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00:00:01
Why Excitement Isn’t the Key to a Fulfilling Life
15 Plays14 days ago
Wdym life isn't about glitter?
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Transcript
Introduction to Excitement
00:00:01
Wes MacMillan
What's going on everybody? Welcome back to Philosofunny podcast with deep talks and dumb jokes. The topic for today is excitement.
00:00:12
Wes MacMillan
And I know what you're thinking.
00:00:15
Wes MacMillan
We've never heard that word before. Did you just make it up? How do you spell it? And to that I'd say, stop yanking my chain. i know you know what excitement is.
00:00:27
Wes MacMillan
Excitement is the opposite of boring. It's like stimulation. And I'm sure if you asked five dentists if they want their life to be exciting, at least four of them would say yes.
00:00:42
Wes MacMillan
And to those dentists, I'd say that question doesn't even make any sense. Do you like, do you want your life to be exciting in general all the time? And the dentist would probably say, we don't know, we're just dentists.
Personal Stories and Reflections
00:00:56
Wes MacMillan
We don't know what happened to the fifth one. We're worried about him.
00:01:00
Wes MacMillan
And last night i got i was working I was supposed to work until 11 p.m. and my boss called me at 5 p.m. and they said, do you want to be done working at 7? And I said, absolutely I do.
00:01:15
Wes MacMillan
And I went home and I watched a couple episodes of Pluribus, good show on Apple TV if you haven't heard of it, and Euphoria with one of my best friends.
00:01:28
Wes MacMillan
And it was a great night. I had a lot of fun. I enjoyed myself, no complaints. But a part of me is like, man, it's Friday night.
00:01:40
Wes MacMillan
Why aren't we drinking 100 beers?
00:01:43
Wes MacMillan
And I read a book a while ago, one of the most widely read spiritual books of all time. called Autobiography of a Yogi.
00:01:56
Wes MacMillan
And and it it had like three rules. And i forget what two of them were, but one of them was Avoid Excitement. And that was just about the craziest thing I had ever heard. i was like, what is a life without excitement? That sounds like an awful life.
00:02:12
Wes MacMillan
And then it sat in the back of my head as things tend to do until it I feel like it came more and more true.
00:02:23
Wes MacMillan
And I still don't know if it's absolutely true, but i think there is some truth to it is what I'll say.
00:02:30
Wes MacMillan
And I think what I'm trying to say is a lot of people chase excitement. And for one, i think if you chase something, like if you chase an exciting life, the less your life is going to feel less exciting. And also, your life isn't going to be exciting all the time.
00:02:51
Wes MacMillan
Your life isn't going to be happy all the time. I think that's partially why we're so hard on ourselves is because we expect excitement. perfection and life isn't perfect. and exciting is on one side of the spectrum and the other side of the spectrum is probably like boring, but you could also say peaceful. Like life life is pretty hectic. I don't think it's the worst thing if you have like a moment to rest every once in a while.
00:03:21
Wes MacMillan
And I think chaing chasing an exciting life is particularly dangerous because like if you chase an exciting like the most exciting night, you're going to end up like hammered like in a strip club with some sketchy people.
00:03:38
Wes MacMillan
And if that's how you want to live your life, go ahead. But um I just don't think that's how I want to live mine, especially night after night. I'm really... I'm kind of like grieving that life isn't what I thought it was.
The Pursuit of Peace Over Excitement
00:03:54
Wes MacMillan
When I was growing up, I thought I was going to be a professional athlete, party every night, never get hung over, wake up, do it the next day over and over again, and it would be just as fun every day.
00:04:07
Wes MacMillan
But that's not really how life works.
00:04:11
Wes MacMillan
And I'm not gonna give you the spew about how without the bad, there can't be good, but I think there's also some truth to that.
00:04:20
Wes MacMillan
Um, like New Year's Eve is coming up and I've been thinking to myself like most people are chasing like They're at the most exciting party in their area They find a stranger Like at the perfect time and then they french kiss into the new year And if you want to go for that, I hope you get it but I think many people chase that like every year And it's always, it's often a disappointment.
00:04:54
Wes MacMillan
I think if you chase excitement, you're often going to be disappointed.
00:04:59
Wes MacMillan
And I'll ask you about an alternative. What if you were in your home that you built with the ones you loved? And what is like the new year really about? Is it about some stranger?
00:05:13
Wes MacMillan
is it about... getting something you haven't had all year potentially and probably ended up probably going to end up disappointed or is it about you and your loved ones making it through another year together and that you love each other and maybe just maybe if you stick together you can make it through anything
00:05:37
Wes MacMillan
Like, what's up with the ball? Everybody's so worried. Like, how many people go stand in New York to watch the ball drop, like, shoulder to shoulder for miles?
00:05:47
Wes MacMillan
Fuck that ball. Like, you care about that ball more than your family? i don't think that's what going to New Year's Eve necessarily means, but it implies it.
Societal Values and Personal Priorities
00:06:01
Wes MacMillan
And it's just like, i don't know. i I think a lot of these holidays, like that's not really what it's about. Like Christmas seems, especially growing up, it was all about the gifts.
00:06:15
Wes MacMillan
I didn't even know it was Jesus's birthday.
00:06:19
Wes MacMillan
And maybe we focus on the gifts because that's more exciting than Jesus. And I'm not even a Christian, but
00:06:27
Wes MacMillan
it seems like he was a real dude and it seemed like he had a profound impact. Did he come back to life? I'll get back to you on that one. But like Thanksgiving becomes all about the food because food is more exciting than like being grateful.
00:06:44
Wes MacMillan
Christmas becomes all about the gifts because that's more exciting. new Year's Eve becomes all about the ball. Fuck that ball. And even like Valentine's Day becomes all about the chocolate and less about the love.
00:06:59
Wes MacMillan
Less about the love, man. And that's what I think life is really about.
00:07:05
Wes MacMillan
If you were to ask me what's life about, I had to give you a one word answer, and i and I didn't say growth, I would say love.
00:07:19
Wes MacMillan
Valentine's Day should be about love. That one I think we're a little more with the plot, with the meaning of it. um Fourth of July. That should be about loving our country.
00:07:31
Wes MacMillan
But instead, it's about fireworks and barbecue and drinking too much. And Thanksgiving becomes about the food, not about love.
00:07:42
Wes MacMillan
I mean, you're eating what you love wants. Maybe you say a little grace before you stuff your face. But it's like...
00:07:51
Wes MacMillan
It's like we forgot why we do things.
00:07:55
Wes MacMillan
And we forgot what's important.
00:07:57
Wes MacMillan
So no, life isn't as exciting as I thought it would be. Is that a bad thing?
00:08:05
Wes MacMillan
it could be looked at as a bad thing.
00:08:09
Wes MacMillan
it could be looked at as a good thing.
00:08:12
Wes MacMillan
And I think it's somewhat a good thing because I don't think excitement is the most important thing. i don't think constant stimulation, everything new, everything exciting is really the answer.
00:08:27
Wes MacMillan
And I think if you chase that, I don't know if you like, you're going to like where you end up.
00:08:33
Wes MacMillan
But if you focus on love,
00:08:36
Wes MacMillan
doing things you love with the people you love, and even like, I'm not shitting on food. I love food. I love gifts. I love chocolate. But those are like bonuses in these holidays. Because every holiday can't just be about love. Because then every like month or two months, it'd be like love day.
00:08:57
Wes MacMillan
No chocolate, no gifts, no food. We're just going to sit and hold hands.
00:09:02
Wes MacMillan
That honestly doesn't sound too bad to me, but i I'm an interesting bird.
00:09:08
Wes MacMillan
And if you were to ask me growing up one what what I wanted my life to be in one word, I might have said exciting. and want my life to be a movie.
00:09:20
Wes MacMillan
But life ain't a movie. It's a book. And a lot of parts get left out in the book.
00:09:28
Wes MacMillan
But it's a good book. And it's a book about love.
00:09:32
Wes MacMillan
And if you were to ask me now, if I wanted my life to be one thing, i would probably say peaceful.
00:09:40
Wes MacMillan
And it's a weird time for me. It's a weird transition when you are going from your life wanting to be exciting versus you want your life to be peaceful because they're pretty much opposites.
00:09:56
Wes MacMillan
but I think I'm confident in the direction I'm going. It's just change is never easy, even if it's a good change.
00:10:03
Wes MacMillan
I went on a road trip this summer with two of my best friends and at the end of the first night we were sitting around the fire having some hot dogs and I was like, maybe this is like as good as it gets.
00:10:18
Wes MacMillan
they didn't answer. So I let like 30 seconds pass and I said, maybe this is as good as it gets. And they went, no, we heard you. But I wanted to talk about it.
00:10:33
Wes MacMillan
And it was half happy, half sad, bittersweet, if
Childhood Memories and Final Reflections
00:10:38
Wes MacMillan
you will. Life is bittersweet. I think it's kind of a bittersweet symphony is a good name for life.
00:10:47
Wes MacMillan
And it was happy because i was like, this is a great moment. I'm with two of my best friends. We are in like deep Colorado, someplace we've never been before, under the stars, just reminiscing on our pasts.
00:11:03
Wes MacMillan
And on the other hand, I was like, this isn't exciting. There are no strippers here. There's no glitter. And it was like, maybe this is as good as it life gets. And this is really not what I thought life was about.
00:11:24
Wes MacMillan
I thought life was about glitter. I thought there'd be way more glitter.
00:11:31
Wes MacMillan
And
00:11:33
Wes MacMillan
ah to that, to my past me, I'd say all that glitters ain't gold.
00:11:39
Wes MacMillan
The best things in life are free.
00:11:42
Wes MacMillan
And we're in a society where it seems like we're all about the money. We're all about the glitter, not the glitter, but we're like, we're chasing everything shiny. and it's somewhat the media's fault. If you ask me, like we're just dangling like money and a life of excitement. And we're on like the treadmill, like that's the carrot. And we're all like running, like we're going to get it. And everything's going be perfect.
00:12:07
Wes MacMillan
And we just keep on chasing. We keep on chasing. We never get it. Well, me, I got off the treadmill. I said, it's been 20 years and I haven't gotten any fucking closer to that carrot.
00:12:22
Wes MacMillan
What's up?
00:12:25
Wes MacMillan
And asked myself that carrot of excitement. Is that really what I want? Do I really think that's what will make me happy?
00:12:37
Wes MacMillan
Is that when I'm on my deathbed? Am I gonna be like, I'm so glad my life was exciting all the time. I may have no friends, loved ones, or family, but at least it was exciting all the time. And I don't even think that's realistic.
00:12:55
Wes MacMillan
If you chase that, I think your life will be disappointing most of the time. So I was picturing myself on my deathbed, covered in glitter, head to toe.
00:13:09
Wes MacMillan
My face was saggy. I was old, I was eating like mashed up carrots. And my nurse comes in she walks in, she's really hot.
00:13:21
Wes MacMillan
She goes, Wes, you happy with how your life went? And I closed my eyes.
00:13:28
Wes MacMillan
And I think about all the New Year's in my life. And I think about all the Christmases in my life.
00:13:36
Wes MacMillan
And it hits me.
00:13:38
Wes MacMillan
What if New Year's isn't about the glitter?
00:13:42
Wes MacMillan
What if Christmas isn't about the gifts?
00:13:47
Wes MacMillan
What if it's all about love?
00:13:50
Wes MacMillan
What feels more important? Love or glitter
00:13:56
Wes MacMillan
or gifts?
00:13:58
Wes MacMillan
Or food. And food's pretty important. You can't survive without it, but I think I've made my point.
00:14:05
Wes MacMillan
And my, I still remember the best Christmas gift I ever got. i'll I'll tell you the story. Maybe this is how we'll end. um
00:14:16
Wes MacMillan
I was probably about five, my brother was probably about seven, and all we wanted for Christmas that year was a Wii And we had opened all the gifts, and we got some pretty great gifts.
00:14:30
Wes MacMillan
But we opened all the gifts and there was no Wii And me, I was sitting there. i wasn't gonna say none.
00:14:38
Wes MacMillan
But I was like, where the fuck is the Wii?
00:14:43
Wes MacMillan
And my dad, i don't know what he said exactly, but he said something along the lines of, you guys haven't found all the gifts.
00:14:52
Wes MacMillan
Me and my brother are like little kids sprinting all around the living, the family room.
00:15:01
Wes MacMillan
And I look under the couch and I pull out this Wii sized box. And I just knew. I saw this Wii sized box and I just knew that there was a Wii it.
00:15:15
Wes MacMillan
And sure enough, I rip off the wrapping and it's a Wii Covered in glitter.
00:15:26
Wes MacMillan
And It was probably one of the best moments of my life.
00:15:31
Wes MacMillan
And to me, it was about the Wii It wasn't about love. It was about the Wii My first console. Console. um But looking back, I've talked about it with my mom. My mom said she like left somewhere early and she waited in line to get that we.
00:15:52
Wes MacMillan
And you know why she did that?
00:15:54
Wes MacMillan
Because she loved us.
00:15:57
Wes MacMillan
She's a great mom.
00:15:59
Wes MacMillan
And yeah, I guess the closing thought would be just intention.
00:16:03
Wes MacMillan
I think um I don't want to make grandiose statements. If that's even how you were use that word correctly, but What I will say is I don't think there's anything more important than intention.
00:16:19
Wes MacMillan
Remembering why you do things.
00:16:21
Wes MacMillan
And if you were to ask me.
00:16:24
Wes MacMillan
we
00:16:26
Wes MacMillan
In your life, would you rather have more excitement or peace?
00:16:32
Wes MacMillan
I'd say peace. Thank you all for listening. i love you all so much. See you next week.