AllBetter

"There's No Script to Life Podcast" with Kyle Popish & Mike Tilberry

January 04, 2022 Joe Van Wie Season 1 Episode 12
AllBetter
"There's No Script to Life Podcast" with Kyle Popish & Mike Tilberry
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Meet the Guys from the Podcast " There's No Script to life"

Kyle Popish- Associate Addictions Counselor and Certified Recovery Specialist working for Turning Point Alternative Living Solutions in  Scranton. Born and raised in Scranton Pa 

 Mike Tilberry - is originally from Scranton PA.  He and his wife moved to Myrtle Beach in 2014.  Mike and his wife are opening gym called All In Training.  Mike is a dedicated to helping others live a happier and healthier lifestyle.  Mike and his wife continue to grow their roots in Myrtle Beach with their 2 year old son, dog and 2 cats.

https://noscripttolife.com/

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Leaders Of Long Term Recovery in Pennsylvania 

We combine proven recovery principles with new, innovative techniques to provide one of the most effective programs for young men in the country.

 Discussions on addiction and recovery. We interview clinicians/researchers, legislators, and individuals that include a variety of means to recovery. Joe Van Wie is a father, husband, filmmaker, and reformed media consultant in recovery. 

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Joe Van Wie  0:09  
Thank you for listening to another episode of all better.fm I'm your host, Joe van wie V. Today's guests are my friends and fellow podcasters. With their show, there's no script to life, a podcast hosted by Mike Tilbury and Kyle polish. Kyle polish is an associate addictions counselor, and certified recovery specialists working for turning point Alternative Living solutions in Scranton, born and raised in Scranton, PA. Mike is originally from Scranton, PA. He and his wife moved to Myrtle Beach in 2014. Like and his wife are opening a gym, called all in training. Mike is dedicated to helping others live a happier and healthier lifestyle. Like his wife continued to grow their roots in Myrtle Beach and their two year old son with the dog and two cats. I was a guest on their show last month. And now they're a guest on my show. I always enjoy our conversations. And they're one of the few people that could get me to talk about sports. I'm sure they find it unpleasant. I found it enjoyable. Take a listen. And thanks for tuning in.

Welcome to all better another episode of my two friends. I owe my there is no script for life. I was on their show in November, as a guest before all better launched. Kyle has been a friend now for two years and someone have drawn support for from in my recovery. And related to and got to meet his friend Mike on podcast. And we really dived. And I enjoy my conversations with them what we're going to talk about today, we have no clue. But it's always a good time with them. I think it'll be things of recovery. Things of health, mental health from the tea suggestions I got prior to the show. Yeah. But let me let's Why don't you guys introduce yourself a bit so people could get to know you and tell me maybe a little background on how you started your podcast.

Unknown Speaker  2:46  
Okay, Mike, let me take this over or you want to start off you lead off? That's the outro you got the Alpha coming in? I'll take over me. No, so Well, first of all, Joe, thank you very much for allowing Mike and I to come on to. You know, as you had mentioned, we had you on an episode a couple of weeks ago, I think it was it was really really good. It was a great conversation. But um, so there's no script to life is our podcast, Mike and I kind of toyed with the idea of the podcast. I'd say Mike, what do you think like was it about a year before the pandemic?

Unknown Speaker  3:23  
Yeah, probably back in 2019 is when we kind of started tossing ideas around.

Unknown Speaker  3:28  
Yeah, yeah, we were it was, well, it was when I got sober because Mike was Mike was already like, two three years ahead of me. Well, if you want to get technical 15 years ahead of me as far as I've been wanting his life. Yeah. But But, but once I got sober, and you know, I think Mike and I connected on a different level to once I got sober. And you know, we had been talking about this, like, let's get a podcast, let's get a podcast and you were talking about it from here and he was in North Carolina. Yeah, South Carolina, South Carolina. Yeah. Yeah. It because we were both on similar tracks. At that time, I was very gung ho on a 12 Steps helping people get on their feet, started sponsoring guys things like that. And this is obviously what his bread and butter is, you know, helping people with their fitness and their life goals. So So we kind of threw the idea around a lot. And then I think our first episode actually, we record it was a week before the

Joe Van Wie  4:24  
the shutdowns really like more than would have been the first week of March Yeah,

Unknown Speaker  4:28  
I think it was tail end of February that we recorded and and then the shutdowns happened and then everything shut down. And then you know, that gave me Mike an opportunity to be like, we have all this time on our hands. So let's get to work with it. And that was it. But you know the gist of what we wanted to do, in our tagline really for the podcast was was helping people unlock their potential from within, by limiting self defeating thoughts, self defeating beliefs and self defeating behaviors. So what we did

Joe Van Wie  4:58  
was cognitive behavioral Therapy. That's your that's your background and that your approach would allow. We'll get into that later. Yeah. How you help people?

Unknown Speaker  5:05  
Yeah, absolutely. So, so that's really where we wanted to go. And Mike and I wanted to use our backgrounds, our influences or personal stories to help kickstart the whole project. And then as we went along, grab some guests here and there that we could find. And we had a lot of success with with guests over the last year and a half, two years that we've been doing this you have, yeah, we had a, I think at least two former NFL football players. That wasn't me. That was not you. Yeah. That's not you. We had a few entrepreneurs on there some some local business owners, Mike has had great networking contacts in South Carolina, people in the fitness industry, again, entrepreneurs, people that were really just kind of following their their dream. You know, it's a great,

Joe Van Wie  5:55  
it's a great podcast. There is no script for life in the titles. Three pointer.

Unknown Speaker  6:00  
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Joe Van Wie  6:02  
Mike, well, how would you? How would you speak to being friends with Kyle? So you're, you're in South Carolina? Pretty pre COVID. And you guys, I mean, you're obviously close friends, because you had a relationship, you know, over across state lines that was going to create a podcast, and that is the the technology this is the medium that you could have that discussion? I just find that really interesting. How would you describe your motivations for doing this in in with Kyle, and tell us who you are.

Unknown Speaker  6:36  
So first of all, like Kyle, you know, we're really grateful to be on this great time recording with you a couple of weeks back. So we're grateful for this opportunity, but kind of goes back almost 20 years. And I was a little rocky at first. But um, we played football together, met through a mutual friend. You know, just kind of, you know, grew from there. I mean, I've seen Kyle, worse than I've seen him. And it's best that I think he's done the same with me. And throughout the whole thing. You know, we've laughed about Kyle being a big college football fan with 13 teams, unlike anybody I've ever met before. But, you know, he's ever since his recovery, it's just been, it's been a whole different person. And, you know, we're great friends before that. But when he kind of made that shift, we just connected on a different level, where we both had that insight of where we want to help people. We want to meet you where you're at, we want to help you find what that purpose is, find that happiness, find that that drive within. And I think once we kind of hit on that we knew that we had something. And we knew, and you just mentioned before the technology and the medium, that this was a great platform for us to get that message out. You know, with me being in South Carolina, and being up in Pennsylvania, it just made sense for us to be able to do this. And we've had a blast with it. And it's good for us for our friendship, because it gives us a chance to kind of connect along with our friend Dustin, who does all the backend stuff for us, you know, once a month to really just kind of connect and BF a little bit knocked off my head around. So it's been great for that. And like Kyle said, that different guests that we've had on the show here and their stories that have helped them get that message out, let people know that there's always hope out there, you can always achieve something, if you really try for our mission, it's kind can help you unlock that for more than

Joe Van Wie  8:40  
Well, I'm attracted to your show, just by the title alone, and getting to know Kyle, and then being a guest to meet you. I do have to ask you one question. Was there any any kind of envy or jealousy that you know, you spent your 15 years ahead of Kyle and in helping people and having keeping track of your mental health? And this guy comes along, spends years partying and in the year he's he caught up to being healthy? Now he caught up to Yeah, it's it's wild how how quickly someone gets well, though, and I don't think people that understand addiction, and you got to see it firsthand. It can happen fast.

Unknown Speaker  9:30  
Thank you. Great to see that with Kyle, because, you know a lot of times we saw Kyle in a different state. But then we also saw him not that knew that he recursion. And I was there to help people. Although, you know, it was tough to see it all the time. But to see where he's at right now to see that continues to work on that. And there's awareness surrounding everything. It's great to see not just for him, but the people that you get to work with and help everyday. So that's really, really cool. He doesn't fire me. So what

Joe Van Wie  10:03  
I find what's neat is both of your backgrounds, Kyle now, having works in a clinical setting helps towards helping people into recovery professionally, personally, you taking in the full body, and the embodiment of getting in touch with your body being present, that's a real physical task. And I think it's very important for young males, or females who are getting sober, you know, I suffer, if one of the others suffering, I could feel it. It's I don't feel fully like a part of recovery, if I'm let my body suffer, or my mind. I don't see the distinctions all the time anymore, that they kind of need each other.

Unknown Speaker  10:46  
Yeah, I think something to take a look at when it comes to being healthy is, is it's about balance, right. And so you can't necessarily say, you know, devote all your time to a spiritual opening or awakening, and then neglect the physical, mental or emotional aspects, or vice versa, go all the way to the physical and then neglect certain areas your life as well. So there's a fine line of balance that you have to play, you know, which is, I mean, that's the recipe to life is where do I find that balance? You know? And so, you know, if I'm, if I'm in the gym, working out and spending all my time and dieting and doing all this stuff to whether it be vanity or whatever the case would be your insecurities. If I'm spending all my attention and time over here, what am I lacking over here? And that's something that I found firsthand because I think it was about 2010 or so is when I went really balls to the wall with dieting, that's when I got my personal trainer certification. I started doing all that stuff. And I looked great on the outside. But boy was IMS on the inside. You know, I applied no attention to a mental emotional or spiritual health whatsoever. Yeah. So like you were saying, like, it's about finding that balancing act. You know, where can I maximize my success as a human being? Well, if I find balance here, there and everywhere else,

Joe Van Wie  12:01  
were you trying to do that in active addiction at times, like out of like a knee jerk reaction. I'm restarting my life. Let me hit the gym without like tackling the addiction. Is there ever. I see that sometimes. Some guys?

Unknown Speaker  12:15  
Yeah. No, because when you're high when you're drunk and hungover and messed up all the time. Yeah, that

Joe Van Wie  12:21  
is a real deal. Yeah, your

Unknown Speaker  12:24  
last place I want to be. I mean, I would you know, even in my act of addiction, you know, when I tell my life story, when I go to any, any treatment centers and do anything like that. One of the most difficult parts for me to accept that I had a problem, Mike, I know you could attest to this as I wasn't the guy that rolled out of bed handshaking, grabbing a bite on the nightstand. I wasn't the guy that was sleeping under bridges and robbing people for money and, and so on. So majority aren't right. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I think that's a common misconception of addiction. They, you know. And so, I was able to function a lot through life. I had, you know, very, very good work, jobs and sales. I had a somewhat functional marriage at the time. Friendships like Mike had said, like, I had friends. I, you know, I had people I cared about I, you know, I was still present doing things. It's just I took it to the extreme that they weren't, they weren't even aware of or willing to go near. Yeah, you weren't going home? No, exactly. Yeah. And there were so many times. I mean, I remember at the time, my husband and my addiction really towards the tail ends were really spiraled, as you know, as the stories always go. But I would be at parties and gatherings with all our friends. And I'd be just kind of dipping out the door, you know, because I'm finding out what drug dealers available where they're at. I know these guys that I'm hanging out with are into that scene. So bring me to the scene where I had like select group of friends. You know, the guys that drank with the guys I used with the people that were old friends

Joe Van Wie  13:53  
in high school grade school. Yeah. And you're from Scranton, right. And a lot of people I mean, once they know someone from Scranton, they could appreciate this and you could attest to this, Mike. People. You know, you live in South Carolina, I've lived out of town people didn't grow up like us to have like this size of a city. You got 70,000 downtown 300 or something in the county. And I've had I still have friends from first grade. Yeah. In and out of addiction. I don't think people in Jersey are relating to that when I meet them in treatment centers, and I almost feel how spoiled we were even as alcoholics or or you know, you've been a friend of someone in recovery. Scranton type. There's a real community of support for people in and out of recovery. Even when I was suffering in addiction. I had friends that were constantly trying to watch my back and help me. Absolutely that's a common thread around here. I don't think that luxury is experienced a lot of other places.

Unknown Speaker  14:53  
No, and it's funny.

Unknown Speaker  14:54  
I think we take it for granted or take for advantage living there. I think we kind of last fall's on Scranton. And call it you know, call it name tear down. Like you said, You're different from most places that I've been to or, you know, living where I live now, in South Carolina, it's a completely different atmosphere. Like you said, people have your back. And, you know, like you said, people, you know, for first grade or whatever is still there for you. And like ours was entitled to talk about this as well. We've been friends since high school, almost 20 years. And, you know, we're just gonna go back a little bit I titled story, when he told us that he was entering a rehab. I think that's, I think we all kind of new stuff goes up, but I don't think we get to the expensive it was.

Unknown Speaker  15:42  
dollars a month on cocaine. Exactly. We

Unknown Speaker  15:45  
didn't know that. But we did that we had, in fact, yeah, we supported him every step of the way. And that's not a common struggle, a lot of arrogance.

Joe Van Wie  15:55  
Yeah, that story. It's hard to fit that into someone's story. Like, if you hear me, you're at a 12 step group, and you hear a story told, You don't really hear the time dedicated to all the nameless people that have supported you before you were sober. That, you know, gave you a reason to live, you couldn't fully quit. Addiction didn't have to kill you, because you have good friends. And that comes over 20 years. I mean, do you know what it takes for a friendship the last 20 years a lot of forgiveness. You tolerate each other. I mean, people don't give themselves enough time to have friendships like that. I noticed that with some of my friends that I've met in college of their experiences growing up if there was one fracture in the relationship, their friendship was over. Yeah, it's a grind. Yes, grin. I had to like go back hanging out in the same crowd, not talk to my friend I just got in a fistfight with last week until one of us said, what's up? You're like?

Unknown Speaker  16:59  
Well, I think to it, this area, it's very culturally influenced. You know, it's, you know, the way we're to if somebody else ever picked up this podcast, and we were talking right now about friends, they would think we're talking about family members. Yeah, it's really the same thing. It's these friends that you and I wonder sometimes if that's a good thing, I wonder if it's like the old like Mike's obviously the exception to this rule based off of what we're talking about. But, you know, a lot of people don't leave this area, once they once they grow up, you know, I mean, it's a

Joe Van Wie  17:25  
security blanket. Yeah, it's, I find value when I lived in New York, on and off total, maybe six, seven years. And I remember when I'd be out there, and I'd finally made money and was taking care of myself out there. I'm never coming back to Scranton, because of you know, it's this adolescent running from any pain or wanting to come back here with a parade like you were a success somewhere else. That went away with the value of how disposable everything is in New York to Philly. And now twice as much. So you'd say you're single, like through a dating app, or, you know, someone's disposable with your thumb you haven't even met, you're just going left, right, left, right. Yeah. To have relationships that aren't disposable that have been battle tested. That's a value I can't replace. I didn't almost choose. I said just feel fortunate that it's just random luck. I exist here. Yeah. But man, I know. I don't take it for granted anymore. I've met too many people that really want to get better but don't have the support and loneliness, loneliness really, it's like it's a relapse of loneliness. It's so uncomfortable to reach out not only at a 12 step group, to make friends or go to a new place. I it's, it's something somewhere I don't I don't want to be I guess I feel fortunate that I had friends like

Unknown Speaker  18:52  
that. Yeah. Yeah. And there's a there's a common bond that links a lot of us together. And even in the recovery community in this area. I've been to very fortunate with a lot of the work I did prior to where I'm at now. To travel a lot. And I attended meetings, a 12 step meetings in Florida, in Texas, in Indiana. Wow. Ohio, in Philadelphia was a sales job. Yeah. So, you know, we would have seminars or conferences, you know, in Orlando in Austin, Texas. The Indiana want to actually I went out to there on a trip to Notre Dame. But, but whenever I you know, being all gung ho and as early on, whenever I went to a new city, I wanted to go to a new meeting just to see kind of how they ran it. You know, what was their what was their deal? I know the one in Indiana was the most awkward really, yeah. Well, it was similar to like a Trinity style meeting. It was a you know, a table set up in a square. Oh, yeah. And normal. Yeah. And everybody got a book when you walked in. You walked in, they give you a book. And it was the I think it was the 12 steps and 12 traditions? I don't think

Joe Van Wie  20:03  
it was. Yeah, it was like a step. The old step meetings. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And

Unknown Speaker  20:07  
everybody sat down and, you know, they started their, you know, preamble and so on. And then it was they picked right up with the reading. And you had to go right in a row and just start reading from the pages. Well, first of all, I didn't know where these people left off, so I wasn't there. I'm like, scrambling through the pages. Yeah, which one? Did they read from here? That was anyone asked them because I didn't want to throw out there watching,

Joe Van Wie  20:29  
you know, welcome to Indiana.

Unknown Speaker  20:34  
Don't be this guy. So I'm like, Oh, God, I better find it's um, I'm leaning over the guy next to me shoulder and pick up the page. And but I just remember the vibe and the energy. It was real stiff, cold. Yeah, like real. Like, I like you know how the media on our air like we sit around and bullshit for a half hour afterwards. There was none of that there. And so anyways, I used to like to see how they ran them. And I remember when I was in Texas, down in Austin, it was Mother's Day weekend. And I found this meeting.

Joe Van Wie  21:06  
And that's a young town. There's a lot of young people. Very, very progressive.

Unknown Speaker  21:10  
And that's something that threw me for a loop because being

Joe Van Wie  21:14  
Yeah, people tend to have if you don't understand Texas, Austin's the Greenwich Village of

Unknown Speaker  21:20  
oh, it's unbelievable. It really is Sixth Street. Rainey Street was unbelievable. I was fortunate I get to spend a few days there and really see the city. And like I said, very progressive city, you know, in the campuses right there. University of Texas right there. So it's, and I'm I have a tattoo on my arm of the Longhorns to represent

Unknown Speaker  21:40  
one of the 13 college football. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker  21:42  
but so anyways, I remember finding it a meeting and I got an Uber over there. And in the old slogan, everything's bigger in Texas is so true, because these churches now this was like, a mega church. Yeah, I

Joe Van Wie  21:55  
remember the meeting was at a mega church. It was

Unknown Speaker  21:57  
huge. It might not have even been a mega church, but it's nothing that

Joe Van Wie  22:02  
AAA meeting was, yeah. So so I'm so used to going into a musty.

Unknown Speaker  22:06  
No, this isn't like a classroom setting. Oh, there was no basement and there was a cop outside. So I'm

Joe Van Wie  22:14  
not sure just so law large it has its own college

Unknown Speaker  22:18  
district. Its own sheriff. So I'm walking around here that Uber lets me off. I'm walking around. I'm thinking, you know, we're How am I going to find this? But so I walked into the main church, and there was obviously nothing and so I come back on, there's a cop in the parking lots I came over, I said, Hey, this is such an awkward conversation. Like, am I supposed to tell him? I'm looking for a meeting? Because I know this is Texas. Yeah. Like, so I said, Hey, is there support meetings or anything that he said, Oh, yeah, go through that

Joe Van Wie  22:42  
kind of support. You need to

Unknown Speaker  22:45  
back away you came from one of those long hair. So, so I go through the door and I got to the mean, it was in a classroom, you know, I don't know if it was like part of a preschool type setting or whatever it was. But yeah, it was in the classroom. It wasn't in the musty basement. Smelled like, you know, dry water. Yeah.

Joe Van Wie  23:04  
Sour bingo games. Ghost, you can smell ghosts.

Unknown Speaker  23:10  
So, so I go into there, and it's a few people there. It was Mother's Day weekend. And they had a speaker meeting that day. And they said, Well, hey, you're from out of town. Our speaker, you know, wasn't able to make it because it's Mother's Day, would you mind speaking and telling your story? You know, so you know, Hey, I can't I can't tell them. No, yeah. Had to do service work. So I'm like, Alright, sure. Absolutely. I'd be more than happy. So, so I you know, I'm sitting at the table and we'd go through the whole you know, the preamble everything and then I start telling my story. And

Joe Van Wie  23:46  
I think we lost Mike, we'll come back. We'll finish that story though. Because I'm now hearing you become the preacher. Yeah, mega church. They're what they call that Texas tutelage. Really like because you're you're Yankee. Okay. You're down in Texas they see as a guest and they offer you this seat of

Unknown Speaker  24:09  
that speaker and hospitality. It's

Joe Van Wie  24:12  
real. It's not a mythos. Texas tutelage. Once we get Mike finishes, I experienced it too. It's real. I mean, they're they're hospitality. Oh, no doubt is unmatched, no doubt unmatched by anyone I've ever in

Unknown Speaker  24:26  
their food is unmatched. Yeah, their barbecue. A ridiculous Yeah,

Joe Van Wie  24:31  
I was doing all the chains. I was stuck in Dallas.

Unknown Speaker  24:33  
Oh, boy. Did you miss out? There were two places Franklin's and blacks barbecue that everyone Uber's and everybody that we got with go to Franklin's had a 45 minute wait. So if people got there they tailgate it, everything like

Joe Van Wie  24:47  
that, Mike, we're just checking in we got your gun, right? Yeah.

Unknown Speaker  24:52  
I didn't want to jump in on that. Barbecue

Joe Van Wie  24:55  
back. Well, no, we when you left he was becoming the leader. Now. Have a megachurch pastors took the 10% of the mega churches population which suffer from addiction now he's gonna He's converting them to Scranton life.

Unknown Speaker  25:11  
Yeah. what somebody has to do. What's his name? My Joel Osteen. Yeah, just

Joe Van Wie  25:17  
30 grand and toilet $300,000 A plumber founder was toilet last week. I went in

Unknown Speaker  25:23  
there with like a spiky comb over all of a sudden I had Jheri curls like

Unknown Speaker  25:31  
so. But yeah, the barbecue if you ever go back down go Franklin's Franklin's and blacks are the two I just wrote it on my hand. Yeah. Franklin's had the 45 minute wait, and they said that, you know, people tailgate out there and they eat. The only problem with Franklin's was they stopped when they run out of meat. So you can be standing there for 45 minutes. Yeah. And then like, here's some macaroni and cheese and

Joe Van Wie  25:53  
you know canaries in the line that are like, a bird dies to let you know, half.

Unknown Speaker  25:58  
This was a sandal like messenger. Oh, wow. So we went to black. So it was unbelievable. But anyways, and I remember when I came back to Scranton, I was like, Everything tastes like ketchup and hotdogs now like I can't eat BB Yeah, after having done

Joe Van Wie  26:09  
sugary ketchup. Like, couldn't do lists could match and Hamlin they're, they're closed now.

Unknown Speaker  26:15  
Yeah, well, could match is pretty. But native bad nativism, back to jolla oz. So So I, so I tell my story. And this isn't a knock on my back at all, by any means. When I say this, I remember getting done and looking at their faces. And they were all like, in awe. And, and they were you know, people started cheering. They were like, oh my god, like, that's unbelievable. That's you are magnificent on the stuff. And when I tell my story, I don't really go into war stories of my story. I talk a little bit about where I was, and what happened. But then I talk a little bit about my past as far as my childhood. And then I talked most importantly, where I'm at today and how I got to where I'm at today.

Joe Van Wie  27:02  
That's why I always when you share just to interrupt. That's why I listened to you. You have an unbelievable way to articulate a prior condition than alcoholism being drunk. And that's when I mean, I was listening to you because I knew exactly what you're talking about. Like I have that condition.

Unknown Speaker  27:21  
Yeah, we all do. It's called the human condition. Yeah, well, sure. But when it being here on this planet,

Joe Van Wie  27:26  
yeah, you you you connect with people really well here so they're in awe of you because what did they not have that kind of connection at a meeting?

Unknown Speaker  27:35  
Well, and that's the thing on Saturday, so they were talking to me in a set all I said to them was like listen, like they looked at me like I wrote the big book. Like they put me right next to like, Bill Wilson. Yeah, I was so like, Man, I got some big shoes to fill now. And but I said to them, I said, Listen, I said everything that I talked about as far as where I'm at today and how I got there is what I got from Scranton, Pa recovery. Yeah. And that's one of the things that I say a lot today is that, you know, Lackawanna County, Scranton, Pa gets a knack for being a very drunk area of the world. But on the flip side of that we have some and I know this for a fact for the areas that have been to some of the best recovery.

Joe Van Wie  28:12  
1000s of people ever seen recovery in both counties. Yeah. You remember Santa Claus? Bruce? He was my sponsor. I used to just miss him. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker  28:19  
I think he passed away right before I came in to the rooms. He's

Joe Van Wie  28:23  
the first guy connected with 16. He would keep track through just his little, you know, how he would extrapolate how many people in each meeting who go out who would go out and relapse and on average in Lackawanna County, this was in the late 90s, he was keeping track of about 3000 people then, I'd say, actively, people in their first year recovery you'd have about when we pre COVID. Right, right, four to 5000 people pursuing recovery, be it through the court system, long term sobriety, rap meeting, that was the activity of Alcoholics Anonymous, I would I would say that just from the HDH dance sure to take that and then add. That's a huge population. Yeah, that's a huge voice.

Unknown Speaker  29:11  
Absolutely, it is. And like I said, it's the recovery support. And this area's is just, it's second to none. You know what I mean? It really is.

Unknown Speaker  29:21  
Now, can I kind of jump in kind of from being an outsider to this? What what makes it what makes you kind of above some of the other faces your bed? Well, I

Unknown Speaker  29:32  
think I think kind of like how we started off today's conversation, Munich,

Joe Van Wie  29:35  
the community, that the aspect of community we described, it's not a cold entry. Even if you didn't know someone, there'd be a relation. So there's a cheat there. I know your cousin. I know. I know where you live. I know where you were. And then there's this this easy entrance to become friends and there's a hospitality of Scranton. Even outsiders now let it go a step further explore Marines that may be in legal trouble here displaced within a year, they feel like they're from scratch, and they're made to feel welcomed. It's not just at a meeting, there'll be welcomed into people's homes, to events and family

Unknown Speaker  30:14  
events, and to their attics to report podcasts, you know,

Joe Van Wie  30:17  
yeah. So when you split a mic, it's fundamentally two things. It's a group of people call it a fellowship or a community. The second thing it is, is that we're sharing the same behavior to get sober, we don't have to believe the same thing. But we could take the steps in a fundamentally the same kind of way. And we'll we'll get our the result, the baseline result is you'll be sober, but you'll have a new outlook on life that is meaningful. And I think we're fundamentalist around here to some degree of how people approach a through the steps, either they meet to read the book together, or they have this organic flow where they become friends with someone and when they're friends. When sobriety starts to get a little, you need more of a transition, they start a fourth step. But it comes in all different packages. But around here, people are really active and getting you through the steps.

Unknown Speaker  31:15  
That makes perfect sense. And you said the word community. And to me that's that's such a strong word, or it's a strong thing. And I guess when you apply it to something like that, where do you got people supporting you? Whether or not you you fall off the wagon, or whatever it is, and they help you get back up and they don't judge you. That sounds like it's something really, really powerful on your journey. Yeah, and I guess that makes sense. And you mentioned to there's some type of relation even before you walk through that door, whether you knew somebody's cousin or if you work with somebody here. That is a Scranton thing. And like in northeast pa type of thing where everybody kind of knows everybody. Yeah, that will make perfect sense.

Joe Van Wie  31:57  
It can be a lot of pressure on someone specially who's you know, suffered a relapse I have that can feel humiliating or disconnected from a that pressure is not it's it's palatable, because you're now you feel in yourself an isolation or that you're ostracized for whatever reasons that can be real or imagined in your head. But there's pressure if you've left the community, your life has changed dramatically. Are

Unknown Speaker  32:26  
you it's like the mafia. Oh my god, I gotta go. No witness. anyone's going to grocery stores down in Hazleton.

Joe Van Wie  32:32  
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Or wherever you been? Yeah, that's the worst question. You could be asked to me. That's like, fuck you. You relapsed? Wherever you have been wherever you fuck, fuck you, man. I'm sober.

Unknown Speaker  32:46  
Even if you stop going to a specific meeting and you go to another one, you'll get a text from somebody random, which is also awesome. Like people check in on you. Yeah, they genuinely do care. It's like a full aftercare. Follow through. It's like, Hey, I haven't seen you a little bit everything, okay? And it's like, okay, everything's fine, honestly. But

Joe Van Wie  33:02  
it's when they were like in the 30s. There's a quote Mike, at the end, we talk about each other a great deal. I think that was their kind way and saying, We all gossip. But you know, the distinction of gossip real gossip is that you disregard truth. So if you're talking about someone, my sponsor always told me we talk about each other, it's kind of concerned. And we're this group kind of consciousness where if someone's in trouble, we maybe we should challenge them or ask them if they're okay. Or check in on them. So they know they're cared about. You know, that's a lot of pressure for someone whose mind especially if you're in a relapse, and you got sick and you're paranoid, or you feel that they there's only one way to sobriety. You know, there's some pros and cons about that, that I don't think there is one way to sobriety and I know Kyle doesn't believe that either. But a is prolific here. There's a new kind of fresh attitude that lets people find it their own way. That wasn't the case, maybe 20 years ago is a little more heavy handed.

Unknown Speaker  34:10  
Sure. Yeah, no, I can buy stories I've heard obviously, you know, it wasn't around in those days. But yeah, there there are multiple pathways to recovery. But at the end of the day, AAA is one of the most sustainable successful support groups. Yeah, reliable. Where they meet one on one time. Yeah, and there's I mean, like I said, when I traveled apps, there's meetings everywhere. Yeah, you could go anywhere in the world and there was a meeting somewhere you could

Joe Van Wie  34:39  
never leave your couch

Unknown Speaker  34:40  
Yeah, well the and now that we have Brian right that's what that's one of the cool things with that one of the I shouldn't say cool things but one of the areas of light in the whole cold yeah, dynamic was seeing

Joe Van Wie  34:53  
that's how I got to know you really well. Then. I got to know you better through COVID. Yeah, I just got to you know, no, you and see around at the meetings and I always liked what you shared. Like you were speaking my language I could tell we were like minded in our approach to not cynicism but being critical. Yeah, but embracing I have to have some kind of hope. Sure. And I was hearing you because I was struggling Yeah. When I when I first came back, but I'm struggling bad with how to get rid of this cynical behavior and to hear how sane calm measured your thoughts were. And I knew you had a critical moment that Mike I wish you could have known him 510 years. Maybe it's telling you how sick I was.

Unknown Speaker  35:40  
Maybe it wasn't that bad after all. No, you weren't.

Joe Van Wie  35:43  
I heard a really healthy mind and I was like it made things easier.

Unknown Speaker  35:51  
Yeah, and like you said it was maybe cynicism but just questioning Yeah, you know me just just questioning like this

Joe Van Wie  35:57  
question and ruin the rest of your month. Like you're just trapped on a question your emotional life stalled.

Unknown Speaker  36:06  
Everything's gotta go to shit yeah, like

Joe Van Wie  36:09  
questions back in my mind I had a drive over to South Scranton narcotics for this question really irritates yeah unlike put the

Unknown Speaker  36:18  
fire out now where it gets any worse but no there's there's definitely multiple pathways to recovery with a obviously being the strongest and in Joe we were talking about this earlier before we started recording even you know Smart Recovery being something that's really

Joe Van Wie  36:33  
I want to talk about smart recovery. Yeah, what are you guys good for there's no script to life holding holding strong for 10 minutes Dad's gonna run to the bathroom Yeah, but so be my first break on a podcast but I got two other podcasters here you guys are gonna have to hold all better together for 10 minutes and buy our

Unknown Speaker  36:54  
goods Mike and I can carry the show really?

Joe Van Wie  36:56  
I'll be back but Mike I'll be back let me know what kind of says about talking about me

Unknown Speaker  37:05  
I always well even Mike I don't know if you remember when we started. When I asked you to bring Joe on. We're on I asked to bring Joe on I should say and I said this guy says he's one of those way too smart for his own good type guys. This guy's super intelligent but he's a fucking lunatic at the same time he's good. Yeah, yeah, he brings good flair and you know everything that he brings to the table, but what's up so I was gonna say even when we

Unknown Speaker  37:39  
when we had him on our show, it was great to hear his story and kind of some of the shit that he went through and like his perspective, but the way he presented it and you know the the tone that he presented and I thought was really really good and engaging. Like you said it was very well spoken. So Joe when you listen to the record, we're talking nice about it.

Unknown Speaker  37:59  
And Mike I have to tell you, I know I sent you that video that we're gonna post on our page as well. I feel like Joe Rogan right now. I really do I'm kind

Unknown Speaker  38:10  
of kind of envious and jealous cuz I'm sitting in my office and set off

Unknown Speaker  38:14  
yeah, yeah. You know our podcast is you know, we really make do with what we have. So we set it up on Zoom and and we have our call and then Dustin and you mentioned earlier he rips the audio and helps slice and dice it and put it together but this is your big time over there. Yeah, Mike I have a microphone in front of me that I can play with I'm wearing headphones that I can actually hear myself through you know there's a light of some sort that looks like a halo to the left of me I guess he said that's for headshots. I don't know what that has to do with the podcast but yeah I'm I'm here for a pretty deep right yeah and we're in this you should see Joe's house I don't know if he's going to keep any of this for the show but I but this this house is unbelievable. He lives right in green ridge and it was I walked in and it's got I mean there's got to be like 15 rooms in this house Room The Room rooms yeah rooms not rooms and there's my Scranton accent so I can he records up here in the attic and it's a full like studio he's got some of the older night egg cartons but the stuff that we talked about to help with the sound so and then he's got the sound booth and audio set up here too so so yeah, I feel I'll tell you now that I'm sitting here recording with him. I feel like we need to step our game up big time and I need to get a pair of headphones even if they don't work at least they

Unknown Speaker  39:43  
better chair you sit in your daughter's camping chair probably is and kind of.

Unknown Speaker  39:47  
Yeah, so again for anyone listening that hasn't heard our podcast yet. There's no script to life. Yeah, I do all my recording on a Sofia the First camping chair in the attic because it's the only area of the house that where I will get any type of silence and peace. So

Unknown Speaker  40:06  
you laugh in that chair for about seven minutes to start recording and then after that you're standing up walking around. Yeah, it's kind of pointless.

Unknown Speaker  40:18  
My hips are screaming in my old age I can't sit in those chairs are suited only for five year old girl. So, but, ya know, this is my perfect Yeah, absolutely. This is definitely a nice setup, though. So I think that we have to really get ourselves. You know,

Unknown Speaker  40:35  
we go from knowing who, you know will talk to y'all figure out where he got everything right. Maybe one day we can do that.

Unknown Speaker  40:42  
Yeah, find out what he gets set up for us. A collaborative thing where we maybe pay him rent, I come up here once a week or once a month or once

Unknown Speaker  40:52  
a month, we can borrow or

Unknown Speaker  40:54  
hey, would your wife and daughter mind if I come over and record next week I got some some guests coming on that we really want to talk to and

Unknown Speaker  41:02  
I'll get out of the way. I'll take my shoes off.

Unknown Speaker  41:06  
We need this to be quiet. Well, it's funny. I'm glad you mentioned the shoes off thing too, because when I walked in, I'm wearing my my moccasins. Because it's Sunday. And besides the grocery store, the only thing I do is camp out in front of as you know, camp out in front of the TV and stare at my phone as I scream at athletic, you know, NFL football players that don't know I exist and scream at them to help my fantasy teams perform

Unknown Speaker  41:32  
their main concern?

Unknown Speaker  41:34  
Yeah, exactly. So. So I came over on my moccasins, and I didn't realize I was even had them on and when I came in the house, his wife actually said, Oh, you, you know kind of insinuated, you're one of those that wears the slippers out of the house. Because I guess Joe does as well. And she said well, he you know, he tracks dirt and mud and I said oh, I didn't know he had the All Terrain slippers. I said my slippers are really more or less just for, you know, around the house. But so when I was coming up the steps before we came up here to record, he took his slippers off and I noticed it. And obviously being a guest in somebody's house. I said, Joe, should I take my slippers? Should I take these off too? And he gave me the shit. Yeah, you have to and then I hit him with a with a curveball. Well, I also don't have socks on. So it was like, Okay, does he take her word? Yeah. So I could see him looking at me. And I said, I'll take them off. If you guys are more comfortable. My feet are clean, I swear. So we came upstairs and then his wife, she was in the in the bedroom with the daughter. And that's when he started he took his shoes off his shoes and put them back out. Yeah. And they saw they saw my feet and they were like, you know, I will clean up when you're gonna just put the damn x

Unknown Speaker  42:47  
or we need those covered.

Unknown Speaker  42:49  
So

Unknown Speaker  42:51  
you got to be comfortable.

Unknown Speaker  42:52  
I'll tell you this is a lot better than the Sofia the First Chair. There's no doubt about that. I'm back

Unknown Speaker  43:00  
at my desk that often my office will sit here and he told me I'm recording on my phone.

Unknown Speaker  43:05  
Using your past you were trying to look all professional today. I was all

Unknown Speaker  43:09  
set up and I had it ready to go. One of my casters, my assistants are to come in here. Sit on the bench with me.

Joe Van Wie  43:15  
I haven't really added a video aspect to this. It was it was overwhelming. At first it was like when I first did a video the first podcast I shot was last spring my and I used to have an ad agency and a film company. A couple of my buddies came over we did a like a pilot. And I went from talking like this once the camera went out. I'm like and how are you? It was all it was awful welcome. It was awful. I felt like a broadcaster. And I realized that that moment, I've never been myself in front of a camera. Now once like um video. And when we took strip that away, and I started just podcasting and I did a couple kind of just friends come over and we're chatting. I realized oh, this is it. Yeah, this is how you talk. Yeah. I'm talking to

Unknown Speaker  44:12  
more laid back. Yeah, no.

Unknown Speaker  44:14  
Well, we ran into that when we first started recording. Yeah, our first couple of weeks it I could not get out of my head that we weren't live. Yeah, it's weird. I was sitting there and yeah, and Mike I know. You remember we had some hilarious, outtakes. And they were they were very funny because when I first started recording I was actually in my friend who does the become the executive producer. He does all our editing. We were in his house. So now I'm staring at his large head and laughing and then I could see Mike on the computer kind of growing impatient and then I'm going is it my line isn't my line I'm like Jesus shut up and just talk

Joe Van Wie  44:49  
it takes a while to understand any medium but it this this was jarring for me because I was I realized I've never been my myself publicly fully vulnerable or talking, there was a persona just ready to protect with sarcasm or campiness? And that went away the first couple episodes, I was like, Oh, I'm talking to my friends or I'm talking to strangers with serious curiosity. Yeah. So it's almost like podcasting is therapeutic for me. I learned how to listen to people again, I'm continuing to listen better. And I realize to do this, well, you realize how non present I am for other things. When you're not in the past. Yeah. Isn't

Unknown Speaker  45:38  
it weird that you say that? Yeah.

Joe Van Wie  45:40  
How did you guys come up with your name? Because I don't think I've ever established how all better is almost it's sarcasm, and I never said it on the it's not like I think we're all better. It's a line from my grandmother. I remember you telling Yeah. And I've never said my grandmother might use I might have told you on yours. She was prim, proper, old school Irish, and never had a pair of sneakers on her life. Heels. Dress. Yeah. And the first time I was like, 16, I came back from a rehab. She'd have a high ball every day at four o'clock, or Christian Brothers sherry. And she goes, Oh, you're back from that place. I was like, Yeah, my mom like called her mom. She goes, Well, are you all better? I said, Yeah, she could you fix me a drink?

Unknown Speaker  46:34  
Well, what if we told her? No,

Joe Van Wie  46:37  
I'm safe. Now. I'm gonna bite the glass in half and just pour blood into a cup my vein open and start pouring green on? Who came up with the title of your podcast?

Unknown Speaker  46:49  
I think it was a collaborative effort. Yeah. Right. Like

Unknown Speaker  46:52  
we kind of we kind of talked about it. Well, what did you originally come up with? Light and lighten up or something?

Unknown Speaker  46:58  
Oh, yes. Pretty neat. Yeah. So I wanted to originally it was going to be called enlightened up. Yeah. And it was going to be kind of like a mix on like the word plan the mindfulness, as well as the you know, like,

Joe Van Wie  47:10  
Let's fall woke culture. Yeah, it's the butt of a joke. I think a lot when you hear it in wide media. But there is there's some there's an integrity behind there it is woke there's a higher standard of ethics or economy hasn't caught up with but young people. They're getting cut loose. Sure. But I think that would have spoke to that a little bit. Lighten up.

Unknown Speaker  47:33  
Yeah. We liked that. We thought it was pretty repetitive. Don't

Unknown Speaker  47:37  
want that. Yeah, yeah, man. And I was doing a speaking engagement for coastal carolina here. And I had everything I wanted to say her memorize it, and all that good stuff. And I got that. And I'm like, these kids don't want to give them some bullshit. So I ripped it off, and I just shot from the hip on my. And when I got done, I think I called or texted Kyle, they'll come about it and all that. Like, there's no, no skip to life. But it was kind of fun. To kind of like that, that. It was it was like somewhere along the lines of we're kind of just, you know, that's what a little bit more. That's kind of how we settled on it.

Unknown Speaker  48:16  
Yeah. Yeah. And then the whole theme, there's no script to life really plays to, you know, our lives in general. You know, there's no script to it's, you know, something I found that really worked helped set me free, was, it's not about the situations in life. That is the problem. It's about the way I react or think about those situations. That is the problem. Absolutely. You know, life situations are just that they're just situations. Yeah, that's it. They're just situations meant to be handled, and then you put them down and you move on. But we attach to them, we attach to the problem we attach to the worry, we attached to the anxiety of it, whatever the case may be. So one of my favorite quotes of all time and I read Eckhart Tolle every day, Miguel Ruiz, I read Carl Jung, I read, Alan, you know, Alan Watts, I read all these great guys, my favorite quotes is by iron Mike Tyson, I have all steamed enlightened individuals is everybody's got a plan until they get punched in the face, you know, and that kind of ties into it. So so it's not about what happens in life. That's where the acceptance and understanding and freedom in freedom comes is accepting understand it's not about what he does. It's about how I react and think about what

Joe Van Wie  49:31  
is the relationship to the experience of life I liked the idea said there's no script to life. The script, especially locations in genre you can take Star Trek and make it a Western. Just change this, but it's still the relationships sure people that doesn't have to change. Even though he can't write the script life will will change your location, your circumstances. You can't you can't plot that but what you can write before you have All season. So you're going to do a TV show. And this is interesting. There's kind of an allegory or okay, you can write a character outline of a character that's stuck like Gilligan's stuck on the island and the arc is, how do they deal with all these failed attempts to get off the island? Okay? The character can have has to have a transformation. But the the scenes, the settings and the characters that show up in the story, you can't script that in real life. Right? But you can have your outline you just set it what my how I perceive it. Yeah, my relationships to other people. This is the goal. life's gonna keep just, it just keeps coming. Yeah, can't even what are you going to choose to hear? She can't even choose the senses. You want to acknowledge it sure is happening. I've been finding that somewhere. I know you met your practice, you practice meditation. Do you might do meditate, ever.

Unknown Speaker  50:55  
I should probably meditate a lot more than what I do. Well, wait,

Joe Van Wie  50:58  
start now. Go ahead

Unknown Speaker  51:02  
and close my yoga mat in my office with me. So yeah, I've just been out there.

Joe Van Wie  51:08  
I was always attracted to it. I just never had I guess it's nature. I was lucky to stay alive long enough that I'm finding a comfort and practicing it came out of a little desperation to use anything to help slow my mind and my anxiousness now, now that it was so rare. 40 But I think a lot of it's luck. I don't know if I'd have this experience with the goals. My the way I perceive life and reality and 20 I just feel lucky. Very strange.

Unknown Speaker  51:40  
If you believe that everything's happened the way it's supposed to happen. It's yeah,

Joe Van Wie  51:43  
it's hard. It's, it's a it's a juggling of that. I've never felt that way until now a little bit like a determinism. There's like a truth somewhere in there. I would always confuse it with fatalism. Like it's all gonna happen anyways. Like, let go the wheel, like disengage from life, like, like wait for tragedy or whatever is coming. But it's not gonna be by my will. Because addiction kind of does that to someone. They watched a lot of it. Sure. But determinism, there's something in it. I have a biography of Napoleon downstairs. The man knew he was going to be Napoleon. By the time he was eight. What is that he was sitting in an island of Corsica. The man always knew he was going to take over Europe.

Unknown Speaker  52:31  
That manifestation, the

Joe Van Wie  52:33  
manifestation, there's determinism, like there's a fate that seems like it's plotted. And he was aligned with being aware of it. Well, if you if you ask me out, because I'm not a spirit, like I don't practice a faith, per se. But there's something there consciously that is just on identity. It's curious. I'm just curious about it.

Unknown Speaker  52:54  
Yeah, if you I mean, if you study any law of attraction, yeah, they'll tell you that that what predominates your thoughts becomes reality,

Joe Van Wie  53:01  
even but like, I'm always curious how to separate the delusion of it, versus the shared reality? What if? What if someone is downloading themselves into the successes they're having, and they're calling it the laws of attraction? From the initial versus the ones that are these sequences so hard to measure? I think of you tomorrow. I haven't seen you for years. I run into the next day at zoom o's and the unlikeliness, we've never hung out, it's almost together. Or I've never seen you there before. Ooh, that's spooky with zero Laws of Attraction like, so that's a that's a serious curiosity about someone who same. I've seen the toxic versions of it. I've seen.

Unknown Speaker  53:44  
So I had I had a call with a guy. Actually, about a week ago, we were talking about it. And we were talking about manifestation laws of attraction. And I said, he said he was telling me about coping skills he had, yeah. And he said, You know, one of them that I lack is talking at lack calling people tone reaching out, when things are festering in between my ears, and I just bottle it up and keep it out. And I said, Well, how does it typically work out for you? And he said, well, it ends up really, really bad. I mean, that I have a meltdown or I do this right? Do that. I said okay, so you manifested it, you manifested it in your life, you know, I said, why not just change the other shoe? Why not just start practicing the calls, yeah, manifested into an action either way, whatever it is that you saw in to give a better context. Now, he had said that when I have crazy thoughts to do or not to do something, I don't want to talk about them. And I said, Well, when you don't talk about them, what happens? They end up happening.

Joe Van Wie  54:41  
He manifests the obsession to because the thoughts it's led to your own way to unpack like obsession, and that's almost CBT Yeah, yeah, that's it as a smart recovery practice. I'm not like the episode that before you guys Yeah, it's not out yet. But I will be Uh, defining a little bit of smart recovery. Sure. Which I've always been attracted to. Yeah, ideals, I haven't been able to practice or go to meetings I'm gonna go to yeah shortly. But I've always found it interesting. It's a it's a great tool I'd like to feel more comfortable with.

Unknown Speaker  55:17  
Yeah, so smart recovery is something that's relatively new in comparison to AAA, which has been around since 1939, or 35. I believe it was originated in about 97. And it was out in Ohio, I think is where they were, they came up with it. And I don't remember the name of the of the the doctor that started it. But so I became a smart recovery facilitator about two years ago. And I really, really liked the CBT approach, Smart Recovery offered. Now I loved it a I love the 12 steps. You know, my concept of God does not align with anything religious, you both I got one or the other. Yeah, absolutely. So and we were talking a little earlier. What I love about smart recovery is that, you know, eight and 12 steps are more faith based in their practice, the powerlessness towards smart recovery is more cognitive behavioral therapy and about empowerment of the person. Yeah, and Smart Recovery has four principles to where AAA has the 12 steps. And typically, when we do a four, or I'm sorry, a smart recovery meeting, if you go on in anyone that's ever interested, go on Smart Recovery toolbox, just type it into a Google search engine. And you can find all the exercises that help support the four point system, what was adding the four point system or point system. So the four point system is the first one is building and sustaining motivation. The second one is coping with urges. The third one is managing thoughts, emotions and behaviors. And the fourth one is a lifestyle balance. And

Joe Van Wie  56:48  
it's an approach to any something that would be addiction, a behavior that's damaging your life, it's not rewarding at this point may have been in the past, now it's hurting you. Well, the gambling is

Unknown Speaker  57:00  
saying, Yeah, and you got to be careful with addiction with the rewards because you have to understand that internally and addiction is always a reward. Yeah, is never ever not be just because on the outside we're losing doesn't mean in the end, it's a good point. Our brains not registering as a reward. So that's something even when we look at clients today and work with people today, it's it's playing the ping pong game in your head of rewards.

Joe Van Wie  57:20  
So at a meeting, though, can I you can find someone's I could be there for drinking. Everybody. Heroin out against me and a gambler?

Unknown Speaker  57:28  
Sure, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, anybody could be there. And in really, they encompass the whole kind of what I said a little earlier to is the lifestyle balance. That's what it's all about. So there are different tools. There's the hierarchy of values tool, there is the ABCs to thinking tool. There is the cost benefits tool, right. COVID.

Joe Van Wie  57:48  
Love to jump off topic. What meetings are happening around here? I? So it's some of them. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker  57:56  
So for the agency, I work for a turning point, Alternative Living solutions, or T pals for anybody in the screen area, that's over known. We host the Smart Recovery meeting on Fridays at 5pm. At our at our facility, and we also offered on Zoom, and that is open to the public.

Joe Van Wie  58:11  
Is there a link to a Facebook page for that? I think I don't

Unknown Speaker  58:14  
know if that I may be privy to that information. I'd have to check with

Joe Van Wie  58:19  
Are you gonna check? I'd like to include it. In the header for this.

Unknown Speaker  58:24  
Yeah, absolutely. I don't see why it would be a problem because it is open to the public. Now our clinical groups are closed to the public, obviously. But yeah. And then Tuesdays at noon at this at the recovery bank in Scranton is the one that I facilitate. Yeah, I gotta come down. Yeah. And it's really good. You know, we have you know, what I like about it is I have a strong nucleus of people that that go in, I have about four or five that have been coming since. I'd say last September. Yeah. Yeah.

Joe Van Wie  58:52  
And did you guys not meet for a while was there zoom.

Unknown Speaker  58:54  
So we did it on Zoom. We did offer it on Zoom. And then we did a sort of a hybrid on Zoom. And this really goes to one of the strongest parts of points of recovery, which I think is critical as connection, because we actually had some people that we had on zoom that were not in the Scranton area, who actually ended up coming over to t pals and becoming clients. Oh, that's why because they were really digging the great functional way of what we're doing, you know, so

Joe Van Wie  59:20  
do you see a growth happening though? The wasn't the like, correct me if I'm wrong. I thought you were speaking to a growth preak COVID. It was kind of I saw more meetings on the reg the last couple of years as far as smart recovery. Yeah. Did you see a fall off from COVID People know your growth? No,

Unknown Speaker  59:37  
we T Pals is an agency actually grew 1% throughout COVID

Joe Van Wie  59:41  
Wow, we there's a need. Yeah, we

Unknown Speaker  59:45  
and I think one of the reasons why is credit to the people at the top of the food chain and T pals because they were very proactive in the approach to technology, getting things to me we were when I came to T pals it was about Two or three months into the COVID lockdowns. Okay. And by the time I had got there it was already zoom. We had zoom groups offered telehealth offered individual sessions offered everything they set up through the program that we use. Yeah. As far as our documentation, Team Pals

Joe Van Wie  1:00:16  
is located in Lisbon and Lackawanna County, they're an outpatient services here for addictions, gambling, and all sorts of clinical needs. I'll leave the link here. Yeah, I probably should have said that, too. That's why I'm here. The master organizer,

Unknown Speaker  1:00:34  
right, right. But ya know, we did see a 1% growth throughout in COVID pandemic and like I said, I think I think it really attests to our proactive

Joe Van Wie  1:00:42  
telemedicine stay on on deck disease. Do you still see it?

Unknown Speaker  1:00:46  
Yeah, so we do utilize it. Still. We encourage in person now Personally, myself. I don't love telehealth telemedicine is

Joe Van Wie  1:00:57  
tough. But it's the world is going there not only pandemic wise, sure. Cost wise. Yeah. Transportation wise, especially for elderly medicine or. And I think with the advent of the metaverse, which, in two years will be old news between business meetings and medicine being received. Their half of our reality is going to change. Yeah, for 60% of the population. I think half of their day is going to be spent in the metaverse.

Unknown Speaker  1:01:29  
Absolutely. Yeah, this is the new normal. Yeah, you know, there's no such thing as going back to where we were now and you really just have to adapt and go whatever,

Joe Van Wie  1:01:35  
man and there's no script for life, dude. It works. But I liked Mike, when are you gonna get sober?

Unknown Speaker  1:01:43  
Yeah. Mike, you know what we actually brought you on tonight for an intervention. Yeah, talk to you.

Joe Van Wie  1:01:50  
You guys can have an intervention on me. I'm 43 years old from Scranton. I don't watch football. Oh, come on. Hey, I think I even told Kyle, man don't bring me into the weeds when I was on your podcast with the sports I could have. I could speak to Joe Montana maybe are like the bears. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Bo Jackson.

Unknown Speaker  1:02:15  
Bo Jackson. Hey, go

Joe Van Wie  1:02:16  
Yeah, Wade Boggs i That's when I fell off of watching store so it's

Unknown Speaker  1:02:22  
it's funny when you actually stepped out. I told I was telling the story about the moccasins coming into the house. Oh, yeah.

Joe Van Wie  1:02:27  
Watch my wife. She don't play man.

Unknown Speaker  1:02:32  
So I said I didn't even realize just started the mind because Sunday's I camp out in my recliner. And I scream at my telephone with the NFL players that are on my fantasy team that don't even know exist. Your team? Yeah, they're mighty. I

Joe Van Wie  1:02:46  
know. My friends. I'm on the dark man for 20 years, 25 years. I'd have to get drunk like to go to a bar out of the fear someone bring up football. And be like, What the fuck is wrong with this guy? I'm just there to do drugs and get drunk and talk to ya man. I want to talk to the outcome over and talk to the golf kids before I could jump into a football season. I'm lost.

Unknown Speaker  1:03:18  
Yeah, that's typically how I spend my son. And it's funny i No matter how mindful I like to believe I am and in tune with emotions and all this stuff. There's no greater pleasure to yeah, there's no greater pleasure to me now in my life than feeling so completely invested in a fantasy football team that has nothing, no bearing on

Joe Van Wie  1:03:41  
the same thing. It was called politics. And here's the sad state of affairs. That's how you treat politics. When you're involved in it. You can't help it. That's the direction you're going. It wasn't about policy wasn't about public good. It becomes about binary winner lose Sure. savviness strategy. To what end? No one's being served. It doesn't matter the party. I'm not speaking to parties. But that's when I realized I have football. Yeah, there you go. We all have to have a football. Yeah. I understand football in that it may meet a basic need that we don't have to go invade Nanticoke next week out of his primal need for bloodshed. We could watch it on television with Viper cams and yeah, highest production I've ever seen. It's an NFL game. Absolutely. But it meets that basic need. We can't pretend we don't have reptilian leftovers of their it's I think it's a really beautiful way to celebrate, you know, a tribal celebration of of struggle

Unknown Speaker  1:04:43  
of like have you ever heard football and

Unknown Speaker  1:04:49  
enjoyed it. I'm enjoying the comparison to

Joe Van Wie  1:04:51  
say the Aztecs played football but the losing team got their head lobbed through a loop

Unknown Speaker  1:04:59  
you guys made Danika

Joe Van Wie  1:05:00  
Well, that's what football was before. You know, we got out of the desert, right? Yeah. Who's our neighbors? Yeah, I don't like what's the vibe that's coming from there when we cut a couple of their heads off maybe things maybe our crops will grow over here. It's

Unknown Speaker  1:05:15  
like, oh, take them over. Yeah,

Joe Van Wie  1:05:16  
we kill all their dogs.

Unknown Speaker  1:05:19  
Nice land. Let's take it over. That

Joe Van Wie  1:05:20  
was a weekend before they were state sovereignty or microscope.

Unknown Speaker  1:05:27  
Oh my god, but yeah, having that passion. Yeah, like for something I think is awesome.

Joe Van Wie  1:05:33  
I think it's healthy. You know, I thought I could lie and dilute myself. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe at times it was an MBA, I didn't have that connection. And a lot of my close friends play fantasy football. And I felt like it was too late. I wasn't interested but I'll go to a baseball game. And by the ninth inning I'm yelling Yeah. And it's it's unconscious. It's coming out of me it's a collective consciousness it feels good yeah there's a dopamine there's that it's It's wild. Yeah, that's the dangerous aspect if you put us all in one big area eventually the game ends and someone was like now could start speaking to like

Unknown Speaker  1:06:20  
yeah, you can turn around look at the end. Yeah, like yeah, let's kill poor

Joe Van Wie  1:06:23  
people. Now the game's over. Be like, ah, yeah, keep this rolling. The game's not over.

Unknown Speaker  1:06:32  
Know I think that speaks to the collective consciousness. I think when you it's when you're around that real airman stuff. It's real, you know, experience everything.

Joe Van Wie  1:06:40  
It's yeah, I get it at a concert concerts for sure. I mean, there's an art being performed but football is it's an IT capture captures a lot of people. I think it's a good thing.

Unknown Speaker  1:06:54  
Well, if you look at you know, America's game, or America's sport was always intended based

Joe Van Wie  1:06:58  
on me to its own economy. I've never enormous Yeah, it's

Unknown Speaker  1:07:02  
a conglomerate to say the least NFL what they are. And I've never seen you know, sports purists love the World Series love. I love PGA. I love to watch golf. I love to watch the masters. MBA, but collectively, everyone watches the Super Bowl. I don't care who you are. You're at a Super Bowl party of some sort,

Joe Van Wie  1:07:24  
you know? Yeah. Like, I'm a weirdo, man.

Unknown Speaker  1:07:29  
Just completely shut down.

Joe Van Wie  1:07:32  
Well, maybe I'm the outlier here, but I'm a weirdo. I mean, it's Super Bowl night. I could be here doing high doses of psychedelics just staring at my foot. That was my Super Bowl

Unknown Speaker  1:07:49  
like the Super Bowl, it doesn't bring everybody together on a different level. Because you don't have to be a football fan.

Joe Van Wie  1:07:55  
No, I was Super Bowls and I'm you know, I'm cheering by halftime. Yeah, I love the halftime show. That's it. I enjoy the commercials. It's a very piece together. It's one of the best pieces of entertainment that's offered through the year. Nothing could compete with NFL video production presentation packaging that game is just for two dimensional screen like what is that going to be on an Oculus? Have you is can you watch a game on an Oculus? Do you guys know? But like on a VR headset? Oh, I'm not Yeah, honest with you. That's gonna be Mind Bender. Sure. You're gonna be playing football?

Unknown Speaker  1:08:38  
Yeah, could you imagine Yeah, you're gonna be on the

Joe Van Wie  1:08:41  
television does a really good resolute it television. So when you're watching 4k, you could really experience 4k As an NFL package. Yeah, it is. Fourcade if you have a good like a 70 inch TV you're seeing now you put the headset on and a bunch of the you know guys are in a room fantasy football. How long will it be before you're the POV of the senator or you pick the fullback and you play you pick a play? I know you're talking couple years it's not far off at all. Yeah, I imagine that's people better get their hearts checked before

Unknown Speaker  1:09:19  
Yeah, all kinds of things. I It's funny you say the 70s because my mother in law's got a 74 inch TV. Yeah, and or maybe 72 But either way it's in the ballpark. And I remember when they first guy that LeBron James was playing with the heat still Miami Heat and they were in the NBA Playoffs. I remember watching it I could see their sweat glands opening yeah and their heads crazy. I was like this isn't something

Joe Van Wie  1:09:45  
reality because you don't see it in real life that way right? If you're on the stand you still be missed or the elements would be affecting your your vision. Yeah, you're in your home and it's not true color that looks like it is but there's there's a few frightening it looks more accurate than reality. So like more information seems to be going into my brain about what I'm looking at. than if I was standing 10 feet away from Yeah, I wouldn't be able to have a I couldn't make my eyes take a tight medium shot, right the guy. Yeah, cuz I'd still have the peripheral.

Unknown Speaker  1:10:18  
Exactly. It's weird. Yeah, it's weird stuff. Yeah, all of a sudden it's like everything is glowing at a different rate or something like that

Joe Van Wie  1:10:24  
NFL is the watermark of the highest resolution I experienced on television or would watch in the camera movement. I mean, I don't think there's anything more expensive on Earth

Unknown Speaker  1:10:35  
to shoot no cameras on the field now and they are kit they're like 375 grand each. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And did you ever see some of the stadiums? Yeah,

Joe Van Wie  1:10:43  
it's mind bending. I do look at that because I'm very interested. I was very interested. It's just overwhelming. Like, what brilliants plan this of years and decades of just entertaining. Yeah, there's so much at stake for that show to be perfect.

Unknown Speaker  1:10:58  
They have the new stadium out in Los Angeles so phi or the Rams plays Okay. Unbelievable. The one in Vegas the one in Atlanta. I know and then Jerry we're all done

Joe Van Wie  1:11:08  
with like new When were they built?

Unknown Speaker  1:11:12  
Well, Michael was so fine. Last

Unknown Speaker  1:11:14  
year. Yeah. Last year. Vegas was last year two years ago.

Joe Van Wie  1:11:18  
I can't believe I see your friends at

Unknown Speaker  1:11:21  
Mercedes Benz and New Orleans is only a few years or whatever the Atlanta

Unknown Speaker  1:11:26  
let Yeah, the one lane I know is a handful years old and that's that's pretty that's like a sight to see.

Unknown Speaker  1:11:32  
You look at them like how they are over the top they are and then you look at like Soldier Field in Chicago. Well, I was just so crazy that they're the same you know, they provide the same thing. We

Unknown Speaker  1:11:44  
will Yeah, we just just a couple weeks ago I was out in Buffalo. Yeah, I went to go see a bills game and they have an older stadium. Yeah,

Joe Van Wie  1:11:51  
I've been to Buffalo Yeah, not the stadium but I shot ads and that's a great city to by the way did a judge race in Buffalo and I had a lawyer I used to shoot my John Farrell Leto okay. It's the original wings and

Unknown Speaker  1:12:08  
yeah, I really when I went there, it was kind of like a you could see how like close minded I am when I think I'm not but when I went to Austin I remember thinking I was gonna be Tumbleweed and like, kicking the bar doors and went or arrow and so buffalo I was expecting to be like, Cleveland, like a real depressed the old town. Yeah, the downtown area. Buffalo is awesome. Oh, yeah,

Joe Van Wie  1:12:28  
it is really Hills too. It's like not I don't want to say San Francisco vibe. But for Eastern and then it's New York. It's more than you have the city and then the back half of the city slopes down like a big hill. It's really cool. Yeah, there's this little delis and breakfast places. I had fun. I always have fun though. If I'm in a new place. I like the excitement.

Unknown Speaker  1:12:51  
Yeah. You have to get get into like the culture of go Austin the town for the night.

Joe Van Wie  1:12:57  
I've done that. Listen to

Unknown Speaker  1:12:58  
the locals and stuff. But that stadium itself is it's an older stadium, you know and you know it compared to some of the I was done Tampa a few years. Yeah, it was like, Whoa, this is like night and day, you know,

Joe Van Wie  1:13:08  
do you ever do go to up to what are they there? What are they called now? The miners are no railroad. The railroad shots videos for them. I don't even know their name. Gee, there's a chance that's how disconnected I am from school sports. But I'll tell you what, I went up there one night because I had to shoot video for get a capture some footage of the stuff and I said I was drinking then I said I didn't see anyone I knew. So I'm like a draft here. Yeah. Just to cut the edge off. It was awesome. Sure that stadium is awesome. Oh, yeah, pizza was all forged pizza. And then I didn't want to sit in the chairs. It's fine. If you can't stop walking around. There's a lawn and Mike have you been to that stadium? Since it's PNC?

Unknown Speaker  1:14:02  
Yeah, well, writers out there. I was up there in August and a couple of buddies went up to game and it was I hadn't been there in years. Beautiful city. Isn't it done a great job with it?

Joe Van Wie  1:14:13  
Yeah, that compared to other stadiums. It seems pretty clean modern. Yeah. Yeah, it's not bad for

Unknown Speaker  1:14:21  
a mountain there.

Joe Van Wie  1:14:22  
Sure. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker  1:14:23  
It's funny because I think we take advantage of it because when I lived there, I never went. There. Now I look at it like Wow, that's crazy.

Joe Van Wie  1:14:30  
I haven't gone since read Barron's. 92 Mike Schmidt was on the field. Last game. I was in it was like a Phillies exposition Expo game.

Unknown Speaker  1:14:38  
Yeah, we all walk on a county stadium. Yeah, and we

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

INTRO
Podcasting
Addiction
Common Bond
Earth
Bathroom Break
Listening
Meditation
Smart