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hello everyone Karen Glaser here and
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welcome to minding your mental health
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I'm here with my co-host Rob Glasser
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we talk about how a changing World
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affects our day today and what we can do
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to make life just a little easier
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so what are we talking about today Rob
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uh we were talking about the role that
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your neighborhood plays in how you grow
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up and continue to grow up and we're
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going to break it down into three
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sections the third one actually leading
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us to a separate topic of today
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but the first one is obvious it's
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where you grow up physically affects who
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you are and what you do what you believe
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um if you're in an area that is more
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affluent you obviously need to be used
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to more of that if you're an area that
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is not as up or Lively you're going to
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and it does affect when you end up being
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young adult adult or into older age
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it's not really necessarily bad or good
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I think it's how you learn from the
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um I love one reason I love history is I
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love the comparison to what somebody
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living let's say in 18 or 1900s did
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versus today and noticing the
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differences of who they became
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um we talked about once a lot of famous
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people who live with certain things or
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who lived through certain things right
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but how they became what they were
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so I'll passage you for just a quick
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second here you know somebody who might
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have grown up let's say World War One
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World War II when all there was going on
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was the war versus somebody growing up
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now which you know there still is war
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but it's not as prevalent per se
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what would you say is everything yeah I
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I think everything affects us you know
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in terms of what's going on in our world
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you know that's the whole expression of
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nature versus nurture right and so I do
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believe that where we live
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um changes our Outlook and how we look
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um the time that we live in has changed
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our Outlook in the things and again you
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know back in the day I wasn't alive
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during World any of the world wars
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um I'm not that old Rob but
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but I I was alive and amyloid during
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things like the Vietnam War and and all
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those the wars that were going on and
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also um growing up in the 50s I was born
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in the 50s so it's a totally different
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time than it is now however as we both
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know some of the things that we thought
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were completely gone from
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life in the 50s seems to be rearing its
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head again here in 2023.
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so I don't know all I think about when I
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think about the neighborhood is is Mr
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Rogers and you know because he was all
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about the neighborhood he was literally
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all about the people in your
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I just had and I think one of the
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biggest PBS shows there ever was
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probably next to Sesame Street but um
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right yeah location is a big deal and
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whether you live directly in the range
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of something or not changes your
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perception uh you know well I don't
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touch the news or paper unless it's a
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happy story you know about animals or
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whatever so I am on the short end of the
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stick there so I am not affected as much
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as somebody would who reads or is there
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does that make it better or worse
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opinions are for you guys if you want to
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do for me personally it has to do with
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my own well-being but I do notice that
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not being on social media if you know
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Krista or something see something on
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there that happened I'm kind of
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oblivious I'm like oh when did that go
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down and she'll go oh it happened you
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know a couple years ago so it does kind
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of put you in a position where your
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Locale can hinder what you know
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but at the same time from living in you
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know uh the valley SoCal and kind of
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still being in socal-ish
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didn't necessarily shape too differently
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but driving through different areas that
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I haven't been to shows what I lived in
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versus what somebody else might have so
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that gives me a better perspective and
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that's the kind of perspective I think
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is more important for your
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compassion and your your consideration
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to others right yes yeah it also helps
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us see things through the eyes of other
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people when we acknowledge right what we
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have each gone through I mean we can
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both go through the same thing however
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what I bring to the table from my past
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and the things that I've been through
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and what you bring we might perceive
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this completely different so I totally
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agree with that I mean I'll give you
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aware example but like this morning we
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got some groceries and I didn't realize
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until I got it but my my soap I got is
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actually something when you buy it it
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helps underprivileged women and kids in
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Africa for every cent you buy it and not
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only is it a good you know it's a
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cleansing wash itself or whatever but
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now when I look at it I literally now
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have a different Viewpoint because not
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only did I accidentally do something
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good but it actually is kind of cool I
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looked at the bottom and said you know
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five percent of it goes to
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um uh body you know physical for Women's
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Health uh 10 goes to Building Homes 11
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goes to education so it's kind of a
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happy accident but when you look at the
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cool I have a question for you because
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this actually came up yesterday in a
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conversation do you think that when
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people are doing sales or when they
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they're creating things do you think it
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would make it more beneficial to have a
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um action or something attached to it
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like you just said definitely for sure
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if it's if it's done for the right
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reason I know a lot of places like you
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know uh big time coffee shops like
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Starbucks they try to you know uh get
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people to come in who can't work but
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it's kind of a different that's not
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necessarily the positive way I think but
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in the sense of helping an
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underprivileged country or helping
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somebody who doesn't get medical care
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that I think is always great but I think
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you have to make sure you don't lose
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sight of it being a business and end up
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doing it for the monetary and forget
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that you actually did this for you know
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the one thing I hate but love are the
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ASPCA commercials like it's so
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depressing watching those poor dogs but
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I do appreciate the fact that they do
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that purposely to prove the importance
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of it and they do the same thing for
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children who are hungry or for families
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whoever it's such a depressing thing to
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it and again I don't know how these
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places work I know a lot of them are
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more business now than they used to be
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but it is still nice to see that at
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you know and again I think it's also the
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area too when you're in a place like
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Louisiana or Mississippi when I'm
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watching a home show there a lot of the
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homes are redone because of the
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Hurricanes right so those guys even
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though they usually have the homeowner
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they'll actually do it themselves for
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free or they'll put in some of their own
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money to help the homeowners right and
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that's the location location here maybe
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not so much because we don't have as
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many disasterers so to speak I mean we
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get the earthquakes but that's not
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what's his name uh Fury when when guy uh
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fed all the firefighters yeah for doing
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all that like he literally did all the
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food yeah it's the location so that's
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number one number two I think is
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um the upbringing and I think you
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mentioned it perfectly well what you
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bring is what I bring is different
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I think it's also the matter of and
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we've talked about it off and on here
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multiple times it's the understanding
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between the two parties you have
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somebody like me who is used to the 90s
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in the 2000s right you have you who said
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used to the 50s and the 60s when you
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when you were growing it's not so much a
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wrong or right it's a okay you know what
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you know I know what I do
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what makes the most sense but more
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what works for everybody's advantage and
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that's right rob it sounds like you're
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also connecting generations with
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neighborhoods right so right I mean
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that's kind of plenty of times when I
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watch shows whatever and you like I
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don't know if you're at a HomeTown but
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it's been an Aaron who do that and they
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sell the homes that they're that they're
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redoing are 50-year generation homes
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like they're like the people who lived
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here they lived here for 35 years before
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vacating and that's a big part of it and
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that's why people down in the South buy
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the houses they do because the family
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there was like a 30 40 year right
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there's history right there's a history
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to it so the upbringing is important and
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again it's it's a touchy thing I get it
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because you know it's kind of like the
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grandparents think one thing the parents
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think one the kids think one but it's
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not really a who's writer who's wrong
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from my point it's really a matter of
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correlating the two things when you know
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for instance when I do something on my
9:30
work and I need your help I go to you
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because I know you have the knowledge in
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the areas and that is perfectly good to
9:37
take advantage of and use because you
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know how to do it and you'll ask me
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questions on my end for something like
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let's say the gaming let's say some of
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that because that is my my Niche so to
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speak so I think the issue here for
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neighborhood is that so many people get
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caught up in I've got to be the right
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one you've got to be the wrong one do it
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and that just makes things worse that
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doesn't yes exactly well how many times
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do you read an article that talks about
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the Millennials want to do this or the
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Boomers their Generation X or Generation
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Z and then I have to look it up because
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I don't know who's who I know you're a
10:13
millennial because it's 81 and higher
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and that would make you I'm a boomer but
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there are all those other Generations
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that theoretically at least the media
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would like us to think that we're all
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different and somehow because we were
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born in a different Generation
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Um right you know that that
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relationships or neighborhoods or any of
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those things don't aren't constant and
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they are and they totally are just
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because we were brought up in a
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different generation doesn't make the
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reality different right and that's the
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number three here with which is
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community and this actually comes from
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LinkedIn they made a really clever uh
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blog here from 2020 and Community is the
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third most important part of what makes
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a neighborhood neighborhood and they
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actually broke it down of ways that this
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actually helps you so this is kind of
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the the health part for the show right
11:05
here but the first thing here is
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increasing your confidence and your
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if you go around telling people no no no
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or do it this way you're not really
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going to be boosting anybody's
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confidence right you're not going to be
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making anybody feel good but if you're
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in a place where and again this is not
11:22
everywhere you know I that one thing I
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hate is those movies are TV ruins like
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hey Bob oh hey gonna get your coffee you
11:28
know it's a little too whatever but it's
11:32
the right idea and the fact that you can
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go in I think you've talked about how
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you've gone down and you've had the same
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like crash here at the market or
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whatever if you can go down there and
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you can you know say hi to somebody for
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a minute and go hey you're back or hey
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how's the dog or whatever you're
11:46
increasing the self-esteem you're making
11:49
it able for somebody later in life
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to put forward the work they need to put
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forward confidence is not necessarily
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learned it's gained from
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personal experience if that makes sense
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right right and that's the first part of
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community the second part achieving a
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greater sense of purpose
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now whether you're spending time with
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your neighbor whether you're waving High
12:15
we see everybody walking their dogs and
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we love it I smile but there's so many
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dogs on our street I'm like oh my God
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another one that that just makes me
12:22
happy does it really fulfill the purpose
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well maybe maybe not but it makes you
12:27
feel like okay well hey that dude's
12:29
doing that that person's doing that what
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can I do back to Mr Rogers it's a
12:36
beautiful day in the name but that's
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exactly what I think about when when we
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live in a community versus living in a
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and I think there's a really big
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distinction now you just moved right and
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I think you would probably say you were
12:50
living in a house not a community
12:53
you have now moved to a new home where
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you just said I look outside and I see
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the dogs it's there's so many it's a
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community it's not just a community of
13:02
dogs because people own those dogs right
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so I think there's a where you live
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makes a difference on how you feel and
13:09
it's to tie it into the mental health
13:12
um and do you feel like it kind of gives
13:14
you the purpose of what it is you want
13:16
to like actually a perfect example is
13:18
because you know this well I now take a
13:20
drive every day that's kind of a purpose
13:22
towards my betterment of going out so
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the more I see other people taking a
13:27
drive walking their dog
13:29
you know uh the next part here is
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cultivating resiliency now resiliency
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whatever it is you want a community of
13:38
dogs wouldn't be that would be fun I
13:40
would definitely live in here
13:42
let us know don't live with the people
13:46
just deal with the dogs I'd be like hey
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except I don't know if they'll be able
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to give you anything like I don't know
13:50
if you need some milk like no but they
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can kiss you and lick you when it's all
13:54
good that's true there you go and you
13:56
can touch them and you'll be fine so you
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know it's good uh but resiliency is
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important a good Community a good
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neighborhood will help you be resilient
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it can reduce stressors you know help
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um and again they use the word
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socializing but you do it as you wish
14:11
you don't have to be chummy you don't
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have to be buddy buddy with whoever but
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you can learn how to survive so to speak
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by seeing the happiness or the Gratitude
14:24
as I like to say in your community in
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your neighborhood and I think Community
14:28
neighborhood is is a overlapping word
14:30
they're the same totally yes totally
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agree and we live in a planned Community
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um where there are 5 000 homes here that
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would seem like a tremendous amount of
14:39
homes but it really is a community we
14:42
have the pools that you can go to and be
14:44
with other people and you can say hi and
14:46
like oh I you know they were here last
14:47
week and you start to make friends all
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of those things I like living in a
14:52
community because it's sort of like I
14:54
don't have to go anywhere to have it
14:56
it's right outside my front door
15:01
and you can play golf and who doesn't
15:03
like playing golf well that would be me
15:05
I've never been that would be you yes
15:06
but I have Cutters and the last one on
15:10
the list that they have is extending
15:12
life and also developing healthy habits
15:15
obviously most habits you get from your
15:17
parents from your grandparents whoever
15:19
it is but learning how other people are
15:22
doing the work and this actually brings
15:24
well into what's happening now the
15:25
people who are being smart and using
15:27
Common Sense those are the people you
15:29
want to follow around and that gives you
15:31
the comfort that while there are a lot
15:33
of so-called not so smart people out
15:36
there right there's a large chunk of
15:38
people that are actually doing the right
15:40
thing whether it's masking whether it's
15:43
um and that's what gives you the healthy
15:45
habits now for me you know obviously my
15:47
OCD makes me very healthy habits to the
15:50
point where maybe it's not so healthy
15:52
habits but that's a different story
15:54
um but the fact that you know the
15:56
healthier you can be the longer you can
15:58
live all that good stuff and it all goes
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back to the community and I will say you
16:03
know I don't need to be friends with the
16:04
people next door but you know out and
16:07
you drive by they look at you they wave
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there you go it's as easy as and there's
16:13
other neighborhoods too I mean your
16:16
um is the the founder of Pico Union
16:18
which is a community in this Pico Union
16:22
area near downtown L.A and they feed the
16:27
community by growing uh I think we've
16:30
talked about this by growing vegetables
16:32
oh that's right yeah right there on the
16:34
property and the community comes to
16:37
volunteer and the community comes as
16:40
well to be fed because that's what it's
16:42
there for so Community is not just your
16:44
outside Community can be much bigger
16:48
than that it can be an entire you know
16:51
neighborhood of a city block I mean it
16:54
can be almost anything
16:55
I mean I would add to that you know your
16:57
local uh Salvation Army your local uh um
17:00
uh shelter for pets uh homeless shelters
17:03
uh food banks any of those things across
17:06
your community and the more you can do
17:08
to give or to help the better said
17:11
Community can become just like he's
17:14
doing in in his neck of the wood so I I
17:17
would just add that part to there but
17:18
every little piece of the community is
17:21
the piece of the puzzle to make your
17:25
or your giant Block in this case right
17:31
um so I want to make sure that people
17:32
know where they can go pick up um our
17:35
free ebook at finding your passion ebook
17:37
and they can do that by going to
17:39
mindingyourmentalhealth.com and pick it
17:41
up it's absolute free because we want
17:43
you to help uh we want to help you find
17:47
um also if you need some support right
17:49
now 988 that's the short code uh for
17:53
mental health awareness um no matter
17:55
where you live in the country you can
17:57
call that number and they will route you
17:58
to the right place whether it's a state
18:01
or community center community there we
18:04
um they will do all of that as well and
18:07
also don't forget the um the two
18:09
institutions that we like to just remind
18:11
you of Nami nami.org as well as NIMH the
18:14
National Institute of Mental Health
18:18
nimh.nih.gov boy that's a mouthful
18:21
um check that out any last thoughts Rob
18:23
are we going to sing our way out of this
18:30
you might so we're not alrighty so um we
18:33
hope you enjoyed the show today let us
18:35
know what you think let us know what
18:36
your community is like and why it's so
18:39
you know helpful to you or maybe it's
18:40
not let us know we'd love to hear from
18:42
you uh go out and give somebody an
18:44
awesome day and we'll see you next week
18:46
on minding your mental health goodbye