Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain

Emma prefers to share her thoughts with a microphone rather than a physical human being, so thank god she has a podcast. Recorded from the comfort of her bed, Emma talks at length about whatever is on her mind every week. Anything really does go on this podcast. Sometimes philosophy, sometimes a random story from 10 years ago, sometimes advice, and sometimes nothing at all. You never know what you are going to get, but that’s what keeps it interesting. New episodes every Thursday.

the rules we learned as kids... are BS?

the rules we learned as kids... are BS?

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 08:01

remember when you were a child and constantly had adults telling you what the rules were? don’t lie, don’t steal... don’t do this, don’t do that. when we’re children, we’re constantly being reminded of certain rules and principles that we’re supposed to follow no matter what. and i think that’s important! but i think in our late teens and early adulthood, we have to take it upon ourselves to find nuance in these rules. i’ve actually struggled in my life a little bit because i’ve felt this internal pressure to follow these fundamental rules i learned as a kid, and there was never a check-in moment where an adult told me that things aren’t always so black and white. i’ve sort of had to figure this out on my own. so today i’m gonna discuss a few of my discoveries about these rules, and i think there are some things that could even be beneficial to unlearn as an adult. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hello Remember when you were a child and Constantly you had adults telling you what the rules were Go to bed by 9 p.m. Don't talk badly behind people's backs Be friends with everybody be nice to everybody Don't lie don't steal Don't hurt anyone Don't do this don't do that When we're children were constantly being reminded of Of certain rules and principles that were supposed to follow no matter what And I think that this is important You know the things that we learn as kids the principles that we learn as kids follow us throughout our lives and Become ingrained in our minds in a way that I think is good in a lot of ways, you know children are very Supple to information, you know children are like information sponges And I think that if we didn't teach kids these Values and these principles Then it would be a lot harder to teach them as adults, you know It's a lot easier to teach a kid something I think that it is to teach an adult That's why they have the saying don't try to teach a dog old new tricks Wait, don't teach an old dog new tricks You can't teach an old dog new tricks whatever that fucking saying is That's saying exists for a reason because Children are just so much more malleable they are building who they are and it's a lot easier to change things when you're building then To change things when things are already built I will say that a lot of the values principles rules that we learn as kids are given to us without any nuance and We're supposed to just take them as fat and I think that for a child that makes sense because children are not fully developed human beings yet You know their brains can't Comprehend as much nuance and so teaching kids simple rules to life is the only way that they could possibly absorb those rules But I think in early adulthood and maybe even in teenage years We have to take it upon ourselves To find nuance in these rules that we've been taught as children because although all of these or majority of these rules that were taught are true and should be followed and Listen to I guess they shouldn't be ignored Although there's value to these Things that were told as kids They do need nuance I kind of think of it like this The stuff that we learn as kids is like an outline of a drawing Just the black ink No color right just the outline And then as we grow up We fill in this drawing with color So it becomes a full picture and you know the picture will never fully be completed because we're always Learning more and evolving our moral compass and whatever it may be as we grow up And it's always kind of altering and changing. We're always kind of adding to the drawing or maybe erasing something but Over the course of your life The sort of principles that you live by and the rules that you live by Become more and more solidified and they become more of a full picture But As a 21 year old, you know, I feel like I'm coloring in my little picture, you know And I think it's really interesting how many of the things that we learn as kids Need to be taken with a grain of salt as an adult But because we learn these things as kids we can sort of Put ourselves in a corner and feel like you know, we have to follow these rules No matter what but I think that there are exceptions and there are Just nuances that we need to become aware of I've actually struggled in my life a little bit Because I've felt this internal pressure to follow these fundamental rules that I learned as a kid And there was never a checking moment Where an adult comes to me and says hey, by the way the things that you learned as a kid actually have some conditions That you should understand because not everything is as black and white as it seemed as you know when you were a child So I've sort of had to figure this out on my own And today I'm just going to discuss some of my discoveries about these certain rules that we were told As children to take as Bible And I think there are some things that Can be beneficial to unlearn in a way Okay, let's just get into it The first thing that we were told as kids is that we must not gossip Oh, this is a tough one. This is a tough one for me I did a little bit of research and I found an article on time.com That said some researchers argue that gossip help our ancestors survive They also mentioned that it was a means of bonding and that gossip In a broad sense plays a number of different roles in the maintenance of socially functioning groups through time I think that in a way we might be sort of programmed to gossip I think it might be something that We can't fully avoid. I think it's something that's ingrained in our minds to do I mean don't get me wrong gossip is complicated because If you gossip too much you feel bad about yourself If you gossip in unsafe environments with people who you can't trust That information might get back to the person that you're gossiping about And all of those things are bad all of those things can lead to some sort of chaos I mean we've all at least once in our lives experience Talking shit about somebody and then it getting back to them and then it being catastrophic There's no worse feeling than finding out that Your gossip got back to the person who you were talking about and I think that The line between good gossiping and healthy gossiping and almost borderline therapeutic gossiping and bad toxic unhealthy gossiping there's a fine line between those things which is why I think we're taught as kids don't gossip at all Because when you're a child you can't distinguish where the line is Between good gossiping and bad gossiping there's no way Because only with experience and maturity can you Figure out where that line is But here's the thing I think that making it a goal to never gossip at all Maybe isn't the right idea because I think that gossiping is a healthy part of socializing To a certain extent for example I think we gossip as a way to release anger and frustration If we feel frustrated or angry at somebody We might decide to take our anger out in private with another person So I guess not in private but We might decide to take our anger out through gossiping rather than To this person's face which might actually be a positive thing Let's say Someone in your life is pissing you off, right? And so you go to one of your close friends or maybe a close family member whom you trust more than anything and you just vent you just talk shit. You just get it all off your chest Releasing that anger and releasing that frustration is so beneficial because then when you Encounter this person again that you're frustrated with You don't have all this pent up anger and frustration you let that out in a safe environment and You might even have worked through some of your anger and frustration and resolved some of it through gossiping So now when you're face to face with the person that you're frustrated with or angry with You can now Approach them with less hostility in a way because you got all of that shit out in a safe environment And maybe you even worked through it and maybe you even Eliminated some of your anger and some of your frustration. I think that that is a good thing. I think that that's a good thing I think that getting your anger and frustration out through gossip Can allow you to sort of express yourself in a way that you couldn't to the person's face or you could but it would be Not good, you know, that would not be good, right? It allows you to fully express yourself because if you don't let out your anger and frustration It just stays pent up inside of you if you just keep it a secret you don't speak it out into existence and work through it Then it just stays in your body, you know, and it doesn't release and it might release at a time that's not good Which might be to someone's face in a way that's maybe irrational or hurtful or Too powerful, you know what I mean? So I think in that way gossiping can be actually a valuable thing and Maybe even be the right thing to do at times Also, I think gossiping is valuable because it allows you to analyze other people's behavior With other people whom you trust in theory so that you can learn more about human behavior as a whole but also You can learn more about yourself too, you know I'm really guilty of this Like I do this a lot and maybe I do it too much actually. There's a chance because I do this a lot I am constantly analyzing other people's behavior I mean, I'll call my mom or my dad or even like, you know, one of my closest closest closest closest friends Like I'm talking about borderline family member type friends, you know Because these are the people I trust the most and I really truly believe that they wouldn't go and tell anybody that I'm talking about the But I go to these people and I call them and I just analyze a person I discuss some of their behavior that I maybe Didn't like or didn't appreciate or didn't agree with or whatever and I talk about it With these people that I'm close with and I share what I think This behavior is a reflection of you know, I try to crack the code and figure it out and The people I'm talking to help me do that by providing their own sort of life experience and Their own knowledge and wisdom that they acquired through their life and together We sort of figure out why people behave the way that they do and that can help you learn more about yourself Whether it's oh, I don't want to act like that. I don't want to behave like that or it's like wait a minute I mean Part of the behavior that I don't like in this person Actually exists in me too and maybe that's why I don't like it because I see a little bit of myself in this person that I don't really like personality or whatever like it or not personality. I guess but I want to eliminate that habit. I guess or that bad quality I think gossiping helps us bond with other people with the people that we're close to gossiping in a way An analyzing other human beings and analyzing situations Helps us bond with other people because we're working through a problem together You know, we're sort of trying to figure out something how we can eliminate our anger Why these people are doing what they're doing that we don't like Why what this person did wasn't good right all of that helps us bond with other people So there are some benefits to gossiping and I think to a certain extent healthy amounts of gossiping shouldn't be something that you feel guilty about necessarily at least in my opinion Although as I mentioned earlier the line is blurred because gossiping too much Too often too frequently gossiping irresponsibly to the wrong people who you can't trust all of those things are bad habits You don't want to be doing that because those things don't lead to anything good gossiping too much makes you feel like shit about yourself It makes you feel guilty It makes you feel like you don't have anything positive to offer if you do it too much, you know It can have some negative consequences on your self-esteem But it can also be socially negative, you know, if you're gossiping to the wrong people because number one You don't want your whole identity to be somebody who's gossiping all the time And so if you're gossiping to people who don't know you super closely and intimately They only have a vague idea of who you are Then their idea of you is like oh, this is somebody who gossip's all the fucking time like that's a bummer You know and you don't want that to be your identity and on top of that If you're gossiping to people who you aren't that close with they might go and tell the person that you're gossiping about That you're gossiping about them because they don't have any like allegiance to you They're not close with you like people who are close with you They don't feel loyalty to you in that way and so they might go and tell people about what you're saying and that's not good either because The last thing you want is your gossip to get back to the person Although I do try to gossip in ways where I'm like listen if it did get back to the person Maybe it would not be a terrible thing, you know Maybe it would actually be beneficial for them in some way That's the way I try to look at my own gossiping routine is like For the most part I like to say things that Would maybe help somebody if it got back to them But that's only 80% of the time the other 20% of the time is me just being like dude this person sucks I can't handle it and just getting that off my chest Makes me feel better. It helps me release that feeling So that I can move on with my life the next thing that adults tell us is that We must respect adults and that we should not question their behavior When we're kids we kind of look at adults as God, you know It's like adults are a higher power than us in a way and we are Below them in a sense like everything that they say is true everything that they tell us to do we should do And I think that that is necessary to a certain extent because a world where kids don't have adults telling them What to do would be kind of catastrophic. I think a lot of kids would die and get hurt and kill each other Who knows like when you're a kid you're not developed so you need Something or someone to be a higher power above you or else you know kids would just run them up like we need that We need to be taught to respect adults to a certain extent But the thing is is that this can be damaging in adulthood Because once you become an adult too you have to shed that belief in a way that We must respect all adults and not question their behavior because once we become adults We don't need that belief anymore. It doesn't serve a purpose as much anymore We are now adults And don't get me wrong part of the statement remains true I think completely writing off older people as out of touch in old-fashioned and bad and evil and whatever Prevents us from taking advice from them and there is truly a lot of valuable wisdom in our elders So I think that part should remain true in our minds, you know We shouldn't completely write off adults as just being old-fashioned and shitty and blah blah blah But also we don't need to take everything that adults tell us to do as Bible because as adults We have to go our own way and adults or our elders, you know May have ideas about how we should go on with our lives but Nobody knows what the right way to live your life is but you you know nobody Nobody other than you can make that decision And on top of that Not everything that adults say is right or true And an adult might come to you and say you have to go to college because if you don't you're gonna be a failure And you're gonna be a loser and you're not gonna have a job and you're gonna die That's not necessarily true I think that as an adult we should look at our elders and think okay listen They do have wisdom and life experience that's valuable to me But they also might have thoughts opinions or even demands that are unreasonable and It's up to you as an adult to look at other adults and to Weed through what they're saying or doing or thinking and Take the parts that serve you and that align with you and then leave everything else behind The truth is adults don't know everything either as kids we kind of feel like oh adults know everything They are the epitome of knowledge. They're all just human dictionaries and they know everything and Human atlas. I don't fucking out like they're like they're just a Human textbook. They know everything what don't they know But then when you're an adult yourself, you're like wait a minute I'm an adult now and I don't fucking know everything and neither do they So you know, there are gonna be times when adults Give bad advice. There are gonna be times when adults do something mean or wrong There are gonna be times when adults have the complete wrong idea about something And that's just because they're human adults are human just like us and Not everything that our elders do and say should be taken completely to heart And should be taken as Bible they have a rational outbursts. They have terrible opinions They fuck up sometimes, but they also might have something valuable to offer as well And so I think it's our responsibility to Take everything adults do and say with a grain of salt as an adult and not to mention Take everything that everyone does with a grain of salt as an adult once we become adults We must add a lot of grains of salt to everything, you know It's okay to stand up to adults and to say no, you know what I disagree It's okay to hear something that an adult says to you and say you know what I don't agree And I'm not gonna do what they said because I don't agree with them. It's okay to do all of that One of the amazing parts about becoming an adult is that we can sort of let go of Taking our elders words as Bible and that's such a freeing feeling and It's one of the most amazing parts about becoming an adult is developing your own individual Thought in opinion on things. So there's that Another thing that we're told as kids is that we must be friends with everybody We must not exclude anyone Okay, this is complicated Because in an ideal world Everybody would feel included all the time and everybody would feel like they have a social group that they fit into And there would be no drama, you know, there would be no need to exclude somebody sometimes There'd be no moment when you're excluded, you know But I think that this is just In unrealistic expectation. I think this is an important rule for kids to follow because a lot of kids Grow up going to school, you know, they're going to school and in a school environment It is important to try to be friends with as many people at your school as you possibly can And it's a good idea to be on good terms with as many people as possible because You're kind of shoved with the same people every single day and so I think that this is a good Thing to teach children, but once you're an adult and you're in the real world and You're not confined to your school for your social interaction, you know, you have a lot more Options and freedom in a way I think that this topic becomes a little bit more complicated because as an adult You don't need to be friends with anyone you don't want to be friends with Obviously being respectful and kind to people whether you like them or not should be the goal, but You don't have to be friends with people you don't want to be friends with And I struggled with this for a long time because I would feel like I didn't want to be friends with somebody anymore Once I became an adult and I would feel immense guilt about this And I would stay in friendships or in friend groups with people where The Relationship was taking a negative toll on me, but I would feel a guilt To stay in that friendship even when it was negatively impacting me in some way Because I was remembering this principle that I learned as a kid that We should be friends with everybody Friendship is something we must hold on to and whatever I just like kept hearing that Narrative in the back of my head and so I'd feel guilty about Walking away from a friendship when I felt like it had a negative impact on me And it's interesting because I've noticed that This is something that we seem to judge about others as well like on the internet for example or in the public eye when people Stop being friends. They stop hanging out. It's like a big deal, you know like oh, they don't hang out anymore They're not friends anymore I wonder which person in this friendship is a piece of shit It's sort of assumed I guess that if a friendship didn't work out or even a relationship for that matter But we're not really talking about that right now If a friendship didn't work out that like somebody must have done something really wrong or whatever But the truth is is that sometimes a friendship just doesn't work out It just doesn't work out for whatever fucking reason and like that doesn't mean that anything Necessarily super bad happened between you and the person It might just mean that it just didn't work out anymore, you know It's normal and natural for us to just not like certain people and for some people to just not like us forcing yourself into a friendship Because you feel like you have to be friends with everybody or Because you feel too guilty to walk away from the friendship because you feel like you're not supposed to That is not healthy because it causes you to number one gossip a lot Because when you're in a friendship that you don't really want to be in you're probably gossiping about them a lot I've been there where I found myself in these friendships that were driving me crazy or Making me feel bad about myself in some way and instead of walking away from the friendship and saying You know what this is not serving me anymore. I'm gonna Walk away. I would find myself calling my mom or dad or whoever every time after I'd hang out with this group or these people or whoever And I would just gossip about it and because I couldn't help myself. I needed to get it out of my system somehow but What I found is it's like no allow yourself to walk away allow yourself not to be friends with people that you don't want to be friends with Because that eliminates so much negativity from your life you don't have to hang out with them Which is a positive thing and you also don't have to go and talk shit about these people afterwards in order to release The frustration from your system. We don't need to be friends with everybody. We don't need to like everybody And on the other hand not everybody needs to like us When we're growing up we're sort of taught that like being excluded whether you're excluding others Or they're excluding you is bad and wrong and everybody should always be included And I do think that for children This is a good thing because I think that kids need to learn to get past their differences with others and maybe be able to be friends through it I also think kids are just a lot more simple in so many ways And so there's a lot more potential for like a kid not to like another kid for just no reason And then for them to end up becoming friends later I think that this makes sense, you know Not excluding other kids and stuff like that like that's a good principle for kids to learn but as an adult It's a little bit different Including everybody on your plans and in your plans as an adult. I feel like Isn't as relevant anymore, you know Because adults are adults and they can handle themselves and so if they don't get invited to something or whatever or they get excluded from something I mean It's an adult's responsibility to handle that. I think with kids it's like Kids might not be able to handle that as well, but adults Yes, I think we do have to be able to handle that If you want to exclude somebody from you know dinner plans or something like that Because the person that you're excluding brings a terrible energy and isn't Nice to everyone and isn't fun to be around I think as an adult You should be allowed to do that and on the other hand if you get excluded from something As an adult you shouldn't necessarily look at yourself as the victim in that situation I mean, I think it depends obviously. It's very situational like let's say All your friends go out to dinner and you get excluded and you're like what That might hurt your feelings and rightfully so but I think The thing is when you're an adult you have the life experience and this sort of brain power to Analyze why like wait. Why did they exclude me? And you also have the ability as an adult I think To go to your friends and have a meaningful conversation about why they excluded you from dinner Hey, why did you guys go to dinner without me? You know I'm in town. You know. I'm free tonight Why did you not invite me? and That might teach you something about you and Maybe they say well because we've noticed that you just can plain about everything all night Whenever we go to dinner you're rude to the waitress and it makes us uncomfortable and and you're really negative Like all you do is tell negative stories and like we just don't like being around that That sort of conversation can lead you to some realizations that can make you an even better person and In that way sometimes being excluded can be a good thing But also sometimes people just exclude you for no fucking reason. They're just like and we just don't fuck with that person That's part of life There might be times when you're excluded Or you exclude somebody and you're like I don't even know if there's a reason there's kind of no reason it just And that's okay. I think I think I don't know there's been times when I've been excluded and I've been like damn Okay, well All right, like I guess you know, maybe this friendship just didn't work out I you know, I guess this just isn't working out, you know and that's okay It weeds out who are real friends who are people that maybe aren't real friends and I think that as an adult excluding and not being friends with everybody is necessary and normal and And healthy in a way to a certain extent in regards to more lightweight lighthearted social interactions, you know, obviously there are exceptions There are exceptions I would say but I'm talking about more generic social interaction Not everybody's gonna like you you're not gonna like everybody and that's just the way shit is As an adult the way that you navigate through that is gonna be different than the way that you did as a kid, you know I really need to stop saying you know after everything But it's because if you really think about what I'm doing right now as I'm recording this podcast I'm talking to myself. I'm looking at my wall. I'm looking straight at the wall I'm talking to no one. Well, I'm not talking to no one. I'm talking to you But I'm in this very moment. I'm not talking to anybody and Part of me like really wants reassurance that what I'm saying makes sense, but no one's here So I'm saying you know just into the void just Because I'm subconsciously like looking for somebody to say no, what you're saying makes sense But unfortunately nobody's here and I am alone and I love it this way But that's why I constantly say you know, you know It's just about habit. It's just about habit. Okay moving on Adults also teach us that we must dream of a traditional life the traditional life is school job family die We know this structure all too well, right We're told as kids. Okay, listen you guys this is how it works Okay, you go to school and you work really hard at school so that you can get a good job and you can make money And then somehow in this time, you know, you find bay and then you have a family You have kids you adopt children and one way or another you have a family with children involved And then you die And that's it now here's the thing I don't think it's necessarily wrong that were fed this sort of structure as children because I think to a certain extent teaching us this life trajectory at a young age is kind of crucial because I do think that there's value to Going to school and completing school as a means to eventually make money And then after that point you know do whatever I think that we need that structure to a certain extent in order to motivate us to go to school and Work towards becoming a functioning member of society like I guess that is sort of valuable to a certain extent because Imagine we didn't have that Imagine we weren't taught as kids. Okay. Here's how life works You know we go to school we get a job we have a family we die I Imagine we're not taught that at all What would the motivation be to go to school? You know what I mean? What would the motivation be to Whatever and listen there may be some people out there thinking well There's a problem, you know, I don't agree with the structure in the first place the fact that we have to work to make money You know or the fact that we have to go to a good college to Whatever listen, there may be some of you out there who think that the school job family die structure is Inhumane in some ways maybe some of you might think that some of you might think that it's unfair some of you might think that it's Talks stick to teach children that this is the sort of trajectory that life goes but I think that It's value is that it sort of teaches us out of young age what we're working towards Do I think that the narrative for kids could be shifted a little bit? Sure, you know instead of saying it's school job family die It's maybe school job maybe family and Die, you know, I think the way that it's taught to us is Very rigid and very matter of fact. I think it maybe could be taught to us like Yeah, when you go to school After high school, you know, you can kind of choose what you want to do There are some options like you don't need to go to college or maybe you want to go to a trade school Or maybe you want to take a few years off school and go back to school later and just like, you know And then when you get a job, you know, maybe you want to be self-employed But maybe you don't and maybe you want to go work for this type of company or whatever and then The way that your family looks might look different than some other families But having some sort of family is A natural part of what we do as humans and you know, obviously inevitably we die. I think that Were taught this sort of trajectory very rigidly and I think that Yes, it would be valuable to teach kids. Okay There's some flexibility here though This is kind of how shit works, but there is some flexibility here It's taught to us to give us a level of structure But I think that a lot of us can become obsessed with this perfect trajectory I was one of these people when I was younger where I Was so obsessed with following this trajectory perfectly right I was so obsessed with Working my ass off at school to try to go to a good college maybe get a scholarship You know, I don't know like for I don't think I was marred up But I thought at the time. I mean, I was okay. I wasn't like I don't think I was To get a fucking school scholarship at this point in life like you need to be a fucking genius I'm not a genius in a school. I'm not a genius. Okay, like I don't think that I had that quality but I was obsessed with getting into a good school and then getting a high paying job Getting a job so I could finally feel financially free in some way and I was willing to go to college for eight extra years This was like my initial plan obviously it did not end up going that way But my initial plan for life was like okay, I'm gonna go to school and I'm gonna go to a really good college for a long time Because the job path that I wanted to take was in the medical field and I was like well I'm gonna have to go to school for like eight extra years But I'm gonna do it and then I'm gonna get this job that is high paying Then it's gonna be worth it And then I'm gonna have a family and I'm gonna be able to live in a house with more than one fucking bathroom For the first time in my life and then I'm going to have my family and my kids are gonna follow the exact same path And then I'm going to die and I'm going to whatever and I was so obsessed with this path And getting it perfect. I was so obsessed with getting it perfect You know and not everybody probably has this problem where they are obsessed with nailing this trajectory perfect But I was one of the people that did I was obsessed with it To an unhealthy point, you know to a point that was obsessive and was Actually negatively impacting me because anytime anything would Not go my way and would feel like it was taking me further away from that goal I would freak out like if I wouldn't get a good grade on a test I was like this whole trajectory I have laid out in my mind for the future It's not ruined because I just did bad on this one test You see what I'm saying and the truth is Doing bad on a test every once in a while is not a fucking bad thing It's not a bad thing not getting straight A's is not a bad thing Not getting into your dream college is not a bad thing Not going to college at all is not a bad thing It's like Following this trajectory perfectly is not the right idea But we're kind of taught that as a kid that we should strive to follow that trajectory perfectly The truth is the loose idea of that trajectory is Valid to a certain extent It's actually a good thing to have that structure But when you ingrain it into children too rigidly it becomes toxic And so as an adult I think or even a teenager honestly this can apply also to teenagers I think as a teenager and young adult It's up to you to sort of say no You know what I'm going to take this loose trajectory And I'm going to alter it in ways that excite me And that will lead me to living a life that's fulfilling and exciting And perfect for me as an individual Your life truly is a blank canvas And it was so hard for me to figure this out Because I had been so bogged down with this perfect life trajectory for so long And it dictated everything I did for so many years That teaching myself that there's no exact perfect path You don't need to follow this trajectory perfectly This was a challenge for me But it's so freeing To pull yourself out of that box And to say listen My life is sort of a blank canvas I can kind of do whatever I want with it Now listen, in the world that we live in today It is important to go to school I think to a certain extent I don't think you need to go beyond a certain point But I think school to a certain point is very important There's a lot to be learned at school Right? So I think that that loosely is valuable Obviously you can't really survive Unless you have a job in some way Right? So loosely I think that that again makes sense And everybody's version of family is different So the sort of family that you go and have as an adult It might be a group of friends And it might be a family where you know you're married and you have 10 kids Who fucking knows But you don't have to look at this trajectory in any certain type of way Yes, this trajectory sort of is true But it's not true in the way that we think it is Like we look at it like well we have to go to a really prestigious college And get a really high-paying job that's really impressive And then we have to have the perfect family Where you know we have three kids And they all are so smart My youngest plays violin My middle child is a little bit edgy They play hockey And my oldest is a furniture designer Who went to school in New York City for furniture design And they are all just absolute just dreams come true They're all best friends all the kids And they love each other and their best friends And then I'm going to die But I'm going to die at an old age because I'm so healthy And then take all my vitamins and that is my life You know like That sort of epitome of like what this trajectory is supposed to look like Is just so false Were fed that But it's so false As adults we have to find this perfect middle ground Where we can look at this trajectory But look at it loosely enough Where we still see life as a blank canvas Do you see what I'm saying We don't have to dream of this perfect traditional life That's the moral of the story We're taught to dream of it We're taught to strive towards it But we don't have to And we can switch things around to serve us In whatever way that we feel fit On top of that I also have to mention that There's nothing wrong With also wanting to strive for that traditional path Because I think that Right now There's a lot of people who are like Fuck that I don't want to do that I'm going to rebel against this path as much as I can Listen that's fine too Don't get me wrong That's fine It's fine to want to rebel against that sort of Structure that we were taught But at the same time If you enjoy the idea of that structure And the idea of that structure makes you happy And you want to strive towards that There's also nothing wrong with that As I said before Your life is a blank canvas So if you want to go and live the stereotypical Perfect life That might be perfect for you And that might be exactly what makes you happy And there's nothing wrong with that And there's nothing basic and boring about that There's nothing wrong with it But also if you want to completely flip the structure on its head And do everything sort of untraditionally And go a completely different direction That's okay too As long as you're being responsible As much as you can And you're holding yourself accountable To make sure that through it all You're not just like deciding Okay I'm done with school Now I'm going to go Party in Las Vegas for the next five years You know what I mean? Obviously let's say you do do that You can fucking figure it out You can figure it out You can turn that around Or something If you end up taking the wrong path Or a little bit or something You can always turn it around But I think As long as you are working towards a positive life In some way That will make you happy And will provide you With what you need To feel fulfilled And happy and taken care of Then that's a good thing But there's no specific right way to do it Last but not least We're taught as kids Not to judge other people Now I think that this is again A really good thing Because as children We're not able to Figure out what's appropriate to say and what's not We don't have that quality We're not developed enough in our brains To be able to do that right And so If we were taught as kids It's okay to judge other people Then we would probably end up saying Shit that's mean to other people We would probably end up Treating people badly who were judging Like maybe somebody who You know dresses unusual Or has something unusual about them Which by the way we all have something kind of unusual about us There's almost nobody who doesn't And so I think it's important to teach kids Don't judge anyone Don't judge people But I think that as an adult This can kind of get tricky Because it's human nature to judge people We can't help ourselves When we look at somebody For the first time we've never seen them before And we look at them We judge them out of just Nature it just happens It just happens It's human nature We cannot stop our brain From judging people Internally We can't We cannot help it It's just automatic It's automatic Sometimes In a way it's how we protect ourselves You know, for example Let's say we're walking down the street Alone late at night And we notice that somebody's following behind us Of course you're going to judge that person Why? Because You're trying to figure out if they're following you And if they're going to try to I don't know Kill you or is that like You know, it's human nature to judge To a certain extent But I think that as an adult It's important to learn That having silent judgment about others Is nothing to feel guilty about Because I have found myself feeling guilty About judgments That I have Sort of That are out of my control And that are automatic But that's nothing to feel guilty about It's not about what judgments you have In the silence and safety of your own mind It's about how you act upon your judgments And it's about whether or not you take your judgments as facts Like when I judge somebody I don't ever take that as a fact I acknowledge it and I let it pass And then I allow people to sort of Show me who they are You know, I'm aware that I have judgments And sometimes they're right and sometimes they're wrong But I'm not taking them as a fact And I'm also not acting upon them For example Let's say I see somebody who Is so the opposite of me You know, maybe they're like A frat boy or something Or like, you know what I mean? They're like A college boy wearing a football jersey You know, who like That's just not somebody that I would necessarily Be inclined to talk to Just because I'm just not interested In that I don't care about sports I don't always enjoy people being super loud Or whatever Stereotypically The sort of frat boy Football boys Are loud and obnoxious And all this right So let's say I see somebody from across the room And I have this judgment about that person I'm like They're probably loud and annoying And obsessed with sports And that's probably all they want to talk about And like, eugh You know I'll acknowledge the fact that I have that judgment But I'm not going to treat this person Differently based on this judgment I'm not going to Avoid conversation with this person Because I already made a judgment That I probably wouldn't like them I'm going to say Listen, I know that I have this judgment In my mind But I'm going to let them show me who they are I'm not going to act upon this judgment I'm going to accept the fact that I have it I'm not going to feel guilty about it And I'm not going to act on it I'm just going to Acknowledge that I have it Period I think the nuance With this whole situation Is Judging in your mind Is not Wrong I don't think I don't think it's your fault I don't think you can control it So it's nothing to feel guilty about Judgment is not Necessarily bad or wrong by nature What's bad or wrong is if you act upon it In a way that's not good That hurts others That is rude to others Is not nice to others That Prevents you from potentially making friends With somebody You know because you judge them That's what's bad and not good And should be avoided Judging as an act Is just simply human I think And I think when we're told as kids That judging people is bad and evil We then grow up later and realize God I can't help but judge people Sometimes I can't help it I don't know how to turn it off I must be a bad person That's when this sort of lesson that we're taught As kids can become harmful for ourselves Because we can feel so much guilt About judging people When in reality it's like no that's just Human it's how we act on it That determines our character Oh my god you guys That's all I got for today Okay I have to pee so bad I've been holding my pee for 30 minutes And to be honest I'm a little concerned Because sometimes when I'm holding my pee I talk too fast That might have happened Just now So we'll see But thank you guys for hanging out In listening And I hope you enjoyed this conversation today I truly Really did I really really truly did Oh my god my cat just jumped on my lap And it's like Sitting on my bladder Oh my god I'm actually gonna pee my pee Okay I have to go Thank you all for listening Thank you all for hanging out I really appreciate In love all of you so much And And always so grateful for our conversations And I can't wait to have another one next week And the week after that And the week after that All right I'll talk to you later Bye