that this pineapple pizza debate was bringing people together, I put two and two together that this is something I should totally do! I’m all about bringing people together, helping where I can, and being a lightening rod for positive energy. It’s cheesy. BUT SO IS PIZZA! Hahaha that was the worst!

I think you’ll love this episode. I walk through the saga and talk about it in depth. BELOW IS THE TATTOO THAT I ACTUALLY GOT ON MY BIRTHDAY!!!

The original blog that kickstarted the saga

Satellite – Birthplace of the first Hawaiian slice

Every pineapple pizza meme on earth

Are there unexpected symbols in your life that give you meaning?

What gives you meaning and how do you explore your purpose?

Any regrettable tattoo stories? Share them in the comments below!

Episode Duration: 17:05

Today’s episode of At Home Diaries is our World of Strategy podcast. Every Friday we are looking at the world around us for strategies that effect us positively or negatively on a daily basis. On today’s episode we are exploring extreme opinions. A polarization effect I was first introduced to years ago when I was accused of being a “fence sitter” on social issues and coldly reminded that “the devil owns the fence.”

When I’m online or spending time with people, one thing is apparent, we’ve forgotten how to disagree. It’s a rare universe that exists where everyone shares the same worldview and all the opinions and beliefs that come with any given worldview.

There’s a strategic value to intentionally choosing a middle ground instead of leaning to one extreme over another. It gives you even footing to be able to discuss complicated issues in a diplomatic and fair way.

Unfortunately, where many arguments fail is not “what you’re saying but how you’re saying it.” The old adage. Learning to sit on the fence on issues can be the first step to eliminating fences all together.

The WikiHow Guide on How to Argue

6 Helpful Books

Why is fence sitting perceived as simply not making a choice?

Is making the choice the problem or the choice itself the problem?

Do you take extreme sides on opinions to the point where it’s hurting your relationships?

Episode Duration: 18:54

Today’s episode of At Home Diaries is our Something Borrowed podcast. Every Thursday Clifford reads excerpts from some of his favourite books, comics, and letters. Today Clifford reads from his son’s book Day Dreamers by Emily Winfield Martin.

Children’s books have come a long way since Franklin and Clifford the Big Red Dog. Some are amazing! Some are total flunkies.

We’ve been lucky enough to pick out some gems for Henry to grow up to. When I was younger I had a few go to books that set my imagination on fire. I had this one book, the name of it I can’t even remember, but it was about a British police man named Mr. Merryman. It was a counting book that started off with him grabbing onto a red balloon and then it floated into the sky, taking Mr. Merryman with it. Then, someone tries to help him, they grab his foot, and up they go! And then the next person! And the next! By the end of the book you got 10 people floating in the air due to this single red balloon.

That was always a story I took to heart and as a kid, every birthday, every fair, every circus, I would hold onto a balloon, wondering if it would take me to the sky.

I can’t wait to find out what Henry’s “red balloon” will be.

Learn EVERYTHING you need to know about Emily Winfield Martin. My new favourite author. 

What books did you have as a kid that sparked your imagination?

What weird things did you believe as a child due to a wild imagination?

Episode Duration: 17:02

Today’s episode of At Home Diaries is our Anything From Everything podcast. Every Wednesday we’re taking life lessons from pop-culture! Today we will be setting the comedian’s table as Clifford takes lesson’s from master chefs and applies them to his standup comedy.

Anyone can cook but to be a master chef it takes hours and hours of dedication. It takes passion, and patience and purpose. The same goes for ANYTHING. You have a passion or a dream and want to master your craft you’ll need to not only dedicate your entire life to it but understand what exactly is your expression.

That’s what all these chefs have in common. They using the art of cooking as a way to express something deeper within themselves. It’s not good enough to be great, you need to know why you’re being great and what you stand for.

Watching the Season 1 Trailer for Chef’s Table

More Inspiration from Chef’s Table

What do you want to master?

What are you willing to sacrifice to become a true master?

What is your truest expression?

Episode Duration: 17:31

Today’s episode of At Home Diaries is our Bare Bones podcast. Every Tuesday we look at practical strategies that can be implemented into our day to day lives. On today’s episode, we’re stopping for a little coffee break!

Coffee, coffee, coffee! I love it. And there once was a time where I ruined these beautiful beans with sugar and cream! The switch to black coffee marked a time of small, incremental change to remind myself every day of a small change I made in my life.

Which speaks to the bigger point that big changes can’t happen without small changes. Sometimes, the things we desire or the problems we want to extinguish are so far away, so distant, that achieving our goals seems impossible. But when you make a small, tangible change and on experience the results daily–it triggers that little voice in your head that tells you you can do it.

Where I Get Buy My Beans For Home

Where I Go Out For Coffee

Coffee’s Health Benefits

What small changes can you make in your life to serve as a daily reminder of what you’re capable of?

What big changes are you working towards?

Episode Duration: 15:57

Today’s episode of At Home Diaries is our World of Strategy podcast. Every Friday we are looking at the world around us for strategies that effect us positively or negatively on a daily basis. On today’s episode we are discussing Powerpoint People.

We live presentational lives. Our social lives have become the equivalent to doing a presentation in a board room. We stand in front of a group of people, introduce ourselves, add some flair, only show what we want to show and then turn to see what the board thinks. Kind of an unhealthy way to live. Wages war on our self-worth and the confidence we have in our own identities. No one shows every side of themselves online yet that’s where we spend a large chunk of our time.

My own relationship with social media has made me question a lot of my intentions and how I go forward on social media. Have I mastered the balance between myself and my presentational self? Highly doubt it.

But if any of you have the magic secret, let me know!

My Twitter

My Facebook

My Instagram

My LinkedIn

(In case you didn’t pick it up, I’m being facetious…)

Do you have a healthy relationship with social media?

What’s the difference between your true self and your presentational self?

If you could change your relationship with social media what would it be? Why? Why not?

Episode Duration: 16:37

Today’s episode of At Home Diaries is our Something Borrowed podcast. Every Thursday Clifford reads excerpts from some of his favourite books, comics, and letters. Today Clifford reads a love letter from his wife Lindsay.

My book collection is pretty impressive. I have been able to cultivate quite the collection since I first worked at a used book store called Recycled Reading almost 10 years ago. It was there where I was first introduced to the touching works of Jeanette Winterson, Khaled Hosseini, Mark Haddon and Yann Martel. I’ve been able to have my soul lifted up and my mind electrified by writers who are true masters of their craft.

These authors, these masters, can’t help but impress me. But it’s not the words of Sunil Yapa or Gabriel Garci­a Marquez that speak true to my heart.

It’s the words from my wife Lindsay.

She’s the one I love. The one I truly know and who truly knows me. We may not be well versed or natural born wordsmiths but when we say our words, we say them for each other, and that’s enough. It’s more than enough. It’s everything.

Enjoy this Valentines Day retrospective and a light conversation about love.

In honour of our love for one another check out this video of our Wedding Day.

Read this recent post from Cliffy TV where I go deeper into making a marriage work.

In what way can you use your words to energize the ones you love?

How do you choose to share your love?

Episode Duration: 11:30

Today’s episode of At Home Diaries is our Anything From Everything podcast. Every Wednesday we’re taking life lessons from pop-culture! Today we are cooking up lessons from Breaking Bad in the winnebago that is this podcast!

The stark contrast of how we justify our actions when we’re on the losing side, what we’re willing to do when our back is against the wall and operating out of desperation — Versus how we justify our actions when we have what we need yet continue feeding into that same bad behaviour. How does money change us? How do you justify doing bad things when you’re a good person and at what point have you done enough bad things to make you a bad person?

Buy The Entire Show on Amazon – It’s one of the best shows ever made. Pretty undisputed. If you haven’t seen it, binge away! If you have seen it, binge again!

If you like Breaking Bad you will also like Talking Bad and Better Call Saul.

Want more recommendations for shows like Breaking Bad? Check out Taste Kid to explore similar interests!

Where do you draw the line between when the ends justifies the means and when you’ve gone too far?

How do you balance your own struggle of Good VS Evil?

What’s something bad you’re really good at?

Episode Duration: 16:24

Today’s episode of At Home Diaries is our Bare Bones podcast. Every Tuesday we look at practical strategies that can be implemented into our day to day lives. Today’s episode “Move the Chair” is no exception!

Last Tuesday we talked about the power of being mindful at the start of your week by controlling your pace through what you eat. Our recommendation was of course… soup! A slow, contemplative soup to be had as a main course at the beginning of your week. To take the time to meditate on what’s ahead of you instead of just running face first into the week’s impending chaos!

Today, we talk about perspective. Clifford shares personal stories about his bizarre relationship with furniture and how being too particular by the way he perceived things to be got in the way of physically going out of his way to challenge his own perspective.

Perspective Exercises – It’s amazing how much overlap we’ll find from different topics we discuss. Are you an artist or like to draw? Or are you simply a hungry mind that wants more knowledge to chew on? These perspective exercises for drawing are applicable to the way we look at/approach problems in our day-to-day lives. It’s also another mindful activity you can use to slow yourself down and regain personal perspective.

What reoccurring problems in your life require a new perspective? And what are you doing to find that new perspective?

What do you do on a daily basis to help prevent yourself falling into dangerous thought traps?

Follow us on Twitter and Support the Show! And make sure to use our Contact Form to submit any thoughts or responses from each episode.

Episode Duration: 12:20

Welcome to a special mini-sode of the podcast. We made todays episode to say THANK YOU for subscribing and listening to the show! I spoke a little further into my life circumstances that brought me to the bare-bones approach to everything I do.

What is this “bare-bones” approach I’m talking about? Trust me. It’s not some magic one-size-fits-all life strategy. In fact, it’s a strategy as old as time that I’m applying to my family, to my work, and to my art. Bare-bones: Doing what you can with what you have. This was something I had a hard time wrapping my mind around. I used to think I wasn’t a comedian until the powers-that-be say I’m a comedian. That I’m not able to create podcasts and video until I had the right equipment and proper training. There was always this sense of waiting for things to come to me or be given to me which just isn’t practical. At all. Instead, I took a breath, and took inventory of what I have. I have an old microphone, a bent-up computer, a dinky apartment, a voice and a drive. That’s enough to get me where I’m going as long as I’m honest and I don’t give up. That’s what being bare-bones is all about. It’s about just doing it. Not waiting for the timing to feel right or for my life to be in order. I didn’t want to be that guy sitting around waiting for life to happen. That’s how this podcast came to be. Enjoy the special mini-sode!

All the Episodes so Far

You’re Cozy with Clifford Myers

Are you sitting around waiting for life to come to you or are you proactively going out and creating the things you want create?

How do you know when you’ve found your “voice” or have “arrived”? Is this even possible?

Follow us on Twitter and Support the Show! And make sure to use our Contact Form to submit any thoughts or responses from each episode.

Episode Duration: 23:10