Beyond Politics: Uniting Through Poetry and Music

Michael Herst00:00:00

Hey, one more thing before you go. What if laughter could heal division?What if the key to bridging our most polarized conversation wasn't found in politics but in poetry, music, and a little bit of Dr. Seuss style? So stay tuned. We're going to have a conversation with a man that can answer all of these questions and more. I'm your host, Michael Herst.Welcome to One more thing before you go. In this episode, I'm joined by a man who's part troubadour, part truth teller and all heart. Scott Grace is also known as the spiritual Dr. Seuss.He's open for comedy legends like Robin Williams and Dana Carvey, shared stages with Deepak Chopra, Lewis Hay, and now brings his unique blend of humor, music and spiritual insights to audiences around the world. And here once again, Scott's coming back. Scott's latest passion project, Beyond Red and Blue, isn't about politics. It's about people.It's about rising above outrage, reconnecting with our shared humanity and learning how to depolarize our minds no matter where we stand on the spectrum.In this conversation, we're going to explore how a spontaneous poem can disarm division, why blame might be the biggest barrier to change, what it means to raise a child in a generation with compassion and courage and humanity. And how curiosity, humor, and well timed rhyme might just save the world.So grab your favorite mug, open your heart and get ready for a conversation that will entertain you, enlighten you, and hopefully inspire you. Welcome to the show, Scott.

Scott Grace00:01:45

Thank you, Michael.

Michael Herst00:01:48

What an amazing journey we've been on here before. We've had conversations. You have this wonderful gift of music that comes out of you and poetry.I think that you, you've been sharing with the world for quite some time. So thank you for being here again. I'm excited.

Scott Grace00:02:03

My pleasure.

Michael Herst00:02:05

So let's tell everybody a little bit about yourself. Where'd you grow up?

Scott Grace00:02:09

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York.

Michael Herst00:02:15

Brooklyn. Brooklyn. That sounds like a by way of Georgia.

Scott Grace00:02:20

Yeah, I'm doing a little creative dissonance. Like when I go back to New York, I start speaking like a New Yorker. But when I go to Georgia, I start speaking like I'm a from Georgia.

Michael Herst00:02:37

And minted juleps to continue the conversation.

Speaker C00:02:43

Michael.

Michael Herst00:02:45

Well, life, life has been. How's life been since we spoke the last time?

Scott Grace00:02:50

It's been, you know, it, it's been birth and, and resistance to being impregnated by, by my next book and my lecture series like when spirit, I call Spirit knocked on the door and said, we want you to start talking about unity and rising above polarity and that there's something more important than convincing other people that your perspective is right. That scared me.Because going to places where people have very strong opinions about what's right and what's wrong, they're not my favorite places to be.

Michael Herst00:03:39

Yeah, I agree.

Scott Grace00:03:40

I've been in a perpetual argument with the universe, but this book is flowing through me. Poems are coming to me. There's a message much bigger than my resistance can handle. So I'm saying yes to it.

Michael Herst00:03:57

I think that's a positive thing. Obviously in the world is in chaos at the moment. And I think we need a bit of positivity. And. And I say the world because it's all over.It's not just here, it's everywhere. And it's kind of a domino effect with what's going on. You've been called the spiritual Dr. Seuss. I spoke before.For those of you that this is the first time you've met Scott, he is the spiritual Dr. Seuss. It's amazing. I've got a link to his YouTube channel and everything in. In the. On the webpage when we're done with this episode.But you got to check it out. You know, you often open your talks with a poem. Would you be willing to share one using Beyond Red and Blue?

Scott Grace00:04:39

Yes.

Michael Herst00:04:40

Is it too early?

Scott Grace00:04:42

So this poem, Beyond Red and Blue, is not spontaneously coming through. It's something over the last six months I would chip away on. And maybe someday it'll be a song. But right now, here's what it sounds like.This talk you'll be hearing starts out with some rhyming. Consult Dr. Seuss for a lesson in timing. But this is no fable for babes getting tucked in. It's a wake up, adults talk for the nightmares.We're stuck in a talk without answers but full of good questions, ones to chew slowly for mindful digestion, like why do most people see just red or blue? Could there be more than one right point of view? Are opinions synonymous with what is true? Is this what our founders envisioned we'd do now?Old Honest Abe, he was the man a house so divided cannot long stand. He was Republican President Lincoln, and I'd like to see more of the ways he was thinking. Why are opinions becoming more rigid?Why is the Cold War becoming more frigid? I've cooked up a theory. It may need more cooking, but it points to the glasses through which we are looking.A dark pair of glasses that blocks out the Light, no room for discussion. You're wrong and I'm right. Blood pressure rises, adrenaline spikes and I'm left with two choices, just fight or flight.When I'm choosing between those two Fs, it brings out my worst traits and hides all the rest. No thinking things through. It's time to go tribal, to stick with my own kind and steer clear of rivals. My rivals are totally up to no good.They simply cannot be the least understood. Now this is where I just added a new line. Let's see if I can remember it.I love watching Fox News or MSNBC because those peeps are wearing the same glasses as me. Now these glasses make sure I obscure self reflection so I have the high ground and moral direction.Now it's easy to see those dark glasses on Putin, but in my own mirror, now that I'm disputing, I'd rather be blind to my mind's battlefront so I can cast blame on those liberals or Trump. Could it be most of us are wearing these glasses?Letting the media blow smoke up our asses, Using social media for amplifying the reasons the other side needs.Demonizing our differences, seemingly so polarizing we can spend half the day back and forth analysis and through algorithms we see only our side and think the whole Internet is our tribe. The trespassing's always those other dumb asses and never the fault of our own. Faulty glasses.May this talk help us take off those glasses and see what we all have in common. Our humanity.

Michael Herst00:09:01

That's an amazing poem. I think that it opens up some, some thoughts. It, it, does it make it kind of hard to come to the idea that one side is the problem?And if so, how do we begin to create change? You know, we, like you said it, one is blaming the other, the other is blaming the other.They don't seem to be working together, they seem to be butting heads. I'm right, you're wrong, You're. I'm right, you're wrong.

Scott Grace00:09:32

Yeah, yeah. There's no communication happening because no, nobody's curious about trying each other's glasses on for size.You know, that's the beginning of connection, is, you know, I'm tired of my own perspective. I know what I believe. I would like to see life through your eyes. What brought you to believe what you believe?And, and how does it keep you warm at night? You know, like I was on an airplane once and there was a couple of people with red hats that were across the aisle, which is very symbolic.And, and my first reaction was to isolate myself and make sure that I don't talk to them. And we had four hours on the plane.So eventually I took off my headphones and I saw them over there talking about their grandchildren looking at pictures. And I said, excuse me, but how many grandchildren do you have? And they, they started crowing about their grandchildren.I asked them, what, what are their, what are your. Their names and let me see pictures.And, you know, they asked me about my daughter and we show, I showed them pictures and we started to bond over things we have in common. And at a certain point, I felt a curiosity that really took the conversation to a whole other level.I said, do you mind if I ask you a personal question? And they said, no. And I said, what kind of world are you hoping that Trump creates for your grandchildren?And they painted a picture of a world that I am, you could say, fighting for, standing for.It's like we, we want the same thing, but we have very radically different strategies for how we think we're going to get there, and maybe even different worldviews.Like the fundamental assumption that I have about life, about God, you know, it's like that may be different from, from other people who have the opposite assumption. And then how do we communicate when our world views are diametrically opposed?

Michael Herst00:12:09

I find it interesting. No, it is. I personally, I mean, I find it interesting. I, as you know, I'm a retired police sergeant and I worked in most of the.For the longest time and even, even just regularly on the street, you know, and understanding and seeing people at their worst and seeing the best people at their worst in most circumstances, when you have a connection with a cop, you're either a victim, typically you're either a victim or you're, You're a criminal. One or the other, they're very rare thing in between where it's just a common humanity connection mostly.So the commonality that I found is what you had just said. Communication is the key.Most every dispute that I've ever been to, whether it be a bar fight, a domestic fight, any type of situation where people were at each other's throats for whatever reason, it all started with miscommunication. It all started with somebody starting out with miscommunication, the other person not understanding.So I do believe that we as humanity, we as human beings have a responsibility to understand that communication is the key to success in solving our problems, in relationships, in world problems. I think communication is key. So I think I believe you're right with regard to that.

Scott Grace00:13:43

Yeah, the part that can't be Controlled or taught is willingness, the desire to understand. You can't implant that in somebody who is in a lot of pain.And, and I see the ping pong match of right and wrong blame as people who are in pain who need to be heard and don't have the ears to hear because they're in so much fear or anger or pain. And when two people have that collision where they're both in a lot of pain, they both need to be heard and understood, it's a breakdown.

Michael Herst00:14:28

Oh, big time.

Scott Grace00:14:30

And what may be happening in our country, and as you said, it's a worldwide thing, it could be as inevitable, unavoidable, and as natural as oil and water separating. Like there may be valid reasons why this is happening, as painful as it is, nature is taking its course in some which way.And I. Yeah, you know, sometimes people talk about if Trump is the enemy, you know, let's impeach him, let's assassinate him, let's get rid of him in some way. As if that would get rid of a problem.It would just be a different face, a different somebody representing a certain state of consciousness that half the country feels is valid and has their reasons. And until we get curious enough to reach across the aisle and ask what are those reasons and how do you see the world?And you know, I care about you, not who you voted for. And that's what the book and the message is about, how to return to our humanity. Because there was a time when I agree with that.

Michael Herst00:15:51

I think that we all have the opportunity, even within that situation, to work across the aisle. Unfortunately, I think it has become so convoluted, and obviously this isn't a political discussion, this is just an opinion.It has become so convoluted with misinformation that it's difficult to come to a conclusion that it can be solved through communication. So I think that, in my opinion, at least, I think that we all need to have a voice.We all need to be heard, but we all need to be heard in the right context and to make sure that the context that's given or presented is done so with a solution in mind at the end with regard to the problem, not just this is what I'm saying and I don't care what you're saying kind of a situation.

Scott Grace00:16:46

I think, yeah, there's a group that facilitates these kinds of constructive healing across the aisle conversations. It's called Braver Angels, and they actually train people on how to be what they call depolarizers in a conversation.So I, I'm very pleased to have connected with them, to see the structure behind what they're doing. Very professional and very needed.

Michael Herst00:17:19

So Red, White and Blue is. Or I call it Red, White and blue. Sorry, your book, Red and Blue. Yeah. You've said it isn't a political book or lecture.What to me, tell me, what is it? Is a healing like a mirror? Is it a musical intervention? Help me define the work.

Scott Grace00:17:44

I would say it's like Jimmy Stewart explaining politics in a very simple way of. It's just people. It's just us here. And leaders are not demons or angels and saviors.They're actually very often bogged down by corporate interests and they're not going to lead the way. We need to take our power back. And it happens one heart, one mind at a time. The dehumanizing takes. Takes its toll. And then somebody says, I'm tired.I am so tired of the separation between people that I'm willing to soften my opinions enough to put connection before correction, to put humanity back on a path of sanity from dehumanizing to depolarizing. So the book is a collection of anecdotal stories, true stories of my adventures with reaching across the aisle.I've been taking Republicans out to dinner.

Michael Herst00:19:11

That sounds like a heck of a pilot for a TV series.

Scott Grace00:19:15

It could be. That would be fun.

Michael Herst00:19:19

Oh, yeah, it would be. Sorry. The producer in my head just yelled at me.

Scott Grace00:19:28

Yeah.

Michael Herst00:19:30

What is that comedy show with. Is it Jerry Seinfeld that does the coffee with a comedian?

Scott Grace00:19:37

He does. Yeah. It never took off the way like the. That driving the carpool karaoke. I think he was trying to. Trying to find a comic version of carpool karaoke.I've seen a few of them.

Michael Herst00:19:53

They were kind of cool. They're kind of cool. That may work. That may work. Or. It sounds like another book, at least Another book.

Scott Grace00:19:59

Yeah.

Michael Herst00:20:01

I know that we just talked about how that we don't want to kind of inspired you to. To create this piece of art. I would call it a piece of art, if you don't mind, because I believe it incorporates again, written word.It's poems, it's music, it's connecting. Who do you want to speak to?I mean, is this truly for everyone or in this day and age, as you mentioned earlier in this conversation, that typically people are polarized to a point where you're either left or you're right somewhere possibly in the middle or. And then of course, Elon Musk says he's going to start a whole new political side to come In. We don't know what that's going to entail.But who, who are you, who are you trying to reach?

Scott Grace00:20:54

I'm just putting, putting it out there and I'm, I'm very curious if, if it can reach people who are, you know, like college students or working at Apple or Google.You know, they have meditation rooms and, and so I would say the corporate world, but more the, the Google, Apple people, college campuses, kids just forming their opinions and we'll see. You know, it. There's a Unitarian church that has me speaking soon and, and churches are pretty safe for me.I've been doing churches, synagogues, those places. Everybody agrees with me and it's, it's my womb.What I'm really, really excited about and scared is getting out of my comfort zone and communicating with people who may feel threatened by what I have to say.

Michael Herst00:22:04

So the, I think you're on your audience, at least I would hope that your audience is open to the opportunity to understand that what you're sharing with everyone is the opportunity for us to be able to have a conversation, a civil conversation. Not a, not a I'm, I'm right, you're wrong type conversation, but a civil conversation to come to a solution to help us as a whole.Because whatever happens here, you know, in, in the United States, whatever happens here, it has an effect worldwide. And I think that it, it's far reaching, in my opinion. Yeah. And I have to, I had to bring. Do you mind if I ask you a question about your daughter?

Scott Grace00:22:52

No, I don't mind.

Michael Herst00:22:55

You don't mind? I said no. No, don't do that. Go away. I, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had a daughter even from the last time we had the conversation.So we share that in common because I have two daughters and obviously this day and age priorities are our kids. Right. Is your daughter helping you stand up for what you believe in?

Scott Grace00:23:19

Well, she is, she's like a teacher because when she was, when she was five years old, she decided that napkins, she learned napkins come from cutting down trees, so she refused to use napkins anymore. So there was like this. She was born with a sense of direction and integrity.At age 10 she became vegan, which makes dinner very interesting at her house. Now her, her mom eats meat, her stepdad is a vegetarian and she's a vegan vegetarian. So they all get along and figure it all out.So she, yeah, she, she's been my teacher and she's brought out the best in me and the, and the worst in me, the most unconscious I've ever been, you know, but even with that there, there, The. The. The time where I almost wounded her the most, I actually stopped myself. She was. We were playing on the bed. She was like three years old, and.And she slapped me really hard, and it was just very quickly, like a reflex.I went to slap her back, and it was like time stopped because I was able to, like, look at my hand and in this moment and say, what are you about to do? And my hand says, teacher, a lesson in non violence.

Michael Herst00:24:57

That's almost. Almost.

Scott Grace00:25:01

And that was enough. You know, my hand went down and. And I, I got. In an instant what. What craziness that would be.

Michael Herst00:25:15

And so it, It. It said, life can change in an instant from a different perspective.

Scott Grace00:25:20

Yeah. And so I. What I did, I said, ouch, Asia, that hurt. Please don't do that again. Not to me or anyone. And that was.

Michael Herst00:25:29

That seemed to work as an interesting ideology with. With all three of those individuals in the same households being a meat eater, a vegan, and a vegetarian. Yeah, that would make.I mean, I'm primarily vegan. It helps with my arthritis. It helps me to manage my health in that regard. And my wife pretty much has come around to that.She's more vegetarian slash vegan because she'll eat cheese and things like that. Cheese and eggs and so forth. But. And now our daughter just moved back with us. Our youngest daughter moved back home with us. So she's a meat eater.So I understand that dynamic.

Scott Grace00:26:17

You know, actually let me jump in with that, because part of. I think part of the. One of the themes in the book is learning to not be threatened by diversity, but actually entertained.You know, like, oh, an opportunity to learn or to see life through somebody's eyes or to move through some discomfort that I'm feeling or something like that. And I'll take it a step further with. With my daughter's family. She. She's more of like a. An agnostic.Her mom is more like a Christian mystical, and her stepdad is a rabbi. He goes into prisons Monday through Friday. He goes into San Quentin and gets paid to, you know, pray and counsel the. The prisoners.And so one of the things that my. We're all learning and my daughter is. Is having modeled. Is it. It doesn't matter so much what your religion or not.No religion or this religion or that religion. It's kind of. To me, it's as important as what. What clothes you wear. You know, what. What did I put on this morning? It's. It's not me.My beliefs don't define me. So this is, this is in the book, the, the. The audio audible version of the book. I'll sing this.When I first moved out of Brooklyn, New York, the first place I lived when I was on my own was in Greenwich Village. And so I went from a. From a white suburban neighborhood of white privilege, you could say nowadays. And I entered a realm where individuality was.Was God. You know, like expressing yourself in unique ways was just so. So. And, and so what. I felt really uncomfortable there for a while and.And I learned about prejudice because I started to prejudge people who looked weird or different or in some way threatened my sense of self. So I was learning that prejudice is just fear prejudging to try to create safety by putting people in boxes and categories, those people.So I wrote a song to help me get over my prejudice called the Rainbow Song. And I'll just sing a part of it for you. One day I took me a walk in Greenwich Village, New York to catch.

Speaker C00:29:11

Up on the latest crazy. I found a brand new reference for sexual preference listed in the yellow pages. I stumbled upon a crowded hair salon. The line went around the block.There was a special that day and purple body waves with a little green on the top. Yes, we became come in a rainbow. Yes, we are seeing the light. Would you rather see through a color tv? Throw away your black and white?Yes, we becoming a rain. Oh, yes, we are seeing the light. It's so hard to stay with you own kind these days when no two people look alike.Well, there's new races, new faces, new colors, new creeds. We're swimming in diversity. You can keep company with the folks you agree with or sample the variety. I got a born again friend who dabbles in Zen.She's Christian in a mystical way. If you don't like your religion, get a second opinion. Why stick to only one faith these days? Yes, we're becoming rainbow.Yes, we are seeing the light. Would you rather see through a colored tv and throw away your black and white? Yes, we're becoming a rainbow. Yes, we are seeing the lights.It's so hard to stay with your own kind these days when no two people look alike. When no two people think alike. No two people people are alive.

Michael Herst00:31:30

Well, thank you. Thank you very much. You'll be here through next Thursday.

Scott Grace00:31:34

Think you sound. You sound like Elvis just then.

Michael Herst00:31:38

Thank you. Thank you very much. That's a wonderful song. What an opportunity for us to really embrace that message within that song.Yeah, and that's part of the audible version of your book.

Scott Grace00:31:52

Thank you. It occurred to me that many listeners, anyone, any millennium, probably doesn't know what the yellow pages refers to.

Michael Herst00:32:04

So true.

Scott Grace00:32:06

And you know, they may see it as a form of yellow journalism, I don't know. But then the other thing is black and white televisions, I think you may remember them. I think absolutely.I remember them at a black and white television. I remember how exciting it was to bring home a color tv.

Michael Herst00:32:22

Yep. Remember that. And I was also remember being the antenna mover and the channel changer before.

Scott Grace00:32:33

Now that, that can bring up people's control issues, remote control issues, and.

Michael Herst00:32:40

And three channels you had abc, NBC, cbs. That was it.

Scott Grace00:32:45

That was it. And they were all non profit, right?

Michael Herst00:32:48

Correct, Yep. Go. And it was.My dad was a journalist and I remember him coming home and he'd be working on something and we'd sit down and watch something and he wanted to change your channel. And he'd say, michael, go change the channel. And that was the remote, me changing the channel.Then I had to readjust the rabbit ears to make sure that the channel came in. So that's way back. You made me. You made me regress just a wee bit.

Scott Grace00:33:18

Well, the hypnotherapy worked then.

Michael Herst00:33:20

It did 100%. Although I do have to make a quick reference when we were talking about Jimmy Stewart out there.So for those of you that don't know Jimmy Stewart, if you are a connoisseur of old movies, or if you really want to get the.The Hollywood icon idol, he's one of the originals, so you should look him up on tcm, look up some of his old movies and you'll absolutely love Jimmy Stewart.

Scott Grace00:33:46

It's a Wonderful Life.

Michael Herst00:33:50

Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Scott, without naming any ideologies or parties, can you describe principles in your ideal society?What would you, what would you consider an ideal society? Right now? What we see is a chaos.

Scott Grace00:34:10

I know, I know. Well, you know, first of all, chaos is very often a precursor to change in.Positive changes can happen, you know, like if you were clothed in a washing machine and you were tumbling all around and you didn't know the context of the tumble, it would seem like chaos. You'd be like, hey, we're all in chaos. But there is a purpose to that chaos.And for me it's a matter of faith, you know, I believe that the tendency to evolve is where we go eventually, and we may have to take a longer time to get there than I would like. But I think one of the things that both people on both sides can agree with not everyone, but is, you gotta get the money out of politics.And the status quo is not helpful anymore.And there are people who really dislike Donald Trump as a human being, but they voted for him because they, they see that he's going to disrupt things. For whatever his reasons are, he is a disruptor. And people perceive that any change right now is better than the status quo.And I think the status quo has been created over a series of many years. Eisenhower warned us not to allow the military industrial complex to start making money off of weapons.He also said one day the people of the world are going to want peace so much that the governments of the world are going to have to let them. Have to step aside and let them have it.

Michael Herst00:36:24

Let's hope so. I love it. Perspective. I think that, you know, I agree with you. Take the money out of politics, because money out of politics.Money and politics don't mix. You can buy a vote. You can buy, you can buy a, you could buy your way in. Basically.I think that that is, it makes us as voters irrelevant to a particular point because whatever we, we as the people want as a whole doesn't always get answered when money steps in. And money can sway their perception of what is good for the people and what isn't good for the people. Compared to that.

Scott Grace00:37:01

Yeah, the, the military, once we started making profit on war, once war became a profit, not a nonprofit. But, you know, I think some of the decisions were made by the military. So, you know, I'm, I'm a capitalist.I just don't, I think where we've gone to is capitalism on steroids.

Michael Herst00:37:28

Yeah, I mean, I, I look, we all look. I would be very comfortable making a couple hundred thousand dollars a year. And I'm all for. I've got my own business.This is my own business, my personal business. So I'm a small business owner. So we understand from even that perspective. I respect capitalism in that regard as well. What I would.And this is again, just my opinion, I think that once you start getting multimillionaires and billionaires involved in politics and paying that money in there to get what they want in the agenda they want put into place, including war. War is business, as you said earlier. War is business.That it skewed everything to a point where sometimes what's good for the people isn't necessarily a goal anymore. The goal is what can I sell, how much can I sell? And you know, how can we profit from it?Even, even we've had politicians Here that went into office, both Republican and Democrat went into office as a middle class individual or lower middle class, middle class and maybe a little upper middle class and walked out of Congress millionaire. And in my opinion that's, you know, back in the way, in the very beginning my family, the trig side of the family helped build the.They were here through the Civil War completely. My ancestors on my father's side, Civil War through have all been here. The trig side contributed to the formation of government.What it looks like today. They were members of Congress way back when. They didn't get paid. Back in the beginning working for Congress didn't get paid.So now I think it's skewed it to a point where it's just not. I think it just needs to stay out. Earlier you mentioned something about curiosity as a kind of a superpower. Can you help me understand?I mean I think being a parent, I understand that, but we as adults, can curiosity still be a superpower?

Scott Grace00:39:52

Yeah, there's definitely power and curiosity.

Michael Herst00:39:58

It.

Scott Grace00:40:01

Why wouldn't we be curious? Curiosity is, is a trait in, in animals, in children. Like what, what would drive us to not be curious? I, I would say generally speaking, fear.And, and, and we're educated, live in fear and, and in fear I need my walls of protection and, and other people could hurt me. So I am not going to be curious about them because that might open me to the possibility of being hurt or threatened in some way.So curiosity is the absence of fear. It's the absence of threat. And it's natural and it could be that, that you have to practice it and fake it for a while to get it going.So that's why like I started to ask questions of the other side and I came up with a bunch of curiosity questions to ask as I interview people who have voted differently than me. And it's healing, it's healing for both of us.They feel, you know, listened to and respected and that curiosity brings safety and, and connection and, and human to human communication.

Michael Herst00:41:25

Well, I think that cultivates and that cultivates communication in a world that kind of rewards certainty and, and outrage at the same time because it allows us the ability to open a conversation and to at least get a dialogue going, as you said, with the people that were on the airplane. Right. But they were across the aisle, they both were wearing the red hat and conversation with them.So I think curiosity, that approach, it can cultivate across the world, not just here.

Scott Grace00:42:01

Yeah, yeah. And being curious about somebody doesn't necessarily mean that you are Giving up your beliefs or changing your opinions has nothing to do with that.

Michael Herst00:42:15

Again, I think it opens a conversation. From my perspective, I think it opens a conversation and communication, as we said earlier, is kind of a key to.I mean, we have to understand other people from their perspective as. What is that old cliche, Walk a mile in my shoes? You know, it's not really cliche. It's. It's a fact.Walk a mile in my shoes, see what I've experienced, what I'm looking for, why I'm here. You know, just assume. Don't just automatically jump to conclusions. And, you know, I think it works. In your opinion, when we.If we strip away the labels, the politics and the fear, what do you see as a common thread for human behavior from a philosophical perspective? Since. I mean, your Dr. Seuss is kind of philosophical.

Scott Grace00:43:08

Yeah. You know, so I'll answer as the spiritual Dr. Seuss. So. So if you.If you strip away all that's not real, the only thing left that is a big deal is this love that just wants to be revealed. We want to be kind to each other. We want to discover that another is just a mirror of a part of me that maybe I've denied.And maybe I don't want to hide from what's inside. And I want humanity to bring up the best and the worst in me. So I'm coming out of my hiding place. I'm coming out of my meditation cave.I'm waking up from the dream that I need to be safe, that I need to be secure, that I need to be sure of what's going on before being curious. Curiosity is being strong. And we do belong together. As messy as it can be, this experiment called humanity is bringing us from division to.To unity, one heart at a time.

Michael Herst00:44:27

That's poignant, very profound. I think that it brings us to maybe this question. Each generation seems to be believed. The world is ending from young all the way to old.Why does ours feel so intense? What can we learn from that? How do we move collectively through that, those thoughts and those patterns and that belief?

Scott Grace00:44:56

I wonder if it was intense for my grandparents with World War I. If I was. If I could slip into their time frame, maybe they were experiencing the level of crisis that it seems like we're experiencing.I know with my parents, with World War II, it. You know, they were Jewish and it was like, Hitler wants to not just take over the world, but he wants to eliminate genocide. Yeah. So.So that was pretty. Pretty scary, I'm sure. Major intensity. I grew up having nuclear Nightmares and literally just frozen in terror.Because I learned in school that a nuclear bomb would vaporize you pretty much. And that. But then we would have these shelter drills in which we would like, get out into the halls and just assume a certain position.And it just seemed very weird that we would assume a certain position so that we would get vaporized. So there was something somebody wasn't telling me, and it was bringing up a lot of fear of the end of the world. It was a theme of mine.And now my daughter has. Has the radical politics and climate change. So she's growing up in. In. She's 16 now, and she's aware of climate change being a. A big issue.You know, she may not choose to have children, I don't know. But that's what's facing that generation. So the point is, is that every generation has its. Some challenge.And maybe ours isn't as special and as urgent as we think it is. Maybe in. It's just that I kind of see like our assignment. It's. It's our curriculum to work with it this time around.

Michael Herst00:46:54

Yeah.I think that we hopefully have taken lessons from history and lessons from what we've grow up, grown up with, and with everything between World War II, I mean, theoretically from these generations, World War II, and then Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Gulf War, all of those.It seems to me we should have taken some lessons from that in order to have a better understanding of what we as humanity should be doing to help nurture us. Because we are all connected. It doesn't matter what race you are, creed you are, color you are, gender you are. It doesn't matter.We are all connected. And I think that we as humanity need to have a perspective of are we going to survive or are we not going to survive?

Scott Grace00:47:42

You betcha. Now I know we're going to end pretty soon. The New York Times, I think it's January 1st or December 31st.They always come out with an article about the good things that happened that year. And one thing they say is that war globally is decreasing every year, that there's poverty globally is getting better every year.So to me, that's big news. Why aren't we being told that every day?

Michael Herst00:48:18

Yeah, exactly.I think it's the media's responsibility to bring that forward, to at least provide us some positive news instead of constant, the barrage of negativity.

Scott Grace00:48:31

All right, but it's not just the media. It's the people, because the media are just feeding the people what they want. And what many people want is adrenaline. They want to be scared.They, they want to, they want to be engaged and they want the conflict. McDonald's in Europe.Years ago, I went to a Burger King or something in Europe and they had recycling and they had vegetarian options years before they came to America. And why? Because the people demanded it. And so if, if, if Burger King in Europe wants to make a profit, that's how they going to do it.So we, we have to, you know, the collective. We need to demand good news and want it.

Michael Herst00:49:21

I agree with that. That, that's a, that's an amazing and profound statement within itself. I think they need to open their eyes and listen to us, the people. We.The people. We. The people. Scott, it. We could talk for another hour. I know we could, but under orders.

Scott Grace00:49:39

Exactly. Doctor's orders.

Michael Herst00:49:41

But yeah, it's been a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with you again. And I think that this new project that you're working on is going to.I think it take off on such a point that it will hopefully inspire, motivate and educate some people. So I appreciate you doing that. Can you tell us how they can find it and everything else that you do?Because you, you're a coach, you're a guidance and a mentor for both men and women.

Scott Grace00:50:06

It's, yeah, it, it's. It's as simple as going to scottsongs.com and to subscribe. So that. And I don't send many emails, I forget, but I do.I will let people know when the new book is out. So that's how to stay connected. Subscribe.

Michael Herst00:50:27

In the meantime, you also have four other books out that are available and those are on the screen if you want to look at them. And they'll be available also with a link in the show notes so that they can find those as well.

Scott Grace00:50:38

Yeah, yeah. The last, the last time I was on your show was to promote mindful masculinity. And you see there's a copy of it over there. There's.That's, that's the AI fantasy version of me. If I, If I went to the gym.

Michael Herst00:50:58

AI version. Thank you. I thought that was Scott. No, it's Scott. It could be Michael too. It could be just. It could really, could be Scott. Again, thank you.I really appreciate what you bring to the world and your song, your music. Music is the, the international language, isn't it? Yeah. I appreciate you bringing.

Scott Grace00:51:25

It starts movements. It. It like it changes the world.Somebody said that, that the Beatles did more to end communism in Russia than any politician because the best way to make Something popular is to make it illegal. So the government made listening to the Beatles illegal. And then all the records were passed around in black market.Just the government could control the people anymore. And the people just said, we want freedom. And they got it, we got it. We got to do the same thing in this country. Freedom from what divides us.And let's start talking about what unites us, because that's been since the beginning of history, that has been the strategy of people in power is divide and conquer. First you have to divide, then you can control people. That's why the curiosity reaching across the aisle is so radical. So it's. It's important.

Michael Herst00:52:25

It's important. This is picking up importance. This is one more thing before you go.You may have just said it, but I'm going to ask you, do you have any words of wisdom?

Scott Grace00:52:36

Words of wisdom?

Michael Herst00:52:39

You can do it in song. You can do it in voice. You can.

Scott Grace00:52:42

You can do it in voice. I can do it in rhyme. I can do it in choice.But I think we just shared the most important part, which is don't let them, whoever them is, and I don't really care. Don't let them think for you and make you angry and upset at fellow human beings for having different points of view. That's how they conquer.They divide. So what we have in common is far more important, and that's where the conversation needs to be.

Michael Herst00:53:19

Those are profound and brilliant words of wisdom. Scott, again, thank you very much. I'm so happy we reconnected. When the book comes out, please let me know.Make sure that gets in the show notes as well. And let's talk again.

Scott Grace00:53:32

Of course.

Michael Herst00:53:34

Absolutely.

Scott Grace00:53:35

You and I will be different people.

Michael Herst00:53:38

So. And for one more thing before you all go, thank you very much for being a part of One more thing before you go, Community.I appreciate each and every one of you. Please, please, like subscribe and follow.And again, I'll have everything and how to get ahold of Scott in the show notes and the webpage@v4eaglepodcast.com have a great day, have a great week and thank you for being here. Thanks for listening to this episode of.

Scott Grace00:54:02

One More Thing before you go.Check out our website@beforeyougopodcast.com youm can find us as well as subscribe to the program and rate us on your favorite podcast listening platform.