Suicide Prevention Saturday - Who do you think you are?

Good evening and welcome to another Suicide Saturday presentation. Um, I believe that we have Brooke available and in the room, but then I'm incorrect because she's going to have to rejoin the stream. Uh, joining tonight early was, uh, let's see, Gun Websites is out there, and Gun Websites, we can Oh, you're quite all right. Just giving a roll call out there. Got a gun websites in the room. So is Gizzard Gary. Let's see, scrolling on down a little bit further than that. Well, I think that's the party in the crowd that we're working with right now, so I'm going to return you to full screen.

I am so sorry. All right, so me being mobile is probably the most technically challenging thing for me to ever do, hence the reason y'all have just a picture right now, because you're not going to see my face today because I have to hold my my phone to my head, so all you would get to see is the back of the room or the back of my hand holding the thing. So anyway, hi everyone, welcome to Suicide Prevention Saturday. Why are we here? Because 2 out of every 3 gun deaths you hear about from the CDC are suicides. And if we want to actually save lives, we would need to get rid of gun-free zones. I mean, sorry, if we actually want to save lives, we want to talk about suicide prevention and help people not only stop committing suicide with firearms, but every other way that they do it as well. So tonight's episode, we're talking about who do you think you are? I have a feeling that we have an opinion as far as who we think we are all the time, and I find most of us are pretty hard on ourselves, and we're very good at noticing what we do wrong, and we're not often very good at noticing what we do right. So for tonight, I kind of want folks to think about what do you do well? What do you do right? Because so often as a teacher, I'm constantly correcting people. I'm saying, okay, yes, but we have to do it this way. And none of us like being corrected. Let's be real. We want to do it right. We want to do it well. We just want to naturally be able to do everything. And for some reason, we have this crazy idea that we're supposed to get everything quickly and easily. And the analogy I use all the time is most of us have watched at least a couple Olympic trials or an Olympic game here or there. Usually it's gymnastics because it seems like that's the one that gets televised the most. And we watch these women and men do these amazing feats of gymnastics and win gold, silver, bronze at the Olympics. And they make it look so easy, flawless and perfect. And because they've done and practiced all of this stuff for all of their lives, really leading up to this one moment, and they just make it look so simple. Now, you and I know, or at least I know, I could never get out on that floor and do those flips and those twists and those handsprings and all of that. But it seems like in so many parts of our lives, we think that we're supposed to be able to walk up to the floor, the music starts, and we do the gold medal. And it's just like, no, I'm not sure where as humans we come up with that perfection or simple to be great and wonderful at something that we're just brand new at. So who do you think you are? What is the best thing that you can think about that you do? So the funny part about that is it's usually hard to come up with that. We're also usually not very good at complimenting ourselves. Why? Well, let's see, if I start complimenting myself, then doesn't that make me a narcissist? And so we've already been given negative things if we say good things about ourselves. So tonight I would like to give you all permission to write in the chat what you are good at or what is one of your positive traits. So for me, what do I do well? I think that I am a good bridge builder. I think I am good at finding the places where we have commonality and building on that. G-Webs is here. I'm just to say, like, one of the things I think that Pete is good at is bringing people together and making Second Amendment super important to others. And then there's Gary. Apparently one of his superpowers is hunting deer with cars. And Gary, I jest. It was just because honestly the other day I almost took a deer out with my car and I thought of you immediately. So, oh, and I need to thank Gary, speaking of Gary, for my Gizzard Gary patches and stickers and all of that. And hopefully by next week y'all will get to see those behind my head when I'm back in the studio. DJ, for example, DJ is awesome about being able to keep me on track. He is like, what did, oh, What did Hillbilly say? You like have a voice from God or something? Like no matter what audio you have, you could use the cheapest Kmart mic and you're still gonna sound like, you know, the God from above or something along those lines. I don't remember who else was in the roll call, so those are the people I could think of. But what is something that you do that you're good at? So DJ, since you can actually say something, because I can't read the comments, so I don't know what anyone's saying, if they're actually responding or not. But DJ, what is something else that you you think you're actually good at?

Hmm, besides my voice, I think I'm pretty good with language in general. I really enjoy language. It's not just the speaking part, although being DJ'd is really a thing that's being too verbose. I like the interplay and exchange that comes with the sharing of language. I love regionalisms. I love, I mean, all kinds of things about language. I mean, I'm geeking already and smiling because I didn't know this was going to be pitched to me with this particular thing in mind. But yeah, colloquialisms are really entertaining. Every time we have a conversation in a backstage, it seems like someone else is adding some regional flavor to the conversation. And what things mean in one place isn't necessarily what they will mean in another. So picking up and adding to that grab bag that I have of terms to use, that's pretty cool. And I think I have some, I have a certain felicity there.

All right. So do you know what a grinder is?

Yeah, like a hoagie.

Yeah, okay. And do you know what a package store is?

Yes, like a liquor store.

Okay, because when I went out to Wyoming and I asked where the package store was, they're like, what's that?

Well, Two Live Moo is out there in the crowd, and as I understand it, in his home stomping grounds, they're called a party store, which I thought was a great idea. Party store.

Where, where does Two Live Moo live? I don't know.

Uh, Upper Midwest, Michigan, I do believe, is where he made those references.

Well, when we're— Nadia and I were driving out here to the hotel tonight, or like, I was going through like Arizona and California and Pennsylvania and Nebraska and the people I could think of who I knew where they live. But Tulare Move is not one of those. So I mean, now I know. Thank you.

Right on. All right, so I wanted to let you know, uh, who all we have out there, at least right now in the cast. Gun Websites was first in the room. Gizzard Gary, the man to the south of me, he's there. Uh, Tulare Move of Michigan, definitely also around. SariaFan93, a new person to the room as I understand. M. Gabriel, most late into the room, way to show up. And on the Facebook side, Michael Bellinger is out.

Oh, okay, very cool. Oh yeah, Mike, I think there's someone impersonating your, uh, your Facebook page because I got a friend request from you and I know we're already friends, so I'll send you that link later. So anyway, all right, so did anyone else actually tell us what they think they're good at?

Well, as I'm going through, I'm going to be pulling up— let's see, Gary's saying you're welcome. Well, from Saria Fan, and I, I do hope I'm pronouncing that correctly, says, I'm really good at curating things too. I've been collecting crystals and gemstones for almost 20 years. Yeah, the categorization alone, um, would, would vex some people. So I guess there's also a certain degree of patience in that as well.

Well, absolutely. Like, so I have— I love, um, stones in general, and I've got many, many books on them. And I have to say that, um, it is very difficult to figure out what something is because there's so many different versions as far as color, clarity, all that fun stuff. So that is a very cool thing to be good at. Um, and I think the other part about, you know, who do you think you are, is that We just have to be careful, right? Because so often we will immediately go for what did we do wrong? How did we screw up? What didn't we do? And we will harp on that and be like, oh my gosh, I'm so stupid because I did XYZ, whatever it happens to be. And we'll make ourselves feel bad about it. But then when we do something really cool, like, I don't know, I'm gonna go with the gemstone thing, like create a nice little package of stuff or complete a set of something where it's like, oh yeah, well, I just know how to do that. And I feel like we just let our abilities be like, oh yeah, whatever. If I can do it, anyone can do it. And I'm like, oh, that is so not true in any way, shape, or form because you are a unique individual. Um, and each one of us are like the crystalline structures of a snowflake. We are all unique. We all have our own life experiences, and the things that we can do are things that other people can't do. And that's why we need society, and that's why we need each other. And I think sometimes we forget, you know, who we are. We are a portion of the society, and we need everybody who is also not good at the things that we do because they're good at things that they do. And without each other, we can't do anything.. So who you are, who do you think you are? Um, just remember to shine the light on the bright stuff. Give yourself credit for what you're actually capable of doing because it is so easy to get torn down or feel like not enough. And it's just super important that who you are is super important. So I don't know if I could say super important one more time. DJ, give me another spectacular word for importance and self-worth and that sort of thing. Oh, Nadia says that we're all critical. Oh, okay. Crucial. Crucial. Sorry, my bad. Okay. Yeah, crucial. There you go.

And we are to the, you know, to getting anything, to get anything to move forward. She's absolutely right. Uh, we are all interconnected in some way, whether we wish to acknowledge it in all rooms and situations at all times. You use the example of crystalline structure and the uniqueness. Yeah, while we are all those individual snowflakes, we're probably going to fall about the same rate, aren't we? Yeah, appear roughly the same time. I mean, there are those things that transition us in and out of anything as we go. But I like that point being made. And I also want to make a point. There have only been a couple of people out there in the text chat who have actually gone ahead and heeded your call to say what they are good at. And I'm not going to single them out because the text chat and their absence alone does that for them. But I want to encourage you to at least conclude it in the comments after the show for the video if you're not cool sharing it right now during a live. That's something I'm going to put on your screen right now from Gizzard Gary. He says, I'm good at genealogy, I guess. He's been compiling his family's genealogy since the year 2000.

Very cool. Yeah, and that's a detail-oriented thing, and it's also very interesting because you get to learn so much. And the Um, the history that you learned, and actually, you know, see, that is just so perfect, Gizzard. Um, because Halloween is coming and down in Mexico it is Day of the Dead, and what we do on Day of the Dead is we honor our ancestors and remember them. And so knowing your ancestry is just such a big deal, and it's just like, we don't currently celebrate Day of the Dead, but it's definitely one of those things that I would like to bring forward because it's like we've lost so much of our ancestry as far as we no longer grow up in the same town that our parents did and our grandparents. It's like people have children, the children move away, and we don't, we don't have that connection again. So knowing your ancestry is totally amazing. And, uh, and Gary, I'm just gonna say, just say that you're good at it. Don't get rid of that 'I guess.' just be sure that you are actually good and give yourself props for what you do because you do a good job at it. And it's something that you're— anything you're passionate about, you are usually good at. Um, DJ, I'm going to assume that you are passionate about playing your guitar.

Would that be true? Easily. Yeah, music, music is an umbrella, and most of the things that, uh, that are sheltered underneath of it, for absolute sure. I mean, I had to put my hands on the guitar for at least 2 or 3 hours today. And it's not that I'm becoming any more proficient at any one thing or that I'm ready to grace a stage near me so much as it is I like being able to interact with something that doesn't like argue. Not that I get into a lot of disagreements with people, but it, you know, it's an inanimate object, but it does have a certain life of its own. And each one is different as well. I switched between 2 different ones because they each have separate characters, just like those crystalline structures. Now going back to Gary's example of genealogy, I said that, you know, that for Sariafan93 that it was an exercise in patience. That is the same with Gary's interest there, and Gary's is also one of persistence. I know what it's like to do genealogical research, and I know the patience that it requires and the persistence that it requires. Your answers are not always going to be self-evident and available. You gotta dig. One of my favorite phrases that I co-opted from my first music director, um, in 1989 was he said, "Dig we must." And that could apply to almost anything. You want to find the good stuff, you gotta dig. You want to get down to the deepest parts, you gotta dig. You want to get closest to the bone or to the pure, you know, the most pure representation of an answer using logic or anything else, you gotta dig. And like Joe Dirt said, "Life's a garden, dig it." So there are all kinds of ways to use that. I encourage people to like Grab onto that, co-opt it. I used to use a sign up that was, "Dig we must and dig I will." And so that was just my commitment to it. You know, it's kind of like that Yoda thing where it's just like, I cannot choose not to choose. You have to choose. So if you're going to choose, commit, do it.

You had to say Yoda, didn't you?

Well, did I? I'd take it back if I could.

Why? No, no. So, There's a— there's— all right, sorry, this is so way off track, but y'all, you will absolutely get— if you've ever watched Star Wars and Return of the Jedi, if you go look on YouTube for bad lip-syncing and look up for Seagulls' Stop It Now, it is Yoda, and you just have to watch it. It is hysterical, and we could always use a good laugh. But it's just like one of my friends just said stop it now, and I just went immediately to that video, and then you just said Yoda, and Yoda's in the video. And so yeah, YouTube. Yes, look for, uh, Seagull Stop It Now by Bad Lip Syncing, and you've got to watch it. And if you don't laugh, then I'm sorry, but I think it's hysterical.

It is hysterical. I know what you're speaking of, and I'll even say that in the comments section after, um, the show tonight, I'll link it because it needs to be at people's fingertips when you need a laugh kind of thing, when you're taking life a little too seriously. If you're a Star Wars fan and you Yeah, it'll make you laugh each time. And there are others from that channel that are also worth—

worth it. Oh, absolutely. I mean, it's the amount of work they put into that. So it's like, there's another thing, right? It's like, um, my kid, my daughter, she's in, uh, volleyball, and I take videos of her volleyball games, and then I edit them down and I send it out to the team. And it's like, you know, editing videos— I mean, G-Web's knows really well— is like, I have an hour's worth of editing to get a 2-minute video. Give or take. And it's just like, wow, that's so great. That's so great. I'm like, yeah, whatever. Because again, back to the who do you think you are? I'm like, oh, well, because I can do it. It's not that hard for me. So it's not that big of a deal. And it's just like, well, no, honestly, it's a big deal because I started doing AV when I worked with Tony Robbins back in 1999, 2000. And so I got to learn on a live stage how to do video editing. And then from like 2000 till today, it's like I've done lots of different video editing with different tools. And so I'm not awesome at it, but I'm way better than I used to be. And there's a lot of hours that went into it. And I think that a lot of us don't realize how much time and effort it took us to get where something feels natural and easy for us to do. And because it feels good for us and simple for us to do, it doesn't feel like a big deal. But I do want y'all to peel back, like, that first time that— I don't know, DJ, you picked up a guitar, uh, you know, Gary, the first time that you started just going backwards beyond just your mom, like, to your grandma on your mom's side, and then how it— how hard it was to just get to the next level of your great-grandma on your mom's side. And just, it's like each little thing. Or like with the crystals, it's like, okay, well, this is a quartz crystal. Is it pink? Is it blue? Is it yellow? Um, there's so many things that you know that you didn't know before, and it's just like we, we gather so much knowledge, we have so many skills, but it's so crazy because we always look at someone else and be like, oh, I wish I could do that. And like, you know, I'd love to be able to play guitar, but I know I haven't put the time in. I'd love to be able to actually identify the crystals and stuff that I have, but I know I didn't put the time in. And we have to remember to be proud of the skills that we do have and the skills that we can do. Like my daughter, like I said, she's playing volleyball and she only started last year, but she's gone to camp, she's gone to practice and she loves it and she does it a ton. And like every other skill that we have, we know that we can always be better. But one of the Tony Robbins things actually is be content with where you are and be happy and notice how amazing you are. Yes, we always want to get better at things, but at the same time, understand that it's taken a long time to get to where you're at, as well as it's going to take you, um, you know, you, you can always be better, but like, look at your journey and realize how far you've come. So That's kind of my thought for tonight. What do you think, DJ?

I think I was reminded, and G-Webs was in the room earlier, so he amongst all should get this. That's the, the first, uh, for the opening lines of Uncle John's Band by the Grateful Dead. Um, it says, the first days are the hardest days. Don't you worry anymore, because when life looks like easy street, there's danger at your door. You never know what's going to be around that corner. And in other interests, we encourage each other to be prepared. And I'm not just grabbing on the Boy Scout thing there, but be prepared to take care of yourself sometimes and your own emotional needs and take ownership in order to feel better about yourself sometimes of those skills and affinities that you do have. Just because you don't put them into practice or someone else you observe may be better, does not mean that someone is thinking the same about you further down the line. Stick with it.

Oh yeah, and I mean, the other thing too is just like whenever you say, oh my gosh, like DJ's so good at playing guitar, that's so awesome, reflect on yourself as far as what's something that you do really well to, you know, that makes you happy. Because the reason DJ is so good at playing guitar is because he loves doing it, and therefore he practices. Same thing with most of the skills we all have. So with that, I have nothing really more, um, and I am gonna— oh, oh, I did want to tell y'all, the— since you're not seeing me, the avatar you have up there is a picture from our drive tonight. So I send you a piece of New England, the clouds in the sky. Um, photograph was taken by my daughter. So that is what you guys got to look at today, and next week I will hopefully see all your smiling faces again. And DJ, anybody else join us? Are we good? We're saying goodbye and good night.

Well, I'd like to, uh, say hello and goodbye again to Gun Websites, who's out there. He's going to be featured on the Ukulele Ella stage somewhere near you quite soon. But for all of us, on that note, um, Thank you very much for providing this forum every Saturday, Brooke. Nadia, thank you for being a part of the evening that has gotten your mother to this point and kept us entertained on the way up there, including your, your photography. Until we see each other again, right on. Be safe, have fun, take care of your crew and yourself, and rock. Good night.

Good night.