Let's talk about what grows within us. It's probably no surprise, but what inevitably grows is what we give time and attention to, AKA food. Are the thoughts playing in your head ones that are tearing you down, self-deprecating, and harsh? Then what will grow is a spirit of resentment, disgust, and judgement that makes people challenging to be around at best, and brutal critics and Debby Downers at worst. If we can change what we feed to be messages of hope, self-love, encouragement, and gratitude, that can grow a spirit of tenderness, joy, and contentment. What is fed within is entirely based on the words and thoughts we are taking in. If you want to change what grows, start to change what food your taking in on a regular basis.

Thumbnail image from https://www.kevinleepalmer.com/articles/what-you-feed-grows

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Let's talk about probably the worst thing to happen in modern American history: MAGA, or Make America Great Again. It's a fascist movement that is trying to revert the country to the 1950s, if not the 1920s or even earlier. Removing voting access, deporting legal immigrants, blatant disregard for the rule of law, and using the political machine to serve their desires rather than listen to their constituents. Since recording, we can also add destroying the economy, going to war with a sovereign nation without Congress approval, and blatant attempts to cheat in the midterm elections. For that last one: Trump is doing this because he knows he will be held accountable for his actions and he doesn't want that.

MAGA is not a paragon, and I use the paragon/renegade metaphor from the Mass Effect trilogy as a model for this analysis. Below are all the sources I used for the claims I make in this video:

https://abcnews.com/Politics/comparings-trump-obamas-irandeals-knowanalysis/story?id=134014979

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For this month's hero study, I had the privilege to speak with Cecil Cicirello, one of the cohosts for Cognitive Dissonance and Citation Needed, two of my favorite podcasts to listen to. He's also the cohost on the Know Rogan Experience podcast, an interesting listen especially if you are Joe Rogan curious, which I am not. I tried my best to not point out parallels every five minutes, but our stories have so many similarities. That being said, he also had some great pushback to some of my ideas that I greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy this conversation with an awesome person and podcaster. Check out his work! Citation Needed is my favorite comedy podcast, and if you want more political takes, then give Cognitive Dissonance a listen.

Cognitive Dissonance: https://www.dissonancepod.com/

Citation Needed: https://www.citationpod.com/

The Know Rogan Experience: https://www.knowrogan.com/

We also talk about his endeavors in cooking and he has an abandoned channel where he shares some recipes, but the content is still there! There are some good recipes I want to try in the future. https://www.youtube.com/season%20liberally

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Let's talk about being gracious with ourselves, and being flexible. If you're like me, then the one person you tend to be the most strict with is yourself. We can be inflexible, rigid, and even hold ourselves to a much higher standard than we hold others to. What would it look like to allow ourselves to be flexible? What would it look like for us to be gracious with ourselves? What if we were to treat ourselves better and actually give ourselves the opportunity to grow?

Image by wayhomestudio on Magnific

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Today I want to talk about taking pride in Pride. This last June I had the privilege to man a booth at the local Pride Rally for Therapists @ Pride, a group of therapists in this area who are LGBTQAI+ themselves, or affirming of these people. It was fascinating to see all of these people who are stereotyped, persecuted, and judged having the freedom to be and represent themselves. Let's take a look at some of the lessons I learned from participating in the second Pride Rally I've ever been a part of since my faith deconstruction.

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Have questions you'd like discussed on the podcast, or people to interview/research for future hero studies? Send me an email! You can reach me at questions (dot) btcpod (at) gmail (dot) com.

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My apologies for the noise disturbances in this episode. My microphone doesn't always want to cooperate and until I have the funds to replace it, sometimes it's going to be a pill.

Let's talk about what we are holding within us. I had an experience around my birthday where I had a release of emotion that I didn't know was stored within me. Times were tough and stress and pressure build up over some weeks. The disappointment with a lackluster birthday, changes in plans that required less time to prepare for a D&D one-shot for my nephew, on top of all the usual difficulties of work, finances, and mental health in my home. What helped me get the emotion out? Of all things, fantasy tavern AI music videos. I don't even remember how I found these videos, but there were some lyrics that spoke to me in such a deep way that it helped to release these emotions. I know! Two AI music videos spoke to me and helped release everything that was being held inside. That being said, what is it that you are holding on to? It's possible that the solution to release it all will come in an unexpected form.

Person Crying Stock photos by Vecteezy: https://www.vecteezy.com/free-photos/person-crying

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For this month's hero's study, we're looking at the character Mega Man X (X for short) from the...Mega Man X video game franchise. This titular protagonist of this post apocalyptic future of mankind is also the progenitor of a race of sentient robots called Reploids. X is one of those reluctant heroes. He was specifically built to protect the last remnants of mankind. He also has many hidden talents that are granted to him by his long passed creator and he learns to find confidence in himself and even does all he can to avoid violence in his later years. Does it work? Not quite. He wrestles with his own creation, whether he is able to avoid falling into the dysfunction of the Mavericks he hunts, and has to work through the betrayal of people that he trusts. X is a very complex character and I can't wait to share about him with you!

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Let's talk about some things I've learned from the game Stardew Valley. This is one of my favorite life/farming/adventure simulation games that came out in 2016. Just like any other game that touches on how life actually is, there are some striking lessons to learn from the character interactions throughout the game. As usual, I came up with a list of 10 and only talk about 5 because then these episodes would be as long as an interview. Let's dive in!

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Let's talk about the impressions our characters make. This is one of those actions speak louder than words kind of conversation. You see, at the time of this recording, there have been some incidents that have shows how people in power are saying one thing, but then acting in another. At the White House Correspondents Dinner, a shooter broke through a security checkpoint. Once it came to the attention of everyone in power that this was happening, there was only one example of these "pro-life" men who actually made sure that his wife was safe. Everyone else completely ditched their spouses. That has left an unfortunate impression that these people aren't walking the walk that they talk. Let's get into it.

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Let's talk about what we are able to do, because we are all able to do something. This is inspired by the saying that comes up often in recovery that you can't do everything, but you can do something. Even if what needs to be addressed is something that you didn't contribute to. *cough*politics*cough* Regardless of what is bringing about our current situations, we can always do something, even if it's small and all you can do for that day. With enough small efforts, we can make a huge difference.

Thumbnail Art

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