Getting Old Quickly

In Episode 70, Billy Donnelly decides to talk a bit about professional wrestling and, more specifically, the return of CM Punk and his introduction into AEW (All Elite Wrestling). He discusses CM Punk's 7-year absence from the squared circle and the circumstances that led to him walking away from his passion. However, from CM Punk's long journey back to this world he loved for quite some time, Billy tries to lay out a number of lessons that can be taken from this entire story - be it self-care, or setting boundaries, or creating space, or somehow finding a spark that brings you back to something that was ruined for you by others - and that we can translate into our own lives, as they aren't just exclusive to professional wrestling. Billy talks about the inspiration and emotion he has gathered from CM Punk, and how he relates to a lot of Punk's feelings over the years due to the bad experiences he's gone through on his own. But with Punk's return, maybe there is hope for some of us to once again find joy and happiness in the things that once meant so much to us and were important parts of our lives. 

In Episode 69, Billy Donnelly decides to talk a bit about insecurity, namely some of his own which he's struggled with over the years. In addition to his worries about being good enough as a dad - and the pressure of trying not to inflict long-term damage on one's kids - as well as whether he's good enough at any of the things he's passionately done over the years (podcasting, writing, etc.), he aims to figure out where these insecurities are born, what might help reduce them and how we do our best to work through them.

In Episode 68, Billy Donnelly explores quite a bit of his anxiety as it relates to the recent upswing in Covid cases and the rapid spread of the Delta variant. He discusses the survival instincts that are baked into our anxiety and how our past experiences and always-increasing base of knowledge informs how we react and respond to the signs for what lies up ahead. He also talks about how normal it is to feel worried, apprehensive, concerned and/or afraid of what's happening in the world around us. He also brings up how the lack of a calming presence who can speak with any degree of certainty about things being okay in the future only contributes to those feelings. As we continue moving forward into an unknown future, it's only natural for our anxieties to increase, but we need to do our best to be there for one another as at least a sounding board to express how we're feeling. 

In Episode 67, Billy Donnelly has feelings of frustration he wants to get out in regards to how too many people negatively reacted to Simone Biles' Olympics withdrawal on account of a mental issue. He discusses the still-very present stigmatization that exists around mental health, even as more people keep talking about their mental health advocacy and its importance. He wonders why physical issues are more acceptable for others to understand whereas mental struggles are more easily dismissed, and how that can affect others who are looking for a safe place to come forward with what they're dealing with. Plus, he has something to say to those who only want to talk about mental health when it seems to be convenient for them. In addition, he has more frustration to process as it pertains to the quickly-spreading Delta variant of Covid, and the hopelessness that is beginning to set in again as it feels any progress to this point was for naught. He discusses his own anxiety about getting it, but also for his kids being exposed and getting sick. He shares his anger at those who just continue to do the wrong thing - be it vaccination or masking - by choice. 

In Episode 66, Billy Donnelly decides to talk about anger, and, more specifically, the anger of young white men. Provoked by the idea introduced in the Woodstock '99 documentary that young white men have nothing to be angry about, he attempts to unpack where this very legitimate anger comes from, how society only encourages it to get worse, what we need to do to try to address it and how we grow from it. He discusses where toxic masculinity and unrestrained aggression can factor in, but he focuses very much on the lack of empathy that seems to exist for their struggles, mixed with feelings of being misunderstood and unseen/unheard. He has a lot of ideas to pluck from his mind on the subject, as others seem very quick to dismiss and invalidate these very real feelings of an entire group of people at a time when we all claim to champion better mental health for all. 

In Episode 65, Billy Donnelly talks about one of his triggers being activated this week and the struggle he had in trying to work through it. He tells the story related to this trigger's creation and spells out the longstanding anger and resentment that still feels fresh anytime this particular association is recalled. He tries to figure out what we're supposed to do to handle these incidents better, since it's impossible for them to just go away, and wishes others would just acknowledge the pain we go through in these moments. 

In Episode 64, Billy Donnelly has difficulty wrapping his head around some of the struggles his daughter has been having coming out of the pandemic, particularly with heightened anxiety, and the helplessness he feels in trying to help her deal with it. He ponders what role he has had to play in contributing to it, with his own Covid worries and concerns, and he talks a lot about his fears for her future and its limitations if she only views things through a worst-case-scenario lens. 

In Episode 63, Billy Donnelly talks about the creation of our comfort zones, particularly why they exist in the first place, and the limitations they place on how we live our lives. Using a few recent examples of pushing past the boundaries of his own status quo, he attempts to figure out how to press past our anxieties, fears, concerns and worries in order to be able to try new things, meet new people and have new experiences. He talks about constantly testing the limits of our safe bubbles and expanding our comfort zones to make room for new additions, while remembering that this is all easier said than done, but progress not perfection is the name of the game. 

In Episode 62, Billy Donnelly keeps riding the wave of feeling good that he's been experiencing the last few weeks. As a result, he talks about some of the breakthroughs he's had lately, in regards to certain fears and anxieties that were only made worse during the pandemic. He discusses the levels of calculated risks he's been taking recently and the degree of comfort he is now starting to feel due to getting back out into the world and starting to do things again. He also touches upon how his recent swing of productivity and purpose has begun affecting his moods and feelings in a more positive fashion and given him less time to reflect and dwell. 

In Episode 61, Billy Donnelly ventures out into the outside world for the first time since the start of the pandemic for a road trip to see Drew DeFour and Kin Curran headline a set of Dueling Pianos shows at Bobby McKey's and meet a group of internet strangers in real life who were integral in helping him get through the past year of quarantine/lockdown. Throughout the episode, Billy lays the foundation for meeting Drew and Kin, how their shows were a stable constant during a time of extreme instability in the world and how an organic community of people - the Drewpies - found each other and came together to make a pilgrimage to a piano bar in the National Harbor in Maryland as the world started opening back up. He talks at-length about this amazing experience, finally processing what it all means to him, how it made him feel throughout and the various things he will take away and hold onto from all of it.