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The speaker starts by sharing a poem from their book and then goes on to discuss the importance of taking vacations. They emphasize that vacations are necessary for self-care and encourage listeners to prioritize taking time off, even if it's just a day trip or a picnic. The speaker also talks about their recent vacation to see family and how it was a much-needed break. They urge listeners to make vacations a priority and not to feel guilty about taking time for themselves. The speaker also mentions the importance of saying no and setting boundaries in order to avoid burnout. Overall, the message is to take care of oneself and prioritize relaxation and rejuvenation. Good morning, and welcome to another conversation with Mose, and as always, I pray life is treating you well wherever you are in the world, and that you're one day closer to your dreams, prayers, hopes, and aspirations coming true. And of course, my podcast wouldn't be a podcast without a poem, and this poem is taken from my book, Living a Poetic Life, of course written by myself, and this poem is called Let's Just Drive. Hey baby, let's get away, just me and you, pack our bags with peace and joy, fill up the cooler with smiles and laughter, and roll out, what do you say? Get on the highway to heaven or whatever city we get to first, lose ourselves to the open road, leave our troubles and our past behind, let's go beyond the front door, let's just drive, go, leave, depart, venture out of the box we both feel trapped in, we don't need a map or a compass or directions, let's just follow the sun by day and follow the moon by night, let's just drive to the future and meet it halfway, see all there is to see, drive until the wheels fall off, let's just get away, what do you say? I thought I'd dig that one out of the archives, and again, that's taken from my book, Living a Poetic Life, available now where books are sold, and it brings me to today's subject matter, get away, take your black ass on vacation, let me say that one more time, get away, take your black ass on vacation, and I'm saying it so firmly and so strongly because I feel like we don't take the time to vacate, again, whatever that means to you, and I'm a personal believer in vacations, you know, whatever that looks like, whatever you can afford to do, I don't care if it's a picnic in the park by yourself with a friend, renting a hotel room locally during a staycation, renovating your house or apartment and making it look like you went away, something to escape, to take a break from your life, I firmly believe that the world is not going to come to an end because you took a vacation or you took some time off, and if you can, I mean, unless you have children or responsibilities, I would say also disconnect, don't be reachable, don't answer your phone, don't respond to a text, because I believe in going on vacation by yourself as well as going on with someone because I think we don't do that enough because most people don't like to travel by themselves, but I have to say I've done it several times and could do it again, I enjoy my own company, doesn't mean I don't enjoy other people's company, but I do enjoy my own company, and I believe in taking care of yourself, and going on vacation and escaping is part of self-care, even if we may not think it is, and it's just something we have to kind of move up in priority, because some of us are grinding and hustling and grinding and hustling and we never take a break, and that's not good, because if you're not fresh, so fresh and so clean clean as they say, then you're not going to be able to function, and whatever you're trying to do is not going to come together, because you're exhausted, and that doesn't work either, and I'm a firm believer in again taking that break, and sometimes you have to sit down and figure out what that looks like for you, because I know the first thing people say well I can't afford to go on vacation, you can afford to do something, you just need to figure out what that is, you might not be able to go out of town, or maybe you can, if you can fill up the car with gas and drive, even if it's to the next town over, you don't have to go out of town, it doesn't have to be a lavish trip, it could be just something as a day trip, going like I said to the town next door to your town, it doesn't have to be Paris, or Hawaii, it doesn't have to be that, you can build your way up to that, but the point of me saying this is that I feel like specifically for black people, is that we don't often times believe we need a vacation, you know I got it, I got it, it's not about you having it, it's about the fact you need a break, and I'm going to use myself as an example, as always, I took a vacation recently and went home to see my family in Ohio, as you know as you hear, I was born and raised, and I needed that trip, for a lot of reasons, I needed it more probably than I realized, I hadn't seen my family in three years, my parents, my siblings, my nieces and nephews, but not just the fact that I didn't see them, I needed to be around that energy, I needed that energy for myself, I needed to hug them and feel them and just be in their presence, and they probably got that from me as well, but I probably got more, because I'm in a stage in my life where I have to keep myself fed, good energy, by any means necessary, whatever that looks like, I have to continue to feed myself joy, and love, and encouragement, and all those things in between, and going on vacation, and yes, it was pretty tight, you know, I really couldn't afford to go, but I made provision for it, I made sacrifices, I did what I had to do, hustled and grinded, you know, paid bills and tried to tighten up and everything, just so I could go see my family, which also made me angry, and also fueled my, I guess, inner soul to want to do more, because I don't want to continue to live from hand to mouth, and I don't know about you, anybody that's out there going through the same thing, I don't want to live hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck, and I would like my fruit from my labor, from my gifts to make way for me, and no, I don't have to be rich, I don't have to be famous, but I would like to work for myself, and I don't want to wait three years, another three years to see my family, and again, this is not a woe is me podcast, this is more like encouraging people to take the time to go on vacation, and if you can take your kids somewhere, if you can take yourself somewhere, your spouse, and even if you're married or in a relationship, you owe it to yourself to get away, recharge, regroup, make love, sleep all day, watch Netflix and chill, as they say, and I wanted this podcast to be more positive, you know, to be, not that the past ones have been negative, but I've talked about some pretty strong subjects recently, but I want to encourage people to get back out there and just relax, learning how to relax, take naps, even taking a nap can be a vacation, something as simple as taking a short nap, a long nap, sleeping all day, enjoying your time to recharge, breathe, just like a good rainy day, rainy days don't sleep on a rainy day, no pun intended, it's sleeping and enjoying a rainy day, and what I mean is, rainy days are just as important as the sunny days, because some days when it's raining, I just want to sleep, I want to create, I want to just be in the moment, and that's something I feel like we all kind of have gotten away from, we've gotten away from being, just doing nothing, and I did a whole podcast on that, you know, doing nothing is something, but I'm a firm believer, again, in going on vacation, getting out there and just seeing what's in the world, reading a good book can take you on vacation, I mean ironically it can if you read a good book and it takes you to another world, another space, don't sleep on reading, and the whole point is to, you're no good to anyone if you're constantly stressed about work and bills and relationships and family, sometimes you just got to take that time and just breathe, you know, so that's why I say, I'll say it again, take your black ass on vacation, get out of town, do what you need to do, don't answer the phone, and again, make it happen, make it a priority just like you do everything else, you know, and again, look at your, write it down on your life board, say I'm going to take a vacation, and then put a date in, put a date, request it from work and say look, I'm going to be off this day, this weekend, even if you don't do anything, and again, make up your mind that this is what I'm going to do, but enjoy yourself, you know, just enjoy it, or you could go stay at somebody else's house, if you say, oh, can I come stay at your house for the weekend, I just need to get away, I've done that, you know, just to get out of your space, sometimes you just need another set of walls to look at other than yours, and mentally, I think it helps immensely if you allow it to, if you allow yourself to be taken away from your everyday life, because again, I think we lose ourselves and our problems are shit, per se, and I don't believe in that, I really don't, I don't believe in wallowing in self-pity, it doesn't look good on me, the only issue I'm having lately, if I'm being real transparent, as always, is anger, there's a lot of resentment and anger in me right now, you know, and I've talked about that before, and that's why I try my best to do the things that help defuse that, to put those fires out in my head, that I don't want to be angry, I don't want to be frustrated, I don't want to, I don't want to do anything but be myself, but I'm not naturally angry, there are a lot of things that I've tried to be, to let go, but I'm more vocal now, you know, instead of keeping it in, I'm getting it out, no, this bothers me, and I'm saying no more, no, I don't want to do that, no, I'm not interested in that, no, and no is a sentence, a powerful sentence that we need to use more, more often, because I'm one of those people that wants to do everything for everybody all the time, and those days are done, I don't mind helping people, I don't mind being there for people when I can, but if it depletes me, then I can't do it, I can't do it, I can't do it at work, I can't do it personally, professionally, if it takes away from me, and then also, if it's not reciprocated, if I don't feel appreciated or valued in any situation, you're not going to get 100%, you're going to get what you're giving me, if I'm giving you this, then I expect it back, in some form or another, it doesn't have to be exactly how I'm doing it, but those days of giving my all and not getting anything in return, it's just not, the only person that I truly pour into is myself, in terms of creatively, because nobody at the end of the day knows you better than you, what your needs are, what you want for your life, and I'm willing to go the extra mile for my life, because I think I spent a lot of years, no, I know I spent a lot of years helping other people that weren't helping me, and I lost those years and I can't get those years back, and that's okay, but what I'm trying to do now is be more positive for myself, speak to myself, speak like they say, speak, speak life into my life, and even though some days it really is difficult, I do manage to get through stuff, you know, just by being positive with myself, and taking vacations, escapes, little getaways, have been a part of that. As you know, I went to New York a few years ago, I went to Miami by myself, D.C. by myself, I mean, I haven't traveled around the world, but I have gone to a few places that I did manage to enjoy my time away, and New Orleans, and where else did I go, I went to Boston, and some of those places I actually went with friends, but a lot of the trips I did go by myself, and again, it wasn't any kind of sex in the city type moments, it wasn't like that at all, it was more of a just, I needed to get away, I needed to escape, I needed to feel alive again, and I have to do it, I mean, I literally have to have those moments where I need to feel something, because I was losing myself more, and more, and more in my problems, and I didn't recognize that person, but I can honestly say since I've gotten back from seeing my family, I'm starting to see myself again, like, I'm starting to look like the me that I'm used to in the mirror, and that makes me feel good, it does, I can't tell you the words that, I need to be inspired, I need to feel good, because then I can create positive for you, you know, people that are listening, and one of these days I'll really go into detail about my last trip, you know, it was very emotional for me, my trip home to Ohio, very emotional, very freeing, like I said, a lot more than I expected it to be, I needed that trip, I mean, I really needed to get away, and get hugs, and get love, and laugh, and be silly, and just be a brother, an uncle, a son, a cousin, and I think we all fall into that trap of not allowing ourselves to be, just be, and even though the plane flight was rough, and I could, all the little traveling, and the new rules as far as the airport, I could go on and on about that, but I'm just, I was happy to get away despite the crap I had to deal with at the airport, but I just want to say that for the people, again, who've never been on vacation, and I know there are people out there who've never been on vacation, and I've met people that have never left their state, I find that to be so interesting, since I've been in Oklahoma, I've met quite a few people that have never left Oklahoma, like never, never been anywhere else, specifically Oklahoma City, and I can't imagine not traveling, or meeting different types of people, Ohio, at first I thought it was weird, but now I just kind of feel like, wow, that's just different, you know, I don't know that people's circumstances, I don't know why, if it's fear, I don't know, it's just extremely different, even when I was a kid, we did go places with my parents, even if it was road trips, we did leave Ohio, and matter of fact, we had our best times when we just had the road trips, and you know, we had fun, so I can't imagine what that's like to just not know anything other than what you grew up knowing, and I know for a fact that I wouldn't be who I am if I didn't meet other people, different types of people, even when I was, I went from Ohio to Georgia, and again, this is not a put down on those people, it's just, I kind of, you limit yourself when you don't explore to me, because you need to see what all your options are, all your choices in your life, I think you should always see what your choices are, and if you travel, and if you meet people, you kind of know, you'll begin to know who you are, what you like, and what you want for your life, so I just encourage those people that have never left their state, or even their state of mind, to explore other areas of their life, just explore, get out there, and just see what's out there, because you don't want to wake up and realize you should have, would have, could have, and you didn't, so, and again, it gets back, just baby steps, take a vacation, like I said, take your black ass on vacation, and get up and go, and again, it's not, sit down first with yourself, figure out where you want to go, and just, like I said, it doesn't have to be Hawaii, or anywhere lavish, let there be a goal, though, to, and think about it this way, it's about self-improvement, self-love, you deserve a good vacation, you deserve it, so, in short, I just wanted to say, again, also, thank you for listening, for encouraging all the positive feedback that you guys give me, and again, as always, you know about my store, All Things Moetic, online, my Etsy store, buy all me, stop by, working on some new product for the summer, and I will definitely let you know more about that as it develops, and also, my Black Experience exhibit is still in the works, I will definitely keep you posted, and again, thank you for the positive feedback about that, and in closing, again, I want to thank you, always, always being so positive and helpful with your tips and stuff, in terms of my podcast, I really appreciate it, and as always, I pray life is treating you well, absolutely well, wherever you are in the world, and that you're one day closer to your dreams, prayers, hopes, and aspirations coming true. Thank you for listening.