I had an entirely different episode scheduled for today, and at the last minute, I decided to take

a detour. I mean, that's life. Anyway, yes, detours. Unexpected turns give us something

a little different, maybe a different view of the highway, a different perspective. But the reason

why I turned left is twofold. First, I have a cold at the

moment, which you can probably hear in my voice. Yes, a cold, which let's be honest, it is a podcaster's

worst nightmare. Our voice is everything. It's our fingerprint delivered in sound

waves painted by a microphone. I actually record backup episodes in advance just in case something

comes up, such as a cold or a last-minute performance or something, and one would think

that this would be the time to drop in such an episode, but I'm not, which leads me to the second

reason why. Mental health.

Yeah, okay. I'm not really following you, Chad.

I mean, this podcast has always been about mental and emotional health.

Well, I had an email this morning from someone that said,

where I live, we don't talk about mental health. It's just something that we keep to ourselves,

something that we just have to work through on our own. They went on to thank me for all the things that we talk about here on the podcast. I have to be honest, it broke my heart, truly. So to the emailer, whose initials are

MA, this is for you and for everyone else that wishes we could talk more about our emotions.

It's interesting. We can so easily talk details about a physical illness, like a cold or a flu,

yet we often tip to around discussing our emotional and mental health. If we have a cold,

it says if everyone has been there before. Oh, goodness, they say.

I'm so sorry to hear that.

And then the list of all of their suggestions begin.

Have you tried herbal teas?

...