February 7, 2025 • 17 mins
In this episode of the Voncast Show, host Von reflects on his return to podcasting after a two-month break, discussing the importance of mental health, personal growth, and the balance between podcasting and life. He shares his experiences during the break, including reconnecting with friends, watching shows, and playing video games, which helped him manage anxiety. Von expresses gratitude for his listeners and emphasizes the need to enjoy the podcasting process without stressing over numbers or engagement.
Chapters
(00:00) Return to Podcasting: A Personal Journey
(08:23) Finding Balance: Life Beyond the Mic
(15:54) Reflections on Growth and Gratitude
Follow Me on Social Media:
https://www.instagram.com/thevoncastshow/
https://www.instagram.com/shibavon/
https://www.iamvon.net/
Chapters
(00:00) Return to Podcasting: A Personal Journey
(08:23) Finding Balance: Life Beyond the Mic
(15:54) Reflections on Growth and Gratitude
Follow Me on Social Media:
https://www.instagram.com/thevoncastshow/
https://www.instagram.com/shibavon/
https://www.iamvon.net/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey there! My name is Vaughn and this is the Vaughncast Show. This is a podcast that focuses on
(00:08):
mental health, breaking societal stigmas, harm reduction, addiction and recovery. If you like what
you hear, subscribe and leave a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Also, follow the podcast
Instagram @thevoncastshow where I post video content from the show. All right, let's get into
(00:33):
today's episode. Hey there! Welcome to the Vaughncast show. I'm your host Vaughn. Hope you are
doing well. It is a Friday. It's been a while since I recorded a podcast, be like two months or so.
(00:55):
I recorded my last podcast early November. It's a great break and I always plan to go back to
podcasting and this was the week to go back. So far, I hope everybody is doing okay with everything
(01:22):
going on, especially if you live in Los Angeles County. Those wildfires, those fires were pretty
gnarly. I'm a really interesting way to start 2025 among many other things. So I hope that you are
(01:44):
doing okay, staying safe, taking things a day at a time because damn, it's hell is stressful.
So forgive me if I'm all over the place. It's been a while since I recorded a podcast,
roughly two months. Remember December, January, yeah, about two months. And yeah, I decided,
(02:12):
hey, I always wanted to get back into it and I took a break. I think I really needed a break.
I don't know. I just I'm proud of myself for recording almost every single
week in 2024. And you know, I just kept going and going and I started getting burnt out,
(02:41):
little by little. There are personal stuff going on in my life, a lot of anxiety,
and just meant to help things and I realized I had to prioritize that. And so I made the decision to
take a break. I've had guests on this show talk about the importance of taking breaks and
mall for it, but honestly, I think I was scared. I think I was scared of taking a break because
(03:09):
podcasting has become such a identity. A podcaster became such a big part of my identity that if I did stop,
take a break, who would I be? It's just been a routine that I've been doing pretty consistently.
In 2024, I've also been podcasting that previous other years is just this year, last year,
(03:39):
was most consistent ever been. And yeah, I was like, who would I be? What am I going to do?
But then I just felt so burnt out that I didn't want to even think about podcasting or just any of that.
No. I thought to myself too, what would it feel like if you just
(04:07):
took a break or just stopped for a little bit and had to really listen to myself and
I envisioned it and it felt like it'd be cool. I wouldn't have to worry about
(04:29):
finding new guests. I don't have to worry about talking about coming up with topics, the solo episodes.
And I wouldn't have to worry about editing anything, posting reels. None of that. I just felt so
(04:52):
chill just to relax and not have to worry about any of that. So those two months were just really nice.
It was a great way for me just to take a break, see my friends more often. I know in previous episodes,
I talked about how I didn't get to do that too much because I really prioritized podcasting. And
(05:20):
yeah, I got to catch up. It's a trip because they're like, yo, we haven't seen you in a couple of months.
You're kind of worried. And it's just nice just to catch up with them and hang out. And that's
something I'm going to put more priority over this year and moving on forward just to have social
(05:46):
interactions with friends and people I'm close with. They're important. And also, yeah, so those two
those two months I caught up on shows. I started watching silo. I started watching Black dub. I started
(06:10):
watching the agency. I started watching Day the Jackal, which I really, really enjoyed.
And it was just nice. It's just cool to just to go on social media, just to go on to look at memes, to
share memes with friends, see how friends we're doing without having to worry about, oh man,
(06:37):
I got to post this real, I got to post this, I got to post that. It was just nice just to kick back.
And I had a pretty mellow and chill holiday with family. That was pretty cool.
And I just really enjoyed it. You know, when I got off work, I had to worry about
(07:02):
any of the podcasting or anything like that. I could just relax and chill. You know, it felt nice
that I had to worry about much outside of work. So that was really cool for the past couple months.
Also, knew that I would have to eventually return to podcasting. I know I didn't have to if I
(07:28):
didn't want to, but I really did. I felt like those two months were great, from great way for me to
restart. We can just replenish, like, I don't know, just to restart pretty much.
And just take a break, because I feel like I needed it. I wanted to.
(07:54):
And I'll be honest, I've been dreading this episode for so long, because I always thought like,
how am I going to record the first episode? What am I going to say? But I wrote a couple notes
down, but yeah, this is it. I'm just happy to be back. Podcasting, I felt like the past couple weeks.
(08:21):
I felt like it's past couple weeks. I pretty much watched all the shows that I wanted to watch.
I caught up on the shows that I wanted to catch up on. I started rewatching shows. And that's
when I was like, okay, we got to do something else because we're just hanging out in a room most of the day
(08:47):
after work. That's cool, but out of that plenty, and it's time to get back into it.
I think there was a fear of just starting again. You know, I was dreading like, how am I going to
set up the set up my little podcast setup? I haven't done that in two months. It was funny.
(09:08):
Wasn't that big of a deal, but these kind of things went into my head like, oh, what if I mess up on this?
What if I mess up on that? Little things like that. And I'm just so glad that I went on through with it.
I also started playing video games again. So it's a trip like long, long time ago, how to Xbox 360.
(09:32):
And they got stolen at a house I stayed at. And it was, you know, I really enjoyed my Xbox 360.
I had my Final Fantasy 13, had some Tekken, had some Street Fighter, and like just this Christmas,
my mom's fiance gave me his PS4 case and never used it. And then a coworker gave me a gaming monitor
(09:59):
of theirs. So TV. And so I started flying games on it. It was so fun. Right now, I downloaded Devil
Make High Five. I'm so stoked about that game. And I've seen go play the game. But in hindsight,
I remember almost 20 years ago, like 2005. Yeah, I guess 20 years ago.
(10:29):
2005, 2006. I remember playing the first Devil Make Cry on PlayStation 2. And 20 years later,
playing Devil Make Cry, playing Devil Make Cry, five on the PS4 graphics are amazing.
And also had to play the demo for Final Fantasy 7 remake. That is a classic game for me. It's
(10:55):
bright in the childhood memories. So I'm definitely going to download the full game on that.
I think playing video games is going to help me out just with my anxiety. Just help me like just
process things. If that makes sense, I feel like playing video games kind of helps with my anxiety
(11:19):
and kind of like it's cathartic, depending what game it is. And if you're beating up a bunch of
demons or like playing fighting games, you kind of like let that frustration out in a video game.
If that makes sense, yeah, sense of accomplishment kind of thing.
So yeah, that's what I've been doing. It's been fun. It's a cool little balance. Like I told myself,
(11:44):
okay, I'm going to make a podcast real and then play video games for like half an hour or an hour
or something, you know, send little goals. I have words to play video games.
And yeah, that was another thing. For a while, I thought CapCut was done. I'm not really a big
(12:06):
TikTok person, but I really like CapCut because it's so easy to edit things. I got so used to it.
I think many of us did. So there was that little scary that CapCut wasn't going to get shut down
because TikTok was getting that shut down. You know, it didn't last very long, but I'm glad it's back up.
(12:28):
So yeah, it's just good to be back recording podcast. I noticed that this is a ritual that I have.
They really enjoy it. I got to balance out podcasting with other parts of my life and be okay if I don't
(12:50):
do it weekly. I'm gonna do my best, but I'm not gonna stress out if I don't.
And also just with social media, you know how it goes. It's with the numbers and views and everything
the engagement. Like sometimes I worry about that too much and I don't think I should.
She just really enjoyed the process and go from there. By the way, thank you for those who
(13:17):
were listening to the podcast while I wasn't uploading any new episodes. I was surprised.
I also low-key kind of dreaded opening up speaker. That's the podcasting hosting site that I use.
I'm like, man, I bet there's gonna be like zero listeners and be like one or two.
You know, who's gonna listen to my podcast when I'm not uploading new episodes. And to my surprise,
(13:41):
there are people listening. So for those listening, thank you so much. That's pretty cool.
And I got a couple interviews lined up for this month and gonna go from there.
So there it is. I hope again, taking care of yourselves and thank you for listening to the show.
(14:08):
Some of you may start listening recently. Some of you may be listening years back. So either way,
thank you so much. Also, I've done recording a new song. I'm really stoked about that.
I know I've been talking about putting on an album and everything, but doing that little by little.
(14:30):
You know, doing what I can with the music when I can. It'll build up over time.
And I'll talk more about that in the future. So again, thank you so much. I'm looking forward to
(14:52):
podcasting this year. I think part of it is also like, who am I gonna talk to and everything,
but I've been finding guests. There has been people I've been in talking to that definitely
beyond the show. I'm looking forward to that. I think that's also part of like the dopamine rush of,
(15:14):
oh man, I gotta find guests and take your time out of the day. You find interesting people you
want to talk to. I want to talk to and just coordinate day and time and everything. So I'm really
looking forward to it. I hope you are too. I got some really cool episodes coming up.
(15:35):
So yeah, that is the podcast. I've been dreading this for weeks now and now that finished. It's like,
okay, that was a 16 minute podcast. It wasn't too long. It wasn't planning for it to be. So solo
(15:55):
episode just to get things rolling again. So with that said, enjoy the rest of your weekend.
And yeah, also still clean. Still not using drugs and alcohol, which I'm stoked about.
It's definitely something I'm super proud of. I gotta remind myself, a buddy of mine,
(16:20):
Lynn told me that you gotta be proud of how far you've come the past few years.
If you listen to this, Highland, I've mentioned it before. She's somebody that a really good friend
and she was there for me when I was using and wanted to decide to get off drugs.
It's been there through like every relapse in the past since like 2020. So thank you Lynn. I
(16:47):
appreciate you. You're awesome. And she's been there. She's encouraging me and she reminds me like,
remind yourself how far you've come when you feel like you haven't accomplished much and that goes
for everybody. Sometimes a lot of times we're caught up with everything going on right now.
(17:13):
And we just focus on our failures, all the things that we fucked up on. And we forget about all the
positive things, all the accomplishments, success that we've had. But for some reason we're
just so focused on the negative things. So something to remind yourself of when you're beating yourself up.
(17:37):
All right. I'll catch you the next episode and we're good on.
[BLANK_AUDIO]
Hey there! My name is Vaughn and this is the Vaughncast Show. This is a podcast that focuses on
(00:08):
mental health, breaking societal stigmas, harm reduction, addiction and recovery. If you like what
you hear, subscribe and leave a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Also, follow the podcast
Instagram @thevoncastshow where I post video content from the show. All right, let's get into
(00:33):
today's episode. Hey there! Welcome to the Vaughncast show. I'm your host Vaughn. Hope you are
doing well. It is a Friday. It's been a while since I recorded a podcast, be like two months or so.
(00:55):
I recorded my last podcast early November. It's a great break and I always plan to go back to
podcasting and this was the week to go back. So far, I hope everybody is doing okay with everything
(01:22):
going on, especially if you live in Los Angeles County. Those wildfires, those fires were pretty
gnarly. I'm a really interesting way to start 2025 among many other things. So I hope that you are
(01:44):
doing okay, staying safe, taking things a day at a time because damn, it's hell is stressful.
So forgive me if I'm all over the place. It's been a while since I recorded a podcast,
roughly two months. Remember December, January, yeah, about two months. And yeah, I decided,
(02:12):
hey, I always wanted to get back into it and I took a break. I think I really needed a break.
I don't know. I just I'm proud of myself for recording almost every single
week in 2024. And you know, I just kept going and going and I started getting burnt out,
(02:41):
little by little. There are personal stuff going on in my life, a lot of anxiety,
and just meant to help things and I realized I had to prioritize that. And so I made the decision to
take a break. I've had guests on this show talk about the importance of taking breaks and
mall for it, but honestly, I think I was scared. I think I was scared of taking a break because
(03:09):
podcasting has become such a identity. A podcaster became such a big part of my identity that if I did stop,
take a break, who would I be? It's just been a routine that I've been doing pretty consistently.
In 2024, I've also been podcasting that previous other years is just this year, last year,
(03:39):
was most consistent ever been. And yeah, I was like, who would I be? What am I going to do?
But then I just felt so burnt out that I didn't want to even think about podcasting or just any of that.
No. I thought to myself too, what would it feel like if you just
(04:07):
took a break or just stopped for a little bit and had to really listen to myself and
I envisioned it and it felt like it'd be cool. I wouldn't have to worry about
(04:29):
finding new guests. I don't have to worry about talking about coming up with topics, the solo episodes.
And I wouldn't have to worry about editing anything, posting reels. None of that. I just felt so
(04:52):
chill just to relax and not have to worry about any of that. So those two months were just really nice.
It was a great way for me just to take a break, see my friends more often. I know in previous episodes,
I talked about how I didn't get to do that too much because I really prioritized podcasting. And
(05:20):
yeah, I got to catch up. It's a trip because they're like, yo, we haven't seen you in a couple of months.
You're kind of worried. And it's just nice just to catch up with them and hang out. And that's
something I'm going to put more priority over this year and moving on forward just to have social
(05:46):
interactions with friends and people I'm close with. They're important. And also, yeah, so those two
those two months I caught up on shows. I started watching silo. I started watching Black dub. I started
(06:10):
watching the agency. I started watching Day the Jackal, which I really, really enjoyed.
And it was just nice. It's just cool to just to go on social media, just to go on to look at memes, to
share memes with friends, see how friends we're doing without having to worry about, oh man,
(06:37):
I got to post this real, I got to post this, I got to post that. It was just nice just to kick back.
And I had a pretty mellow and chill holiday with family. That was pretty cool.
And I just really enjoyed it. You know, when I got off work, I had to worry about
(07:02):
any of the podcasting or anything like that. I could just relax and chill. You know, it felt nice
that I had to worry about much outside of work. So that was really cool for the past couple months.
Also, knew that I would have to eventually return to podcasting. I know I didn't have to if I
(07:28):
didn't want to, but I really did. I felt like those two months were great, from great way for me to
restart. We can just replenish, like, I don't know, just to restart pretty much.
And just take a break, because I feel like I needed it. I wanted to.
(07:54):
And I'll be honest, I've been dreading this episode for so long, because I always thought like,
how am I going to record the first episode? What am I going to say? But I wrote a couple notes
down, but yeah, this is it. I'm just happy to be back. Podcasting, I felt like the past couple weeks.
(08:21):
I felt like it's past couple weeks. I pretty much watched all the shows that I wanted to watch.
I caught up on the shows that I wanted to catch up on. I started rewatching shows. And that's
when I was like, okay, we got to do something else because we're just hanging out in a room most of the day
(08:47):
after work. That's cool, but out of that plenty, and it's time to get back into it.
I think there was a fear of just starting again. You know, I was dreading like, how am I going to
set up the set up my little podcast setup? I haven't done that in two months. It was funny.
(09:08):
Wasn't that big of a deal, but these kind of things went into my head like, oh, what if I mess up on this?
What if I mess up on that? Little things like that. And I'm just so glad that I went on through with it.
I also started playing video games again. So it's a trip like long, long time ago, how to Xbox 360.
(09:32):
And they got stolen at a house I stayed at. And it was, you know, I really enjoyed my Xbox 360.
I had my Final Fantasy 13, had some Tekken, had some Street Fighter, and like just this Christmas,
my mom's fiance gave me his PS4 case and never used it. And then a coworker gave me a gaming monitor
(09:59):
of theirs. So TV. And so I started flying games on it. It was so fun. Right now, I downloaded Devil
Make High Five. I'm so stoked about that game. And I've seen go play the game. But in hindsight,
I remember almost 20 years ago, like 2005. Yeah, I guess 20 years ago.
(10:29):
2005, 2006. I remember playing the first Devil Make Cry on PlayStation 2. And 20 years later,
playing Devil Make Cry, playing Devil Make Cry, five on the PS4 graphics are amazing.
And also had to play the demo for Final Fantasy 7 remake. That is a classic game for me. It's
(10:55):
bright in the childhood memories. So I'm definitely going to download the full game on that.
I think playing video games is going to help me out just with my anxiety. Just help me like just
process things. If that makes sense, I feel like playing video games kind of helps with my anxiety
(11:19):
and kind of like it's cathartic, depending what game it is. And if you're beating up a bunch of
demons or like playing fighting games, you kind of like let that frustration out in a video game.
If that makes sense, yeah, sense of accomplishment kind of thing.
So yeah, that's what I've been doing. It's been fun. It's a cool little balance. Like I told myself,
(11:44):
okay, I'm going to make a podcast real and then play video games for like half an hour or an hour
or something, you know, send little goals. I have words to play video games.
And yeah, that was another thing. For a while, I thought CapCut was done. I'm not really a big
(12:06):
TikTok person, but I really like CapCut because it's so easy to edit things. I got so used to it.
I think many of us did. So there was that little scary that CapCut wasn't going to get shut down
because TikTok was getting that shut down. You know, it didn't last very long, but I'm glad it's back up.
(12:28):
So yeah, it's just good to be back recording podcast. I noticed that this is a ritual that I have.
They really enjoy it. I got to balance out podcasting with other parts of my life and be okay if I don't
(12:50):
do it weekly. I'm gonna do my best, but I'm not gonna stress out if I don't.
And also just with social media, you know how it goes. It's with the numbers and views and everything
the engagement. Like sometimes I worry about that too much and I don't think I should.
She just really enjoyed the process and go from there. By the way, thank you for those who
(13:17):
were listening to the podcast while I wasn't uploading any new episodes. I was surprised.
I also low-key kind of dreaded opening up speaker. That's the podcasting hosting site that I use.
I'm like, man, I bet there's gonna be like zero listeners and be like one or two.
You know, who's gonna listen to my podcast when I'm not uploading new episodes. And to my surprise,
(13:41):
there are people listening. So for those listening, thank you so much. That's pretty cool.
And I got a couple interviews lined up for this month and gonna go from there.
So there it is. I hope again, taking care of yourselves and thank you for listening to the show.
(14:08):
Some of you may start listening recently. Some of you may be listening years back. So either way,
thank you so much. Also, I've done recording a new song. I'm really stoked about that.
I know I've been talking about putting on an album and everything, but doing that little by little.
(14:30):
You know, doing what I can with the music when I can. It'll build up over time.
And I'll talk more about that in the future. So again, thank you so much. I'm looking forward to
(14:52):
podcasting this year. I think part of it is also like, who am I gonna talk to and everything,
but I've been finding guests. There has been people I've been in talking to that definitely
beyond the show. I'm looking forward to that. I think that's also part of like the dopamine rush of,
(15:14):
oh man, I gotta find guests and take your time out of the day. You find interesting people you
want to talk to. I want to talk to and just coordinate day and time and everything. So I'm really
looking forward to it. I hope you are too. I got some really cool episodes coming up.
(15:35):
So yeah, that is the podcast. I've been dreading this for weeks now and now that finished. It's like,
okay, that was a 16 minute podcast. It wasn't too long. It wasn't planning for it to be. So solo
(15:55):
episode just to get things rolling again. So with that said, enjoy the rest of your weekend.
And yeah, also still clean. Still not using drugs and alcohol, which I'm stoked about.
It's definitely something I'm super proud of. I gotta remind myself, a buddy of mine,
(16:20):
Lynn told me that you gotta be proud of how far you've come the past few years.
If you listen to this, Highland, I've mentioned it before. She's somebody that a really good friend
and she was there for me when I was using and wanted to decide to get off drugs.
It's been there through like every relapse in the past since like 2020. So thank you Lynn. I
(16:47):
appreciate you. You're awesome. And she's been there. She's encouraging me and she reminds me like,
remind yourself how far you've come when you feel like you haven't accomplished much and that goes
for everybody. Sometimes a lot of times we're caught up with everything going on right now.
(17:13):
And we just focus on our failures, all the things that we fucked up on. And we forget about all the
positive things, all the accomplishments, success that we've had. But for some reason we're
just so focused on the negative things. So something to remind yourself of when you're beating yourself up.
(17:37):
All right. I'll catch you the next episode and we're good on.
[BLANK_AUDIO]
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