December 18, 2024 • 53 mins
Have you ever encountered a simple white feather and felt an overwhelming sense of hope wash over you? Join us as we explore how the smallest symbols of hope can guide us through life's challenges. In this episode, we share heartfelt stories and personal journeys that highlight the transformative power of storytelling. Discover how listening and being present can foster a sense of belonging, and learn how seemingly mundane experiences can be infused with love and hope.
Our guest, Kirk Lane, offers insightful perspectives on inspiration and the meaning of life. Kirk, who is not only a talented musician but also actively involved with Clarity Experiences, shares his journey from aspiring to join the military to finding passion in soccer and, eventually, a thriving career in music. His narrative is a testament to finding purpose through action, demonstrating how embracing new opportunities can lead to profound fulfillment. Through Kirk's story and the stories of others, we are reminded of the power of gratitude, vulnerability, and supportive relationships in our journey of personal growth.
We also reflect on the importance of building meaningful connections and the lasting impact they leave on our lives. By sharing these experiences, we aim to inspire our community to connect, support, and uplift each other. Whether it's mentoring young people or simply being present in the moment, these acts of kindness enrich our lives and those around us. Together, let's spread hope and continue this journey of storytelling, inviting you to engage with us on social media and become a cherished part of the Soul Sisteries community.
Thanks for listening to Soul SiStories. We hope you follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Five-star ratings and reviews always help to spread our message of hope.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Soul Sisteries.
Okay, well, sis, that was somuch fun to talk with our Kirk,
who's sitting right here, butwe're going to pretend like he's
not, although he could be partof the discussion.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
La, la, la la la la there you go, yeah, we'll
pretend, but you could be partof the discussion also.
La la, there you go.
Yeah, we'll pretend, but youcould be part of the discussion
also.
No-transcript.
(00:40):
So this was kind of a fun thingfor me to, I guess, get to know
you a little bit more than justI don't know who you are
professionally, I guess.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
You know, I think and I'm so glad for that, and I'm
glad that we had thisopportunity and did this but I
think also in the bigger picture, of even why Soul Sisteries
exists.
I know, for me, I'm alwaysfascinated by people's stories
and the depth of experience, andevery single person in this
world, walking this planet hasprofound, beautiful, funny,
(01:16):
humbling, all the things storiesthat connect our humanity, that
connect our humanity, and Ithink this discussion with our
Kirk here was exactly that,showing.
Here's somebody who there aregoing to be people who know you
because they follow your music,they're a part of your world and
what you do, but you also don'thave a million followers and
(01:40):
whatnot.
You're not in that plane, butyou're a man who has been living
a profoundly meaningful life,whose story has import and is
worth sharing, and this justtouches me so deeply and I'm so
grateful to be a part of it.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah, yeah, I think you know it's interesting,
because that is.
This podcast is about hope, butit's through stories, it's
through people's experiences,and you know we've used the word
lived experience, but you know,what have you experienced that
gives you hope?
And how do you bring hope toothers?
And I know, when we firststarted talking about this, you
(02:18):
know we came to this through ourgrief journeys.
But hope isn't only needed whenthere's grief, when there's
trauma.
Right, I mean, the world needshope and not just in the US.
You know, the world needs hopeand it comes in so many
different forms.
And you know, I think that'swhat is really important to hear
this.
(02:38):
This is very different than youknow, maybe our first interview
, maybe different than what someof our other interviews are
going to be, but it's.
Everybody brings something to,I guess, to lift them up, but
also to lift others up, andthat's really kind of what I'm
hoping that we use this mediumfor.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
For sure.
And also, I think, when wereally drill down to it, what is
the meaning of hope?
So we talk a lot about hope fora better world, hope for a
better time, and it's yeah, wecan reach better times, but then
the nature of life is, there'sgoing to be some crap times
(03:16):
after that also.
So then, what is hope?
Because we don't just get tothis place and then the angels
sing and all is well.
So, as Kirk was sharing aboutthe hope in the action, the
doing, the reaching out, themaking connections, the growing
right, the hope is in that,because that is the life and the
(03:36):
breath and the love, and thatis is what gives this time
meaning.
Yeah, that's the answer rightthere.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
The story is, to me, the answer, and I think that's
one thing that we didn't touchand thank you, that was an
amazing cause.
It was kind of it was therapyfor me, um, but I love
everybody's story and and youknow, I guess if I had a chance
to change some answers, I mightsay this to some of the
(04:10):
questions that you asked me is,everyone has a story and that
story is so important and somany people don't get to tell it
and so many people don't listen.
They don't listen, they don'tlisten.
They all think that we're thiswonderful thing on the screen
and that we're the perfectpicture and the edited version
(04:32):
that goes out there, andsometimes the story is.
I stubbed my toe today and ithurt like crap and it has bummed
me out the entire day, made mecrabby, and it made me crabby
and I just need to tell it tosomebody and I need someone to
give a poop and I think,honestly, that's really one of
(04:54):
the things that I really gained,especially from my mom, is
listen to the story.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
And the really cool thing I think about stories is
that they're fluid.
Mm-hmm, and the really coolthing I think about stories is
that they're fluid.
The story you tell today is notnecessarily the same story that
you're going to tell tomorrowor next year, and so it is
certainly okay to change youranswers.
If hope is blue for you today,that doesn't mean it's going to
be blue next week or next year,and your story and how you
remember your story and how youtell your story is going to
(05:23):
change.
The one concept that I'mlooking for and I know we've
talked about this in our ownlives, donna is like hope
through our lives, and we havethese.
Sometimes it's little pocketsof hope, sometimes it's just
little specks of hope.
Other it's big, massivemountains of hope.
But how does that propel uskind of forward while we're
(05:45):
living in the moment, of course,but not drowning in whatever's
going on when we stub our toe?
Today?
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Hope is there Hope is always there.
It's so interesting.
Remember we got in the car thismorning, you and I, sis, and I
was talking about my quote, myhope quote.
I always go to Emily Dickinsonand hope is the thing with
feathers, and right there centerof the windshield was a big old
white feather waiting for us.
(06:13):
The hope is always there, thesigns are there, life is there,
love is there.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
No birds around, just that white feather is there
yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Well, we certainly hope that you enjoy this
upcoming episode.
Weird to talk about myself, butI'm so thankful that everyone
that's out there that'slistening is along for the ride,
and obviously thankful for youtwo again.
And I'll continue to say it,and I think we always should
continue to lift each other up.
(06:41):
We always should continue tolift each other up and I love
that we had a chance to learnmore about our stories and I
certainly hope that other peoplebecome hopeful listening to it.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Welcome to Soul Sisteries.
We are here today with ourwonderful guest.
We're so grateful to have himhere and also that he said yes
to being an engineer for ourpodcast.
We have the wonderful Kirk Lane, and welcome Kirk.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Um, so, uh, I uh, this is, yeah, this is kind of
where I'm at right now, and Isense that we're going to
straighten some things out thatI don't have quite worked out in
my brain yet.
So, but I'm I'm glad to be here.
You know, guys, we talked abouta little bit offline.
(07:38):
You know, I'm a person thatthat embraces positive vibes and
good stuff, and I've alwaysfelt that from you, donna, and
your family, and you're justguilty by association.
So I'm really excited about notjust now, but just what's
coming in the future.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Well, Donna, I kind of introduced you as the
engineer, you know, slashproducer of this little endeavor
we have going here.
I'm wondering if you'll justshare with us kind of a little
bit about who you are, whatyou're doing, kind of where your
life is today.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Yeah, absolutely so.
I'm in my life and theimportant things.
I'm a son, I'm a father, I'm ahusband, I'm a son, I'm a father
, I'm a husband, I'm a brother,I'm a producer, I'm a musician.
I'm a lot of things.
I'm Kirk and I think that'sultimately what I want in life
is, I want people that I've hadthe pleasure of interacting with
(08:39):
or to speak my name, think ofmy name, and hopefully it brings
them a smile, a good memory,and, even if it's a tough lesson
that maybe had to be learned,uh, you know.
So I think that's what I I amor what I aspire to be.
Um, I need to stay active.
So I do a lot of things.
(09:00):
People tell me constantly likehow do you?
You're, do you?
You're here and you're thereand you're playing and you're
doing this and you're doing that.
And if I wasn't, I justwouldn't, I don't think I'd be
Kirk.
So what I am is someone that'sglad to be here, that is
thankful for all the roles thatI mentioned, and hopeful that I
(09:22):
can bring that hope throughaction, through lived
experiences, through interaction.
That's, I think, my owndescription of myself.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Yeah, I like it.
I like it.
You know, as you're talking, Iwant to say we also have a
history that we didn't even know.
That goes way back when becauseI think we're off by maybe one
or two years where I might'vebeen your middle school teacher,
because you went to the middleschool where I taught way back
(09:54):
in the day, cause that's yourhometown.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
I grew up in Apple Valley, California, and it was
an amazing experience.
And, yeah, you know, I, I Idon't want to call it the Al
Bundy, but I loved high school.
High school was amazing to me.
I grew up in a small town.
My parents owned the sportinggoods store in the town, so we
knew everybody.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Yeah, and I knew that store.
I knew that store, having livedthere a few years.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
So I mean honestly, I really credit that small town
upbringing with.
You know a lot of who I amtoday and it's just such a great
fond memory.
And you know, with my work Itravel a lot and I always make
sure that if there's someone intown that I know, especially
from the high desert, I'd makesure and spend time with them.
I was just in Portland lastweek and I went to.
(10:41):
I'm a big soccer fan and refand coach.
All those players did all thatand so we went to a Timbers game
and we were high school players, soccer players, and I hadn't
seen him since our 20 yearreunion, I think.
So it's been quite a bit.
The week before I was up inSanta Barbara, ventura, and
visited some friends that livedon the same street as me, and
I'm going to Atlanta next weekand I'm going to be visiting
(11:02):
with a friend that I haven'tseen in a while.
So you know, to me that smalltown really helped me understand
what it was about my parentsowning their own business and,
you know, being someone that,from when I can remember, was
working, you know whether it wastaking out the trash, sweeping,
you know whatever.
So there was always a sense ofpride in what I had to do.
(11:23):
And then this is not a slag onmy mom and dad, but they worked
a lot and so my brother and Ihad to spend a lot of time
raising each other right.
It was a much different timeand you're not as necessarily
(11:44):
overwhelmed or concerned withall the things.
Did the laundry?
We, we did, you know.
We cooked, we did all that, infact, you know, we did all the,
we did all the lawn work.
We did all that stuff that, ofcourse, my parents ended up once
we left, you know, payingsomeone, and we'd come back and
go how come the airconditioner's on, how come
everything's clean?
And we didn't well, cause, youknow, our, our labor is gone.
But it made me appreciate it,right, it made me appreciate
what I, what I have.
(12:05):
In fact, I didn't want a housefor years because I knew the
upkeep that it took.
I just wanted a littleapartment that I could go in, so
like just that, that whole youknow realm.
But yeah, no, it's, it's.
It's funny that that that wedid come back around to Apple
Valley and all things lead backto the high desert.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Isn't that the truth right.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
So you already started kind of talking about
your upbringing and your AppleValley, which to me kind of I
just remember small town, livingat least back then.
I'm sure it's grown up quite abit now but what brought you to
where you are today?
In this you know musician andproducing and yeah, it's my
whole life.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
I'm thankful and obviously give tons of credit
and honor to the upbringing youknow, specifically to my parents
and the people that I wasaround and the mentors along the
way.
I mean so many mentors,teachers, coaches, just you know
(13:10):
, just great mentors and I'vealways considered myself a
sponge and I'm always soakingthings in, even at this age.
And when I first was in school,I thought I was going to be in
the military, I was going to goto one of the military academies
and I was set on that.
I military history and just Iit was that's what I wanted to
do.
That's what I aspired to do.
(13:30):
Grandparents fought in you know, the great in world war II.
I had some other relatives thatwere in the military and we
lived around a lot of militarybases in the high desert and my
parents did a lot for thembecause they did, you know all
the t-shirts and all that otherstuff.
So we were going to Marinebases, army bases, air Force
bases, we were going to allthese bases all the time.
So it was just I really thoughtthat's what I was going to do
(13:54):
and I was, you know, very muchoverweight kid and not very, you
know physical or athletic.
And I found this sport, soccerthat nobody had heard of back in
the you know 70s and 80s.
And so I you know dad signed meup for T-ball and I can
remember crying like, literallyfalling on the ground at his
(14:16):
feet, grabbing, going no, no, Idon't know the fear, I just.
I didn't feel like I could doany of it Right, and so he
signed me up for soccer.
Well, you know what?
That was something I could do,right, because there was really
no expectations, because nobodyliked it, so I could do whatever
I can go out there and pickdaisies, and I was a superstar.
And so I did that.
(14:36):
I started, you know, getting fitand I started feeling confident
about that, always been a bigmusic fan, always been somewhat
technically, you know, adept,and so, I think, once I realized
I wasn't going to go that, uh,the military route, I was, I
want to be a teacher and I wantto be a soccer coach.
So I went to school, I wasfortunate enough to get a
(15:00):
scholarship to get to, you know,play in college, and I was
going to get my history degreeand I was going to be a coach
and a teacher.
And then, um, uh, along the way, I um had my first kid and, as
those things tend to do, um,they change plans a little bit
(15:20):
and, um, you know, I was okaywith that.
And so I was in college and agood friend of mine's father
owned a production company andhe called me up and he said, hey
, we really need some help forsome of these upcoming shows.
I had already been kind ofstarting to play as a musician,
so I wasn't afraid pluggingthings in, and so, you know, I
(15:43):
was ripe for that.
And here I am, 30 plus yearslater and, oddly enough, the
friend that you know that Istarted in the industry and his
dad I now still currently workfor him he's the CEO of the
company that I'm in and we'restill great friends and I'm
still great friends with hisfather, who is an amazing mentor
(16:03):
of mine.
And you know, and the greatthing is is here I am doing
podcast stuff, cause I'm notafraid to set this up I I help
out at our theater and and, ofcourse, my wife's a teacher, so
I've always been the residentaudio visual tech at her schools
and and kind of whoever justasked me to help.
I'm, I'm always, I'm alwaysthankful to help, and the jobs
(16:27):
allowed me to kind of travel allover the place and meet a lot
of great people and do a lot ofgreat things, and also things
that weren't so great but thatI've learned and grown from it's
just life right.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Yeah, that's the path .
So, you know, we were talking alittle bit about the fact that
we've got a tagline here for ourpodcast, which is hope through
dot, dot, dot, and we fill thatin for each person we talk to.
And we were talking about, well, what's your hope through Kirk?
And we kind of forced you toland on what sounded like
everything that you were talkingabout, which is hope through
(16:58):
action, and that's exactly whatyou were just describing.
Can you tell us a little bitmore about that?
What is that for you?
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Yeah Well, I mean, I'll just break it down simple.
I love sitting on the couch andwatching a good movie or
whatever, but there's nothingthat fills me up like getting up
, putting the harness on my dogand going for an hour-long walk
and listening to a book or apodcast or music or whatever
else just doing something right.
(17:26):
There's nothing like jumping inthe garage and cleaning it up
or, if you have a big task atwork, and just doing it, and so
I think I've always had thatexample.
My parents own their ownbusiness.
It's not an easy thing to ownyour own business, so I had that
inspiration in front of me andI'm fidgety and I can get easily
(17:52):
distracted, and so, to me,doing things just always brought
me not just joy it brings mejoy but it brought me
completeness.
Is that a word Like a?
Speaker 1 (18:07):
satisfaction.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
I felt good about it.
You know that, old, youattended the farm and you woke
up early and you were soexhausted at the end of the
night that you just went tosleep and then you reflected,
and then you went up and you didit again.
And you know, listen, I don'tpretend for a second that I
don't live an amazing life.
(18:30):
I don't.
I'm very lucky.
But I think part of that hascome from my need to do.
You know, it's that, it's thatit's just, it's the
accomplishment, it's the.
I'm a visual learner, I'm a dolearner, and so that that's kind
(18:51):
of been my approach to so manythings.
And then you know, hey, I'mstubborn, and and I'm far less
stubborn now than I was younger,and I think I'm thankful for
that, because I see too many ofmy friends that are stubborn for
stubborn sake, and just, I knowit all and you're wrong.
And why does it have to change?
(19:13):
And what well?
It has to change?
Because everything changes,just like you change your damn
underwear every day.
Right, it's just something youhave to do.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
I mean presumably, presumably, right, it's just
something you have to do.
I mean presumably, presumably.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
So you know again, I, you know, yeah, I could easily
when I'm on the road.
I could easily just go to bedevery night and be done, but I
would prefer to go to the soccergame or I'd prefer to go to the
show, or I'd prefer to go see amusical, or I'd prefer to go to
the show or I prefer to go seea musical or I'd prefer to go
and see what's the cool spot inthat city.
And I would most definitelywant to go and reconnect with
someone that brought me joyyounger in life or a younger
point in my life, and and justto bring that up again and then
(19:56):
maybe hopefully inspire them alittle, right.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Yeah.
So, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
So it sounds like you live a very kind of like
action-driven life.
You know, not that you don'trelax, but that you're going to
accomplish things right, and soI wonder what your like life
philosophy is.
You know, if somebody asked youwhat's your philosophy of life,
is it you know, never stop, Idon't know.
Is it you know, never stop, Idon't know.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
No, Jokingly, I used to tell people you know, aim low
, because if you hit straightoff you're in a good spot.
My life philosophy is to live.
(20:44):
To put it simply is to live.
We wake up every day andthere's job Number one I woke up
.
It's a pretty dang good thing,yeah, and I can make a lot of
decisions from that time that Iwake up, and sometimes I pick up
the phone and check and seewhat's going on in the world, or
whatever, and get.
But sometimes I get right upand I get after it.
(21:05):
But at some point during thatday I want to make sure that I
did something for myself.
I did something for the onesthat I love, and that I did, did
something for my dog and didsomething for, you know, the
people that I'm around, whetherI know them or not.
And yeah, living, that's myphilosophy.
(21:25):
Living.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Yeah Well, definitely that was true, and I sat down
with you some weeks back just tosay, hey, my sister and I have
this plan and we knew you knewabout the podcast world and
maybe you can give us someinsights.
And you were right away I'm in,I'm going to support this, I'm
going to be a part and we'regoing to make this happen.
And so you leapfrogged us quitea bit.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
You know it's listen, I'm so, as I've mentioned, I'm
always going to be so thankfulfor, you know, the people in my
life, the.
You know the fact that I feellike I have the gumption to get
you know, going every day and todo something.
You know, we're all in thistogether, whether we want to be
(22:11):
or not Right, and there's a lotof crappy choices out there.
There's a ton of crappy choices, personally, professionally, on
all different levels Right, andI've always been thankful that
those that I try and surroundmyself, whether they do it
directly, indirectly, they liftme up, whether that's the goal,
(22:34):
or but I like being aroundpeople, I like being around
things, I like doing that.
And so, when, when we had thisdiscussion, I know how not just
myself but my entire family hasbenefited from you, Donna.
Um, well, you know, let's talkabout superstars, let's talk
(22:56):
about the, the productions,let's talk about the book club.
You, uh, you know, invited mywife to and and the friendship
that has developed from there.
And the you know this, thispartner, that I have to know
that she has someone like you inher life, Right, Well, I
(23:20):
appreciate that, but listen, she, she's one of the greatest
people I know.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
You're not going to get an argument from me, and I
consider myself lucky.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
So I just I just need to say that you, your family,
have always been so supportiveof our family, my family, and so
I know what you have and Iindirectly know what you have
and I'm excited to know moreabout it.
I really am, and so, as I gothrough this journey, if I can
(23:52):
have people like you in my lifeand that you could be in my
kid's life as you are and youcan be in my wife's life as you
are, thank you.
You're in my parents, right,yeah?
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Good egg your pop.
I lost my pops, yeah you werethere.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Oh, yeah, yeah and um , and because I'm surrounded by
such amazing people, I'm notafraid to cry, and it is one of
the most um fulfilling thingsyou can do as a human.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
It will bring emotions to yourself that you
really can't experience with anychemical, any distraction or
whatever else, and so I'mthankful for the many women in
my life my mom, to start offwith my wife hell, my ex-wife my
kids, all the examples, mymother-in-law that, hey, we're
(24:52):
just here and we just need toembrace your emotions and
feelings and do good, and so I'mthankful for that Well let me
ask about that, though, becauseI know from what you've shared
with me that this was not alwaysyour path to be so closely
connected and so vulnerable andso present and so real that
(25:15):
there's there's conscious choiceand action here too, yeah yeah,
no, I, you know I'm a.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
I'm a kid that grew up in the seventies and the
eighties and I said things anddid things that I'll regret for
the rest of my life, whether itwas a racial slur, whether it
was sexist.
You know, unfortunately I didall that, conscious or not, I
did it, and I did for acceptanceand I did it because that's the
(25:49):
pathway that I thought we allneeded to go down, right, and it
never felt good, yeah, but whatfelt good is when I could talk
to my mom and I could tell herabout my day and I could tell
her about the fears or anxietiesor the problems that I had.
And you know, mom didn't tellme what to do.
(26:09):
She just listened and acceptedand said you're a good person
and you're going to do the rightthing.
And if you don't do the rightthing, you're going to learn
from it and you're going to gofix that.
And and then you know,experiences like that and just
(26:30):
you know, always have beenconnected with those that just
kind of go beyond thosesuperficial things that are all
there and I get it.
I mean, to this day there'sstill that.
You know, you kind of got tofit in and I'm not a person that
needs to go out and tell theworld what all my beliefs and
everything are.
Okay, my beliefs are just spendtime with me and follow me and
(26:53):
watch me.
You'll know what my beliefs are.
I don't need to state them, Idon't need to stamp them, I
don't need to put a label, Idon't need to do any.
My beliefs are we're here for ashort time.
Live life.
We're in this together.
It just feels so much betterwhen we can have a discussion
like this and feel good and andand not feel I'm okay with being
(27:15):
vulnerable.
I'm okay with hard questions.
I'm okay with crying.
I cry too much, I don't know.
There's people that are goingto be like I can't keep it
together, but that's fine.
I I'd much rather have thatthan the ability not to right
and too many people just keepthat all inside.
So, yeah, thankful, live life,just do it.
(27:36):
All of these things are presentin in front of me and I am
thankful that I have themotivation, mostly on a daily
basis, to go after it, becausethere are all those times, like
you mentioned, and I thinkthat's one thing that I've done
now older you know, than when Iwas younger because you just
(27:57):
feel like you just go on and goon and go on.
I'm very intentional about mytime off alone or to reflect or
do whatever.
Now I mentioned my walks withmy dog.
That's part of it, right, it'sphysical.
You're outside, You're givingthis little four-legged being
the opportunity to go out and dowhatever he needs to do and at
(28:20):
the same time, I can enrichmyself by listening to the birds
Not the band, but the realbirds or music, or a book or a
podcast or any of the othergreat things.
That that's nice.
You know that we could haveright in our palm of our hands.
So like trying to use that forgood as opposed to just let my
brain rot away.
And but then there's times whenI get back from a show and I
(28:43):
try not to book too much, butthere's also limited time for
other things.
So you just you do it and youfind the other time to rest, but
I'm intentional about my rest.
What I do need to.
I really I love and embrace andknow the importance of therapy,
(29:05):
yet I don't go to therapy.
I don't have a therapist.
You're my therapist, my dog ismy therapist, my wife is my
therapist, my music is mytherapist, but none of those.
And I think that's the nextjourney and, like, honestly,
(29:25):
part of my motivation forhelping you guys with this is to
get over that next step in mylife and find the right pathway
to that therapy, because I thinkit'll make me a better person.
And if I can be a better person,then I feel like I could be a
better producer for this podcast, I can be a better father, I
(29:47):
could be a better husband, Icould be a better musician, I
could be a better comedian, Icould be a better whatever the F
I want it to be, and and so so,going back to your earlier
question, that was part of mymotivation as well is like
listen.
I haven't quite figured out howto jump that hurdle, but if I
(30:08):
can sit in and listen to youguys, I mean sorry, I'm going to
just put it all out there Ifeel like I'm going to gain from
it because I know this stuff.
But I don't know this stuff.
Right Point, I'm pointing at youfor the world that doesn't know
, I'm pointing at these twoamazing individuals that are
sitting next to me.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
So I mean that's super cool, but isn't it
interesting that it seems to be?
It's always the good people inthe world who want to know how
to be better people.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
You know that's an underlying thing, but but
there's always value in going totherapy.
So of course you're not goingto hear me question that, but
yes, yeah, so you, you mentioned, you know maybe some people are
going to listen to you, youknow, getting choked up and
teary-eyed and kind of think,like you know what's this guy
doing.
What do you think you, as ayoung boy, would say to yourself
(30:57):
?
Now, you know, if you were, youknow 13-year-old Kirk, seeing
what you're doing and who youare now as a dad, as a husband,
you are now as a as a dad, as ahusband, as a producer, a
musician.
What would 13 year old Kirk say?
Speaker 3 (31:10):
Um, you know, I I would hope that 13 year old Kirk
would just say keep it up,right, because I I felt like I
was a doer when I was young too.
Because I felt like I was adoer when I was young too, I
think I would just tell myselfto keep it up and stay positive.
(31:32):
I think that's important, butstay realistic.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Yeah, I was and am and always will be just there's
so much to learn every day.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
There's so much to learn, and I hope so.
There's my answer Don't everstop learning, old Kirk.
Don't ever stop, Don't, everstop.
It's, it's, don't, it's.
There's always room for more.
There's always room for more,and there's also room for
there's also you know, there'sand this is another thing that's
(32:10):
really really, really importantto me and I think I've learned
from many mentors is also let itgo, don't, don't hold onto it.
You know, identify that it's ananxiety, or identify that it
doesn't make you feel good, oridentify whatever it is, whether
(32:31):
it's a memory, whether it's afeeling, whether it's whatever.
But it's okay to let some ofthat stuff go, and I think
that's a hard thing.
I'm very much a pack rat as aperson, right, I still have all
the letters that have ever beenwritten to me, you know, by the
whole box of them.
You know my wife makes fun ofme every time and she should,
but it's just those.
(32:51):
Someone, someone took the timeto write me a letter to tell me
their feelings and I value that.
I valued it then and I value itnow.
Now it's important for me tokeep a couple hundred, you know,
old pieces of writing paper inmy garage.
It isn't it's the memory, it's,it's all of that.
It was great during COVID whenwe had a lot of time and I went
through and I read a lot of thatand I just went.
(33:13):
You know what, kirk, you were.
It seems like you were a prettygood guy when you were a kid
and just keep that up.
Um so, um so.
But one thing I've found now asI'm getting older, like I'm
definitely getting much betterat letting go right and letting
go of those you know, and I gotto tell myself.
It's an anxiety, like I justwent through this whole garage
(33:36):
cleaning thing, right, and it'slike it's taken me five years to
get motivated to really do theproject the way that it needed
to be done.
That was a long five years thatI could have got a lot of stuff
done during that time but Ididn't and I just whatever was
motivated recently to make ithappen.
And so there's these boxes andstuff that's going in the trash
(33:59):
and stuff that's going to, youknow, goodwill or whatever else,
and like there was a time whereI would just be, like my heart
would be aching and then,instead of looking at it as I'm
losing this, I looked at it as Igot so much out of this for
when I had it, but it's beensitting here in my garage doing
nothing.
Maybe it's going to bring joy tosomebody else, um and and so
(34:22):
that that process as you, as Iget older, I had all these great
things.
I don't need these great thingsas much as anymore, as much as
I need this conversation andthis time with you guys and this
ability to hopefully in ourfuture episodes to get some
other guy out there that isstruggling with something, to
(34:47):
give them the motivation to, tofind that help and then
hopefully be good for themselves.
But I always I said it earlierI think off.
You know, before we startedrecording, there's no joy like
lifting somebody else up.
There is whether they know it,whether they acknowledge it,
(35:09):
whether you know you get anaward for it or you get.
There is nothing like seeingsomeone that you've had the
ability to lift up, to lift themup, find themselves and go out
into the world and make it abetter place for not only
themselves but the people intheir immediate sphere of
(35:30):
influence.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
That's exactly it.
So you were talking earlierabout the things, the ways in
which I relate to your kids andthe involvement there.
That's why that's a big, why Ido a lot of those things.
It's a win-win.
It all comes around and there'sso much that I get out of that
service and support.
But, anyway, not about me, butyeah, amen to that, Amen to that
(35:53):
.
So in this journey, have youcome away with like a life
philosophy?
What did you put on the T-shirt?
The Kirk T-shirt Like this isthe thing.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
There is very much a comedic side to me, right, and
so my initial reaction to manythings growing up has been
deflection through comedy, right, nice.
So my, my initial responsewould be the front of the shirt
says been there, done that, andthe back of the shirt would be
(36:24):
can't wait to go back.
That is awesome.
And whether that meanttraveling or whether that meant
me walking down the street as aI don't know eight-year-old,
(36:49):
nine-year-old kid and going twoblocks up to the Hanson's house,
this elderly couple that livedon our street, and they didn't
really have anyone, right?
And I don't remember thecircumstances and I don't care
what the circumstances are.
What I remember is that if I wasfeeling anxious and mom and dad
(37:11):
were at work or Darren, mybrother, was gone, I would go up
to the Hanson's and you knowwhat.
I'd get milk and cookies or I'dget something, and I would get
treated like an amazingindividual and I just wanted to
spend time with someone andwhether we played a game or
talked about or what you know, Ihad the chance to be there and
(37:33):
do that, right.
And then I was talking aboutthe cleaning up and I pulled out
some of the cards that theyused to send me, pulled out some
of the cards that they used tosend me and I go.
I'm so thankful that, as a kid,I just wanted to spend time and
be with people, whether theywere my people or not my people
there, cause we're all peopleand we're all each other's
people, I think if people reallyrealize that we wouldn't have
(37:55):
as much crap as we have going on.
So um, I think is you couldobviously code it however you
want.
Been there, done that.
Can't wait to go back.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Yeah, I just have to say that's so much like you sis.
That's the person you've alwaysbeen.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
Mine were the Allensons.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
I did the same thing around the corner, about six
doors down to the Allensons theexact same, but also walking
home with the mailman and goingaround the corner to the senior
home and hanging out there andadopting grandparents.
And that was you as a kid,doing these things and always
have been that person.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
Yeah, there's a piece of, I think, kirk you bringing
hope into your own life but alsokind of disseminating that hope
to somebody else, right?
So you were there with thatcouple around the corner or down
the street and you helped themand serve.
It might not feel like it rightnow, but you served a need for
(38:54):
them and allowed them to serviceyou also.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
And that was so valuable.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
Yeah, yeah.
So how do you hope to beremembered at the end of this
journey?
Speaker 3 (39:07):
I hope to be remembered.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
Yeah, I hope to be remembered, and I say that
directly because, as I mentionedearlier, I think it's the same
answer that when you think ofKirk, when you think of those
interactions, I certainly hopeit's something positive, even if
I may have done somethingstupid.
There's a strong chance thatthat happened or said something
(39:32):
stupid, or you know.
I do certainly hope that peoplethink back and go.
Man, I really enjoyed spendingtime with Kirk, that you know.
Maybe it inspires them to gothere and do that and do it
again and lift people up too.
Yeah, I hope people feel likethey gained something.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
However, minute, and yeah, you have to know that you
have already laid down suchstrong foundations with so many
young people.
You talk, I know you just sortof off the cuff and we have
these other strays and you we'veadopted one.
(40:20):
You have a number of youngpeople who you've literally
brought into your home, as wellas your own children and my son
included in this whole.
You've directly mentored inthis world of audio engineering
and there's he has a greatfoundation of um, not only the
actual functioning, the techtools, but how you show up for
(40:43):
things and how you approach themprofessionally.
That he's gotten from you andthat you have to know that there
are many young people like that.
Speaker 3 (40:54):
I hope so and I do, and there's also an ego part of
me, that kind of needs that,because I believe my fulfillment
doesn't just come from justthat immediate doing stuff for
(41:15):
yourself and doing for othersand doing for others, but there
is that need to to see thosethat you've spent time with.
Like to the question, what do Ihope I'm remembered for Is that
is that, yeah, it's hard andit's difficult and you're going
to get judged and you're goingto judge yourself and you're
(41:36):
going to do all this, but noneof it really effing matters when
it's over.
All's we have is right now.
That's the only real thing thatI think is guaranteed is the
moment now, and that's thedriver.
And I want the world young,middle, old I want them to know
(41:58):
that the moment is now.
Do it, you will be rewarded.
I want them to know that themoment is now.
Do it, you will be rewardedtenfold in so many different
ways.
You will be enriched in so manydifferent ways.
So I appreciate you saying that, in being that person that
(42:26):
shows up and being that personthat is the go-to, and that
anyone who I'm fortunate enoughto know or be friends with or
family with, that you call meand I'm there and that's all
there is to it.
So, and and right, we're parents, you know, of course we're.
What do I want from anyone?
(42:49):
It's time, and we get sofocused on.
My time is so precious and mytime is so valuable and I can
only give you this much.
And we talked about the Hansonsand that's all they wanted was
time, Right, they just wantsomeone to acknowledge, know
that they were there.
(43:10):
And I got time from my parents,my grandparents, my aunts and
uncles, my godparents, mycousins, my friends going up, my
teachers, my coaches Everysingle one that I've interacted
with has given me their time,and it's such a precious
commodity and they gave itfreely, and I feel like they
(43:34):
gave it willingly, or at leastthat's what I'm going to tell
myself, at least that's what I'mgoing to tell myself, and I
would hope that many peopleembrace that philosophy and took
it.
Because you know what, nomatter if we're playing
tic-tac-toe or having a reallydeep conversation, that time
(43:57):
together it should fill you up.
Speaker 1 (44:01):
Yeah, yeah it you up, yeah, yeah, it's everything.
Yeah, should we hit our rapidfire questions?
This is the thing.
It's the thing in our podcast.
We think you know is the thingthat we're going to do is to
have this series of questions.
We're just going to ask themand you throw out your answer
and you can talk about them ornot, just say what the thing is
(44:22):
and on we go yeah, got it,perfect, perfect, all right, sis
hit it.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
What color is hope?
Speaker 3 (44:30):
Blue, blue.
Speaker 1 (44:32):
Nice, what does hope sound like?
Speaker 3 (44:48):
The hope is the air, hope is the way, the hope is the
sound of life.
Hope is all of it.
Hope is is the senses to me,and and I take all those senses
in and it becomes hope for me,because when I smell an amazing
batch of cookies, I'm so hopefulthat they're going to be
amazing and I'm going to eatthem.
And when I, you know, when Ihear a lone musician playing an
(45:11):
instrument and is creating music, whether it's theirs or
somebody else's, it's music andit gives me hope.
And when I see the sun shiningbehind the clouds or reflecting
off the water and sometimes youcan capture it, you know, in a
(45:36):
picture out of the airplane,every flight, just to remind me,
especially if I'm above theclouds and that I get to see
this little round thing spinningaround with all these billions
of people doing stuff on it.
And just for a brief moment,I'm just up in the sky, 30,000
feet, with a couple of hundredother people and we're just
(45:56):
getting to a destination so thatwe can be there and do that.
And so that's my long answer.
Speaker 2 (46:05):
What's your theme song?
Speaker 3 (46:10):
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.
That's so fun From Monty Python.
If you know it, you know it'snot necessarily the most
inspirational song in the world,but in context it's my theme
song and I can't whistle verywell, so that just makes it even
(46:30):
.
Speaker 1 (46:30):
That's so good, all right.
So what would your 13-year-oldself say to you?
Is the one we asked.
Speaker 3 (46:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:39):
Yeah, and so what would you say to your
13-year-old self from thisperspective?
Speaker 3 (46:44):
Well, I mean, I'm sorry but I got to steal the
other answer which, by the timethis comes out, will be out to
the rest of the world so that Ican say that.
But when we recorded and youasked that question of Brianna
and it was keep it up, becauseyou, I'm not me if I change the
(47:06):
course of that learning and thatexperience, and so you know,
the keep it up and I'm proud ofyou, I think is important and
you know my parents said that tome often Lucky and yes, oh, yes
, and so many people along theway, right, yeah.
Speaker 2 (47:29):
So yeah.
Speaker 3 (47:33):
Who inspires you?
We don't have enough time.
Who inspires me is those thatare in my presence that are, you
(48:04):
know.
Of course, if they're is, theywere motivated and inspired by
something and they just.
They have words of wisdom fromRon Lane Bumpa.
They all poop with their pantsdown around their ankles.
Sorry for the visual, but youcould be beautiful, amazing,
rich and whatever else, but atthe end of the day, you still
got to do the same things that Ido and, like I'd mentioned and
(48:24):
I hope is a theme you know,we're all just people here and
we just got to be together.
So so I, I, everyone inspiresme.
Speaker 1 (48:31):
All right.
Speaker 3 (48:32):
Everyone, everything.
Speaker 1 (48:34):
That's well then.
Speaker 3 (48:35):
That's kind of a simple or two, but I hope you
understand.
Speaker 1 (48:39):
No, totally understand, or two, but I hope
you understand no, totallyunderstand it, and it's very
much a part of who you are.
I mean, there's intentionalityaround that also.
So, okay, we did a littlePython reference a moment ago.
So what's the meaning of lifefor Kirk?
Speaker 3 (48:52):
Wow, to me is to breathe and live.
And yeah, I could expound andand say all these wonderful
things, but, you know, somedaywas when I'm having a crappy day
and I'm mad at everything and Ijust want to, you know, break
(49:15):
something.
I, the meaning of life for meis not the same at that moment.
I, the meaning of life for meis not the same at that moment.
It's not so.
The meaning of life for me isto live.
Speaker 2 (49:26):
Nice.
Speaker 3 (49:27):
And all that entails.
Speaker 2 (49:28):
Yeah, how about a fill in the blank?
Your word was action, so actionis what?
Speaker 3 (49:36):
Is oxygen.
Speaker 2 (49:39):
So action is the breathing and the air.
So action is the breathing andthe air.
So action is the life also Okay.
Speaker 1 (49:47):
That's profound.
It is Well okay, Bring it onhome.
Speaker 3 (49:50):
For us with hope is Hope is knowing that there you,
whether you know it or not, thatthere is someone or something
or a being or an energy outthere that cares for you, loves
(50:10):
you, wants all of the amazingthings for you, and hope is
giving that person energy orwhatever it is, the opportunity
to embrace it and be that lightof hope.
Speaker 2 (50:34):
Very good.
So obviously you're doing abunch of things.
Right now I haven't been ableto see you except for what
you've posted on Facebook.
So if people want to see you um, you know, doing a gig as a
musician, if people want toconnect with you for your
producing and your engineeringskills.
Speaker 3 (50:53):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, um, you know, so, for mymusic I have a couple of
different areas.
I have Kirk Lane music, andthat's both on Instagram and
Facebook, and then I play in aband called the Daryls and my
name is Larry and you're mysister Daryl and my other sister
Daryl, and so for those of youof a certain age group will
(51:14):
understand exactly where thatcame from.
So we are the Daryls andInstagram, facebook, youtube,
and you know we get prettyregularly, um, so that's good,
and I do the solo acoustic stuffand most recently doing a duet,
um type thing with with a goodfriend of ours, alison, who's
(51:35):
just one of the most talented uhvoices and and amazing
individuals that's out there.
Speaker 2 (51:40):
And.
Speaker 3 (51:41):
I'm just hopeful and thankful that we were able to
finally figure this out afteryou know, being, uh, you know,
in close proximity over the lastcouple of years.
So so those are.
You know, those are the thingsthat you can go to.
Um, I work for a company calledclarity experiences and and I
love this company and it's asimportant to work hard and play
(52:04):
hard and just embrace life anddo all those things.
So, yeah, so those are theplaces that you can follow me
and find my gigs and all thatother stuff.
Speaker 2 (52:15):
Awesome.
Thank you so much yeah thankyou, it's been fun to spend time
together.
Speaker 3 (52:19):
It is.
It's amazing and I'll reiterateit over and every time I get
the chance to say this I'm sohopeful and thankful out there
that are going to benefit fromthe amazing insights and life
(52:43):
experiences that you and I know.
The people that you're alwaysgoing to be selective, that you
bring on, you know to hope.
Maybe you give them a littlebit of inspiration or, at the
very least, just some littlereflection and hey, we're on
this journey together and itcould be difficult sometimes.
So I want to thank you guysespecially for creating that
light and letting me change thebatteries every once in a while.
Speaker 1 (53:06):
Thank you friend so much fun.
Speaker 2 (53:08):
Yes, yay, thanks for joining us today on Soul
Sisteries.
Speaker 1 (53:12):
And thanks for sharing stories with us.
We'd love to hear your storiesas well and keep the
conversation going, absolutelykeeping the hope going.
So we're really hopeful thatyou'll connect with our guests
as well, who have great storiesto share.
Go ahead and follow them invarious social media platforms
or live venues, wherever it isthat they're performing and
(53:36):
sharing what they do.
Speaker 2 (53:38):
We would love to have you follow us on all of our
social media platforms,subscribe and rate, as that will
help us get our message of hopeout to others.
Thanks for listening to SoulSisteries.
Welcome to Soul Sisteries.
Okay, well, sis, that was somuch fun to talk with our Kirk,
who's sitting right here, butwe're going to pretend like he's
not, although he could be partof the discussion.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
La, la, la la la la there you go, yeah, we'll
pretend, but you could be partof the discussion also.
La la, there you go.
Yeah, we'll pretend, but youcould be part of the discussion
also.
No-transcript.
(00:40):
So this was kind of a fun thingfor me to, I guess, get to know
you a little bit more than justI don't know who you are
professionally, I guess.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
You know, I think and I'm so glad for that, and I'm
glad that we had thisopportunity and did this but I
think also in the bigger picture, of even why Soul Sisteries
exists.
I know, for me, I'm alwaysfascinated by people's stories
and the depth of experience, andevery single person in this
world, walking this planet hasprofound, beautiful, funny,
(01:16):
humbling, all the things storiesthat connect our humanity, that
connect our humanity, and Ithink this discussion with our
Kirk here was exactly that,showing.
Here's somebody who there aregoing to be people who know you
because they follow your music,they're a part of your world and
what you do, but you also don'thave a million followers and
(01:40):
whatnot.
You're not in that plane, butyou're a man who has been living
a profoundly meaningful life,whose story has import and is
worth sharing, and this justtouches me so deeply and I'm so
grateful to be a part of it.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah, yeah, I think you know it's interesting,
because that is.
This podcast is about hope, butit's through stories, it's
through people's experiences,and you know we've used the word
lived experience, but you know,what have you experienced that
gives you hope?
And how do you bring hope toothers?
And I know, when we firststarted talking about this, you
(02:18):
know we came to this through ourgrief journeys.
But hope isn't only needed whenthere's grief, when there's
trauma.
Right, I mean, the world needshope and not just in the US.
You know, the world needs hopeand it comes in so many
different forms.
And you know, I think that'swhat is really important to hear
this.
(02:38):
This is very different than youknow, maybe our first interview
, maybe different than what someof our other interviews are
going to be, but it's.
Everybody brings something to,I guess, to lift them up, but
also to lift others up, andthat's really kind of what I'm
hoping that we use this mediumfor.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
For sure.
And also, I think, when wereally drill down to it, what is
the meaning of hope?
So we talk a lot about hope fora better world, hope for a
better time, and it's yeah, wecan reach better times, but then
the nature of life is, there'sgoing to be some crap times
(03:16):
after that also.
So then, what is hope?
Because we don't just get tothis place and then the angels
sing and all is well.
So, as Kirk was sharing aboutthe hope in the action, the
doing, the reaching out, themaking connections, the growing
right, the hope is in that,because that is the life and the
(03:36):
breath and the love, and thatis is what gives this time
meaning.
Yeah, that's the answer rightthere.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
The story is, to me, the answer, and I think that's
one thing that we didn't touchand thank you, that was an
amazing cause.
It was kind of it was therapyfor me, um, but I love
everybody's story and and youknow, I guess if I had a chance
to change some answers, I mightsay this to some of the
(04:10):
questions that you asked me is,everyone has a story and that
story is so important and somany people don't get to tell it
and so many people don't listen.
They don't listen, they don'tlisten.
They all think that we're thiswonderful thing on the screen
and that we're the perfectpicture and the edited version
(04:32):
that goes out there, andsometimes the story is.
I stubbed my toe today and ithurt like crap and it has bummed
me out the entire day, made mecrabby, and it made me crabby
and I just need to tell it tosomebody and I need someone to
give a poop and I think,honestly, that's really one of
(04:54):
the things that I really gained,especially from my mom, is
listen to the story.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
And the really cool thing I think about stories is
that they're fluid.
Mm-hmm, and the really coolthing I think about stories is
that they're fluid.
The story you tell today is notnecessarily the same story that
you're going to tell tomorrowor next year, and so it is
certainly okay to change youranswers.
If hope is blue for you today,that doesn't mean it's going to
be blue next week or next year,and your story and how you
remember your story and how youtell your story is going to
(05:23):
change.
The one concept that I'mlooking for and I know we've
talked about this in our ownlives, donna is like hope
through our lives, and we havethese.
Sometimes it's little pocketsof hope, sometimes it's just
little specks of hope.
Other it's big, massivemountains of hope.
But how does that propel uskind of forward while we're
(05:45):
living in the moment, of course,but not drowning in whatever's
going on when we stub our toe?
Today?
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Hope is there Hope is always there.
It's so interesting.
Remember we got in the car thismorning, you and I, sis, and I
was talking about my quote, myhope quote.
I always go to Emily Dickinsonand hope is the thing with
feathers, and right there centerof the windshield was a big old
white feather waiting for us.
(06:13):
The hope is always there, thesigns are there, life is there,
love is there.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
No birds around, just that white feather is there
yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Well, we certainly hope that you enjoy this
upcoming episode.
Weird to talk about myself, butI'm so thankful that everyone
that's out there that'slistening is along for the ride,
and obviously thankful for youtwo again.
And I'll continue to say it,and I think we always should
continue to lift each other up.
(06:41):
We always should continue tolift each other up and I love
that we had a chance to learnmore about our stories and I
certainly hope that other peoplebecome hopeful listening to it.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Welcome to Soul Sisteries.
We are here today with ourwonderful guest.
We're so grateful to have himhere and also that he said yes
to being an engineer for ourpodcast.
We have the wonderful Kirk Lane, and welcome Kirk.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Um, so, uh, I uh, this is, yeah, this is kind of
where I'm at right now, and Isense that we're going to
straighten some things out thatI don't have quite worked out in
my brain yet.
So, but I'm I'm glad to be here.
You know, guys, we talked abouta little bit offline.
(07:38):
You know, I'm a person thatthat embraces positive vibes and
good stuff, and I've alwaysfelt that from you, donna, and
your family, and you're justguilty by association.
So I'm really excited about notjust now, but just what's
coming in the future.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Well, Donna, I kind of introduced you as the
engineer, you know, slashproducer of this little endeavor
we have going here.
I'm wondering if you'll justshare with us kind of a little
bit about who you are, whatyou're doing, kind of where your
life is today.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Yeah, absolutely so.
I'm in my life and theimportant things.
I'm a son, I'm a father, I'm ahusband, I'm a son, I'm a father
, I'm a husband, I'm a brother,I'm a producer, I'm a musician.
I'm a lot of things.
I'm Kirk and I think that'sultimately what I want in life
is, I want people that I've hadthe pleasure of interacting with
(08:39):
or to speak my name, think ofmy name, and hopefully it brings
them a smile, a good memory,and, even if it's a tough lesson
that maybe had to be learned,uh, you know.
So I think that's what I I amor what I aspire to be.
Um, I need to stay active.
So I do a lot of things.
(09:00):
People tell me constantly likehow do you?
You're, do you?
You're here and you're thereand you're playing and you're
doing this and you're doing that.
And if I wasn't, I justwouldn't, I don't think I'd be
Kirk.
So what I am is someone that'sglad to be here, that is
thankful for all the roles thatI mentioned, and hopeful that I
(09:22):
can bring that hope throughaction, through lived
experiences, through interaction.
That's, I think, my owndescription of myself.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Yeah, I like it.
I like it.
You know, as you're talking, Iwant to say we also have a
history that we didn't even know.
That goes way back when becauseI think we're off by maybe one
or two years where I might'vebeen your middle school teacher,
because you went to the middleschool where I taught way back
(09:54):
in the day, cause that's yourhometown.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
I grew up in Apple Valley, California, and it was
an amazing experience.
And, yeah, you know, I, I Idon't want to call it the Al
Bundy, but I loved high school.
High school was amazing to me.
I grew up in a small town.
My parents owned the sportinggoods store in the town, so we
knew everybody.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Yeah, and I knew that store.
I knew that store, having livedthere a few years.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
So I mean honestly, I really credit that small town
upbringing with.
You know a lot of who I amtoday and it's just such a great
fond memory.
And you know, with my work Itravel a lot and I always make
sure that if there's someone intown that I know, especially
from the high desert, I'd makesure and spend time with them.
I was just in Portland lastweek and I went to.
(10:41):
I'm a big soccer fan and refand coach.
All those players did all thatand so we went to a Timbers game
and we were high school players, soccer players, and I hadn't
seen him since our 20 yearreunion, I think.
So it's been quite a bit.
The week before I was up inSanta Barbara, ventura, and
visited some friends that livedon the same street as me, and
I'm going to Atlanta next weekand I'm going to be visiting
(11:02):
with a friend that I haven'tseen in a while.
So you know, to me that smalltown really helped me understand
what it was about my parentsowning their own business and,
you know, being someone that,from when I can remember, was
working, you know whether it wastaking out the trash, sweeping,
you know whatever.
So there was always a sense ofpride in what I had to do.
(11:23):
And then this is not a slag onmy mom and dad, but they worked
a lot and so my brother and Ihad to spend a lot of time
raising each other right.
It was a much different timeand you're not as necessarily
(11:44):
overwhelmed or concerned withall the things.
Did the laundry?
We, we did, you know.
We cooked, we did all that, infact, you know, we did all the,
we did all the lawn work.
We did all that stuff that, ofcourse, my parents ended up once
we left, you know, payingsomeone, and we'd come back and
go how come the airconditioner's on, how come
everything's clean?
And we didn't well, cause, youknow, our, our labor is gone.
But it made me appreciate it,right, it made me appreciate
what I, what I have.
(12:05):
In fact, I didn't want a housefor years because I knew the
upkeep that it took.
I just wanted a littleapartment that I could go in, so
like just that, that whole youknow realm.
But yeah, no, it's, it's.
It's funny that that that wedid come back around to Apple
Valley and all things lead backto the high desert.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Isn't that the truth right.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
So you already started kind of talking about
your upbringing and your AppleValley, which to me kind of I
just remember small town, livingat least back then.
I'm sure it's grown up quite abit now but what brought you to
where you are today?
In this you know musician andproducing and yeah, it's my
whole life.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
I'm thankful and obviously give tons of credit
and honor to the upbringing youknow, specifically to my parents
and the people that I wasaround and the mentors along the
way.
I mean so many mentors,teachers, coaches, just you know
(13:10):
, just great mentors and I'vealways considered myself a
sponge and I'm always soakingthings in, even at this age.
And when I first was in school,I thought I was going to be in
the military, I was going to goto one of the military academies
and I was set on that.
I military history and just Iit was that's what I wanted to
do.
That's what I aspired to do.
(13:30):
Grandparents fought in you know, the great in world war II.
I had some other relatives thatwere in the military and we
lived around a lot of militarybases in the high desert and my
parents did a lot for thembecause they did, you know all
the t-shirts and all that otherstuff.
So we were going to Marinebases, army bases, air Force
bases, we were going to allthese bases all the time.
So it was just I really thoughtthat's what I was going to do
(13:54):
and I was, you know, very muchoverweight kid and not very, you
know physical or athletic.
And I found this sport, soccerthat nobody had heard of back in
the you know 70s and 80s.
And so I you know dad signed meup for T-ball and I can
remember crying like, literallyfalling on the ground at his
(14:16):
feet, grabbing, going no, no, Idon't know the fear, I just.
I didn't feel like I could doany of it Right, and so he
signed me up for soccer.
Well, you know what?
That was something I could do,right, because there was really
no expectations, because nobodyliked it, so I could do whatever
I can go out there and pickdaisies, and I was a superstar.
And so I did that.
(14:36):
I started, you know, getting fitand I started feeling confident
about that, always been a bigmusic fan, always been somewhat
technically, you know, adept,and so, I think, once I realized
I wasn't going to go that, uh,the military route, I was, I
want to be a teacher and I wantto be a soccer coach.
So I went to school, I wasfortunate enough to get a
(15:00):
scholarship to get to, you know,play in college, and I was
going to get my history degreeand I was going to be a coach
and a teacher.
And then, um, uh, along the way, I um had my first kid and, as
those things tend to do, um,they change plans a little bit
(15:20):
and, um, you know, I was okaywith that.
And so I was in college and agood friend of mine's father
owned a production company andhe called me up and he said, hey
, we really need some help forsome of these upcoming shows.
I had already been kind ofstarting to play as a musician,
so I wasn't afraid pluggingthings in, and so, you know, I
(15:43):
was ripe for that.
And here I am, 30 plus yearslater and, oddly enough, the
friend that you know that Istarted in the industry and his
dad I now still currently workfor him he's the CEO of the
company that I'm in and we'restill great friends and I'm
still great friends with hisfather, who is an amazing mentor
(16:03):
of mine.
And you know, and the greatthing is is here I am doing
podcast stuff, cause I'm notafraid to set this up I I help
out at our theater and and, ofcourse, my wife's a teacher, so
I've always been the residentaudio visual tech at her schools
and and kind of whoever justasked me to help.
I'm, I'm always, I'm alwaysthankful to help, and the jobs
(16:27):
allowed me to kind of travel allover the place and meet a lot
of great people and do a lot ofgreat things, and also things
that weren't so great but thatI've learned and grown from it's
just life right.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Yeah, that's the path .
So, you know, we were talking alittle bit about the fact that
we've got a tagline here for ourpodcast, which is hope through
dot, dot, dot, and we fill thatin for each person we talk to.
And we were talking about, well, what's your hope through Kirk?
And we kind of forced you toland on what sounded like
everything that you were talkingabout, which is hope through
(16:58):
action, and that's exactly whatyou were just describing.
Can you tell us a little bitmore about that?
What is that for you?
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Yeah Well, I mean, I'll just break it down simple.
I love sitting on the couch andwatching a good movie or
whatever, but there's nothingthat fills me up like getting up
, putting the harness on my dogand going for an hour-long walk
and listening to a book or apodcast or music or whatever
else just doing something right.
(17:26):
There's nothing like jumping inthe garage and cleaning it up
or, if you have a big task atwork, and just doing it, and so
I think I've always had thatexample.
My parents own their ownbusiness.
It's not an easy thing to ownyour own business, so I had that
inspiration in front of me andI'm fidgety and I can get easily
(17:52):
distracted, and so, to me,doing things just always brought
me not just joy it brings mejoy but it brought me
completeness.
Is that a word Like a?
Speaker 1 (18:07):
satisfaction.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
I felt good about it.
You know that, old, youattended the farm and you woke
up early and you were soexhausted at the end of the
night that you just went tosleep and then you reflected,
and then you went up and you didit again.
And you know, listen, I don'tpretend for a second that I
don't live an amazing life.
(18:30):
I don't.
I'm very lucky.
But I think part of that hascome from my need to do.
You know, it's that, it's thatit's just, it's the
accomplishment, it's the.
I'm a visual learner, I'm a dolearner, and so that that's kind
(18:51):
of been my approach to so manythings.
And then you know, hey, I'mstubborn, and and I'm far less
stubborn now than I was younger,and I think I'm thankful for
that, because I see too many ofmy friends that are stubborn for
stubborn sake, and just, I knowit all and you're wrong.
And why does it have to change?
(19:13):
And what well?
It has to change?
Because everything changes,just like you change your damn
underwear every day.
Right, it's just something youhave to do.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
I mean presumably, presumably, right, it's just
something you have to do.
I mean presumably, presumably.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
So you know again, I, you know, yeah, I could easily
when I'm on the road.
I could easily just go to bedevery night and be done, but I
would prefer to go to the soccergame or I'd prefer to go to the
show, or I'd prefer to go see amusical, or I'd prefer to go to
the show or I prefer to go seea musical or I'd prefer to go
and see what's the cool spot inthat city.
And I would most definitelywant to go and reconnect with
someone that brought me joyyounger in life or a younger
point in my life, and and justto bring that up again and then
(19:56):
maybe hopefully inspire them alittle, right.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Yeah.
So, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
So it sounds like you live a very kind of like
action-driven life.
You know, not that you don'trelax, but that you're going to
accomplish things right, and soI wonder what your like life
philosophy is.
You know, if somebody asked youwhat's your philosophy of life,
is it you know, never stop, Idon't know.
Is it you know, never stop, Idon't know.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
No, Jokingly, I used to tell people you know, aim low
, because if you hit straightoff you're in a good spot.
My life philosophy is to live.
(20:44):
To put it simply is to live.
We wake up every day andthere's job Number one I woke up
.
It's a pretty dang good thing,yeah, and I can make a lot of
decisions from that time that Iwake up, and sometimes I pick up
the phone and check and seewhat's going on in the world, or
whatever, and get.
But sometimes I get right upand I get after it.
(21:05):
But at some point during thatday I want to make sure that I
did something for myself.
I did something for the onesthat I love, and that I did, did
something for my dog and didsomething for, you know, the
people that I'm around, whetherI know them or not.
And yeah, living, that's myphilosophy.
(21:25):
Living.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Yeah Well, definitely that was true, and I sat down
with you some weeks back just tosay, hey, my sister and I have
this plan and we knew you knewabout the podcast world and
maybe you can give us someinsights.
And you were right away I'm in,I'm going to support this, I'm
going to be a part and we'regoing to make this happen.
And so you leapfrogged us quitea bit.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
You know it's listen, I'm so, as I've mentioned, I'm
always going to be so thankfulfor, you know, the people in my
life, the.
You know the fact that I feellike I have the gumption to get
you know, going every day and todo something.
You know, we're all in thistogether, whether we want to be
(22:11):
or not Right, and there's a lotof crappy choices out there.
There's a ton of crappy choices, personally, professionally, on
all different levels Right, andI've always been thankful that
those that I try and surroundmyself, whether they do it
directly, indirectly, they liftme up, whether that's the goal,
(22:34):
or but I like being aroundpeople, I like being around
things, I like doing that.
And so, when, when we had thisdiscussion, I know how not just
myself but my entire family hasbenefited from you, Donna.
Um, well, you know, let's talkabout superstars, let's talk
(22:56):
about the, the productions,let's talk about the book club.
You, uh, you know, invited mywife to and and the friendship
that has developed from there.
And the you know this, thispartner, that I have to know
that she has someone like you inher life, Right, Well, I
(23:20):
appreciate that, but listen, she, she's one of the greatest
people I know.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
You're not going to get an argument from me, and I
consider myself lucky.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
So I just I just need to say that you, your family,
have always been so supportiveof our family, my family, and so
I know what you have and Iindirectly know what you have
and I'm excited to know moreabout it.
I really am, and so, as I gothrough this journey, if I can
(23:52):
have people like you in my lifeand that you could be in my
kid's life as you are and youcan be in my wife's life as you
are, thank you.
You're in my parents, right,yeah?
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Good egg your pop.
I lost my pops, yeah you werethere.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Oh, yeah, yeah and um , and because I'm surrounded by
such amazing people, I'm notafraid to cry, and it is one of
the most um fulfilling thingsyou can do as a human.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
It will bring emotions to yourself that you
really can't experience with anychemical, any distraction or
whatever else, and so I'mthankful for the many women in
my life my mom, to start offwith my wife hell, my ex-wife my
kids, all the examples, mymother-in-law that, hey, we're
(24:52):
just here and we just need toembrace your emotions and
feelings and do good, and so I'mthankful for that Well let me
ask about that, though, becauseI know from what you've shared
with me that this was not alwaysyour path to be so closely
connected and so vulnerable andso present and so real that
(25:15):
there's there's conscious choiceand action here too, yeah yeah,
no, I, you know I'm a.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
I'm a kid that grew up in the seventies and the
eighties and I said things anddid things that I'll regret for
the rest of my life, whether itwas a racial slur, whether it
was sexist.
You know, unfortunately I didall that, conscious or not, I
did it, and I did for acceptanceand I did it because that's the
(25:49):
pathway that I thought we allneeded to go down, right, and it
never felt good, yeah, but whatfelt good is when I could talk
to my mom and I could tell herabout my day and I could tell
her about the fears or anxietiesor the problems that I had.
And you know, mom didn't tellme what to do.
(26:09):
She just listened and acceptedand said you're a good person
and you're going to do the rightthing.
And if you don't do the rightthing, you're going to learn
from it and you're going to gofix that.
And and then you know,experiences like that and just
(26:30):
you know, always have beenconnected with those that just
kind of go beyond thosesuperficial things that are all
there and I get it.
I mean, to this day there'sstill that.
You know, you kind of got tofit in and I'm not a person that
needs to go out and tell theworld what all my beliefs and
everything are.
Okay, my beliefs are just spendtime with me and follow me and
(26:53):
watch me.
You'll know what my beliefs are.
I don't need to state them, Idon't need to stamp them, I
don't need to put a label, Idon't need to do any.
My beliefs are we're here for ashort time.
Live life.
We're in this together.
It just feels so much betterwhen we can have a discussion
like this and feel good and andand not feel I'm okay with being
(27:15):
vulnerable.
I'm okay with hard questions.
I'm okay with crying.
I cry too much, I don't know.
There's people that are goingto be like I can't keep it
together, but that's fine.
I I'd much rather have thatthan the ability not to right
and too many people just keepthat all inside.
So, yeah, thankful, live life,just do it.
(27:36):
All of these things are presentin in front of me and I am
thankful that I have themotivation, mostly on a daily
basis, to go after it, becausethere are all those times, like
you mentioned, and I thinkthat's one thing that I've done
now older you know, than when Iwas younger because you just
(27:57):
feel like you just go on and goon and go on.
I'm very intentional about mytime off alone or to reflect or
do whatever.
Now I mentioned my walks withmy dog.
That's part of it, right, it'sphysical.
You're outside, You're givingthis little four-legged being
the opportunity to go out and dowhatever he needs to do and at
(28:20):
the same time, I can enrichmyself by listening to the birds
Not the band, but the realbirds or music, or a book or a
podcast or any of the othergreat things.
That that's nice.
You know that we could haveright in our palm of our hands.
So like trying to use that forgood as opposed to just let my
brain rot away.
And but then there's times whenI get back from a show and I
(28:43):
try not to book too much, butthere's also limited time for
other things.
So you just you do it and youfind the other time to rest, but
I'm intentional about my rest.
What I do need to.
I really I love and embrace andknow the importance of therapy,
(29:05):
yet I don't go to therapy.
I don't have a therapist.
You're my therapist, my dog ismy therapist, my wife is my
therapist, my music is mytherapist, but none of those.
And I think that's the nextjourney and, like, honestly,
(29:25):
part of my motivation forhelping you guys with this is to
get over that next step in mylife and find the right pathway
to that therapy, because I thinkit'll make me a better person.
And if I can be a better person,then I feel like I could be a
better producer for this podcast, I can be a better father, I
(29:47):
could be a better husband, Icould be a better musician, I
could be a better comedian, Icould be a better whatever the F
I want it to be, and and so so,going back to your earlier
question, that was part of mymotivation as well is like
listen.
I haven't quite figured out howto jump that hurdle, but if I
(30:08):
can sit in and listen to youguys, I mean sorry, I'm going to
just put it all out there Ifeel like I'm going to gain from
it because I know this stuff.
But I don't know this stuff.
Right Point, I'm pointing at youfor the world that doesn't know
, I'm pointing at these twoamazing individuals that are
sitting next to me.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
So I mean that's super cool, but isn't it
interesting that it seems to be?
It's always the good people inthe world who want to know how
to be better people.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
You know that's an underlying thing, but but
there's always value in going totherapy.
So of course you're not goingto hear me question that, but
yes, yeah, so you, you mentioned, you know maybe some people are
going to listen to you, youknow, getting choked up and
teary-eyed and kind of think,like you know what's this guy
doing.
What do you think you, as ayoung boy, would say to yourself
(30:57):
?
Now, you know, if you were, youknow 13-year-old Kirk, seeing
what you're doing and who youare now as a dad, as a husband,
you are now as a as a dad, as ahusband, as a producer, a
musician.
What would 13 year old Kirk say?
Speaker 3 (31:10):
Um, you know, I I would hope that 13 year old Kirk
would just say keep it up,right, because I I felt like I
was a doer when I was young too.
Because I felt like I was adoer when I was young too, I
think I would just tell myselfto keep it up and stay positive.
(31:32):
I think that's important, butstay realistic.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Yeah, I was and am and always will be just there's
so much to learn every day.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
There's so much to learn, and I hope so.
There's my answer Don't everstop learning, old Kirk.
Don't ever stop, Don't, everstop.
It's, it's, don't, it's.
There's always room for more.
There's always room for more,and there's also room for
there's also you know, there'sand this is another thing that's
(32:10):
really really, really importantto me and I think I've learned
from many mentors is also let itgo, don't, don't hold onto it.
You know, identify that it's ananxiety, or identify that it
doesn't make you feel good, oridentify whatever it is, whether
(32:31):
it's a memory, whether it's afeeling, whether it's whatever.
But it's okay to let some ofthat stuff go, and I think
that's a hard thing.
I'm very much a pack rat as aperson, right, I still have all
the letters that have ever beenwritten to me, you know, by the
whole box of them.
You know my wife makes fun ofme every time and she should,
but it's just those.
(32:51):
Someone, someone took the timeto write me a letter to tell me
their feelings and I value that.
I valued it then and I value itnow.
Now it's important for me tokeep a couple hundred, you know,
old pieces of writing paper inmy garage.
It isn't it's the memory, it's,it's all of that.
It was great during COVID whenwe had a lot of time and I went
through and I read a lot of thatand I just went.
(33:13):
You know what, kirk, you were.
It seems like you were a prettygood guy when you were a kid
and just keep that up.
Um so, um so.
But one thing I've found now asI'm getting older, like I'm
definitely getting much betterat letting go right and letting
go of those you know, and I gotto tell myself.
It's an anxiety, like I justwent through this whole garage
(33:36):
cleaning thing, right, and it'slike it's taken me five years to
get motivated to really do theproject the way that it needed
to be done.
That was a long five years thatI could have got a lot of stuff
done during that time but Ididn't and I just whatever was
motivated recently to make ithappen.
And so there's these boxes andstuff that's going in the trash
(33:59):
and stuff that's going to, youknow, goodwill or whatever else,
and like there was a time whereI would just be, like my heart
would be aching and then,instead of looking at it as I'm
losing this, I looked at it as Igot so much out of this for
when I had it, but it's beensitting here in my garage doing
nothing.
Maybe it's going to bring joy tosomebody else, um and and so
(34:22):
that that process as you, as Iget older, I had all these great
things.
I don't need these great thingsas much as anymore, as much as
I need this conversation andthis time with you guys and this
ability to hopefully in ourfuture episodes to get some
other guy out there that isstruggling with something, to
(34:47):
give them the motivation to, tofind that help and then
hopefully be good for themselves.
But I always I said it earlierI think off.
You know, before we startedrecording, there's no joy like
lifting somebody else up.
There is whether they know it,whether they acknowledge it,
(35:09):
whether you know you get anaward for it or you get.
There is nothing like seeingsomeone that you've had the
ability to lift up, to lift themup, find themselves and go out
into the world and make it abetter place for not only
themselves but the people intheir immediate sphere of
(35:30):
influence.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
That's exactly it.
So you were talking earlierabout the things, the ways in
which I relate to your kids andthe involvement there.
That's why that's a big, why Ido a lot of those things.
It's a win-win.
It all comes around and there'sso much that I get out of that
service and support.
But, anyway, not about me, butyeah, amen to that, Amen to that
(35:53):
.
So in this journey, have youcome away with like a life
philosophy?
What did you put on the T-shirt?
The Kirk T-shirt Like this isthe thing.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
There is very much a comedic side to me, right, and
so my initial reaction to manythings growing up has been
deflection through comedy, right, nice.
So my, my initial responsewould be the front of the shirt
says been there, done that, andthe back of the shirt would be
(36:24):
can't wait to go back.
That is awesome.
And whether that meanttraveling or whether that meant
me walking down the street as aI don't know eight-year-old,
(36:49):
nine-year-old kid and going twoblocks up to the Hanson's house,
this elderly couple that livedon our street, and they didn't
really have anyone, right?
And I don't remember thecircumstances and I don't care
what the circumstances are.
What I remember is that if I wasfeeling anxious and mom and dad
(37:11):
were at work or Darren, mybrother, was gone, I would go up
to the Hanson's and you knowwhat.
I'd get milk and cookies or I'dget something, and I would get
treated like an amazingindividual and I just wanted to
spend time with someone andwhether we played a game or
talked about or what you know, Ihad the chance to be there and
(37:33):
do that, right.
And then I was talking aboutthe cleaning up and I pulled out
some of the cards that theyused to send me, pulled out some
of the cards that they used tosend me and I go.
I'm so thankful that, as a kid,I just wanted to spend time and
be with people, whether theywere my people or not my people
there, cause we're all peopleand we're all each other's
people, I think if people reallyrealize that we wouldn't have
(37:55):
as much crap as we have going on.
So um, I think is you couldobviously code it however you
want.
Been there, done that.
Can't wait to go back.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Yeah, I just have to say that's so much like you sis.
That's the person you've alwaysbeen.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
Mine were the Allensons.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
I did the same thing around the corner, about six
doors down to the Allensons theexact same, but also walking
home with the mailman and goingaround the corner to the senior
home and hanging out there andadopting grandparents.
And that was you as a kid,doing these things and always
have been that person.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
Yeah, there's a piece of, I think, kirk you bringing
hope into your own life but alsokind of disseminating that hope
to somebody else, right?
So you were there with thatcouple around the corner or down
the street and you helped themand serve.
It might not feel like it rightnow, but you served a need for
(38:54):
them and allowed them to serviceyou also.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
And that was so valuable.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
Yeah, yeah.
So how do you hope to beremembered at the end of this
journey?
Speaker 3 (39:07):
I hope to be remembered.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
Yeah, I hope to be remembered, and I say that
directly because, as I mentionedearlier, I think it's the same
answer that when you think ofKirk, when you think of those
interactions, I certainly hopeit's something positive, even if
I may have done somethingstupid.
There's a strong chance thatthat happened or said something
(39:32):
stupid, or you know.
I do certainly hope that peoplethink back and go.
Man, I really enjoyed spendingtime with Kirk, that you know.
Maybe it inspires them to gothere and do that and do it
again and lift people up too.
Yeah, I hope people feel likethey gained something.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
However, minute, and yeah, you have to know that you
have already laid down suchstrong foundations with so many
young people.
You talk, I know you just sortof off the cuff and we have
these other strays and you we'veadopted one.
(40:20):
You have a number of youngpeople who you've literally
brought into your home, as wellas your own children and my son
included in this whole.
You've directly mentored inthis world of audio engineering
and there's he has a greatfoundation of um, not only the
actual functioning, the techtools, but how you show up for
(40:43):
things and how you approach themprofessionally.
That he's gotten from you andthat you have to know that there
are many young people like that.
Speaker 3 (40:54):
I hope so and I do, and there's also an ego part of
me, that kind of needs that,because I believe my fulfillment
doesn't just come from justthat immediate doing stuff for
(41:15):
yourself and doing for othersand doing for others, but there
is that need to to see thosethat you've spent time with.
Like to the question, what do Ihope I'm remembered for Is that
is that, yeah, it's hard andit's difficult and you're going
to get judged and you're goingto judge yourself and you're
(41:36):
going to do all this, but noneof it really effing matters when
it's over.
All's we have is right now.
That's the only real thing thatI think is guaranteed is the
moment now, and that's thedriver.
And I want the world young,middle, old I want them to know
(41:58):
that the moment is now.
Do it, you will be rewarded.
I want them to know that themoment is now.
Do it, you will be rewardedtenfold in so many different
ways.
You will be enriched in so manydifferent ways.
So I appreciate you saying that, in being that person that
(42:26):
shows up and being that personthat is the go-to, and that
anyone who I'm fortunate enoughto know or be friends with or
family with, that you call meand I'm there and that's all
there is to it.
So, and and right, we're parents, you know, of course we're.
What do I want from anyone?
(42:49):
It's time, and we get sofocused on.
My time is so precious and mytime is so valuable and I can
only give you this much.
And we talked about the Hansonsand that's all they wanted was
time, Right, they just wantsomeone to acknowledge, know
that they were there.
(43:10):
And I got time from my parents,my grandparents, my aunts and
uncles, my godparents, mycousins, my friends going up, my
teachers, my coaches Everysingle one that I've interacted
with has given me their time,and it's such a precious
commodity and they gave itfreely, and I feel like they
(43:34):
gave it willingly, or at leastthat's what I'm going to tell
myself, at least that's what I'mgoing to tell myself, and I
would hope that many peopleembrace that philosophy and took
it.
Because you know what, nomatter if we're playing
tic-tac-toe or having a reallydeep conversation, that time
(43:57):
together it should fill you up.
Speaker 1 (44:01):
Yeah, yeah it you up, yeah, yeah, it's everything.
Yeah, should we hit our rapidfire questions?
This is the thing.
It's the thing in our podcast.
We think you know is the thingthat we're going to do is to
have this series of questions.
We're just going to ask themand you throw out your answer
and you can talk about them ornot, just say what the thing is
(44:22):
and on we go yeah, got it,perfect, perfect, all right, sis
hit it.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
What color is hope?
Speaker 3 (44:30):
Blue, blue.
Speaker 1 (44:32):
Nice, what does hope sound like?
Speaker 3 (44:48):
The hope is the air, hope is the way, the hope is the
sound of life.
Hope is all of it.
Hope is is the senses to me,and and I take all those senses
in and it becomes hope for me,because when I smell an amazing
batch of cookies, I'm so hopefulthat they're going to be
amazing and I'm going to eatthem.
And when I, you know, when Ihear a lone musician playing an
(45:11):
instrument and is creating music, whether it's theirs or
somebody else's, it's music andit gives me hope.
And when I see the sun shiningbehind the clouds or reflecting
off the water and sometimes youcan capture it, you know, in a
(45:36):
picture out of the airplane,every flight, just to remind me,
especially if I'm above theclouds and that I get to see
this little round thing spinningaround with all these billions
of people doing stuff on it.
And just for a brief moment,I'm just up in the sky, 30,000
feet, with a couple of hundredother people and we're just
(45:56):
getting to a destination so thatwe can be there and do that.
And so that's my long answer.
Speaker 2 (46:05):
What's your theme song?
Speaker 3 (46:10):
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.
That's so fun From Monty Python.
If you know it, you know it'snot necessarily the most
inspirational song in the world,but in context it's my theme
song and I can't whistle verywell, so that just makes it even
(46:30):
.
Speaker 1 (46:30):
That's so good, all right.
So what would your 13-year-oldself say to you?
Is the one we asked.
Speaker 3 (46:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:39):
Yeah, and so what would you say to your
13-year-old self from thisperspective?
Speaker 3 (46:44):
Well, I mean, I'm sorry but I got to steal the
other answer which, by the timethis comes out, will be out to
the rest of the world so that Ican say that.
But when we recorded and youasked that question of Brianna
and it was keep it up, becauseyou, I'm not me if I change the
(47:06):
course of that learning and thatexperience, and so you know,
the keep it up and I'm proud ofyou, I think is important and
you know my parents said that tome often Lucky and yes, oh, yes
, and so many people along theway, right, yeah.
Speaker 2 (47:29):
So yeah.
Speaker 3 (47:33):
Who inspires you?
We don't have enough time.
Who inspires me is those thatare in my presence that are, you
(48:04):
know.
Of course, if they're is, theywere motivated and inspired by
something and they just.
They have words of wisdom fromRon Lane Bumpa.
They all poop with their pantsdown around their ankles.
Sorry for the visual, but youcould be beautiful, amazing,
rich and whatever else, but atthe end of the day, you still
got to do the same things that Ido and, like I'd mentioned and
(48:24):
I hope is a theme you know,we're all just people here and
we just got to be together.
So so I, I, everyone inspiresme.
Speaker 1 (48:31):
All right.
Speaker 3 (48:32):
Everyone, everything.
Speaker 1 (48:34):
That's well then.
Speaker 3 (48:35):
That's kind of a simple or two, but I hope you
understand.
Speaker 1 (48:39):
No, totally understand, or two, but I hope
you understand no, totallyunderstand it, and it's very
much a part of who you are.
I mean, there's intentionalityaround that also.
So, okay, we did a littlePython reference a moment ago.
So what's the meaning of lifefor Kirk?
Speaker 3 (48:52):
Wow, to me is to breathe and live.
And yeah, I could expound andand say all these wonderful
things, but, you know, somedaywas when I'm having a crappy day
and I'm mad at everything and Ijust want to, you know, break
(49:15):
something.
I, the meaning of life for meis not the same at that moment.
I, the meaning of life for meis not the same at that moment.
It's not so.
The meaning of life for me isto live.
Speaker 2 (49:26):
Nice.
Speaker 3 (49:27):
And all that entails.
Speaker 2 (49:28):
Yeah, how about a fill in the blank?
Your word was action, so actionis what?
Speaker 3 (49:36):
Is oxygen.
Speaker 2 (49:39):
So action is the breathing and the air.
So action is the breathing andthe air.
So action is the life also Okay.
Speaker 1 (49:47):
That's profound.
It is Well okay, Bring it onhome.
Speaker 3 (49:50):
For us with hope is Hope is knowing that there you,
whether you know it or not, thatthere is someone or something
or a being or an energy outthere that cares for you, loves
(50:10):
you, wants all of the amazingthings for you, and hope is
giving that person energy orwhatever it is, the opportunity
to embrace it and be that lightof hope.
Speaker 2 (50:34):
Very good.
So obviously you're doing abunch of things.
Right now I haven't been ableto see you except for what
you've posted on Facebook.
So if people want to see you um, you know, doing a gig as a
musician, if people want toconnect with you for your
producing and your engineeringskills.
Speaker 3 (50:53):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, um, you know, so, for mymusic I have a couple of
different areas.
I have Kirk Lane music, andthat's both on Instagram and
Facebook, and then I play in aband called the Daryls and my
name is Larry and you're mysister Daryl and my other sister
Daryl, and so for those of youof a certain age group will
(51:14):
understand exactly where thatcame from.
So we are the Daryls andInstagram, facebook, youtube,
and you know we get prettyregularly, um, so that's good,
and I do the solo acoustic stuffand most recently doing a duet,
um type thing with with a goodfriend of ours, alison, who's
(51:35):
just one of the most talented uhvoices and and amazing
individuals that's out there.
Speaker 2 (51:40):
And.
Speaker 3 (51:41):
I'm just hopeful and thankful that we were able to
finally figure this out afteryou know, being, uh, you know,
in close proximity over the lastcouple of years.
So so those are.
You know, those are the thingsthat you can go to.
Um, I work for a company calledclarity experiences and and I
love this company and it's asimportant to work hard and play
(52:04):
hard and just embrace life anddo all those things.
So, yeah, so those are theplaces that you can follow me
and find my gigs and all thatother stuff.
Speaker 2 (52:15):
Awesome.
Thank you so much yeah thankyou, it's been fun to spend time
together.
Speaker 3 (52:19):
It is.
It's amazing and I'll reiterateit over and every time I get
the chance to say this I'm sohopeful and thankful out there
that are going to benefit fromthe amazing insights and life
(52:43):
experiences that you and I know.
The people that you're alwaysgoing to be selective, that you
bring on, you know to hope.
Maybe you give them a littlebit of inspiration or, at the
very least, just some littlereflection and hey, we're on
this journey together and itcould be difficult sometimes.
So I want to thank you guysespecially for creating that
light and letting me change thebatteries every once in a while.
Speaker 1 (53:06):
Thank you friend so much fun.
Speaker 2 (53:08):
Yes, yay, thanks for joining us today on Soul
Sisteries.
Speaker 1 (53:12):
And thanks for sharing stories with us.
We'd love to hear your storiesas well and keep the
conversation going, absolutelykeeping the hope going.
So we're really hopeful thatyou'll connect with our guests
as well, who have great storiesto share.
Go ahead and follow them invarious social media platforms
or live venues, wherever it isthat they're performing and
(53:36):
sharing what they do.
Speaker 2 (53:38):
We would love to have you follow us on all of our
social media platforms,subscribe and rate, as that will
help us get our message of hopeout to others.
Thanks for listening to SoulSisteries.
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