311th Floor: From Holiday Vibrations to Resolute Intentions

As the holiday season envelops us in its chilly embrace, we are reminded of the highs and lows it brings. Amidst these emotions, Kory and Gen had a heartfelt conversation about how to gracefully navigate the spectrum of holiday feelings with empathy and understanding.

As we welcome the New Year, we reflect on the pursuit of joy and change. Finding enduring happiness requires distinguishing between the thrill of temporary pleasures and the contentment of long-term fulfillment. Kory and Gen share candid tales of welcoming new chapters and letting go of past triumphs, emphasizing the importance of authenticity and intention in our daily interactions.

Join us as we embrace progress over perfection and inspire you to cherish each day. May you craft resolutions with resilience and hope, and may your journey ahead be filled with joy and purpose.
Look up, and let's elevate!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:15

Hey, it's Jen the Builder and Corey and we're on. Take the Elevator, finally, finally, finally. It feels like forever, man. I've missed the studio. I've missed being here with you, Corey. I just miss everyone who's listening right now, Missed missed and missed, yeah, yeah, all that. I hope that came across as in. We miss this.

Speaker 2: 0:39

Yeah, this is something that we do. We like doing it.

Speaker 1: 0:42

Yeah. So it turns out that our last episode was at the very end of December, like the 27th or 28th, and so, corey, I was thinking, man, how do we recap this holiday Because there was so much going on? And so I'm just going to start here, because our last episode was two days before an event that and I'm not just saying this, I mean it wholeheartedly, that out of the years of watching the shameless band perform.

Speaker 1: 1:15

Yes, yes, yeah, this was by far the best, the greatest, the grandest. If there was like a most perfect show for me, this would have been it.

Speaker 2: 1:31

It was definitely by far the most perfect show that we've had to date.

Speaker 1: 1:38

And what I learned from it was the energy was just vibing one from another. So the band was on stage, obviously, and then the crowd, and it was a pretty packed house that day. Yeah, they were there really for the music and you know, they had their drinks and were having a good time, but everyone was at full attention and it just gave you all energy. And so you're like, ok, you're giving us love, we're going to give you love back, and it was just like a love fest.

Speaker 2: 2:14

A love fest. And yes, jen, I have to agree with you 100%. I promise not to go on too long about this, but the energy, the room, like, the ambiance in the room, the music, the just the whole vibe was just perfect. And when you have that perfect setting where the band is ready, the room was ready, the people in the room was ready, there were enough people there to see us and us alone. There was enough people there going, what's all the buzz about? Because you can feel it in the air as a matter of fact, the sound man told me. He said, man, when you guys hit the stage, you just took it to a whole another level. And we actually got some engagement from one of the managers the head main manager there on that night and asked us to come back. So it's a real thing.

Speaker 1: 3:09

Yeah, so the time that we've been off the elevator, we've been at the house of blues twice, yeah, right, so that's been amazing and there's an upcoming gig, and so I really, really want to put this plug out there. Come out, it's getting well let me not give up the goodies because things have not been confirmed yet, but yeah, corey, that was so good. And then one of the things, too, that I just recognized in this particular event was that you all were like giving the gift of shamelessness music, and so it was totally ego less, and I'm not saying that you guys are ego full, but what I'm saying is you can tell when something is being given 100% to the people receiving it to, where everyone on the stage just kind of blended as one and it was so in sync.

Speaker 2: 3:57

Yeah, it was one of those shows that we honestly wanted to give everything we had to each individual in that audience and no, we don't always do that, but we wanted to give them a show, we wanted to give them entertainment, we wanted to give them good music and it was just all leveled across the board trying to give that. That's right that's right.

Speaker 1: 4:23

So that was one of the highlights of our holidays and, by the way, today's show is gonna be a conversation around three words that I think all of us heard on New Year's Eve and on New Year's Day, and so we're gonna come back to that and a plethora of times afterwards.

Speaker 1: 4:42

Yeah yeah, so my experience throughout the holiday was very concurrent, meaning two very different emotions happening at the same time. So we had moments where we celebrated new life, growth in family, growth in friends, and literally on the same day we were at a funeral, still celebrating life, but a life that had passed on. And so I am very, very close to my cousins and it's tough. It's so tough and my heart breaks thinking about a cousin who I grew up with, who I'm very, very close to, who no longer has parents. So it's that kind of grief, that kind of empathy, and at the same time, like I have a friend who's planning her daughter's birthday and she was feeling guilty because she has friends who have just been diagnosed with cancer. And how do I share when I'm planning for my daughter while you're going through it?

Speaker 1: 5:52

And so I think that happens a lot too, where we want to not over celebrate because it feels like we're dishonoring or disrespecting people that are going through things. Yeah, it's tough. What do you think about that, corey? Like what's the best way to navigate?

Speaker 2: 6:09

that For me, I'm always checking the temperature, checking the temperature of the room, checking the temperature of the conversation and also of my audience. Whoever I'm talking to be at, a close friend or someone that's just in the conversation. If they've made mention about a loss or something that they're having a struggle with, then I tend to dial it back, dial it down just a bit so that it's not too much of a hurt for them. Of course, I'm not gonna not say the things that I'm gonna say. I just figure out a more palatable way to address it and put it out there.

Speaker 1: 6:51

Yeah, really, really good advice. And just to add to that, remember our family and friends love us and I'm sure they want to see you celebrate and they wanna celebrate with you, which is gonna kinda look different for them, and so we just expect that and be gracious with one another and be grateful that we have more reasons to celebrate. Yeah, okay. So the three words. I'm sure people are like I love you, yeah, how are you Happy? Happy holidays. No, I'm just kidding, that's all people say. Anyways, we're gonna talk about three words and just kinda dissect them and expand on them and see where it goes. Happy new year, happy new year, which is a greeting that we give everybody in chat and email, out loud, verbally, right, these are just things. We put them on cards. They're in our holiday cards when we send them out.

Speaker 2: 7:55

They're in our text messages. We got sound effects we can put with that.

Speaker 1: 7:59

It's just it's out there. Happy new year. So let's take the first word, happy, and just share our thoughts on that. Corey, well, we were just talking about people who might not have entered 2024 very happy. Why is that our greeting and why is that appropriate?

Speaker 2: 8:17

I think because, well, from my understanding anyway that happy is a word that could be considered fleeting, meaning that it comes and it goes. Sometimes you're happy, sometimes you're not, and sometimes it's a happy new year and sometimes it's not. I had some not so happy new years in the past that I was like I had a headache last night, I got a headache today and I feel like I'm gonna have a headache for the rest of the year. And not saying that I had that headache, but it just felt like life was issuing headaches that particular time, that particular year. And so, yeah, happy is, in my opinion, temporary. There are more words that describe a joyous feeling that's a little bit more sustainable and able to last longer, but that's my take on the word happy.

Speaker 1: 9:10

I like that and I love that you mentioned that it's temporary. So I think when we say it and the intention behind the greeting and starting with happy is that we wish you happy moments this year and we understand and realistically know that these moments will come and go and that we hope they come more often and that, as you're finding your happiness, that it becomes something like joy.

Speaker 2: 9:38

So yeah, Great, great way to break that down. That was good, that was phenomenal.

Speaker 1: 9:44

Nice, thank you. So Then we get to the word. New Powerful three letter word.

Speaker 2: 9:53

And it's a very likable word to find new in your vocabulary. Yeah, new car, new house, new shoes, new hat, a new friend, a new song, a new movie All those things are so wonderful. So when you get something new, most people have a little bit of happiness coming along with that.

Speaker 1: 10:14

You know what? It reminds me of Corey Spee. You have happy. Annual years ago you had a red carpet movie event. I sure did. And it was a movie called House of Revelations. I don't know if it's still on YouTube, but if it is, you know check it out anyhow.

Speaker 1: 10:31

So we took the kids, specifically Nathan at this time to get fitted for a tuxedo and you want to talk about a vision of true happiness on because of something new. That boy at the time put that tux on and baby act alike. No one was in that tuxedo shop but him all by himself. New dancing Like I had never seen him do the moonwalk and he was just like any nonstop yeah.

Speaker 1: 11:05

Break dancing, backspinning the whole nine yards, like he was feeling good about himself. It was so cute and I was like, oh, I wish we could buy him this tux instead of rent it. But he had such a great time.

Speaker 2: 11:21

He did on that day and when he put it back on the day of the premiere, so that was pretty crazy but funny.

Speaker 1: 11:27

Right, and then they got to write the limo.

Speaker 1: 11:30

Anyways it just took me back. I was that's surprising that that memory just came up anyways with new, yeah, so it's all of that. I was taking on a bit of a journey and I was a verse just popped up on one of my apps and it was talking about not dwelling on the old and behold, he's made all things new. And basically my translation is why can't you see it? Or what's making you not accept, like, what's happening? That's new. So typically, when I think of new, I just think, okay, um, new changes, right, and I'm open to that. One of the things that stuck out to me is, I believe that I hinder myself at times because I hold on to old successes and the way that they have happened. So I figure that it's going to happen that way again. And so what happens when that occurs? I'm missing out on the possibilities of other ways, right, because I'm stuck on the old. So that's how I took it, like, just be open to the new ways and the new possibilities of how things are supposed to happen.

Speaker 2: 12:48

That makes a lot of sense. I was a little confused at first, but I confused myself a little bit too.

Speaker 1: 12:52

There's a whole lot of happening.

Speaker 2: 12:55

The word happen in the senses, but yeah, it makes a lot of sense and I agree.

Speaker 1: 13:01

Mm-hmm. Someone said Well, you know, it doesn't mean that we're new people, and I said, no, um, maybe not, but I want to believe that when there's new growth, it's new. It hasn't been there before. There's something about you that's changed. It's different.

Speaker 2: 13:24

Well, I mean, I think that's subjective to some degree. I feel like I wake up a new person every day. I don't bring yesterday into today, and definitely not last year into today, and there's even a reset of things that happens every so often, every seven years. Things fall off your credit, so you get a new stab at some things you know that you have either messed up or made mistakes on. So, yeah, I think there's ways to find new. You just got to want to take them on. Yeah, take the newness on yeah.

Speaker 1: 14:02

One of the big things to you know people who think goals. I think like new habits that you're trying to build, yeah, and yeah, you have to let go of the old ones. You should replace the old ones that aren't good for you, and there's a whole teaching on how to create new habits, and it's actually one of my favorite things. So if you're interested in getting in touch with me on goal setting and changing habits for your growth and development, hit me up my emails, Jen the builder, at Gmail. And that leads me to this word, the word year.

Speaker 1: 14:40

When I think of the word year, I think if I don't act on the things that I know I should act on, if I don't move the needle, if I don't get to the next chapter in my life because I'm holding onto the old or because I'm fearful of the new, whatever that looks like, I know how fast the year goes by, and when you've wasted a year, I hate that feeling of regret Like why didn't I just do the thing? You know what I mean. So that's what comes to my mind when I think of year, and I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, but time is going by so fast and I just feel that kind of sense of urgency this year, Like this is a year to make it happen.

Speaker 2: 15:26

Oh yeah, 365 days is what we have in a year. That's enough time for you to accomplish a lot of goals and to move the needle, as you said, and when you don't, it is disheartening because you feel like that's a lot of time for me to squander and not really take care of business. I think and I've explained this to you on several occasions I think that's why I work so feverishly on things that I'm working on because I want them done by deadline and definitely before the 365 days. That's just so key to me, and I'm hoping that we can begin to spread this out a little bit further with other people that are adamant about accomplishing things. I get excited about it. Personally, I know I don't sound like it, like I'm not like oh my God, it's so great.

Speaker 2: 16:24

But at the same time, inside I'm really thinking like, wow, I really want to get my second and third book out this year. I really want to get my second EP out this year. I'm really wanting to start my YouTube channel this year and I'm going to do all those things and nothing's off limits as long as I'm able to do it. And then we have business ventures that we're tackling Big ones. I haven't completed all the things for this book. We got something really big that I'm so anxious to share with everyone, but I want to be able to share it in a photo first and then we can talk about it. But yeah, it's just too much time to not accomplish some goals that we've pretty much set out before the year even started.

Speaker 1: 17:15

Yeah, yeah, you know, I see about a conversation that I had with another friend and she has some really close friends who whose parents have been diagnosed with cancer, so let's make that one of the stories. And she said I just pray that this year goes by quickly for them. And I just thought about that and I was so happy that she was open to just having a conversation on that. And that's where we rush time, and you just never know, and I think it's better to be prepared for what if this year is the year and you rush through those moments? And so those moments of making memories, of connection, of having that person still around, you know?

Speaker 2: 18:06

what I mean Remembering.

Speaker 1: 18:07

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 18:08

Yeah, that's huge.

Speaker 1: 18:11

So I just feel like, even as we're talking, corey, like it's just a year of being intentional Intentional about what the way you spend your time, the things that you're chasing, the good that you're intentionally inviting into your life and the stuff that's not so good that you're intentionally removing and saying it has no place here anymore, like I don't want this. It does nothing for me. In fact, it hurts and harms me more than it does anything else.

Speaker 2: 18:38

Right, yeah, and I like the thought of using 365 days to count something down. Count those days down so you can know how close you are to the next goal.

Speaker 1: 18:52

Mm, ok, and then, when you think about it, today's already the eighth. So it's what is that? 300, 357 days left already. So, just like that, it's already going down.

Speaker 2: 19:07

Oh yeah, I'm sorry. Oh, go ahead. No, I've already started counting the things that I'm accomplishing and saying, ok, that's off the list.

Speaker 1: 19:16

Next, yes and oh, I forgot to say this. This is what I'm extremely excited about. I remember we said all things are new. Yeah, here's something that I did, that I will. That was old for me in 2023.

Speaker 1: 19:30

I wrote a bucket list, and on one of the things I said, I want to start going to more theatrical productions. I want to try this dessert, and it was very specific. I want to have a conversation on this topic with someone who knows more than I do on it. That was on my list for this year. Do you know that? That stuff happened before the year even started, and that's what I'm saying Don't do that when like expected at any time. And that's what I'm learning about time, and I also am learning that today is so important, and I'm not going to be consumed Hear me out on this with what my future self looks like. I think it's good to glance, and then I think it's good to also be in the moment, and that's important. You know what I mean. That's for me, though, if it helps you to keep focused on your future self, cool. I personally feel like if I were to do that, I'd miss out on everything today.

Speaker 2: 20:46

I can see both sides of that, but I definitely am in the same vein as you, nice.

Speaker 1: 20:52

So there's happy new year, and I'm gonna end with this. When we give each other these greetings or when we say certain words, or when we're in conversation and dialogue with people, our intentions are such an important piece, like just saying things with a meaning behind it and then acting on it, right? Yeah, that's huge. So we wish we could hear all the things that are coming to you for your happy new year and, if you want, you can please share it with us. My email's, jen the builder, at Gmail, or if you follow us on Instagram and Facebook. That's totally cool too. But, yeah, it's been great to be back. Phenoms, phenoms.

Speaker 1: 21:39

And if you've already messed up I don't do New Year's resolutions and stuff like that but if you've got goals and you had habits that you were gonna build, please know that we all fall off the bandwagon. It's not about perfection, it's progress. So if you've already fallen off, okay, get back on. Yes, just get back on. No biggie, right? Yeah, you got this, let's do it. Let's do it All right? Well, you know it's to take the elevator. We say look up and let's elevate Every day, elevate Every day, elevate, every day, elevate.