Mini-Pod #1: "Being Yourself" with Bennett

Buckle up as my youngest guest, Bennett, and I talk about "Being Yourself" in this episode of "Whatever with Heather". Join us as we dive headfirst into exploring why it's essential to be yourself, even when it seems daunting.

In this heart-to-heart, we delve into the significance of speaking kindly to ourselves and how we can overcome the mean voices in our heads. Bennett gives advice for anyone grappling with being themselves. He talks about importance to him of embodying kindness, respect, and being supportive,. Listen in as we dissect the potential effects of kindness on oneself and the world. This episode promises to be an enlightening, uplifting conversation that resonates with children and parents alike. So, are you ready to embrace your true self and shatter societal expectations? Let's do this!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:23

Welcome to Whatever with Heather. I'm here with my first guest, bennett. And who are you? I'm me. That's true, bennett is my youngest kiddo and you're about to go into fourth grade. Yeah, and he wanted to be my first podcast guest and I couldn't have asked for a better guest. I like the other kids too, but then it's a perfect guest to have for the first guest. So today we are talking about being yourself, and if you know Bennett, he's a great expert on being yourself Only the finest experts on this podcast. You ready to talk about being yourself? Yeah, are you excited? Yeah, okay, why is it important to be yourself?

Speaker 2: 1:06

Well, it's important to be myself, because it doesn't matter what people think and basically, if you're being someone, do not be someone else. If you're being someone else, then I mean, then you're not being who.

Speaker 1: 1:23

Then you're not being you. Why is it important to be you?

Speaker 2: 1:27

Because just be who you want to, just being who you want to be. That's why it's important to be you.

Speaker 1: 1:35

What would happen in the world if everyone started acting exactly the same as everyone else?

Speaker 2: 1:41

Then like there would be no points.

Speaker 1: 1:44

Yeah, there's no point. Do we have any new unique ideas? No, no, we'd all just be stuck doing the same thing. Yeah, just being meh. Yeah, yeah, do people like when people are different? I mean, it depends. I agree with that, it depends. Do we sometimes celebrate people when they're different Sometimes? And then sometimes, how do we treat people when they're different?

Speaker 2: 2:09

Sometimes not.

Speaker 1: 2:11

Sometimes we treat them like they're weird.

Speaker 2: 2:13

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 2:14

Yeah, do people like to be around people that are different than them or people that are the same as them?

Speaker 2: 2:20

Some people like to be around the people who are the same as them. Some people want to be around people different than them.

Speaker 1: 2:27

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 2:27

Because they are being them.

Speaker 1: 2:30

So do you usually have friends that are the same as you or different than you, different than me? Yeah. So you hang out with all the people that are all different yeah, all the quirky people with all the different personalities, yeah. And do you like different things than your friends? Yeah, and some things are the same.

Speaker 2: 2:50

Yeah, and sometimes I get lost around at school for being me, but I just be me and ignore them. Do you get lost around? But like just really treated.

Speaker 1: 3:02

Sometimes you get really treated at school for being different. Yeah, is it ever hard to be yourself.

Speaker 2: 3:08

Yes, it is a little bit hard to be myself, because when the people boss me around sometimes I just like shut down. Does it feel overwhelming? It feels overwhelming.

Speaker 1: 3:21

So are they like bossing you around or picking on you, picking on me, or a little both? Yeah, a little both. So then, how do you pick yourself up or make yourself feel better when people are unkind to you for being yourself?

Speaker 2: 3:34

I remember what my friends said that was good about me.

Speaker 1: 3:37

So you remember when people are mean to you, you remember the times where people were kind to you.

Speaker 2: 3:42

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 3:43

So people are saying mean things about you. You also remember that there are times where people say nice things about you. So do you let the mean things people say about you become the loudest voice, or do you let the nice things people say about you become the loudest voice? The nice things Do you think that helps you? Yeah, do you think most people listen to the mean things more or the nice things more? Depends. Basically, do you think most people the voice in their head is nice to them or do you think the voice in the head is kind of mean to them? Kind of mean, I would agree. I think most people have kind of a mean voice in their heads.

Speaker 2: 4:18

Like I'm pretty sure about most of the percent of the world is not being their selves.

Speaker 1: 4:26

Yeah, they're not being themselves and they're speaking to themselves with an unkind voice. Now, is the unkind voice their own voice, do you think? Or do you think the unkind voice that people speak to themselves with is the voice of other people that have said mean things?

Speaker 2: 4:40

It is the voice of other people who have said mean things and get meaner and meaner each time. You practice being mean and then suddenly you don't care about the people.

Speaker 1: 4:51

Or do you even care about yourself?

Speaker 2: 4:53

Maybe not.

Speaker 1: 4:54

Yeah, do you think, if you let the mean voice get louder and louder, do you think all of a sudden you become an adult and your voice in your head is nice to you? Or do you think what you practice continues?

Speaker 2: 5:03

What I practice basically just continues.

Speaker 1: 5:06

So do you think every time you practice speaking kindly to yourself, you're helping your future self too? Yeah, yeah. What do you want people to know about being yourself? Like if there's someone listening right now or watching right now, they're kind of nervous about being themselves. What advice could you give them?

Speaker 2: 5:23

Don't be who other people want you to be Just be you.

Speaker 1: 5:27

How do you know who you want to be? Are you kind because I say you should be kind? Are you kind because you want to be kind? I'm kind because I want to be kind. Are you funny because I think you should be funny. Are you funny because you want to be funny? I'm funny because I want to be funny and sometimes parents tell their kids who they should be Like. You should be kind, you should be respectful. That's kind of hard, because if you don't want to do it, are you going to really do it? No, why do you want to be kind?

Speaker 2: 5:56

Because if you're not kind, you grew up not kind, and then no one will want to be your friend.

Speaker 1: 6:04

And will you feel good about yourself if you're unkind? No, so there's like the two parts how the world sees you and how you feel about yourself.

Speaker 2: 6:11

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 6:12

So when we talk as a family, we talk about. The most important question that I could ask you is who do you want to be?

Speaker 2: 6:22

I want to be me.

Speaker 1: 6:26

And when people think about you, what do you want them to say? Bennett is Himself, himself. And what other qualities. Nice, nice.

Speaker 2: 6:36

Good.

Speaker 1: 6:37

Good, respectful, respectful.

Speaker 2: 6:43

Yeah, basically a bunch of things like that.

Speaker 1: 6:46

I know what else is important to you being thoughtful.

Speaker 2: 6:49

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 6:50

And you don't mind when other people feel their emotions, do you no, and you don't mind feeling emotions?

Speaker 2: 6:56

I don't mind feeling emotions.

Speaker 1: 6:57

And you like it doesn't make you stress when other people feel emotions. You like to be supportive.

Speaker 2: 7:02

I like to be supportive.

Speaker 1: 7:03

Yeah, so these are all things you want to be. This isn't who I said. You should be right. So is it easier for you to be kind and thoughtful because you really want that and not just because mom and dad said you should?

Speaker 2: 7:15

I want that.

Speaker 1: 7:16

You want it, so do you think it's easier? Yeah, since you want it.

Speaker 2: 7:19

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 7:20

Yeah, I think so too. I think you do a good job. All right, do you have anything else you want to say, or do you think you're done for today?

Speaker 2: 7:27

I think we're done for today.

Speaker 1: 7:29

I think this will be a fun episode. Do you think it will help some kids and some parents?

Speaker 2: 7:33

Yeah, also, by the way, my initials. If you include my first name, my middle name and my last name, and if you put it into words, it is be Bye.