S3: Episode 1 - Hope Floats: "Resurrecting the Unspoken"

Stormy and Kodi discuss the power of hope. (suggested song: "Rise Up" - Andra Day)

Your goodie for the day. Thank you for listening. :) 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the Goody Shop for Your Mental Health. My name is Cody. My name is Dormy. And we are so happy that you're with us today. So today we're both really excited about this topic today. And we're going to talk about hope and how important hope is for the human part. I'm going to say it that way. Because hope is something that we all need. I don't care who you are, what color, creed, race, whatever, doesn't matter. We all need hope. And we're going to talk about what hope is and you know the benefits of hope. How are you? How are you today?

SPEAKER_00 0:55

You know, to not sound close cliche, but I am hopeful, you know, because you know it is one of those things that it's like if if we don't have a piece of that, then what are we doing? Where are we mentally, emotionally, physically, you know? So it's it's important to, I know we'll get into all of that, all of this, but I mean, just in general, it's important to have that moment where it's like, okay, it's it's still gonna be okay. Like whatever's going on, tomorrow can still be better. The next day can still be better. Even if it brings some more stressors and some more hardships, we still are gonna ride the wave because without hope, you know, we're just like almost in you're just in despair. And we don't we don't want to live that way. We shouldn't live that way. It's not fair to us to live that way when hope gives us that like just a little bit of motivation to get through today and to look forward to tomorrow in whatever capacity that looks like to each person.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

Yeah, I like that. You're starting off beautifully. I love it, I love it, I love it. You know, it's you know, I I love, you know me, I love words, and I just wanted to look up the definition of hope just to see what the Merriam Dictionary says. It says it says to cherish a desire with anticipation, to want something to happen or to be true, and then it also says trust. It also says to desire with expectation of obtainment or fulfillment, to expect with confidence, and once again it talks about trust so hope. Such a four-letter word, but so powerful. It's so powerful, and and I like the I like we talk about the resurrecting the unspoken, and a lot of times we we forget how how powerful hope is to in our lives, honestly. And what is it, how does it improve us? You know, what are the benefits of hope? We're gonna talk about all of that because there are benefits from having a mindset of being hopeful. It's it's wonderful. So, what what are your thoughts? What's your what's your thoughts, Dormy? Yeah, what does it look like?

SPEAKER_00 3:43

Yeah, I always go back to that like saying, and I may mess it up, but what is that saying that's like expect the worst, hope for the best type of a thing? Because it's like we also want to be realistic. Right. And I think that a lot of times people almost, it's almost like forgiveness in a sense that people feel like if you forgive or if you have hope, then that means nothing bad's gonna happen and you're and you're just not even allowing yourself the ability to think about anything less than what you want to happen happening. If that makes sense. I don't I'm yeah, no, I got you. No, no, no. Go ahead. Yeah, you're good. It it's like when you when you forgive somebody, people associate that sometimes with like, well, then that means what they did or what they said was okay. And it's like that that's not what it's about. And the same thing in a way with hope. It's like when you have hope, you're not saying that I'm gonna go blindly into this world thinking that everything's just gonna work out the way that I want. And I'm gonna hope every day that you know every day is gonna be a rainbow of sunshine. It's like it's more of the sense of through the storm, there will be a rainbow. That is my hope. Yes. And we go through the storm as we will, as we do, as we are right now, there will still be a rainbow. We just have to open our eyes and see it.

SPEAKER_01 5:15

Yes. And what you described, I mean, pretty much, I mean, let me know if I'm off. It's you just described how hope is inherent within a human being, within each of us, right? I mean, and like you said, it's not thinking, you know, like, you know, I'm gonna go through life with no trials. No, that's not what we're saying. It's a motive, it's a motivator. You know, it's it's something that helps us to um just hope for the best. Yeah. In our situations or circumstance, or, you know, we know right now life is life and you know, our world, you know, if you live in America, it's a hot mess. Like other other countries, I mean, there's probably so much going on like within each of our countries, you know, and it's like, but how do we how do we not get caught up in the in the negative aspect of things that are being thrown at us? And I like how you said it. It's like, it's not taking, it's not just thinking that, okay, I'm just gonna just be so blind, willy willy, and just kind of just, well, everything's gonna be great, everything's gonna be perfect. No, we know that it's not that at all. But what can we do like as individuals to maintain hope, maybe not only just for us our ourselves, but even for our family, maybe for our community, our neighbors, our you know, what does that look like? Um, and I think, yeah, it's yeah, it's man, we could talk about this all day. We really could. We really could talk about this all day. But um, yeah, like man, this is so much storming.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

Yeah, I mean, talk about it, it really is just like reminding yourself, okay, well, yes, the world is on fire, but we still have a responsibility to ourselves and to our loved ones and just everyone to fight the good fight, I guess, whatever that means to you, you know, like like thinking about what are the ways that we can be impactful with one another and uh where we can instill hope with other people as well as keeping it within ourselves, is to be a kind person, be somebody who shows empathy towards other people, you know, is you know, we we present ourselves as somebody that's a team player that wants to help, that goes out into their community and finds ways to be productive and you know, be active and what you want, what change you want to see, be a part of that change. What does that be the change you want to see, Gandhi? You know, it's like we it really can it really can be about how one person can make a huge difference. You know, we we sometimes get so focused on the world or the collective as a whole that it's like that each person has a piece of that, right? And when we again are talking about hope, if I don't have hope, then I'm more than likely gonna spew that energy onto those closest to me, and then I'm impacting them potentially in a negative way. That's not fair to them, that's not fair of me. So it's more about like I'm going to use my energy and put hope out there so that we can feed off of each other in a positive way instead of you know, just letting the world suck us into all the craziness that is happening. Like, I'm gonna be my peace, I'm gonna spread peace as much as I can. I'm gonna spread hope. Because again, that's what I choose to do. I mean, my mental health, like that's ultimately what it's about. My mental health is important. So if I want to take care of myself emotionally, I need to have hope.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

Yes. I mean, it's the benefits of hope is yes, like it helps your cardiovascular system. I'm not trying to go science-y, but it does, it helps eliminate and decrease depression. It does. And and story of what you're saying is pretty much that hope is not optimism. That's not what hope is.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Right.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

You know what I mean? And like you're saying, I mean, it's it's something that we choose to embrace. Like it's in within each and every one of us. Even the most pessimistic person has some type of hope that they hold on to, right? So yeah, like, and it's so, it's so, so important. And you know, sometimes a lot of times we when we think about hope, we only think about it like being connected to like dire situations, but it's not, it's it's it's just a way of being able to envision things in a different way, right? Like you said, seeing things, you know, like I want to be peace. Yeah, like if I want to, yeah, I want to be around people that are peaceful, you know. Right. And so, you know, and and our and it's so crazy because we don't realize how much of our how we can be such an effect on people. Like, even when we're out like in the world, like we're going to the store, stuff like that, like what our what we give off can be so contagious, whether it's negative or positive. Same thing with hope. I feel like you can feel when a person is very hopeful. And it's not, like you said, not an optimistic thing. It's just how they carry themselves. And it's like a, it's a, it's, I feel like it's like a it's like a type of clothing because it's like, even though all hell is breaking loose, you know, and even though my life might not be perfect, or although this is going on, at the end of the day, it's like, you know, how am I going to see things? What am I choosing to do? How am I choosing to do it? And like I said, that's that's great. I think that's awesome because it's so easy to get caught up, like you said, and just, you know, in the everything and just lose hope in everything. But no, we're not gonna do that.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Not today, no, or tomorrow. Yeah, and and that's the biggest thing. Like, we're not you know, I'm not saying that it's easy. Bring it. It is hard. It's a lot, I will say the opposite. It's a lot easier to lose hope than it is to maintain it. It's a it is a job. You have to work at it, you have to challenge your mindset and challenge your perspective sometimes every day, sometimes every hour, sometimes minute by minute. And that's the most powerful thing about hope is that it's within our control, whether we have it or not. Nobody can take our hope away from us. We either choose to hold on to it, or we choose to let the negativity consume us. And again, I'm not saying that people that are stuck in a really, really, really difficult place that easy to be like, okay, I'm gonna have hope that I'm gonna have a home tomorrow, or that I'm gonna have a car tomorrow, or that I'm gonna have food on the table. You know, I I get that there are genuine, obviously, basic needs that can really impact our val our value system as well and our ability to have hope. So you think about people that, like, for example, people that are homeless, you know, like how much hope do they have? Do they even can their brain even process what it means to be hopeful, you know, because of their situation? And so again, it goes back to the reality of of your situation and really almost peeling it apart by layer by layer and think, okay, where do I have control? Do I do I have any piece of my life that's in my control? Because again, sometimes we do get to a very dark place where we we really don't think about that. We don't, we really feel like we're powerless. And having that sense of hope is literally what drives people to get through their depression, suicidality, you know, whatever it is that they're facing. It's hope that you have to like basically start with, you know, to get you moving out of that headspace, whatever it is, you have to have hope that something will change, that something will get better, or else it more than likely won't. That's the power of our mindset.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

If not, if no, I think that's no, you yeah, we don't realize, yeah, you sit the mouthful, seriously. And that's so true though. And I'm just like, wow, like what and I was thinking about this before we even got on. I was like, what are we feeding ourselves? What are we feeding ourselves like mentally, emotionally, you know, all of those different things? And I think about those out there that may be listening, and you may have spiritual beliefs, whatever that may be, you know, that may be a way for you to maintain hope. You know, what does that look like? You know, hope in God, hope in the higher a higher power or whatnot. You know, what is it that helps you to maintain just consistency and just and I like what you were talking about, even homeless, you know, like somebody who may be homeless, like in even for us, it's like even their situation may we look might look at it one way, but they might be like, I'm free from all the crap that I have to deal with society. I mean, you know, I mean, seriously, so it's like that that's another type of hope. So you just don't know, but at the same time, it's like, how do I want to proceed forward in the life that I have been given while on this earth? You know? It's like, do I want, you know, like girl, hope is just it's so much because it does. It just it gives you to for me personally, it just it gives you a way of a way of coping, to be honest. Yeah. It really does. Like it's like, yes, I know this is not going right in my life, but you know what? Gratefulness, you know, there's there are things that I'm grateful for, you know, things that, you know, it just helps you to kind of put things in a different perspective. And it helps you just to, I don't know, just helps you to hope for the future. I mean, yeah, you know, like even though right now it it looks horrible, but but I know that this is not gonna be the end all right now, right? And being able to, like you were saying, just to choose to do that. And you know, because we we are such amazing beings. I mean, I just like how our brain works, how our body works, and how I mean, I just can't even fathom like how we were created. You know, it's just like, and just knowing that we have the will, like when you think of when I when I think about soul, you know, I think about the soul is like your mind, your will, your your your emotion, like how you're able to even understand and embrace what hope is. Because yeah, I mean, especially if we've all okay, let me just say this we've all been through trauma in some way, shape, or form, right? But being able to, even in the midst of the trauma that we have experienced, still be able to supersede that and still continue to hold on to hope. I think that for me, that's a superpower, honestly. That is a superpower because yeah, because it's so easy just to be given, like you said, it's easy just to give up and say, you know what? Screw it. I'm done. I don't care, screw real life, screw people, screw, you know, and it's just blah blah blah. And it's easy to do that, but I think it takes real guts to maintain hope. That's just yeah. So I'm just like, wow. So out there, if you got if you're holding on to hope, you have a superpower, so kudos to you.

SPEAKER_00 18:34

Keep going, keep using it though. That's why I mean I just liked the idea of doing this topic, you know, the hope float. Like we want hope to flow out there, you know. We want to where people can grab it when they need it, you know, maintain it and let it let it be kind of your anchor in life, you know. Yes, we need things that help us stay grounded and you know and hope can do that.

SPEAKER_01 19:03

Yes, it sure can. Yes, it can in so many different ways. And like I like you said, the benefits of hope. We were just talking about that, and just like how physically it helps you physically, like your physical body, mentally, like you were talking about storing. You talk about your mental health. You're like, yes, like helps you to stay sane. Like, I'm not gonna lie, that's what I that's what I say, you know. I mean, it there's so many benefits, like even enhanced relationships, you know, whether it's with your family, friends, you know, always say, you know, friends are the family you need along the way, I always say that. But you know, just every people you come in contact with. I mean, it's just like I said, it's just part of it's it's really part of our DNA. Yeah. It really is. But sometimes it's what would you say, Stormy, like for those that maybe maybe they maybe never experienced hope or they they don't know how to even like how do I find hope? What does that look like? Like what is what is something that you think that a person can do to kind of start kind of like going in the way of, you know what? Today I want to be hopeful. What can that look like for somebody who maybe have lost all hope and maybe need to regain it back? What can that look like for them?

SPEAKER_00 20:37

I mean, I think it starts very small, you know. I think it's again about looking at what is important in your life and making that area, that one area, a focus. So, like, I don't know, this may be a silly example, but like if you wanted to like improve your social network, your social connections with people, you know, what what would be one way to do that? Maybe maybe take 20 minutes and go. I'm gonna take say coffee because you know, if no me is yeah, coffee, but like go sit, go get nice coffee, go get a hot coffee, go plant yourself somewhere at a coffee house for 20 minutes, go to a farmer's market, you know, like do small things that you enjoy, number one, but also can potentially bring you, you know, just that social connection. I'm not saying you have to meet the love of your life or your best friend, these places. I just mean like even having that, hey, how are you today? Hey, do you want your favorite? Is it are you still getting you still want the iced coffee, venti iced coffee, whatever? You know, you just you get to know people and you surround yourself in those areas where you're gonna have a social connection with somebody. And so it's it's looking it's looking at very small steps, you know, filling out job applications, even for things that you're like, there's no way I would do this, but it's connected to this over here. So let me go ahead and put my application out there. Like it's it's little choices that we make that can bring us closer to that hope. In a sense, it's like nothing's gonna change if you're sitting at home. You're like, okay, well, I hope this changes. I hope I get an A in this. I hope I you know get paid today, whatever it is, it's like we have to remember that hope takes action. And I think that's I guess that's kind of the biggest thing that I want to reiterate and is that we do have to stand behind with the action of being hopeful. Um, or else it's you know, words don't necessarily mean anything if we're not doing anything behind the scenes with it. So you can just have hope just because you want it, you do have to actively do things to, you know, to keep it and to maintain it and to see actual change, you know, it's it does require you to sometimes do things maybe even out of your comfort zone, you know, and it's like, okay, but what is the outcome that I'm wanting? What what am I wanting from this? What kind of hope do I want to have in this area in my life? And so, okay, what is one thing I can do about it? You know, I want to have hope that this meal is gonna turn out good. So I want to go buy ingredients that I know are gonna be good. I mean, you know, like it the really simple things can, and we talk or I talk about that all the time. You know, it really comes down to really simple things that can really make your life great. It because it's it's being present in those moments of hope, I think, as well. You know, it's like reminding yourself like, wow, I hoped for this and now it's actually happening. So now I'm not only hopeful, I'm I'm grateful. So now I'm attaching more, you know, more emotions and more thoughts to what's going on. And and I'm gonna, I'm not gonna forget it. You know, I think that's something powerful with hope too, is that it's it's not we don't forget about it, you know. It's ever present. There all yeah, it's it's always gonna be there again as long as we continue to fight for it.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

Well, what you describe, Stormy, is that hope can motivate us to take whatever steps we need to take. And whatever it is, like you were talking about if you want to be more social, like like it's it's like that motivating factor. You know, it's like I don't know. I just it's just it's it's great. It really is. It's like something you desire good for the future. I like this. I mean, of course, yes, uh, excuse me. I'm like, I can't even recall, but anyway. But yeah, but there's this, there's this verse in the Bible that I love that it's Hebrews 11:1, and it says, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So it's not something that you're gonna always see, but but you're you're hopeful in the moment for it. You know what I mean? And it's like, and like you said, it's the actions that we put behind it and what we do, what we say, and how we go about doing it. So yeah, Storming, you're on it. You are on it. So I'm just like, whoo! This is no good stuff. I love it. So, you guys, if you're out there listening, like embrace hope. Embrace it, utilize it. Like it's it's there for you, you know. It's already it's already within you. It really is. It's just a matter of us uh activating it. Yeah. And I love what Stormy said it's it's the little steps that we take. The little steps that we take. I think that's a takeaway, Stormy. Girl, look, bring it, bring, bring it home for us. Cause I mean, you pretty much you hit the nail on the head.

SPEAKER_00 26:23

I'll just reiterate, you know, letting home be your anchor, you know, it's really the anchor of our soul, you know, it can be. And and that's what helps us, you know, really hold on to it is that it's gonna keep us grounded, it's gonna keep us sane, it's gonna keep us safe. All of those things, as long as we have hope. I know this is probably gonna sound cheesy, but as long as we have hope, we really can get through anything. And again, that does not diminish the trials and traumas that we experience. Right by any means, it just means that you are taking all of those experiences that you have lived and will live and are living, and you are going to use them to make your life what you want it to be and not let it be led by your traumas. Okay, amen to that.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

So we thank you guys for listening in today, and we just encourage you all just to continue to stay hopeful, not only just today, but every day. We'll talk to you soon.