The Smoke Break

Hey pals! On this week's episode of "The Smoke Break", we had the best time with iconic queer comedian Gabe Holmes. We kicked it off talking about dependability—are we dependable? Who are the dependable people in our lives? Why is it important? How does it make our lives easier? Then we followed that up with the concept of wasting time…. Time is always passing and it's the most finite of resources, so how do you decide what your priorities are? What counts as wasting time or not, and who gets to decide? We wrapped it up by getting into the idea of "play"—it's easy to take ourselves pretty seriously, and letting ourselves play is such an important part of balancing everything out, but it's tough to allow ourselves to do it sometimes. How do y'all engage in play in your lives? Episodes drop Saturdays on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.

Hey pals! On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we had the pleasure of hanging out with Ryan Knudtson aka Mob Rule.We started things off talking about some shared diagnosis, and how folks have gotten through some really tough years with the help of supportive people, grit, and new skills.Then we talked about being in a hospital for mental health reasons and that while they can be useful because it’s the only option you have, they’re often dehumanizing and scary too.Then we closed it out talking about music! Where folks find inspiration, what equipment they use, and how art is sustaining during a truly wild time to be alive.Episodes drop Saturdays on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.Link in comments…

Oh hey, we’re back! On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we got to know Eli Gray (they/them) - Founding Director of WERQ TOGETHER.We got things going talking about trans joy, and the non-profit Eli started to help operationalize the support that they’d already been offering to the community for a while—including a dope event coming up on March 29th called Trans Town PDX!We kept things going talking about the importance of community, and how it can be difficult to try and rebuild it after being burnt by folks, or moving to a new area.We ended with a bit of a shift to discuss balancing how hard we work as social workers for a client vs how hard the client needs to work, and the nuance of why someone might be perceived as not working as hard as you or not.Episodes drop Saturdays on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.

On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we got to hang out with storyteller, producer, and owner of Coffee Beer, the very silly Phillip Stewart.We began with the commodification of mental health in this day and age—the way capitalism impacts our choices and well-being, and how we are trying to take it back.Then we moved to the idea of “knowing vs doing”—like just because you GO to therapy, is that really enough? Or is that bar a little low, like maybe there should also be an expectation that you actually apply what you’re learning there?Lastly, we talked about mortality—sure, it’s a bit morbid, but knowing how short life can be can also be motivating to spend your time well in the meantime…Episodes drop every Friday on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.

On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we finally got to hang out with the our old pal comedian Mike Lindsey.We kicked things off by talking about the idea of desperation—how it can sometimes be motivating, or can sometimes be the reason people act outside their values.Then we bounced back by discussing connection—where we’ve found it, what happens when people are deprived of it, and how you can create it if you’re feeling like you don’t have enough of it.Lastly, we tried to figure out some energy management. In a world where we have a million responsibilities, how do you decide how much of your energy to spend on each thing? What do you keep for yourself vs what you spend on someone else?Episodes drop every Friday on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.

On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we finally got to hang out with the lovely comedian, storyteller, and vigilante Jenna Britann. We kicked things off by talking about pain—physical or emotional, how it can shape us, and how our relationship has changed to it over the years. Then we tackled priorities—how do you make them? How are you supposed to know what should be at the top of the list? What if the things most important to you aren’t the things that make money or are healthy? And then we wrapped things up talking about preparedness—how do we prepare for changes in our lives, or things not going as planned—or so you just wing it and see what happens? Episodes drop every Friday on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.

On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we were lucky enough to get to spend a little time with horror author Keith Rosson. We started with—you guessed it—fear, because what else do you do when you’ve got an expert around—how it can be paralyzing, motivating, or just plain fun. Then we went the next logical place…writer’s block. We’re all victims to it, we’ve all managed to escape it, we don’t really know how…. And then we ended with expectations…The ones we set for ourselves, or society creates for us, and how easily disappointment pops up. Episodes drop every Friday on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.

On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we had a delightful time with comedian, darling, and silly goose Joe John Sanchez the III. We started off talking about standing up for ourselves—times we’ve done it, times we wished we had done it, and how to get better at it, since none of us seemed to be experts on this one…. Then we got into some delusions—the sort of magical headspace you have to get into to make being an artist of any kind worth it—comedy, writing, anything—and how that also helps us create the world we want to live in, a little bit at a time. Lastly, we talked about embracing irrelevance and chaos—because whatever, it’s all a simulation, life is short, and we’re just doing our best. You’ll just have to listen to understand this one. Basically, we had a great time. Episodes drop every Friday on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.

On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we were so excited to have a conversation with the extremely talented and dynamic Kingsley. We began by talking about the concept of “Breath-play” (versus “breath-work”) and how something as simple as breathing that we do all the time can be really powerful when we start paying more attention to it. Then we discussed the idea of creation being the opposite of depression—and how we tap into our creativity even when it’s hard or we aren’t in the mood. We ended by talking about culture shock—living abroad, and moving from a small town to a big city. Episodes drop every Monday on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.

On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we had a real good time with Iris. We got things going talking about an awfully big topic—love….how we find it, how we accept and reject it, how we offer it to others, and how our approach to it and experience of it have changed as we personally change and grow. Then we moved on to the idea of their being a “Golden Age” in your life—and how we almost always assume that our golden age is in the past, with a little help from our friend nostalgia, which tends to be an awfully beautiful liar—because what if your golden age is right now and you’re missing it by pining for the past? And we finished up the episode exploring the idea of visualizing our alter egos as a way to give ourselves the confidence, strength, and wit to get through things where we might not be feeling so strong or may have imposter syndrome….. you know, like most things…. Episodes drop every Monday on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening. Link in comments…

Episode 129: “ ft. Jasmine Nothing and Telltale PresentsOn this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we are excited to officially announce our new collaboration with Telltale Presents, a production company running various shows and events over the last nine years. We are proud to welcome to the show our new co-host Jasmine Nothing. We started things off discussing collaboration—how it can be effective or disastrous, and what we’ve learned from each. We also cover the history of The Smoke Break and Telltale and how we came to start working together. Secondly, we talked about our relationship with the idea of predictability—do we feel like predictable people? Where does our desire for predictability show up in our lives? And we ended the episode talking about self reflection, especially how it can be useful or troublesome, depending on how we’re using it… Episodes drop every Monday on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening. Link in comments…