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All Good Things (Season 6 Finale)
148 Plays5 months ago
In this very special episode of "Friendless," host James Avramenko wraps up Season 6 with a lively discussion on being raised by wild animals, the importance of community, and personal transformation. James humorously explores the animal kingdom, from sloths to meerkats, what mental illnesses cartoon characters have, and what type of animal he'd like to be raised by.
Listeners are invited into James' world as he candidly talks about his attachment style, mental health journey, and the complexities of self-growth. Emphasizing the importance of community support, James offers heartfelt advice on managing mental illness and the power of therapy. He reflects on the wisdom shared by diverse guests and plans to experiment with the show's format in the upcoming season, focusing on community, friendship, and intimacy.
With gratitude for six years of listener support, James announces a summer break and shares his vision for the show's future, inviting feedback and suggestions. He underscores the need for breaking down barriers of one-way intimacy in internet content and fostering an inclusive community.
Join James in this thought-provoking episode as he encourages reaching out to loved ones, embracing self-forgiveness, and being gentle with oneself.
Have a wonderful summer, and stay tuned for exciting new episodes in August!
Fun and Safety sweet peas!
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Transcript
Season 6 Wrap-Up and Gratitude
00:00:08
Speaker
Well, hey there, sweet peas. Welcome back to Friendless. I'm your host, James Avramenko, back once again with a very special season six wrap up episode. That's right. All good things must come to an end. And as incredible as season six has been, I need a break. So I'm taking the summer off. I'm going to recharge. I'm going to regroup. I'm coming back better than ever in the fall. But before then, we're going to do a little retrospective of the season, some last thoughts, and the last batch of listener questions. It's gonna be a ton of fun, but let's not delay. Lean back, get comfy, set your volume at a reasonable level, and let's dive into the season six wrap-up here on Friendless. This has been an absolutely life-changing season of the show.
00:00:53
Speaker
I think I want to really start by first saying thank you. Thank you so much to everybody who's listened, who has continued to listen, to everybody who supported the show, whether through sharing posts, through commenting, through liking, through yeah sending questions for for for these wrap-up episodes. You know, every little piece helps and it really grows the show um and it just um it means the absolute world to me that after six years people continue to listen continue to tune in and engage with this silly little idea I had way back in Calgary um and and so I really wanted to start with just an expression of gratitude
00:01:37
Speaker
I love doing this show.
Passion for Conversation and Personal Expression
00:01:39
Speaker
I do not do it for the money. I do it because this is um something that resonates with me. I love the opportunity to chat with, whether it's old friends, new friends, strangers. I love to hear their stories. I love giving people a platform to express themselves in ways that um they aren't always allowed to in day-to-day conversations. Sometimes even in conversation with close friends. um you know Having them share incredibly intimate stories and incredibly um vulnerable experiences um is is ah something that I cherish and hope to continue continue to do for for for years to come.
Journey to Sobriety and Mental Health Struggles
00:02:25
Speaker
Right as this season was kicking off, um my entire world was changing. um my my my My community ah that I was connected to imploded through, you know, no one person's fault. um And ah more more um impactfully than that even is um I got sober. um I'm about to hit nine months sober and ah my entire outlook on life has has really radically changed with that decision. Of course, you then also have to couple that with um you know my my mental health struggles, my diagnosis of BPD, getting medicated. um it just I feel like in so many ways I have
00:03:15
Speaker
this brand new brain that I'm still trying to figure out how exactly to use and how exactly to to work with. The medical system here is not built for ease. um There are so many hurdles and it takes so much time. I remain deeply grateful that I wasn't in as acute a crisis as I very much could have been at times um and was able to to to wait um the the necessary amount of time to to get in to see a psychiatrist, to get assessed, to get, you know, medicated and all this.
Critique of Mental Healthcare System
00:03:53
Speaker
um But it really has opened my eyes to just how broken the ah treatment system is for mental health. And um it's something that I am hoping to um
00:04:08
Speaker
yeah but I guess the word is really, ah you know, advocate for and um engage with more um in the coming months, in the coming years, because having had this firsthand experience of how many boundaries exist, just to get basic help, let alone actual, true, um continued and and sustainable support is really something that, um you know i from from my position, I'm really privileged and I'm really lucky to have been in the position that I was in to be able to get the help I need. And I am so deeply aware of how many people
00:04:49
Speaker
are not able to get that same help and who um are put into crisis because of that. And um I am m trying to build, or I guess maybe the way to put it, i'm i'm I'm trying to find my place in that conversation. um I really want to amplify not just my experience, but I want to amplify the experience of people who need this help so badly. um you know Living in Vancouver, um you witness mental health crisis every day, and um it is it is inescapable in this city.
00:05:29
Speaker
And the tragedy is how many people ignore that and how many people ah believe that it is a moral failing of the person or that it is somehow their fault for for being in the situations that they are. um We exist in a system that does not give a shit about the people that it needs to perpetuate itself. And um that creates a meat grinder. And um i I don't have clear thoughts on it yet. Even now, I'm i'm sort of like, I'm kind of spinning myself away. um I need more time to reflect on my own experience. um My friend Megan, who was just on the show, she always loves to say, um you know, preach from the scar, not from the wound. And I think right now I still very much am speaking from the wound when it comes to this part of my life and this part of
00:06:23
Speaker
um the society that I live in um that I'm observing. So I think I do still need to take a lot more time to reflect on on how I want to participate and how I want to help. But um I have become deeply, deeply aware of um the imbalances in support that exist and I want to help more going forward.
Creative Process and Overcoming Depression
00:06:45
Speaker
i am i I was on a call with my dad the other day and um he offered ah admittedly some unsolicited feedback and and some that in the moment I felt really defensive against and then as I sat with it and I reflected on it, I i ended up feeling really deeply grateful that he had said it. and um
00:07:07
Speaker
He was he was ah talking about the last newsletter that i that I put out a couple weeks ago where i was um I was in a low and I was feeling really uncreative and really uninspired and I was taking that out on myself. I was speaking really disdainfully of my creative process and I was really cutting myself down um and and he was saying, you know, But in so many words, he was like, ah your audience doesn't want to read this really hard stuff, right? They want to read you know the positives and they want they want to read that um the the good stuff that's going on in your life. And you know my first defensive reaction, my first defensive thought was like, well, I'm fucking depressed. you know but i'm I'm not making it up. I'm fucking sad. you know And I continue to be sad. And I continue to struggle with this depression. And you know if it was so easy,
00:08:04
Speaker
to just like not be sad you know um the world would be a much simpler place but that just isn't how my brain works and i'm learning how to be gentle with that and and at the same time too though i am recognizing that I have an impulse to stew. I have an impulse to stay negative, to stay in the low swing and to to not try to consciously pull myself out of it. And um there is a lot of learned helplessness that's still very um impulsive within me. And there's a lot of um um sort of projected
00:08:43
Speaker
self victimization that I continue to work with. And um so, you know, if even in this episode, but especially going forward into the next season, you know, I want to make a really conscious choice to um it's not about, you know, it's not about toxic positivity.
Mental Illness as Identity and Mindset Change
00:09:00
Speaker
It's not about like, hahaha only look on the bright side but it's like I think something that is really helping me and my process and something that may be helpful for others is you know recognizing that depression
00:09:15
Speaker
um really all mental illness, these are not defects. These are not things that make you a bad person. There's no morality to them. They're just how your brain works. And it's okay to be sad. It's okay to be depressed. it's it's um and you And you can stay there if you want to. But if you if you want to come out of it, there are things you can do. it isn't as hopeless as it feels in the moment. And there are things you can do for yourself, little things that will grow and build and over time will become second nature. you know um As I'm always saying on the show, it's's it's this idea of you know the brain is a muscle, right? And in the same way that if you want to get big arms, you do lots of weight reps. And if you want to change your brain, you have to practice how to think differently.
00:10:09
Speaker
And that doesn't mean, you know, one way of thinking is good, one way of thinking is bad. It just means if you want to change your mind, then you have to practice those new thoughts. um I have, you know, almost 37 years of practice in this form of thinking. And so um I've got a pretty steep hill you know ahead of me. And and and that's okay because that's what therapy is. That's the work. right if If therapy was easy, you could just go to a session and get it over with. But this is this is a lifetime of work. and um
00:10:46
Speaker
i'm preparing myself to continue that journey. And and um I guess you know this very long-winded, rambling ADHD way of talking is um I am looking forward um to the next season already and I'm trying to formulate how I want to frame these stories. and i And I've realized that I've allowed myself to wallow in my grief, and I've allowed myself to hold myself back because of my sadness. And um and that's okay. I needed that. It was the rainy season. It was dark. I was depressed. That's great. But you know what? The sun's out now. And um and I'm ready to take those next step forward. um i'm i'm I'm ready to you to let
00:11:33
Speaker
this past nine months be done and and figure out what the next phase is going to
Celebrating Diverse Guest Stories
00:11:39
Speaker
be. Looking back at this season, I've realized you know um yes ah the guest list, I guess you could say, of the show has been one of my favorite, most eclectic variety of of guests that I've had um in any season. And I could not be more grateful to everyone who um gave their time and gave their stories to the show. um It has been incredibly um eye-opening for me to see yeah yet again this this this um unification of all the different potential experiences in in life. um you know Guests who come from such different walks of life but who who
00:12:21
Speaker
underneath are expressing these exact same desires for you know safety and connection and intimacy and understanding and community and and one of the real beautiful gifts that I didn't realize I was um kind of giving myself really but giving to this show was um when you when you listen to a stranger's story and when you you know if you if you go on the feed and you don't recognize somebody and they look like somebody you might have never crossed paths with and in a lot of ways maybe you don't want to cross paths with and then you listen to your story and you just you hear how much more you have in common than out of you know than not in common and and um And you recognize that you know when boil it down but it boils down, um it is just so fundamentally, universally embarrassing to be a human. It is so fucking it's so fucking embarrassing to be a human. And it's so fucking hard to just keep living. And and you know it it in one way, it doesn't have to be. you know Life doesn't have to be as hard as we make it.
00:13:33
Speaker
And yet at the same time too, um there is this universal struggle for understanding and for connection and for um um just being seen as the person that we are. and And what I love so much about these interviews is that you get the opportunity to hear these unifying experiences from that's all walks of life you know I spoke to a poet who grows garlic and a ah pro wrestling color commentator a um ah journalist who moonlights as the lead singer of an incredible rock band to um you know a brand new rat exterminator
00:14:17
Speaker
you know and and And the thing is that ah they're all just people. and And this is another thing that I, another sort of um realization that I've come to throughout the years with this show is that you know there are no angels and demons. There are no monsters. There are no um um great villains. There are just people. There are just people making choices. And that has been a massive part of not just the show, but that's also been a massive part of my therapy, is recognizing the people in my past who I hold so much fear around. um People who i in my head I have built up as these, you know, the final boss in the video game type energy, right? They're just these big, dominant, leering demons. And when you step back and you realize, no, these are just small people. They're just little people.
00:15:12
Speaker
And they have their own problems and they make their own choices and they do what they do and they're not these unconquerable forces. They're just little people trying to survive just like everyone else. I think it would it's been incredibly beneficial for me to really frame as much as I can from that. low-leveling. It's not about, you know, it's not about undercutting people. It's not about diminishing people, but it's about reducing the size of the imagined impact that they have on you, right? It it doesn't, um what someone does
00:15:49
Speaker
doesn't change the fact that they're just a person. right and No matter how extraordinary, no matter how ordinary, no matter what it is they do, they remain just a person. It doesn't deify them. it doesn't you know This is not a Greek myth. right this doesn't you know Through their actions, they don't suddenly become a demigod. right they just They make choices and then they continue to just be a person. And um that realization has been deeply, deeply healing for me as I recognize um you know the impact that people have had on my life and the impact I've had on their life. um I'm no great villain. I'm no great angel. i'm not i'm not ah I'm not a victim. I'm not an abuser. I am just a guy.
00:16:36
Speaker
you know and um and that
00:16:41
Speaker
Yeah, that um that has really settled my bones, ah per se.
Format Experiments for Season 7
00:16:48
Speaker
Speaking on the sort of like diversity of the show, this is actually something that I have continued to um experiment with and something that I do continue to plan on experimenting with is is is the the the layout of the show and um ah the sort of the structure and the format. um i I started the season with um you know a set couple of questions and and I continue to really value them. um there's sort of um In a lot of ways, they're kind of like trick questions in that they're they're really deceptively simple and yet they end up really opening up these worlds of conversations. you know What is a friend? What is community? right What can we do to be a better friend?
00:17:26
Speaker
right um um These are things that um are really ah they're tricky because I think we we we believe we know what they are. um As with so much of our life, we we take it on impulse and we take it on assumption. And then when we actually sit with it and we look at it, we realize, oh, this is way more complicated than um then we realized, and at the same time too, this is way simpler than we're making it. We we we don't have to be under pressure all the time. and This doesn't have to be as hard as we're making it all the time. um And so, you know, I think those questions are gonna remain within the structure of the show, but I do think I want to try something brand new with season seven.
00:18:13
Speaker
um yeah I don't know exactly what that's going to be. I have some spitball ideas that I'm seeing which one's going to stick, but um I'm going to continue to experiment with it. One thing I did notice throughout the season is that the um the Little Guy episodes ended up usually having some of the best engagement. They had some of the highest numbers of the season. and that's something i've been thinking a lot about that um i think uh one thing i'm i'm i'm hoping to experiment with with season seven is actually doing uh kind of a reverse of what this season has been and i'm gonna do a lot more solo episodes i'm gonna basically pick a topic and do a deep dive
00:18:53
Speaker
you know, research it, really structure it, really, really speak about it and then have guests on for special episodes um who can then kind of speak deeper to a specific topic. Whether I, you know, maybe I won't have a lived experience with it or maybe I won't have as much understanding of it or whatever it might be. And I'll bring a guest on to to talk a little bit deeper about it. But I think um the sort of week-to-week episode is actually going to be, I think they're going to be much more solo-based and I think they're going to be much more topic-based. um There is this whole world of community and friendship and intimacy and and and just kind of self-knowledge and self ah-development that um I have been ah traveling, I've been traveling that path myself and um I have lots of
00:19:43
Speaker
take let's say and um so ah so i'm thinking the next season is going to start off with that um and we're going to kind of see what the reception is like what the you know what the reaction is and then kind of go from there but um if you have any ideas, if you have any feedback, um I am always yeah
Audience Interaction and Community Building
00:20:04
Speaker
open to it. um And I really would love to hear you know what what part of Season 6 resonated the most with you. What would you like to hear more of? What what would you like to hear less of? you know if you if you If you have a way of
00:20:16
Speaker
Structuring your feedback ah constructively and not just being a dink then um I'm all ears um Even if you aren't gonna be a dink, you know, I'll i'll i'll probably listen to you um I May even take your advice. We'll see but try it out, you know Something I really have seen grow this season and something I want to lean into more in the coming seasons is um audience interaction and audience engagement and really celebrating the people who keep coming back and keep on engaging.
00:20:50
Speaker
um this is not a show about celebrity this is not a show about um people who you already know this is about basically um making the how do I put it it's like it's making the people I already love feel like the celebrities that they are in my brain i yeah Through my therapy, you know, I do lots of ah practice of, you know, diminishing the the need to be special, right? um You know, I think I've talked about it in previous episodes of Scott, my therapist and I will do a thing where he'll say, you know, James, you're not special. um But what I like about you is, and then, it you know,
00:21:32
Speaker
And there's a difference between being special and being unique, right? And I think special comes with a pressure. But being unique means you already are that and and you're already good enough. You don't have to be special in order to be unique, right? And um and I think one of the things that I treasure about this show is being able to Give that love to everyone that I speak to and everyone that I interview and spotlight because to me, they're all magnificent. um There has not been a single episode where I've um ended the recording and thought, wow, that person's a piece of shit, you know?
00:22:09
Speaker
Every single time I i end it thinking, ah you know, feeling charged, feeling inspired, feeling so energized by the the ah stories that the guest has shared and feeling just so like connected to them and feeling so um impressed by how resilient the human spirit is. you know and and And I want to pass that along more to not just the guests, but to the audience as well. You know you listeners are just as march just as much a part of the experience of this show as any other aspect. And I want to find ways to to highlight that and to make you feel
00:22:52
Speaker
you know brought in um um podcasts and internet content in general you know is built off of this sort of parasocial relationship and and it's this it's this bizarre intimacy but it's a one-way intimacy and I'm trying to find ways to break that barrier because, um um you know especially I would say on TikTok, there's I've had an incredible experience of meeting people. you know I'll post something and and people from New Zealand, people from Spain, people from Brazil, you know they're they're they're commenting, they're connecting and then we get talking and you know and it's like,
00:23:29
Speaker
um it's really ah it's a matter of It's like how how you use these tools, right? And I think that how we have traditionally used them builds this parasocial dynamic. And I think that if we tweak the way we use these tools, we can create a much more inclusive um community and a much more engaged community. in um which is is really one of my goals. you know I am not willing to accept the idea of the the the great man of history. you know I'm not willing to accept the lone wolf. I am someone who deeply, fundamentally believes in the community, who deeply, fundamentally believes in the need for interpersonal
Importance of Community for Healing
00:24:12
Speaker
connections. You cannot heal yourself alone.
00:24:14
Speaker
You cannot build yourself alone. You cannot change yourself alone. you know um you You can't live alone, basically is really really what it boils down to. and And you, the listener, are just as much a part of my community as any other aspect of this show or any other aspect of my life. And so I'm trying to find new ways to incorporate that. Again, I don't have the answer, but these are the thoughts I'm having and I'm trying to figure out. And if you have ideas, please send them my way and I will give you full credit. I'll save my final, final thoughts of the season for after the question answered.
00:24:54
Speaker
I think I've kind of prattled on ah long enough. i i I'm just kind of winging this episode to be totally upfront. um i I'm just kind of trying to get all the thoughts out of me as clearly as possible. This has been an absolutely incredible season. I'm so ah i'm so proud of the work that I've put out and I'm so incredibly grateful to all the guests and all the listeners and everybody who has participated in the show. um and who's continued to support it. um I will i will i will ah oh button it here, though, and we'll we'll move into a couple really, really fun, closer questions. And then we'll do a little Jerry sp Springer last thoughts at the end there. So let's ah let's get to some visitor questions.
00:25:40
Speaker
We're gonna kick things off with an incredibly important and resonant question. What is the best pet name? So I'm of two minds. I really love, um I love when dogs have human names and I love when cats or basically any other pet, ne ah pet like any other animal have fundamentally ridiculous names. So like for dogs, I really love when dogs are named like Greg. or like Todd you know like Todd the to the dog like that just that kills me every time ah but then for a cat like I really love like Princess Beatrix the fourth you know or something just ridiculous like that
00:26:26
Speaker
Um, uh, one of my best friends has a pair of, uh, rats and they're, they're named boots and shoes. And like that just like yeah chef kiss, you know, like I adore that kind of, uh, absurdity. And actually I think, you know what, uh, just kind of going off the dome, I think boots and shoes, the rats are probably my all time favorite, uh, pet name or, uh, my sister's old dog whose name was Cody, which I just think just Cody the dog.
00:26:58
Speaker
continuing on the pet trend the next question is have you ever had a pet you liked more than people oh yeah several many most actually most of my pets I've liked more than most people ah my first pet was a hamster named Princess Leia And um I loved her with all my heart. ah my My first dog, Kaiser, who's a black lab ah hound cross, ah was just a big, dumb angel. um He had big, like, he he had like
00:27:29
Speaker
supportive jock dad energy you know like he was like he was so dumb oh he was such a dumb creature and I loved him with my whole whole body um but he had that kind of energy of like just like a big huge hulken guy who Yes, admittedly, he'd rather be watching the football game, but he is going to come to your musical theater ah show. He's not really going to know what he's looking at, but he's still going to be like, that's my boy. He's playing Mr. Mayor who he nailed that solo. You know, like it's it's he had, yeah, big dumb jockdad energy who still loves you and it supports you. um That was Mike Kaiser. um
00:28:11
Speaker
I haven't really had many pets since I had a I had a ah one of those fighting fish ah named Charlotte who I named after Charlotte from ah Jersey Shore or sorry Geordie Shore um loved her accidentally drowned her ah which shows you why I shouldn't have pets um And currently, because I live in an apartment that doesn't allow for pets, I have a a robot cat that um was originally made for like like dementia patients who like need to remember tactile things, and so it like meows and vibrates. um And I named her ah Maladaptive Limerick Nightmare, or Mal for short, and I love her.
00:28:59
Speaker
but she also does live on the shelf now because she is a little spooky. um It's not, it's not ah it it wasn't my healthiest choice when I bought her, let's say that. I think all of these questions are actually animal related and I kind of lowkey love it. So keep it on that trend. If you could be raised by wild animals, what would you want and which would you fit in with best? So yeah, would I want to be raised by wild animals? Honestly, probably not because um I can't. Like, i I can't go places that I can't poop comfortably. So I think I wouldn't do very well. um I do know that sloths poop at the same tree every day. Like, they basically but basically spend their whole day getting down the tree to go poop, and then they're whole the whole rest of their day just getting back up in the tree. um Which, honestly, kind of feels like a vibe. I think I could probably thrive as a as a sloth. So maybe if I was raised by sloths, I would do well.
00:29:59
Speaker
um maybe like meerkats or something like that um just just something that's like skittish but still community-based you know um who really like just like doesn't do well on their own um I think I would I would really thrive in those kind of animal communities um Absolutely no primates ah a allowed um because I would definitely be the one chimpanzee that like accidentally made eye contact and they got ripped apart by the gang. you know ah So um I think primates, monkeys, all that, I think those are all right out. you know Tarzan is is is a lucky boy for for being raised by gorillas. That sounds really cool, but also not something that I would be able to survive long.
00:30:44
Speaker
So yeah, I think my answer is meerkats and sloths Next question is what is your most animalistic feature or tendency? um ah Probably that I have ear hair
00:31:01
Speaker
I have hair growing in places that I am ashamed to it admit and that feels pretty animalistic. i also like There's actually an interesting question because it's sort of like technically everything humans do is like animalistic um if you really want to get pedantic about it. but um like something that oh okay well like i have been described as like ah a labrador by people before you know like i have big like labrador energy um and that is definitely an impulse that i have um i i i'm somebody who like i do wish i could be like a dog like on the sidewalk you know when you're like walking down the street and a dog sees you
00:31:45
Speaker
and like you've never seen them before but they like they they're kind of sniffing around and then they look up and they make eye contact with you and then they start start like pulling on the leash and they're like they just they need to say hello to you you know they're like you're the answer right um i have that that uh energy a lot um with with strangers on the street but obviously it's not very appropriate for for uh 37 year old cis man to uh you know excitedly run up to strangers and you know start sniffing their butt right so
00:32:16
Speaker
I would say maybe ah there's a there's an impulse in me, but um but I wouldn't call it a ah tendency because I do know how to control myself. Moving right along. ah What animal group best represents your attachment style? Oh, I love this question. I love it. um So I'm somebody who falls into the dreaded unclassified disorganized attachment style, which I love. I love how in so much of the classic literature, there's like there are three attachment styles, ah you know, secure, anxious and ah avoidant. And then, you know, there's this like miasma of like then there's the freaks.
00:33:03
Speaker
And we don't classify them um But but yeah, so I fall under disorganized which is sort of like the best and worst traits of both avoided and anxious Blessed BPD coming into play there um so a BPD animal is probably where I'm I'm coming from I A couple months ago, i I had this idea to do a slideshow for a friend's party of um the mental illnesses of cartoon characters, and I realized that Babe, ah like Babe the Pig, demonstrates a lot of early BPD symptoms, um especially because, like, you know, he's he's abandoned early by his mother and is really depressive and and is yeah unsure, you know, he has no clear sense of self, um and um
00:33:51
Speaker
Borderline self-harms, as he's like trying to um make friends with the cat who clearly hates him, you know ah which you know feels like a metaphor for my dating life. but ah ah um so i think ah yeah pigs I think pigs really represent that disorganized attachment, but maybe more specifically, babe. ah or Babe Pig in the City, you know? um Other skittish, disorganized attachments, probably cats, you know? um Because they, you know, ah my friend Luke once said cats are a master class in teaching consent, and I really loved that because um they hold so much body autonomy, right? And, you know, if they don't want to be pet, you are not petting them. And if they do want to pet,
00:34:39
Speaker
They let you know, right? um so So I think um maybe cats represent a type of attachment style that I would like to achieve, which is like very clear boundaries, really holding their own needs first, and um and then ah communicating it very overtly from there. And the very last question of season six, question and answer period. What is the best animal sound?
00:35:12
Speaker
um ah Oh god, that is such a good question. um What is the best animal sound? I think there are some incredibly absurd sounds in the world. I can't remember the name of it, but you know you always see those like David Attenborough Planet Earth documentaries and it'll be like some little microscopic mouse and it's like scurrying around the desert and then it'll be like ee ee and it'll be like observe the desert mouse defending its territory oh it is a fearsome creature at its size you know and and it's literally just like making this like barely audible squeak like that gives me so much life ah um just like imagining being that size and like to him that little mouse he's just like
00:36:00
Speaker
yeah I'm fucking king shit but then we look down at him and he's just like you know like ah i I eat that up every time every single time I see a video like that I will watch it on repeat a much more grotesque but hilarious sound is the sound of a turtle orgasming it will never not make me laugh ah If you haven't heard it, look it up. it's it's Actually, it's quite horrifying, but it's really funny. Also, I can't believe I know what that sound is. ah that Saying that out loud feels really dystopian and feels like I should be on a list somewhere, but but I have that knowledge and hopefully you will too now. Maybe I've inspired you to do some Googling.
00:36:48
Speaker
actually to just keep on the cat trend there was a like a cat ASMR video that popped up on my feed recently and it was just like a cat kind of sounding like it was talking and just making the dumbest noise as possible and yeah that one I played on repeat for a whole evening um so so yeah um You know, I'm not somebody who believes there's any single one best of anything when it comes to to to anything. So I often give kind of a a smattering of of good choices and then let let the audience decide what's best for them.
00:37:27
Speaker
But that's it. That is a wrap on season six.
Season Reflections and Future Outlook
00:37:30
Speaker
Thank you so incredibly, incredibly much for listening, for supporting the show, for continuing to support me and my work. I could not be more grateful and um I'm. i You know, I'm really excited for this break and I also am so excited to get back recording and and sharing new episodes and sharing new stories. If I learned anything from season six, I think it's that we all need help. We're all out here looking for community.
00:38:03
Speaker
Nobody is going to be able to do this alone. And nobody is going to be able to make it if we keep on cutting each other out. If we keep on not allowing people to make mistakes. If we keep on not allowing people two to fuck up. We need to let people have space to fuck up. We're all out here doing this for the first time. Nobody knows what they're doing. Nobody knows how any of this is going to turn out. Nobody knows how to do this. And um to to put such rigid demands on each other of perfection and of of always knowing exactly what to do at all times is um it's it's doing a lot more harm to ourselves than we realize.
00:38:48
Speaker
I think the more we lean into our communities, the more we lean into each other, the stronger we're going to be. So I hope that you will take away something positive from this season, from this episode, from this show. I hope you reach out to someone you love. I hope you reach out to someone you haven't spoken to in a long time. I hope you can find a way to communicate with that person that you haven't been able to, but are trying to find a connection with. And I hope you can forgive them. And I hope even more importantly than that you can forgive yourself. You are not your mistakes. In fact, there are no mistakes. There are choices that you get to then learn from. And as long as you're alive, there is a chance to try again.
00:39:36
Speaker
So I hope you stay gentle with yourself. I hope you give yourself all the love that you deserve. And I hope you have an absolutely wonderful summer. I will be back in August and um it's gonna be a really, really great one. I'm looking forward to it. But that's not right now. That's then. And this is now. So for now, I'll just say thank you one more time. And I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. Have a wonderful summer. And I will see you soon. Fun and safety, sweeties.
00:40:25
Speaker
you ? ?
00:41:17
Speaker
you