The official First Episode of my side series of the Daddy Unscripted podcast: We're Here Alone Together (W.H.A.T.) is here. My guest is Jose Rosado, who was on Daddy Unscripted Episodes 7 and 10. If you remember, Jose was instrumental in helping Daddy Unscripted become a podcast. A big part of that is because Jose had his own podcast going strong back then: The Angry Millenial Podcast. 

Jose works in the Mental Health field and his family of four live in Maryland. His wife (Jess) and I have been friends for close to 15 years now. Jess is extremely talented and gifted in many ways and when the whole Corona Virus thing started sweeping through, she was one of the people who took it upon themselves to learn how to make masks. She quickly started working day in and out, making masks to donate to local hospitals and healthcare workers. She made quite a number of masks for the staff at the animal hospital I manage and you should check out all of her stuff at www.umecreative.com 

In this episode, Jose and I talk about how the quarantine situation and sheltering-in-place can definitely mess with a person's mental health. He made it very clear that if you do need to work with a therapist at any level, but never locked in with one before this all started, you can still make that happen! He suggested going to https://www.psychologytoday.com/us and using the site to find a therapist.  

I'm so glad we had this conversation just in time for the start of Mental Health Awareness Month, May of 2020. I mean: EVERY month in 2020 should absolutely continue to focus on our Mental Health. Right?

As I say in each episode: for anyone who may need help during any difficult times: the National Suicide Prevention hotline: (800) 273-8255. Also, I have a Google Voice Number for ANY of you to use: (872) 444-6784. Leave me a message there and I will get in touch with you... or you can even just use that as a safe place to vent or whatever it may be. 

Daddy Unscripted can be found on:

iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Radio | Google Play | Tune-In Radio

Twitter: @DaddyUnscripted

Facebook: Daddy Unscripted

Website: www.daddyunscripted.com

Daddy Unscripted is proud to be a part of Osiris Media! You can check out the Osiris Media website to see what other great podcasts are part of the network by going to OsirisPod.com. Osiris is partnered with JamBase and JamBase empowers music fans everywhere to go see live music. You should check them out at Jambase.com.

Intro and Outro music proudly provided with a partnership by Umphrey's McGee. Check them out at www.Umphreys.com

You can send questions and suggestions for future guests to us via email to [email protected] and you can use my Google Voice Number at 872.444.6784.

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Episode 80 is another solo episode, sans guest, and the final half of my thoughts on the place we all find ourselves in currently: in the middle of this global pandemic of Covid-19 or the Corona Virus. I recorded this episode on Friday, April 3, 2020. I'm typing this on Sunday, April 5, and the current statistics are 1,266,614 cases, 69,169 deaths and 260,967 recoveries worldwide this afternoon. That means there were more than 200,000 new cases, 11,000 new deaths and 33,000 new recoveries over this weekend.

In the first half of this, from last week, I spent a lot of time talking about my feelings regarding our responsibilities, not only for a lot of us as parents but for all of us as humans and mostly... as adults.

With this episode, I still have an undercurrent of that just beneath the surface, but a lot of this episode is spent giving you more tangible and practical takeaways to your new everyday lives right now. Whatever that may be: I think nearly all of us are living in some form of a "new normal". 

One of the positives that I hope comes out of this pandemic is our newfound understanding and respect for people in many different professions. The low-hanging fruit is, of course, people on the front lines in the healthcare industry. Doctors, nurses... all of them. The risk they are putting themselves in right now is, at times, baffling how they can do it, day after day. 

Some of the other people I have really felt a need to recognize: people working at restaurants, people at grocery stores. Let's also talk about teachers. Come on. If you haven't raised a glass to the people who are teaching all of our kids at school over the course of a school year, please do so now. 

It's imperative that we do our best to consider how this all affects our children. Think about how upside-down their worlds have become. They have lost touch significantly (in some cases, they may have lost touch altogether) with their classmates. How many of you had one or more favorite teachers? Remember how great it was to see them every weekday and be in their class? Think about that giant hole in their lives now. 

With that loss of the normal school day, also comes the loss of what that schedule brings to them in regards to their health. They no longer have whatever spacing out of their food intake, which also may have included your input if you were packing lunches for those younger kids. So, how much and how often are they eating now? And what, exactly, are they eating... that maybe wasn't in their day-to-day previously?  

WHO and the CDC both recommend that children should perform at least 60 minutes' worth of moderate to vigorous levels of physical activity on a daily basis. Are you keeping that up for your kids right now? There are so many ways to accomplish this, even during whatever your community's current level of quarantine or shelter-in-place may be. 

There's a website and an app called Go Noodle that is a free resource for kids to visit to be active and stay healthy. My kids love using that site, actually and I've done a few of the dances with them, too. Cosmic Kids is another great place, that even has yoga for kids. 

You may not even know that the YMCA has something called YMCA360 (that they recently made free for people) that you can access for all of this, as well. It can be as simple, even, as looking things up on Youtube for your kids to do some activities at home. 

Stress eating is not just an adult deal, everyone. So, remember that your kids may be picking up on your stress or even have their own about this crazy time right now. So, it's important and not at all mean of you to keep track of what your kids are eating throughout the day. It's important that we don't just let everything go by the wayside just because of the state of the world right now. I'm tempted to say: if you want to, yourselves, that is fine......

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Episode 79 is another solo episode, sans guest. As we find ourselves in the middle of this global pandemic, I felt compelled to speak a little in regards to how this affects all of us, whether it is us as parents, our children, our own parents. All humans are in some way having their lives changed by the existence of Covid-19 or the Corona Virus.

If you've been following along with your Daddy Unscripted handbook for a while, you know that I manage an animal hospital as my 9-5 job. Managing the staff there during this time of crisis has really raised the bar for me. I have had to work harder than ever to dig deep within myself, to basically tap into every single one of the tools in my emotional utility belt to assist the 40+ people at our hospital to help them work through having to continue to work during this time. Not only that, but to also help a great many of them deal with what all of this does to exacerbate what may already be their daily anxiety level with "normal life". 

This also speaks to something I have definitely talked about numerous times: the example that we set for our children, as they soak up the things we do like sponges. Of course, the extreme on this is the people who drive me out of my mind. People who express unwarranted and unabashed anger and/or racism in front of their kids. 

I feel like the current climate in the world is allowing us another one of those moments in our lives to rise to the occasion. I feel it's important for us to recognize that, as parents, we are currently responsible for raising the adults of what will be this new world. Like it or not, the world is changing. At times, it almost feels like Earth is trying to slough off its old skin right now and become a fresh planet.

To me, it feels like there is a lot of tightrope walking that we need to do right at this time. Walking on the edge of not losing sight of our responsibilities, while not allowing that to become a straightjacket that restricts us from being present for our kids.

I feel silly and like "that guy" by sort of making a plea on this episode for people to take this seriously and do their part right now to help us flatten the curve. I also feel silly that I have to type that last sentence. How is it that people can be apathetic about the state of humankind right now? 

I alluded to the articles or the headlines I've seen more than once about statistics showing that men are either more susceptible to the Corona Virus or that their mortality rate is higher than women. I've yet to delve into that data, but, it's definitely solidified my already present desire to not get this! 

What it can break down to is: what does it hurt for all of us to be extra cautious right now? Why is it so difficult for us to just shelter in place, stay home, try to do everything to minimize our contact with others and do what we can for a while to try and help cease the spread. Slow it down. 

Acting responsibly and doing what appears to be the obvious and right thing right now is important. Also, as much as it may suck for your kids, I truly believe they will respect your decisions.

I started to go down a path that I basically stopped myself from ending. Instead, in this typed out version, I will just say: thank you to all of the people who are tirelessly working in healthcare. The people who are trying their best in the conditions they are dealing with to try and not only help people who need help in any other "every-day way" in their hospitals, but also to have to deal with all of the people coming in that are at such a bad level with Covid-19. 

For me, personally, I want to thank people like Ana in Romania, Sarah in Las Vegas and even my niece Megan out here in So Cal. Thank you for doing all that you are doing right now. 

While we are in shout-out zone, I also put out a big one in this episode to all of the...

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Episode 78 is an incredibly open, honest, deep and real conversation with associate professor and author Matt Sienkiewicz. This episode was recorded a year ago, I hate to say. Due to some significant technical issues, it's just now finally seeing the light of day.

I am not going to publicly flog myself too much for that. It is what it is at this point and I couldn't feel more guilty and apologetic about it to Matt. But, with that said: I didn't give up and it's here! Aged like a fine wine that just needed a little more time to go from "great" to "life-changing".

The episode actually started the way I thought it might: with us talking about Matt's work surrounding comedy. I was struck originally by everything he does surrounding the study of comedy. It truly fascinates me and I wish I had that experience with the little bit of college I did way back when.

We eventually did the norm and had Matt work his way back into his paternal history. And... goodness me. The game changed there. Whether he was talking about his Grandfather or his Dad, it was just ... not warm and fuzzy. I think that's safe to say.

I get that everyone does not have the greatest and most loving relationship with their parents. I truly do understand that and don't live in a fairy tale world of thinking that just doesn't exist. I did have a great relationship with my Dad, but I know that isn't just the way for all men.

That Matt was okay with openly discussing even the lows of his relationships really changed what I thought might be the course of our conversation. We really spent a lot of time on those relationships.

I learned a lot from this discussion. I gained a ton of respect for Matt and, as I said in the episode: the fact that he is not allowing himself to keep the pattern alive that he was raised into of men who didn't really show much love or interest in their children is tremendous.

You can follow Matt on Twitter: @mediastudied or even check out his website at www.mediastudied.com to see what he is up to and all of the books and projects he has worked on.

Daddy Unscripted can be found on:

iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Radio | Google Play | Tune-In Radio

Twitter: @DaddyUnscripted

Facebook: Daddy Unscripted

Website: www.daddyunscripted.com

Daddy Unscripted is proud to be a part of Osiris Media! You can check out the Osiris Media website to see what other great podcasts are part of the network by going to OsirisPod.com. Osiris is partnered with JamBase and JamBase empowers music fans everywhere to go see live music. You should check them out at Jambase.com.

Intro and Outro music proudly provided with a partnership by Umphrey's McGee. Check them out at www.Umphreys.com

You can send questions and suggestions for future guests to us via email to [email protected] and you can always use my Google Voice number for comments, questions, etc.: (872) 444-6784.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 77 is the second half of my conversation with fellow music fan, recovered alcoholic, remarkable stay-at-home Dad and future podcaster: Jason Ronk. 

We pick up the conversation right where Part 1 left off (if you didn't hear that yet, take the time to go back... great stuff in there and, you know, it's part 1 of 2. Would you watch The Godfather II without devouring the original first?)

Jason takes us back into his mid-'90s history and what music really started to do for him at that time of his life. He traces directly back to a friend of his putting on Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" album and remembers that really driving him further in his desire to be a musician. 

In 1994 and 1995, Jason was not only getting introduced to the Grateful Dead and Phish but his one and only time seeing Jerry Garcia on stage was the Grateful Dead's final official concert before Jerry's untimely and unfortunate death: the July 1995 show at Soldier Field in Chicago. 

"...I found my people... I had no clue what it was, but I knew that I fit..." 

That snippet of Jason's description of being around the community of Deadheads at Soldier Field, whether in the parking lot or in the actual show, I think resonates with a lot of us. It absolutely hit the mark for me... it all sounded incredibly familiar to my first time in a parking lot at a show back on New Year's Eve weekend in 1990. Drum circle, and all. 

Jason walked through the most difficult times of his life, talking about all of the craziness that his struggle with alcoholism put him through. One of my favorite things Jason said during our entire conversation came soon after that: "...my life really began on July 4, 2015... when I met my wife..." 

I mentioned this in my intro of the episode, but a big reason that we talked when we did for these episodes was that Jason was set to meet with Trey before one of his shows. His re-telling of that night and the extraordinary circumstances surrounding it gave me goosebumps. It's always refreshing when you hear about a celebrity or someone who spends some of their life "in the spotlight" and people talk about how humble or friendly or just overall cool that person is. Jason's meetup with Trey fell right in line with that. And this is the way it seems like all of the stories of people meeting Trey out and about are, of late. 

I won't spell out the whole experience here... it won't do it justice. Truly. If for no other reason, you should check out the actual episode to hear Jason tell about this awesome experience.  

Daddy Unscripted can be found on:

iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Radio | Google Play | Tune-In Radio

Twitter: @DaddyUnscripted

Facebook: Daddy Unscripted

Website: www.daddyunscripted.com

Daddy Unscripted is proud to be a part of Osiris Media! You can check out the Osiris Media website to see what other great podcasts are part of the network by going to OsirisPod.com. Osiris is partnered with JamBase and JamBase empowers music fans everywhere to go see live music. You should check them out at Jambase.com.

Intro and Outro music proudly provided with a partnership by Umphrey's McGee. Check them out at www.Umphreys.com

You can send questions and suggestions for future guests to us via email to [email protected] and you can always use my Google Voice number for comments, questions, etc.: (872) 444-6784.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 76 is the first half of my conversation with fellow music fan, recovered alcoholic, remarkable stay-at-home Dad and future podcaster: Jason Ronk.

We started out the episode with some singing out the praises of the Moms out there. I did a little bit of the stay-at-home / work-from-home Dad situation with my first-born. Jason definitely is having a longer go at it than I did. Pretty much every SAHD I have talked about that job with has just gotten on their knees to bow in reverence to the work that Moms do.

Jason talked a little about some of the surprising things he has noticed during trips to the park for his kids to play. Both the other kids and the other parents can really be interesting to observe; I've notice this a lot, myself. How do parents at the park interact, if at all, with their children while there? It's almost like a personality test on a live, visual scale. Do they plop down and get right on their phones and ignore their kids? Do they sit and talk with other parents there? Do they play with their kids if they're asked to? It can be quite fascinating, really.

He talked a bit about what his older child's experience is like currently in school. We eventually got into talking about how much of a difference outdoor play can be for kids. This obviously isn't us being pioneers on the subject... this gets talked about a lot these days, with all of the electronics kids have access to and how easy that can be for us, as parents, to let them "do what they're going to do"... you know, the "electric babysitter".

As a kid of the '70s, this all resonates with me dramatically. I spent a lot of my childhood outdoors. Having the incredibly good fortune of being raised in Southern Orange County, and being able to walk about a mile to get to the beach, I took advantage of that a lot in my youth. There was a time, however, that changed a little for me. I did love video games and reading and even writing (I wrote a "book" -- it never went anywhere, so don't ask -- during the summer between my 8th and 9th-grade school years). But, I definitely benefitted from what was our locale.

Jason traces his move away from his childhood locale to the discovery of the Grateful Dead and that community of Deadheads in 1995. One of his first shows was actually the Grateful Dead's last show, in Chicago in the summer of '95, at the age of 19. (We get into this more in Part 2, by the way)

We went back into the childhoods and lives of both his Dad and his Mom... who both were raised in old farm families. Jason's Dad was in a band that toured with Dolly Parton, played the Grand Ole Opry and had some actual hits! I played a segment of one of their songs in the episode, that you can click here to check out on Youtube. Dick Ronk and the Revenuers and their tune: Let Me Kill The Bottle Bartender.

Jason is not afraid to talk openly and honestly about the battle he fought with drugs and alcohol. He also really said a lot of great things about passing on respect and understanding to our kids and helping them to become great men and women as adults.

Again, this is just the first half of our conversation and you won't want to miss the second half and Jason's story about meeting up with Trey Anastasio and a lot of what he has learned in the work he has done over years on himself.

Daddy Unscripted can be found on:

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Twitter: @DaddyUnscripted

Facebook: Daddy Unscripted

Website: www.daddyunscripted.com

Daddy Unscripted is proud to be a part of the Osiris Podcast Network! You can check out the Osiris Pod website to see what other great podcasts are part of the network by going to OsirisPod.com. Osiris is partnered with JamBase and JamBase...

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Episode 75 is the second half of my conversation with musician, podcaster, Youtuber, Dad and all-around awesome guy: Amar Sastry. You may know Amar from his Anatomy of a Jam series on Youtube or his tweets breaking down and playing portions of Phish songs on his acoustic guitar or his work on the Osiris Media podcast network's video version of The Drop (which is also done as a podcast). Amar is all over the map... in a very good way.

If you didn't somehow catch the first part of our conversation, you really must. This episode picks up immediately where the previous episode ended: with Amar walking us through what he remembers of his family's move from rural India to New York when he was just 5 or 6 years old.

His story is so refreshing. I know I don't speak for everyone, and I would never claim anything of the sort... but, hearing about what it's like for people to come from much humbler means to a new home with a far different situation and lifestyle. It's hard not to, but we really can so easily take so much for granted in our lives.

I know that not everyone has the opportunity in their lives to travel to different countries. I feel extremely fortunate to have visited multiple foreign countries in my lifetime. As odd as it may sound, I truly relish the time I've spent in places where people do not have the extravagances that are easily attainable where I live. Every time I have returned home from a place like that, it's like my eyes are opened anew to the reality of the world that we live in, rather than just the microcosm of where I have spent the majority of my life.

We leapfrogged rapidly to Amar's work that he does with regards to music... which is pretty widespread. We got right into how Amar decided to start creating videos for Youtube. I'll type some of my favorite quotes by Amar during this part of our conversation below:

"I think music theory has completely ruined an entire generation of guitar players". "Music is the one place where we should feel free... where we shouldn't have rules."

We talked about his work on his "Anatomy of a Jam" videos on Youtube and then I started to fanboy out and tell him how much I get out of the videos that he posts on Twitter, predominantly of him playing a section of a Phish song on his acoustic guitar. Near the beginning of this episode, I included a full version he shared with me of his take on "When The Circus Comes To Town", a Los Lobos tune that Phish covers.

You can find more about Amar at his website: www.amarguitar.com or by watching his Youtube channel, also named amarguitar and you can follow his Twitter at username @brahmin_noodles.

Daddy Unscripted can be found on:

iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Radio | Google Play | Tune-In Radio

Twitter: @DaddyUnscripted

Facebook: Daddy Unscripted

Website: www.daddyunscripted.com

Daddy Unscripted is proud to be a part of the Osiris Podcast Network! You can check out the Osiris Pod website to see what other great podcasts are part of the network by going to OsirisPod.com. Osiris is partnered with JamBase and JamBase empowers music fans everywhere to go see live music. You should check them out at Jambase.com.

Intro and Outro music proudly provided with a partnership by Umphrey's McGee. Check them out at www.Umphreys.com

You can send questions and suggestions for future guests to us via email to [email protected] and you can always use my Google Voice number for comments, questions, etc.: (872) 444-6784.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 74 is the first half of my conversation with musician, podcaster, Youtuber, Dad and all-around awesome guy: Amar Sastry. You may know Amar from his Anatomy of a Jam series on Youtube or his tweets breaking down and playing portions of Phish songs on his acoustic guitar or his work on the Osiris Media podcast network's video version of The Drop (which is also done as a podcast). Amar is all over the map... in a very good way. 

We kicked off the episode talking about a lot of the "new parent stuff" that Amar and his wife are going through, being around a year and a half into the parental game with their little girl. 

For anyone near my age, I mentioned a blast from the past phrase: "kids having kids". Or was it "babies having babies"? Either way, that section of our discussion ended with a rousing cheer by me of: "You go, Geriatrics!" 

Eventually, we worked our way into the history of Amar through his father and his grandparents. It was very interesting to hear about some of their mindset and the ways that their surroundings shaped them, in many different ways than I'd reckon that happened for a lot of us. 

Our conversation turned to us talking about some of the things that hold a lot of us back from taking on things in life. It rolled into a solid discussion about fear and behaviors and changing our mindset and patterns in order to take control of our lives a little more and basically raging against some of the ways we are wired as humans.

I was totally surprised when I told Amar about my time in India with a previous job that I was in the city of Bangalore, and that happens to be where Amar has spent a lot of his time, as well, since he has family there. I told Amar about the hilarity of my experience with the cultural phenomenon some may call the "Indian head wobble" or bobble. Don't believe me? Look it up. Part of Wikipedia's description will show you how confusing it can be... read this: "...a form of nonverbal communication, it may mean yes, good, maybe, ok, or I understand..." 

It makes me laugh a little that this is pretty much where this first portion of our conversation ended. But, it just fit well and didn't break into the next chunk of our discussion at all. Not only will you have to check out Part 2 with Amar for that... you'll want to hear that. Take my word for it.

As I randomly decided to give kind of an advertisement/shout-out to this great product, I will remind you to check out www.WolfmanWhiskers.com for any of you men who need some fantastical beard balm and other products of that sort.

You can find more about Amar at his website: www.amarguitar.com or by watching his Youtube channel, also named amarguitar and you can follow his Twitter at username @brahmin_noodles. 

Daddy Unscripted can be found on:

iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Radio | Google Play | Tune-In Radio

Twitter: @DaddyUnscripted

Facebook: Daddy Unscripted

Website: www.daddyunscripted.com

Daddy Unscripted is proud to be a part of the Osiris Podcast Network! You can check out the Osiris Pod website to see what other great podcasts are part of the network by going to OsirisPod.com. Osiris is partnered with JamBase and JamBase empowers music fans everywhere to go see live music. You should check them out at Jambase.com.

Intro and Outro music proudly provided with a partnership by Umphrey's McGee. Check them out at www.Umphreys.com

You can send questions and suggestions for future guests to us via email to [email protected] and you can always use my Google Voice number for comments...

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 73 features half of the tandem that puts together the "Beyond The Pond" podcast, Dave Goldstein. This is the 2nd and final part of my conversation with Dave, whose podcast is another from our glorious Osiris Media podcast network.

This episode picks up right where the 1st ended, with Dave starting to talk about him and his wife's decision to have a second child. His story starts off with the re-telling of the pregnancy that followed their oldest daughter. The very unfortunate and tragic direction that pregnancy took put Dave and his wife through something no parent should have to experience.

Following that difficult spring of 2018, by the fall of that year, Dave's wife was pregnant again, restoring their hope of having a little brother or sister for their firstborn daughter.

To their disbelief, during a routine ultrasound, yet again they were facing the news of another medical condition with the growing fetus. Doctors confirmed that their future child had ventricular septal defects, or a hole in the heart.

Dave and his wife got a lot of time with specialists and pediatric cardiologists during the course of the remainder of the pregnancy. Echocardiograms continued to confirm the presence of the hole and the cardiologist even stated there might be multiple holes, but couldn't say for sure.

Their second daughter was born in May of 2019, via scheduled c-section and all went well with the delivery. Her heart did, in fact, have multiple holes and the two holes they had been monitoring were actually larger than they had thought.

We talked about Dave's very real and understandable fear of getting attached to their newborn. He recalls the cardiologist telling them: "...she is not in heart failure now, but it's not so much a matter of 'if', it's really a matter of 'when'". Let that just sink in for a moment, will you? Hearing that your newborn is going to need heart surgery for survival.

In July, their daughter had a perfectly successful open-heart surgery. Following the surgery, she had a complete turn-around with a lot of the aspects of her daily life that are the things we all can take for granted as parents of a newborn.

Dave told some other stories about the bond that has already started to take shape between his two little girls. It's heart-warming to me to imagine the two sisters way down the road, when they are both mature enough to thoughtfully think about how much of a miracle they both are, truly, but for them to fully grasp how awesome and truly amazing life is and that they have one another. Let's hope, right?

One of the notable things during the entire conversation with Dave that gave me that smile of recognition was his pairing of days and events with either old concerts by bands he loves or with his beloved Mets baseball games. I admit, unfortunately, that part of my mind just does not store information the way that Dave does... but this still fully resonates with me.

I'm still so touched by this conversation with Dave. It was a bit of an eye-opener, touched on so many large issues and became just another solid reminder at how truly miraculous life really is, how beautiful it can be and just how (don't yell at me for using this word) blessed we, as parents are with the true gifts that our children represent.

The "Beyond the Pond" podcast can be found pretty much anywhere you find your podcasts: iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, etc.

Daddy Unscripted can be found on:

iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Radio | Google Play | Tune-In Radio

Twitter: @DaddyUnscripted

Facebook: Daddy Unscripted

Website: www.daddyunscripted.com

Daddy Unscripted is proud to be a part of the Osiris Podcast Network! You can check out the Osiris Pod website to see what other great podcasts are part of the network by going to OsirisPod.com. Osiris is...

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Episode 72 is another of my solo Thanksgiving episodes. This one is very unique and heavily inspired by my having just seen the new movie focusing on the life of Mr. Rogers starring Tom Hanks titled "A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood". 

It was my birthday the night that I recorded this episode actually: Monday, November 25th. When my wife asked me the week before my birthday how I wanted to celebrate, I told her that beyond anything else, I wanted to go and see this new Mr. Rogers movie with her. 

Mr. Rogers was an enormous part of my childhood and immensely meaningful and inspirational to me. I have always maintained a very special place in my heart for Mr. Rogers, and I am all for and all about the continued spotlight on the man and his legacy. 

In this episode, I focused on two of the things that really seemed to be two of the biggest themes for my year: 1) opening up about my suicide attempt 25 years ago, and 2) re-acquainting myself with the life and the work of Mr. Rogers and the epiphany of how much so many of his theories and practices align with what I try to do with my life. 

During the course of this episode, I was talking about one of my personal pet peeves of the "I'm not going to smile at you but I will press my lips together instead and that is the 'smile' you'll get..." that I think a lot of us do, myself absolutely included. That evolved into my challenging myself (and any others of you) to make a point every single day for the rest of this year to give a big, genuine smile to 5 people I don't know during the course of each day. 

Maybe we can start some kind of chain of humankindness and love to others just by starting off with those smiles. Who's with me?! 

I am not sure if I need to say this after what you may have already read here, and after you listen to this actual episode... but I can not encourage you enough to go see "A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood". Also: go see it in the theater. I would love for Hollywood to see success from this film and for that to possibly greenlight some similar projects that may just be good movies that help people, while entertaining. 

Daddy Unscripted can be found on: 

iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Radio | Google Play | Tune-In Radio 

Twitter: @DaddyUnscripted

Facebook: Daddy Unscripted

Website: www.daddyunscripted.com 

Daddy Unscripted is proud to be a part of the Osiris Podcast Network! You can check out the Osiris Pod website to see what other great podcasts are part of the network by going to OsirisPod.com. Osiris is partnered with JamBase and JamBase empowers music fans everywhere to go see live music. You should check them out at Jambase.com. 

Intro and Outro music proudly provided with a partnership by Umphrey's McGee. Check them out at www.Umphreys.com 

You can send questions and suggestions for future guests to us via email to [email protected] and you can always use my Google Voice number for comments, questions, etc.: (872) 444-6784.

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