WEAR THE DAMN SOCKS

Karen Kenney: 00:00:02

Hey, welcome to the Karen Kenney show. So if you're new here, thank you so much for tuning in. If you're an old familiar friend, if you are a loyal

Karen Kenney: 00:00:11

listener, oh my God, thank you so much. This is episodes of The like 288, first of all, eight. Favorite number 88 right up there, one of my favorite numbers of all time. Of

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course, it's just eight two times. So this episode, I have so many, I have so many podcast episode ideas floating around in my head right now, but this is the one that

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just really landed for me on Sunday. I just knew I wanted to talk about this. I'm not sure what I'm going to call it yet, because I could call it a bunch of different things,

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but I'm just going to dive into this suck up. But first, I just wanted to make sure to say thank you so much for spending a little bit of time with me. Because I know time is

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such a precious, precious resource, and it's one that we don't get back, so the fact that you're choosing to hang out with me for a little bit really means a lot to me. Okay,

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first and foremost, little story time, little storytelling time, and then maybe apply this personal story to something more universal and some spiritual principles.

Karen Kenney: 00:01:06

Okay, so you know how in New England, and if you're a West Coast kid, this might not be a thing for you so much, but here in New England, I just remember my whole life at

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some point, like you switch over your clothes, right? So all of a sudden, like you pull out your sweaters, you pull out your sweatshirt, you pull out your heavier

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jackets, though, the boots, the mittens, the winter coats, all that shit, and then you put the summer stuff away, right? So there's this ritual that a lot of New England kids

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have gone through, like their whole life. So our house is not I mean, it's cute, it's just not wicked big. It's not wicked small either. But there's not a lot of like closet

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space, and I only have so many freaking Bureau drawers. You know what I mean, that's only so much room in the dresser. So I do have some stuff stored under the bed. And

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there's this thing that I do, if you know me, this is not going to surprise you, but there's this thing that I do, that if I really like something, I will ultimately,

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and usually get it in multiple colors. So if there's a t shirt that I like, I'll get it in the pink one and the blue one, the green one like, whatever, right? So this happens a

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lot with hoodies, things like that. If there's something that I like, like even Levi's, if there's like, Levi jeans or chucks or whatever, if I like it, and

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there's like, multiple colors of it, I'll get it, and then sometimes I'll get back ups of the color I really like, Okay, now I'm not talking these are not wicked expensive

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things, like a tag it, T shirts, like, five bucks, eight bucks, whatever. And then I'll kind of take that thing and then, like, I'll put it away, and I'll sometimes stash it

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under the bed so that I have it. That's the other thing, right? Is that when you have like animals and stuff like that, it's like anything can spill on you, get on you at any

Karen Kenney: 00:02:51

time. So particularly if look at devil a man hands, if somebody out there can relate to what I'm saying, right? So this is just something that I do. So there's a couple of

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things. There's these socks that I really liked, and I basically have, like my workout socks, and then I have like my work socks. So like, if I'm going out into the world,

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right, like, there's my workout socks, is my work socks. And then I also usually have a pair of socks. This is going to sound crazy, but it's the truth. Just being transparent,

Karen Kenney: 00:03:17

I have a pair of socks that I save for just like, when I'm doing Yad work and mowing the lawn and shit like that, because those usually get, like, filthy no matter how many

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times you wash them, they still look dingy and like gray or whatever. Okay, I also have clothes that I keep just for painting. This is all too much information, but here's my

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point. So the other day I have this bag, and it's like, so about every like, few months, I go through all my clothes, and I'm like, Yeah, is this? Is it time to retire this

Karen Kenney: 00:03:44

sucker? I haven't worn this thing in like, five years. Like, even though there's a sentimental value, somebody else can use it more than me, you know what I mean. So I've

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had this bag in my closet. You know what it's like at that level where it's not full enough to, like, quite drop it off, but like, you're sick of seeing it in your

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closet. So I was like, Okay, it's time. I don't care. I'm just going to bring it to the donation drop box. And then I was like, Okay, well, before I do that, I'm going to

Karen Kenney: 00:04:08

go through the stuff under the bed and go through my drawers and whatever. Okay, couple of things. So I don't always, even though I know better, I do not always wash

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my whites, just as whites, I sometimes will throw, like, some of my lighter colored things in with my jeans and with my dark clothes. Now look, you sometimes pay the

Karen Kenney: 00:04:29

price for that. Okay, so I have one on right now. I'll just show you. I have these, like, little cute, like pale pink, pale pink bras that I like. I have em in black. I have em

Karen Kenney: 00:04:39

in, like, what's that called, nude or tan or whatever. And I have them in this baby pink, which I really like. And then I also have these socks that I told you about. There's a

Karen Kenney: 00:04:47

reason why I'm telling you this. Okay, so one of these bras, like has been thrown in with my doc jeans or my sweeties jeans enough times that it's now like a dingy,

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kind of bluish. Gray color. And every time I put on that bra, it does not spark joy, okay, like, I put it on, and even though it's not quote, unquote dirty or even that

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old, I put it on and I'm like, putting this on makes me feel it. I don't even know how to explain it, like, I put it on, and the only words I can think of is, it just makes

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me feel like, lumpy and frumpy, like, it's just like in a little grumpy. I was like, I don't like this, right? But I'm like, I'm not gonna throw it out. It's not that old.

Karen Kenney: 00:05:29

Like, learned your lesson, wash wash your whites with your whites, and you learned your lesson, type of a thing. But the other day, something just happened. And I know

Karen Kenney: 00:05:37

what happened. What happened is a couple of things. Is I heard and saw about the untimely death of several people, nobody that I was wicked close to, but people that

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I at least knew of had met whatever. And so that was like kind of floating around in my consciousness, right? And I said to my sweetie, just this morning, I woke up this

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morning and I said to him, I am deeply contemplating my own mortality these days, like I'm really thinking a lot about the fact that, like, whatever time I have left

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on earth, and how I want to spend that time. So I've been kind of contemplating that. Okay, so I sat going through my drawers, and I sat like I pull out the bins from under

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the bed, and I'm going through my drawers, and I find this t shirt, and I only wear this t shirt on special, like occasions, kind of meaning like I reserve it for once

Karen Kenney: 00:06:30

in a while. Number one, because it's white and me in a white t shirt does not end well. Number two, these T shirts were designed, and I'm going to show it to you in a minute,

Karen Kenney: 00:06:39

and those of you who are listening and not watching. I will describe what it is by my friend Ollie Oliver Spencer, who I went to college with, to Boston University with. And

Karen Kenney: 00:06:50

Ollie, you know, had his own journey, his own situation with cancer. And ultimately, he, you know, he lost his life. He lost his life to the disease. So he fought. I don't

Karen Kenney: 00:07:03

even like to use that word, he fought. He lived bravely. Right up to the very end, he lived bravely and compassionately. And it was literally kind of like watching somebody

Karen Kenney: 00:07:13

go through, in its own way, a metamorphosis. His Spirit got brighter. It was, it was, of course, heartbreaking to lose a friend, and at the same time, there were moments that

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were so spectacular and miraculous and beautiful. But one of the things that happened is these T shirts were made. And Ollie tells this great story about how he

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never liked to be mushy. He used to never like to like, really say he loved people like, or I love you to his friends and stuff like that. And then as he got sick, he

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started saying it all the time, almost he said in his own words, kind of like almost embarrassingly, so, like he would do it awkwardly, to the point where people be

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like, Oh my god. So the t shirt that I'm wearing today, when I was going through my drawers to decide what I was keeping, what I was giving away, is I pulled out my Ollie

Karen Kenney: 00:07:55

shirt, and this one says, Let someone it says, tell someone you love them today. It's got this, like pink rainbow, and it says, tell someone you love them today. And I've

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really been thinking about this as well. So I've got this combination of these recent deaths coming up into my consciousness, all the shit that's kind of just going on in the

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world politically, right? All this stuff that's just kind of like happening, all the chaos, all the ongoing upheaval, all this stuff is happening in the collective

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consciousness, and then these deaths are, like, right in my face. And now I'm like, figuring out, like, what am I keeping? What am I getting rid of? And as I'm thinking

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about all this stuff, and I pull out the t shirt because I wanted to wear it. Tell someone you love them today. Please do that. Please do that. Could be a human, it could

Karen Kenney: 00:08:48

be an animal, it could be a friend, it could be a parent, it could be somebody who's already passed on, but you just say a little prayer up to them, whatever it is, but

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vocalize your love today. Vocalize your love today, so important. And so I pull out these bins from out underneath the bed, and I look and I see these socks that I've just been

Karen Kenney: 00:09:07

waiting to wear, and I see this second pink bra, which could replace the dingy, Lumpy, frumpy one that I that does not spark joy. And I'm looking at these socks, and I'm

Karen Kenney: 00:09:19

looking at this bra, and there's like this battle going on in my head, like you have plenty of other socks right now. Yeah, they look a little dingy because you washed them

Karen Kenney: 00:09:26

with your blues. And not like they're not blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and literally, all of a sudden, and this is what happens to me. I talk about it like spiritual team on

Karen Kenney: 00:09:36

the job, right? So some people have different gifts, whether they say they're Clair, Audient, right, clairvoyant, they see things they for me, it's almost just like

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more, like words appear in my head,

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like word impressions, is what I call them. But this time, it was like a voice, and this is what I heard as I'm sitting there, going, should I throw out those socks? Should I,

Karen Kenney: 00:09:59

like, donate. Those socks. But should I save these socks? Should I like, and wait? And literally, this is what I hear in my head, wear the damn socks. And I know right away

Karen Kenney: 00:10:13

it's like, wear the fucking socks, meaning the new white ones, meaning like, why are you saving these things. Like, are you sitting here really pretending that you have

Karen Kenney: 00:10:23

all the time in the world? Like, what are you saving these things for? And it made me think about people who, I think it was Joan Didion, the great Joan Didion, who kind of

Karen Kenney: 00:10:34

had, like, either this rule of this habit where she always ate off of fine china, and she was saying, like, what? Like, I every day like, like, every day is worth the fine

Karen Kenney: 00:10:43

china. And I started thinking about this, and I'm like, Yes, we never know when the last exhale is coming. I talk about this a lot. This might even be like my fourth

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podcast where I bring this up. We never know when the last exhale is coming. We know time is guaranteed to us. Not everybody you know, gets the privilege of growing older. So all

Karen Kenney: 00:11:02

these things that we're saving and we're setting aside, and we're waiting for the right moment, or whatever the fuck wear the damn socks. Tell somebody you love them

Karen Kenney: 00:11:13

today. And I know what I did. I threw out, I got rid of that old, dingy pink bra, and I'm sporting, as you can see, I keep pulling my shirt to the side. I'm sporting the new,

Karen Kenney: 00:11:23

cute pink one, because I'm like, What am I saving them for? There's no guarantee that I might not leave my house tonight and, like, trip down the stairs and knock myself out

Karen Kenney: 00:11:32

and that's it. I choke on a piece of tofu, like, whatever, right? We don't know. Car Accidents happen. Hot attacks happen. As a kid with a mother who was killed when I was

Karen Kenney: 00:11:44

12, I know that the unexpected and you never think it's going to happen to you, happens all the time. So what are we waiting for? Why are we saving our words of

Karen Kenney: 00:11:53

encouragement? Why are we saving the pretty dress? Why are we saving the good china? Why are we saving the trip? Why are we waiting to learn piano, or to write the book, or to

Karen Kenney: 00:12:02

say I'm sorry, or to do the thing that is like you feel called that has been like your purpose. Why are we waiting to do these things? Like, now's the time to wear the

Karen Kenney: 00:12:15

thing, say the thing, learn the thing, go to the place, right? Like, end the relationship, do something new, quit the job, stop the job, whatever it is, because

Karen Kenney: 00:12:26

no time is guaranteed. So if there's something that you've been waiting to wear for the special occasion, or the whatever, whatever, whatever, what if this is your

Karen Kenney: 00:12:36

special occasion? What if your everyday life is your special occasion. What if the time is now? What if this is the only time we have? We never know when we like I said, you

Karen Kenney: 00:12:48

get on a plane, you get in your car, you walk down the stairs, whatever. We never know what's going to happen. Why are we reserving these things? And this is like I'm

Karen Kenney: 00:12:57

talking to myself, hello, first and foremost, I am not finger wagging at anybody. This is just me sharing a personal story to universally like out to the

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collective consciousness, to think about this like, what are we waiting for? What are we waiting for? Because if we're waiting around right for the right time, the perfect

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time, it almost never comes. Sometimes we just have to leap right and have a leap of faith and trust, trust that things are going to work out. Sometimes we have to be the one

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who's who says, I'm sorry first, or I love you first, or I forgive you first, or whatever. I'm talking about some physical articles. But these physical articles have

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got me really thinking about all the little ways that I kind of put things aside and assume, we assume that we're going to have plenty of time. We make the assumption that

Karen Kenney: 00:13:48

we have more time than we do. And I don't want to do that anymore. So right? The people you want to see, the places you want to go, the things you want to say, right? I

Karen Kenney: 00:13:58

say every day this prayer adapted from A Course in Miracles that says, have me go where you would have me go. Have me do what you would have me do, have me say, what you

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would have me say, and to whom. Please use me. Please use me. Please use me. Well, I can tell you what one of the things they wanted me to do is to wear the damn socks,

Karen Kenney: 00:14:15

put the socks in the bra, in the drawer for wearing, and get rid of the stuff that when you go to put it on it always just makes you feel a little flat or uninspired. And that's

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what it is. It made me feel uninspired. It made me just feel dull. And I'm like, look with whatever time I have left. I don't want to do it dully. I want to do it with with

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enthusiasm. I want to do it with curiosity and creativity and as my best self. And you know what I deserve? And these aren't even fancy things. These are socks and a bra. You

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know what I'm saying. They're not fancy. But I'm thinking to myself, I deserve those. Do you know what I mean? Like my hard work earned the pennies that allowed me to buy

Karen Kenney: 00:14:57

those things. Why am I keeping them in a box under my bed? Yeah. So I don't know what your version of the socks is, or the bra is or whatever, but I hope you hear this if

Karen Kenney: 00:15:08

it's meant for you. I hope it lands for you. I hope it inspires you. I hope you tell someone you love them today. I hope you make it a priority. And I'm gonna talk about this

Karen Kenney: 00:15:20

in a slightly different way, like there's like, so many offshoots of this idea and this concept, but I would always love to hear from you. So every once in a while, you

Karen Kenney: 00:15:30

guys leave me messages on YouTube, or you shoot me an email. You let me know you shared this with a friend. You have no idea how much it means to me, you guys, because

Karen Kenney: 00:15:37

sometimes I just feel like I'm peeing into the Grand Canyon. Is obviously I'm like, I'm pissing into the Grand Canyon. I have no idea if this thing is filling up, if it's

Karen Kenney: 00:15:44

landing for people, if it's making a difference. So those of you who let me know it means so much to me, and those of you who have used the tip jar, thank you so much.

Karen Kenney: 00:15:53

Your kindness and generosity also means the world to me. So you guys, you know what I always talk about, right? If you want to do some spiritual mentoring, reach out to me,

Karen Kenney: 00:16:04

Karen at Karen kenney.com can always go to my website, Karen kenney.com and see all the things that I'm up to. How to join the nest, my group mentoring, my spiritual mentoring

Karen Kenney: 00:16:14

group program, can work with me one to one. You can have a hot to hot day, right? There's all these things, but just thank you for this time together. Right now, I

Karen Kenney: 00:16:23

appreciate you. I'm going to tell each of you, I know I haven't met you in person, but if you're the kind of person who listens to this show and you keep coming back, I pretty

Karen Kenney: 00:16:31

much already know that I love you. So thank you so much. I'm going to tell you that I love you today, and I really appreciate you, and just go out there and wherever you go,

Karen Kenney: 00:16:41

may you leave yourself and the people and the animals and the planet and the environment right all the people that you come across. May you leave them better than

Karen Kenney: 00:16:51

how you found them wherever you go. May you and your presence and your love be a blessing. Bye. You.