Soul Forge Podcast

Should we stop being polite? Is the act of being polite something that binds society together and allows civilization to function? Those are heady questions we do not have answers to in a 20 minute podcast. However, we will be conducting an exciting discussion into the nature of politeness. You may get more done with a little gratitude and polite conversation, but this behavior can bring you down. It can force you into a toxic relationship detrimental to your emotional and physical well-being. Polite, thoughtful reactions and responses to everyday interactions can mean the difference between acceptance and frustration from the other party. So, as you can see, being polite has its ups and its downs. So, how do we stop being polite? Useless chatter can eat up our day and reduce our productivity. It can also just be really boring. We have all had conversations we wished to exit. Try this next time you find yourself trapped: After a few minutes, excuse yourself by saying something like, “I'm sorry. I'd really li

Everything you want is on the other side of fear. There are a few things I have learned after podcasting about myself for the last 5 years. When you take a good hard look at your life, you should see areas where you can improve; areas where you are doing great, and areas in between. This is the 5 year podcast anniversary episode. Join me as I take a look back, and think about the future. The first half of this special episode is looking backwards at what has come before. The early history of the show is filled with rambling and doubt. Eventually I found a voice and a way forward. At first I spoke about myself. Then I covered random topics like happiness, decision making and fatherhood. Then I got into more personal territory such as love and loss. After a time I realized I did not have the life experience to cover every topic. I began to interview people with different backgrounds. Learning about other people's experiences allowed me to develop a better understanding and to teach my podcast listeners about ot

The need for rest is something we often forget about. The need for rest is more important than we give it credit for. Recent research has revealed that people perform better at work and in life if we practice strategic renewal. If you’re rundown you’re more susceptible to getting sick and miss days from work. You need to get more sleep during the week, scheduling daytime workouts, eat healthy foods, and enjoy rest and relaxation away from the office with your team members whenever possible. Humans aren’t designed to run on high level without having a period of rest and relaxation. You need a time for renewal. It allows you to relax and rejuvenate your mind and body. The human body is built to thrive in a series of short sprints. This is why taking a break—even only for a few minutes—can offer you the refresh you need to persevere through your day. Breaks are brief cessations to work, physical exertion, or emotional stress. They promote mental health, boost creativity, increase productivity, promote well-bein

Self-worth and self-value are two related terms that are often used interchangeably. Having a sense of self-worth means that you value yourself, and having a sense of self-value means that you are worthy. The differences between the two are minimal enough that both terms can be used to describe the same general concept. There’s self-esteem, self-compassion, self-acceptance, self-respect, self-confidence, self-love, self-care, and so on. There are so many words to describe how we feel about ourselves, how we think about ourselves, and how we act toward ourselves. It’s understandable if they all start to blend together for you; however, they are indeed different concepts with unique meanings, findings, and purposes. Realizing our self-worth and putting ourselves first is difficult. Many of us start out with a self-love deficit, whether it be caused by our own thoughts or outside forces. The media is constantly bombarding with advertising. We are told we aren't good enough, thin enough, smart enough, and so on.

An interview with Mike, owner of Vintage Games and Junque. We are talking about the upcoming Steel City NerdCon being held this July 2 at the Bushplane Museum in downtown Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Mike and his wife Beth have been in the pop culture business for about 7 years. Approximately 5 years ago they decided the town needed some excitement. They organized the first NerdCon and held it in the back of their building. It was a huge success. With the exception of Covid, there has been an event every year since. Vendors come from all over Ontario to sell their items. This year there are people coming from Quebec. The event gets bigger and better each year. Usually NerdCon is held in September or October. To try something new, the Vintage Games crew decided to try a summer event. They don't know how it's going to go over, especially because it's the Canada Day long weekend. However, the event is occurring at the same time as Poutine Fest. Multiple poutine vendors will be selling their delicious food only a b

Captain Distraction strikes again. And appears when you least expect it. Short attention span theatre is a real thing, but also a fun name for this episode. It is our theory that attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. Shawn believes attention spans have been getting worse, while Amanda thinks they have always been pretty bad. What is the truth of the matter....the world may never know! As a species, humans have always been distracted by the next big thing. Focusing on one thing at a time is quite difficult. You don't want to miss out on something, but you still want to pay attention to the current thing, but that rock is really shiny, and that animal looks so weird, but what is that noise in the background and hey, what are you eating right now! What competes for our attention? How do we stay on track? We have television, books, video games, texting, phone calls, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, magazines, Snapchat, movies, friends and so many more things to contend with. And in the pa

A rare walk and talk episode with great sound quality! This week on the podcast, we are discussing a variety of topics. Join me on my mail route for about 20 minutes as I waxed philosophically and poetry about a plethora of subjects. And remember, if you would like to correspond with the show, send an email to soulforgepodcast@gmail.com The first thing we are talking about this week is cultural references. Turns out that most of mine are from the 1980s and 1990s. That is the era in which I grew up, so I suppose this makes a certain amount of sense. One of my favourite references is '2 weeks' from the film Total Recall. I use it whenever possible. Most of the music I like to listen to is also from the same time frame, with the 1990s being the most favoured. In fact, it's the oldies station I most frequently listen to if I am using home town music stations. Another topic this week is my TikTok obsession. I have been using the app for about 2 months now. I make between one and four videos per day. It is quite ra

One year sober is a huge achievement. For some, 24 hours of sobriety is almost impossible. This is an episode about alcohol addiction and recovery. This is Amanda's story. This is how she became one year sober. Amanda has always had an addictive personality. She started with a food addiction, but soon made her way to alcohol. Currently in recovery and getting better every day, Amanda still has her addictions - which currently include coffee and purse collecting. Now in her mid 40s, Amanda was not always an alcoholic. It wasn't until her early 30s that she realized she might have a problem. Like many alcoholics, she was closeted and hid her issues as well as her booze. Hiding bottles became a habit. It was a habit so bad that often she didn't remember where the stuff was hidden and this once led to a relapse during a cleaning session. Amanda went from wine to vodka to drinking earlier and earlier. Multiple attempts were made to get her life back on track. She joined AA on several occasions. There were at least

Long weekend camping is a tradition of sorts here in Canada. Long weekends are too far and few between so you absolutely must take advantage of every opportunity. A few days ago, my brother and I, and a couple of his friends went long weekend camping. I shall tell you all about it in this episode. Originally I was going to release episode 251 as a walk and talk. That is where I record an episode while delivering the mail. However, the recording was too garbled and so you get this offering instead. Airpods are not the ideal way to record an episode! And yet, the weather today was ideal for working. 14 degrees Celsius and overcast with a slight breeze is perfect. I could have done without the 6 sets of flyers to deliver though. So as for the long weekend camping adventure, a decent time was had by all. Sure, it was cold and windy and we couldn't always get a fire going, but we had fun. We walked and explored and talked and drank. We even tried to build a fence out of driftwood but it didn't work very well at al

Top 10 things to love! Do you make a list of your favourite things? How many people out there in podcast-land actually have a running inventory of the things that make them happy? Obviously there is no way of answering that question. On this episode, I run down some of the things I love the most. If there is a better way to celebrate 250 podcast episodes, I can't think of what that might be. So, what are some of the top 10 things to love? This episode starts with my favourite authors. It turns out I really enjoy action/adventure stories. Give me international chases, mythology, and harrowing odds and I will be happy. I also enjoy science fiction and self-help type books that aren't overly saccharine or preachy. Some deeply philosophical literature is also in my list of things to love. Two other top 10 lists I present to you are movies and television shows. Once again, I love some science fiction. But I also enjoy the occasional drama and some cartoons. Coming up with absolute lists is a difficult task. Our ta

Comparing and contrasting my 2 main homes or cities. I was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie (the Soo), went to university in North Bay, and moved to Timmins at the age of 26. Five and a half weeks ago I moved back to the Soo from Timmins where I spent the past 19 years. There is quite a bit of difference between the two cities. The Soo is a heavily Italian based town. Timmins is very Frence. People in the Soo are more friendly, while those in Timmins are more apt to have a vanity license plate. How people pronounce the word 'poutine' is different, as well as what they call the long weekend in May. While both towns are isolated and surrounded by nature, Sault Ste. Marie has more culture and travel opportunities. The Soo boasts a wonderful boardwalk and many old buildings. Timmins has many small lakes where people enjoy hunting and fishing. Also in this episode, I discuss chocolate milk. As a border town, the Soo has quick access to the USA. American chocolate milk is more fatty, and therefore more tasty. Ha

Being TikTok famous has never been my goal. Until now, that is! I have been home for a month and my life has undergone some changes. Let me tell you about some of those changes here on episode 248. So, I have been back in my hometown for a month now. I moved from Timmins to Sault Ste. Marie where I was born and raised. Although I am not completely certain, I think I am finally settling into something of a regular routine. The feeling of being lost is not so strong anymore. After arriving home, I worked for a week and was then off for 2 weeks. Being off for so long is not a good thing for your body. As a mailman, we walk about 25000 steps per day. When on holidays, this does not happen so coming back to work can be rough. There is also a huge difference in how Canada Post operates in different cities. Timmins has a much more harsh and unforgiving work environment than does the Soo. The work day is structured much differently. The people don't act the same. It is a lot to get used to. The amount of flyers I get

Your things don't love you, and you are not your things. It took me a long time to realize this one simple truth! For the vast majority of my life, I was my stuff. And my stuff was me. We were intertwined. All the things I had were my identity. I didn't know who I was without them. And I didn't know who I could be either. Things were necessary for my existence and my reality. They helped me define myself and my worldview. But, they really didn't. I just thought they did; thought I needed the things to bolster my sense of self. Recently, I have come to understand that things are just things. Stuff is just stuff. Your things don't love you. They don't know you exist. They don't care. Their identity is not based upon you. They just exist. They just are. And now, I no longer need things to give me a purpose or a sense of self. I can exist independently outside of my possessions. I can enjoy them and have sentimental attachments, but also take a step back. Being a collector, or a poet, or a book reader used to be

We are not too old for this! Maybe we feel like we are getting too old for some things, but we are not. Age is only a matter of perspective, or so we can tell ourselves. We are definitely not as young as we used to be or want to be. I just signed up for TikTok. After swearing up and down for years that I would never get involved in such a thing, I did. Blaming my brother is likely a good way to go about explaining this change in my behaviour. He needed the money! I am hoping I'm not too old for this. Adapting to change is tricky as we age. New phones are full of all kinds of technological innovations. Everything is changing so fast and keeping updated is not easy. 30 years ago a car trip consisted of a Walkman and a cassette tape. Kids today have their phones, tablets and gaming systems. Everything now is on demand with instant access. We want things yesterday -- no waiting. Another thing that changes with age is memory. The forgetting is real. Distraction is a very real thing. Is it caused by depression, agi

Bad decisions make good stories, or so they say! They actually say quite a few different things when it comes to making decisions. I'm not really sure that anyone actually knows anything about anything. Aren't we all just pretending we know what we are doing? This week's episode finds me talking about my recent move. After living in Timmins for 19 years, I decided to move back to my hometown of Sault Ste. Marie. It was a major decision. I was scared. Petrified some days to be honest. But, they do say that bad decisions make good stories. This journey is just beginning so there's really no way to know if it is right or wrong. Perhaps it just is. So, we are talking about the move itself. How did my first week of work go? I tell you. The mail delivery system is much different here than back in Timmins. All kinds of new things to get used to. The roads are equally bad in both cities - potholes everywhere. On Facebook, I made a post saying that all my Timmins people should move here too! In this episode I also dis

I moved back home! Say what? Yes, it's true. After 19 years of living in Timmins, I moved back home to Sault Ste. Marie. Now why did I do such a thing? Great question. I provide some answers and some context in this episode as to why I moved back home. There is likely a lot more I could have gone into during my explanation. However, it has been a hectic few days, and I'm not quite myself yet. Most of my adult life has been spent up in Timmins. And although it is the land that culture forgot, it became home. It was definitely a huge decision. There are many reasons for the move and not all of them are detailed in this episode. Let's say that my recent bout of depression is a huge factor. In fact, depression probably played the biggest role in all of this. I have not been in my proper frame of mind and some of my thought processes were a bit muddied and muddled. Regardless of the reasons for the move, the fact is that I am now back home for the time being. Will this move be permanent? Will I want to return back

New beginnings are a sure sign of Spring! This is the first week of Spring and so what could be better than an episode all about new beginnings? This week, your host reads quotes from a pile of famous sources. Each quote deals with new beginnings in some form or another. So, just sit back, relax, and let your mind be entertained. “The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are.” “Celebrate endings—for they precede new beginnings.” “No matter how hard the past is, you can always begin again.” “Every day is a chance to begin again. Don’t focus on the failures of yesterday, start today with positive thoughts and expectations.” “Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning.” “Nothing is predestined. The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings.” “Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.” “Keep on beginning and failing. E

Have you ever had an epiphany? You know, one of those lightbulb moments where a sudden realization hits you! One minute you're minding your own business when out of nowhere insight slaps you upside the head. Technically, an epiphany is an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple and striking, or an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure. Today's episode details the nature of the epiphany and the search for happiness. We all want happiness. In fact, happiness is the main goal for much of society. Entire industries are devoted to helping us in our quest to be happy. Buy this! Buy that! What many people don't realize, is that happiness is not a permanent state of affairs. There is no magic cure. Happiness is related to the quest for perfection. However, perfection does not exist. Today's perfection is tomorrow's pile of trouble. We all think we know what we want; what will make us perfectly happy. We must understand that life is about progress - not perfection.

Stars shine for you, and they shine for everyone. Episode titles are difficult. Song lyrics are often good at expressing things that regular words cannot. This episode, for example, is very strange. There isn't a single thread that holds everything together. Topics seemingly come and go at random. In this episode, I'm talking about books and authors. But I also touch on the war in Ukraine, if only briefly. Depression is also brought up in passing. Life is full of ups and downs. One day you could be perfectly happy, and the next everything could fall apart. That is why we have to enjoy each moment as it comes. Don't watch the clock. Don't think too much. Just watch how the stars shine for you. Look up. See the bigger picture. Love every moment of your life. Of course, since this is my podcast, I have to talk a bit about pop culture. Star Trek is brought up, as is often the case with me. And some of my favourite authors are mentioned too! If you're looking for something good to read, check out any of these wr

Rebirth! What does that mean in the context of this week's episode? Well, it's nothing too far out there. After last week's episode about being diagnosed with depression, it seemed like a good opportunity to turn the podcast around. Rebirth is just one of the poems that I read for you this week! That's right, this is another episode where I share my poetry with all of you out there in podcastland. As many of you know, I used to fancy myself a poet. This was back during my university days. I was still trying to find out who I was, what I was and where I was headed. I have always been in my head and thinking and feeling is simply a part of my nature. When I went to university, I was in the English Literature program. English was my best subject in high school and I didn't know what else to do with my life. Being around all the intellectual types made me want to dive into that world. However, I never really felt like I fit in there properly. And yet, I decided to go full on into the artsy arena. I began readin