Episode 100: Nurturing Fulfillment through Self-expression and Mindful Travel

Feeling swamped by the relentless torrent of news? It's time to hit the pause button. We promise that by tuning into this episode, you'll learn about the enriching benefits of a news detox, the importance of finding your own voice and path, and the crucial role of mindful travel planning. We'll also share insights into the work of our organization, Voices for Voices, and our mission to amplify unique voices from across the globe.

Have you ever wondered how your journey may be different from your siblings? Are you ready to embrace risk and strive for personal growth? This episode is all about discovering your voice and how it can lead to a sense of fulfillment. We explore the power of self-expression through arts and the transformation it can initiate in others' lives. We also emphasize the need to raise our voices for those who can't. Join us as we journey through the art of finding our voice and purpose, and changing the world, one voice at a time.

#VoicesForVoices #SelfExpression #Podcast #FindYourVoice #ArtAndChange #GlobalChange #Japan #Tokyo #Osaka #Singapore #Malaysia #Australia #Sydney #Melbourne #Brisbane #KualaLumpur

Transcript

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: 0:02

Wow, the news gets me down. Does the news get you down from time to time? So much negativity, so much aggressive language and action Again, does the news get you down? It gets me down. And, referring to that digital detox that we talked about in another episode, detoxing from news can be a healthy thing when we have this sensationalism that, like the devices, is looking for our time, our attention, a motivated topic, the politically charged topic that gets into our head like, oh my gosh, that is happening. I can't believe it, I don't know why that is occurring and I would never do that. All these types of reactions are not good for ourselves and our bodies. So it's okay to take a detox from the news.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: 1:34

Again, my heart usually heads up to go faster when I look at news and news stories and violence and all the craziness that is going on in the world and a lot of it we don't even we don't have control over. We don't have control over that. We can't control what happens in another country in certain political circles. We can only do what we can and that's vote have our voice heard, and from there it's going to be really, really tough to affect change, and so this episode isn't all about politics. This episode is about standing firm and, like our organization, voices for Voices, being the voice for ourselves and someone else that we know and that brings very much true with everything we do, especially job searching, career searching, establishing that career foundation. And the best way that we can express our voice is to have interest and passion with whatever that industry, that job, that vocation that is pulling us in that we want Not with friends, not with family, and sometimes maybe not with significant others. Even out of an abundance of love, we can agree to disagree on things that may interest us. Nothing more evident than an introvert, somebody that is more guarded, reserved, versus a person that can go into a social setting, a strike of conversation with anybody. And so it comes back to who we are as individuals, and I've had to really break down those barriers for myself of not getting so caught up with what other people are doing, and it's hard and day to day I don't always succeed at that. I try, I don't always succeed. So I'm not here saying I'm perfect at all. None of us are. But what I'm trying to do is set up those guideposts that what I spend my time on are things that I believe in and things that are going to motivate me to want to come back the next day and continue working and the word work also has a negative connotation like, oh, I'm going to work, I spent all these hours working.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: 5:17

If what we're doing truly makes us happy, really is something that we like personally, that we want to do, that we like seeing the outcome, that we like going through the process and, in my case, now at my phase of life, of wanting to spend more of my time helping others than hurting others and being, for a large part of the time, a very narcissistic person and there are still times when that comes out and I'm not happy and proud when those elements come out. But at the same sense, I'm not going to let something get me down. If I truly want to do something, if I can see in the future that I do thing one, two and three, that I have a good chance of accomplishing my goal, then I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna give it a shot. I look at things very simple-minded now. If something is not going to bankrupt my family and is not illegal, what's the worst thing that could happen? The answer could be no, okay. Well, if I don't ask if I don't try and it's something I'm truly passionate about, that I really wanna do that.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: 6:58

I've had small pieces of experiences and at those times when I did whatever that thing is that I felt good. I felt less stressed, I felt I was making an impact, that my life, as short as we live as human beings, even if we look at 100 years you know we're in the year 2023, you know we turn to page 2024, let's say we live 100 years. That is a small percentage of the total amount of time that has elapsed. So we're really only on earth for a very short amount of time, and it's taken me a long time, a very long time, to really sit and think, not facetiously. But when I'm no longer here on earth, how am I gonna be remembered? Is it gonna be that person that was only looking out for themselves, or is it gonna be that person who's more on the other side of trying to raise other people up, like our organization, voices for voices not only share my voice, but the voices of others, and that is so, so, very true If you look at the work we've done.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: 8:46

In a few short years we've been an organization, now 501C3, you know we've been able to make impacts on all continents of the world. We have people who have viewed, listened events our TV show and podcast that you're watching and listening, or reading the transcript or the subtitles Ukraine having that visit, being able to bring the voice of people who are in a more torn country that was illegally invaded. And so when I do these things, I don't take them lightly, especially a trip like I took to Ukraine, given all the security concerns and all the things that are going on at a time of war and the uncertainty that I would be able to protect myself given a type of attack, whether that's a missile, artillery, small arms fire, whatever that may be. So a lot of planning went into that, but sitting here sharing just a small part of what we've done to be able to bring the voices of people everywhere, regardless of whether they're a celebrity like Tyrus, whether you are fortunate to be able to sit down and have a conversation, or whether it is an individual who may have been incarcerated for many years, who is now looking at life a little bit differently than when they first went through the criminal justice program, and so let us just think about others, not that we have to not care and worry about ourselves. You know the food, water, shelter, the likes. You know, looking at Maslow's hierarchy of needs, we need to do that. But I'm talking about when we have the time to. What could we say? We're doing work, going to your job, going to my job, the people that we interact with, the events. We go to things that we choose to do, and not everything. We're going to be able to have a complete choice, a thousand percent anywhere together.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: 11:56

But those times where we are like you know, the trip to Ukraine, I didn't have that planned. I had a trip already planned that was taking me to the region and for our organization to do more mission work, like we did last year in Poland with some of the Ukrainian refugees, and just being able to do a small part, buying groceries for individuals who, by no fault of their own, I've been put in this situation. I knew in my mind that if conversations were had, if I was asked, and as many safety precautions were taken as possible, that if, whatever those conversations were, whoever those people were, whether it was during an interview that I was doing, whether it was an event where I sat at a table with five other people and introduced myself and had a conversation and somehow a trip and opportunity came up to be able to go to Ukraine to be able to do that type of work. I knew that, given those opportunities, I could do one or two things. I could sit back and do the majority of the percentage of being safe, of going to Poland and then Romania and doing the mission work there, or a little less safe, but to have a potential greater impact of showing that I care about other people, because there are a lot of organizations, a lot of people that are doing fantastic work that are helping others.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: 14:19

But in life sometimes we are judged One organization versus another and my thought was again I'm on Earth for a very short amount of time. I have an opportunity to do something historical in that a nonprofit at our level, at our infancy to be able to travel to bring the voices of people who are in a much different living situation. Day-to-day situation. Air raid sirens can go off at any time of the day, most of the time when we're sleeping, and I was there and it happened, and the air raid sirens went off and I woke up and I took precautionary measures.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: 15:34

So some factions of individuals think, oh well, let's not worry about that. That's thousands of miles away, but for me, if I want to like I am and want to continue to be a humanitarian, I have to go talk to and experience some things as an individual. So I can be in this conversation right now with you and talk about that and whether we agree with a particular side of what the reasons are. I can assure you from being there on the ground. There are regular human beings, families, children, whose lives from second to second are up in the balance. So that's why you see episodes, you see social media posts with me and leaders of organizations who I was able to meet when I was on that mission trip.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: 16:56

And I am a human being, I am a humanitarian, and so being a humanitarian is not just being worried and caring only about myself. It's as much about helping in whatever capacity that may be. It doesn't mean always about money, like, oh, we always have to donate, so no, I'm not going to do that. Why are we doing this? Why are we sending this money? It's a huge hug. You saw a post with a mother living in Romania, a Ukrainian refugee whose house, whose windows were shot out, who is trying to leave her house to be saved, to take her family to be safe, and members of the opposition force were shooting at her car, shooting at her windows. So forget whatever argument, forget whatever side of I over on. I'm talking as human being. How would you feel if that was you? How would you feel if that was your significant other or family member that was in that situation? Politics wouldn't even enter that equation, but being a human being would.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: 18:33

So, by giving opportunities to people, by giving opportunities to share their voices not just mine I got to keep things rolling. I got to be as strong as possible for our organization, for our stakeholders, for the people like yourselves and others that believe in us, believe in the work that we're doing, believe in the work that we're going to continue to do, and we're going to continue to do the best we can, to the best of our ability. We don't have unlimited money, we don't have unlimited resources, but what we do have is a heart for others, and so if you're given an opportunity to help others, whether that again, whether that's your time, a small gesture, a letter, an email, whatever that may be, that's what I'm talking about by sharing your voice, by being a voice for you or somebody in need, being a voice for you and somebody in need. So I'm being a voice not just for me, but the people in need and other parts of the world in other situations that are not like mine, where I take advantage of some basic things like not being shot at by driving my car or my wife being shot at. So let's think about that when we view things, when we talk about different issues, that, yeah, we're not all going to agree on everything. I get that and I know that. But from a human level, if we try to just for a second, for a millisecond, put ourselves in the person's shoes and just think, wow, how would I feel if I was in that situation? I could help guide ourselves by sharing our voice and the voice of others and whatever means that that is. For everybody it's different. So now we pivot into being a voice doing what you want to do, not what others tell you or what others are doing other people are successful doing.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: 21:20

Again, I'm not perfect. Nobody is Growing up. I had a still have a sibling who was one of the most book smart people that I've ever known and ever known, and she was able to have in my eyes. It wasn't the case. But I was thinking, oh well, she's having it real easy, she's getting really good grades, she's having four or five job offers. And so when it was my turn to go to school to figure out if that was the route, I tried it, if I was a follower, because during high school, during those early years, I hadn't learned, I hadn't experienced being able to find something I was passionate about, because I didn't know what was going to happen for minute to minute, and so planning ahead several years was something that it wasn't fathomable to me.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: 22:37

So as I go through my education, I find out that my sibling, my sister, the area study that she went into and the like, was not for me, and that was the first time that I started to realize that, okay, I probably shouldn't be a follower when it comes to something like this, because my sister wasn't going to be the interview for me, my sister wasn't going to use her resume to help get me employment or a job, to help me through different courses, to get high marks, high A's, b's, and so I wasn't using my voice to the best of my ability. But when I started to, through all the ups, all the downs, all the experiences I wish nobody to have to go through mentally. When I started to find my voice, that was a time where I could finally start to breathe on my own, as a symbol of okay, now I'm going to try to do things for my own self. I'm going to find what I like to do and let me try that route. Once I started to do that and that's what I'm currently doing I feel just more fulfilled, just again, as a short amount of time that we're on earth, that I feel like I'm spending more, a higher percentage of my time being a better person. Whatever that may be, I'm not perfect and I don't know what percentage that's at. I just know that from today, versus 15 years ago, 20 years ago, I'm spending a higher percentage of my time being a better person by not just being concerned only about myself.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: 25:10

So what should you do? How does this impact? You Send it for me. Find out what you love to do, find out what you like to do, find out what makes you happy and do it. Go for it, give it a try. I failed a lot of times, a lot of times. So we're just going to have times where we're going to fail. We're going to keep on that path, because it's what we want to do, how it makes us feel, not what other people who are great people in our lives, not what fulfills them from that career aspect. That's the best part of advice that I can really give.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: 26:14

You see the content we put out and talking about being in the voice for others, celebrating our voice. That's what it is. It's not just a spoken word, it's also art. Somebody could express themselves better through artwork, through music, through sign language, interpretation, in many other ways, through dance, through ballet, through gymnastics.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: 26:51

Find your voice, because once you find your voice, it's going to be more fulfilling for you to do the work. That your work is not going to feel as much like work as it is. It's going to make you feel good inside. You're making a difference, that your legacy is going to be around others and how you are able to make others better. It could be a coach, a manager, a teammate on a team, could be in drama in a band. Once you find your voice and again, it took me over 30 years, close to 40 years, to find that. Some may find it sooner, some may find it later, the time doesn't matter. What matters is that you find your voice and that will show to others. So, like all of our episodes, all of the content, all of our events, be a voice for you and somebody in need. Celebrate the voices of not only us, but of others.