Transacting Value Podcast - Instigating Self-worth
Jesse Jackson Shares Life Principles Set to the Music of Our Experiences
March 04, 2024
Jesse Jackson Shares Life Principles Set to the Music of Our Experiences
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Music weaves through the fabric of our lives, stitching together memories and emotions that define who we are. Join Josh Porthouse and the insightful Jesse Jackson from Set Lusting Bruce as we unpack the melodies that escort us back to defining moments, fostering a sense of belonging that resonates deep within. From the rhythm that ties us to our past to the tunes that soundtrack our present, we consider how music shapes our connections and echoes the core values of collaboration and belonging.

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Transacting Value Podcast

Music weaves through the fabric of our lives, stitching together memories and emotions that define who we are. Join me, Josh Porthouse, and the insightful Jesse Jackson from Set Lusting Bruce, as we unpack the melodies that escort us back to defining moments, fostering a sense of belonging that resonates deep within. From the rhythm that ties us to our past, to the tunes that soundtrack our present, we consider how music shapes our connections and echoes the core values of collaboration and belonging.

Values and personal growth take the spotlight as I reflect on my upbringing within a military family and its influence on my leadership and life's principles. Jesse and I examine the importance of setting clear expectations and informed consent, drawing parallels to Kenneth Dobson's parenting wisdom and how these concepts translate into our professional lives. Sharing candid anecdotes, we explore the necessity of humility and the profound impact of acknowledging our missteps, embracing the transformative power of admitting when we're wrong, and the growth that comes from such honesty.

Lastly, we address the challenge of maintaining positivity and self-reliance amidst life's tumultuous transitions. We delve into the tension between the comfort of feeling right and the courage it takes to confront potential wrongs, touching on personal conflicts and professional uncertainties. From the battlefield of military deployment to the battlefield of daily life, we share strategies for confronting change with a realistic and adaptable mindset. As we close, we express our heartfelt appreciation to our listeners, inviting you to continue this journey with us, as we collectively navigate and celebrate the evolving values that make up the soundtrack of our lives.


Jesse Jackson | website | podcast | X | YouTube | Facebook
Set Lusting Bruce Podcast featuring the conversation with Porter and Jesse

Developing Character (10:42)
Pass It On (18:18) | Website 
Pass It On (24:15) | Website 
Volunteer to help Veterans | Website

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Chapters

00:05 - The Power of Music and Connections

10:03 - Discussing Values and Personal Growth

18:58 - Realistic Approach to Critical Thought

24:44 - Navigating Challenges With Positivity and Self-Reliance

33:03 - Facing Change With Realistic Flexibility

42:16 - Appreciation and Call to Engagement

Transcript

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

Welcome to Transacting Value, where we talk about practical applications for personal values when dealing with each other and even within ourselves. Where we foster a podcast listening experience that lets you hear the power of a value system for managing burnout, establishing boundaries and finding belonging. My name is Josh Porthouse, I'm your host and we are your people. This is why values still hold value. This is Transacting Value.

Jesse Jackson:

Connections are very important to all of us, and music is a common denominator for us. Welcome to.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

Transacting Value Today. This particular conversation is pretty cool we're talking to a guy's name is Jesse Jackson. He's the host of a podcast called Set Lusting Bruce, which is essentially everything a musician's type podcast could be. We're focusing on his show, on what music has done for people as far as resilience, as far as perspective, as far as insight and knowledge base, and as soon as I found out about it, I went on it. It's that cool of a show and I don't even really have that big of a Springsteen repertoire, but that's what his show is all about. So, if you guys get the opportunity, check out Set Lusting Bruce. The podcast is pretty sweet, the guests are pretty awesome, the stories are super resonant, because who doesn't like music? Anyway, saying that now he's here on Transacting Value and we're talking about a lot of the same things specific to this conversation Our March core values of connection, collaboration and belonging for a lot of the reasons you might be expecting actually. But without further ado, folks, on Porter, I'm your host and this is Transacting Value. Jesse. What's up, man? How you?

Jesse Jackson:

doing. I'm so happy to be here. During the pandemic, I was lucky enough to be interviewed for Backstreet's website, which is one of the it is the biggest Bruce Springsteen website out there, and the person who interviewed me talked about he felt my show is about connections. It is connections that we have through the music of, and I always try to make it clear that, while the majority of my guests are Bruce Springsteen fans, I do what I call B side episodes. For those of us old enough to remember 45s, there was an A side and a B side, and the B side episodes are when people like yourself join me to share their stories of how music has helped them through the challenges of their life, with either music generically or specific artists such as Janet Jackson or Queen or Beyonce, it doesn't matter and so connections are very important to all of us, and music is a common denominator for us. I think in many ways, music is a true time travel device. When you hear that song and you shared that with me in your episode there is a song you hear and you are smelling the Gulf air, you are feeling the vinyl seat of your dad's back seat, you are transported in time to going from your mother's house to go spend the weekend with your father Hearing that song. All those senses come back to you and you are back in that place.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

It's such a cool phenomenon and it's weird because it's not even words, sometimes it's just instrumental, it's just the sound and the moment and everything. I think, arguably, what it turns into is a presence, because you originally in that sort of origin moment. You hear the song or you sing along or whatever it is, but, like you said, it brings all your senses into the moment and it makes you present. I mean, could you imagine? Could you imagine and maybe you do this regularly, I don't know, I don't, but could you imagine if we were able to do that consciously Any given time, any point in the day, probably for a shorter period of time, but at will, just to be present in a moment. To that extent, how wild would that be?

Jesse Jackson:

Yeah, one of the things I talk about the effectiveness of music, and I haven't brought this up in a while, but Tom Hanks movie Cast Away, sure, the first two thirds of the movie. There is no soundtrack. The only music you hear is like from an outside source, like when he's at FedEx. You hear a song being played over the radio. Yeah. And when he leaves the island for the first time and that his homemade raft goes past the shore, the instrumental starts, the soaring of the soundtrack, which you didn't realize but subconsciously there had not been music, and also that swell of music makes you feel that sense of freedom and relief he has now that he is aggressively trying to take control of his life, to try to rescue himself. I think that there are moments of time where, when we're discussing songs, someone will go why do you like that song? And I will say, intellectually, I get it. It may not be that classic of a song, it may not be that well written or composed, but when I hear "play that funky music, white boy, I am back at a high school dance in Mosbluff, louisiana worrying about. Is that girl that I have a crush on going to say yes when I asked her to dance and she did? And where? my buddies all joking and laughing. You know, is that song a classic? No, but it brings you back to that time. I graduated high school in 77. So there are songs that, whether they are disco or pop, there is a joy. When you hear Mamma Mia by ABBA, there's a reason why when you do flash dances sometimes and you can Google Mamma Mia flash dance that the crowd goes crazy when you're hearing that song.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

No, I totally get. I do flash dances all the time. I'm just the only audience and performer you know. So it's absolutely. It's an interesting time to be alive. There's so many cool moments. You talked about Mamma Mia, for example. There are plenty of songs that have become movies and those movies have then generated soundtracks basically inspired off of one song. Yes, I mean, there's even artists that can encapsulate that capability. I mean, look, okay, look who I'm talking to. Right, Like, look at Bruce Springsteen, for example unreal, and we talked about this on your show, we're talking about Thunder Road and a couple other songs but like the amount of emotional resonance that he can put into one song and then reach hundreds of millions of people 50 years after the songs came out originally or whenever they were even written. It's it's the word cross cultural, intergenerational time traveling, I think, is a good way to put it.

Jesse Jackson:

Springsteen has a huge European fan base and I've never been lucky enough to see them overseas. I hope to one day, but they tell me that having a crowd of 50,000 people where English is their second language and they are screaming along every Bruce Springsteen song in English is something crazy. The other thing I thought of is there are moments that become iconic and I'm going to guess you have thought this, I'm going to guess most of your audience is. When you're watching a sporting event and someone does the national anthem, you go God, that was almost Whitney Houston-like Because of her iconic national anthem. She had done in First Super Bowl that Jimi Hendrix doing the Star Spangled Banner on his guitar. There are moments that are iconic, that stick with us and become measuring sticks to other people's performances. I used to joke that if you can't get Ray Charles doing America Beautiful, you don't do America Beautiful, just you skip. Like is Ray Charles available? Yes, ok, good, we're going to do America Beautiful. He's not. Ok, skip, we got to do something else.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

Yeah, we'll find a different song, for sure. Yeah, there's trendsetters, right, like Candle in the Wind is another one, right, when Elton John did it. And now there's covers, which I'm not detracting from their talent right, the songs are good, but you hear them and you think to the bass line, not like the bass treble, but the bass line, right, yeah, yeah.

Jesse Jackson:

And I think that's a good discussion to have. Porter is sometimes a cover. Speaking of Whitney Houston's. I Will Always Love you is a Dolly Parton song and Dolly Parton they talk about. She makes millions of dollars off the different people covering that song, including Whitney Houston, and it became her song. I always love the fact that Barry Manilow once again a 70s icon, did not write I Write the Songs. A guy named Bruce Johnston wrote that who was a part of the Beach Boys. I know, and yeah, and he wrote it, thinking of Brian Wilson, who is the guy who wrote most of the Beach Boys music. But if you ask people, I Write the Songs is one of the quintessential Barry Manilow songs.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

Well, yeah, no, I didn't actually know that.

Jesse Jackson:

That's the guy, see Porter. This is the kind of information, whether you like it or not, you get if you listen to Set Lusting Bruce.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

Yeah, fair. But you know what, while we're talking about bass, lines and covers and revisions and originals, let's talk about you for a second. All right, so everything that as people and conditioning ourselves as humans to work through life and go through society, like you're pulling inspirations for music, specifically in your case. Right, you're pulling inspirations for music. You're pulling inspirations, obviously, from your experiences, but I have to believe all of those things started somewhere and, in my opinion, if we consider this as your baseline, right, let's talk your origin story for a second. So this is a segment of the show called Developing Character. Character, the segment where we talk personal values, past and present, right, and for anybody new to the show, it's two questions, all about the impact of personal values , J, esse, in your case, answer as vulnerably or as willing as you want, it's totally up to you. But again, two questions. So my first question is based on a value system. Ok, that's the perspective we're going from here. What were some of your values growing up, or what were some of the values you were exposed to?

Jesse Jackson:

I was raised in a military family. My dad was 20 years, infantry armored division. He served in Vietnam. He trained young men to go to Vietnam I remember hearing stories of that and so we traveled a lot, we moved around a lot and, as you know, that can be hard on a family. I think one of my defining characteristics is I learned to be pretty emotionally self-sufficient. I remain to this day a big reader, and over the past 15, 20 years I've become more easily making friendships. For the longest time, though, I did not make a lot of friends because subconsciously I knew I was just going to leave them. Right, dad's going to get stationed somewhere else, we're going to lose them. So I think that self-sufficient helped a lot. We were raised. My grandparents were very active in the Southern Baptist Church. There was a lot of early Sunday school and a lot of what I call Christian values. That I'm going to get a little political now. See, if you want to cut me off, you can, but I think too many times the fundamental Christians have drifted away from caring about other people and not judging people. And loving people was very important to me and I get upset when I see people not doing things that do not show those values. And then the last was I had a horrible boss. My first real full-time job was a guy named Joe. I will not give Joe's last name I'm sure he's not listening to this podcast, but I worked at a trucking service and he was a horrible boss. He would have to cover the phones for me to go to lunch and he would go out to a lunch drinking with his buddies and not come back to like three or four in the afternoon and I would have been in that office all alone only if someone would bring me lunch. He was just a jerk and I said if I'm ever a chance to be a boss, I'm not going to be that way. And so anytime I've had a good boss, I've learned from there what they do and then how to mold myself. And then when I've had bad bosses, I go OK, that's what I'm not going to do. And then my last core value and this is kind of funny our son was three or four years old. We were at the pediatrician's office and she said that your son is very strong-willed and if you aren't careful he's going to run all over you. He said so I recommend Kenneth Dobbson's the Strong-Willed Child. She goes. I don't believe in the politics of him, but I believe in his book. And the premise of the book, if you can simplify it, Porter, is you can't hold your child accountable for anything until you explain to him the consequences. For example, we were watching TV, we went into the kitchen and he had taken the powdered Tide and had dumped it all over and made like was playing, like it was a sandcastle, right like a sandbox, and my wife was ready to scream at him and I said well, technically, we've never told Chris that it's against the rules to dump soap powder on the floor. She rolled her eyes, but you have to tell someone. This is what I expect from you. This is behavior is acceptable, this behavior is unacceptable. And if you have unacceptable behavior, there are consequences. When I became a manager, I said wait a minute. Isn't that the same thing we should do for our employees? Isn't this the same thing we should do for our teammates? Set our expectations. If we don't set our expectations, what we expect from our coworkers, what do you expect from our teammates? What do we expect from our subordinates? You can't hold them accountable if they don't know. And so those are the quick three or four things that have geared my rules of living, my core values.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

So you said essentially what I'm translating here into essentially informed consent, managing expectations, to try to, I guess you could say, help people hone their responses more appropriately. They need to be able to one, be aware and understand what's actually going on, but two, from the opposing party perspective. In this case you do your sound, or you as a boss, or pick a role, but the opposing party's perspective. We also need to understand that people are just trying to figure out life too, and everybody owes each other at least a fair shake, right. So that has been, then, and in case there's been any changes, let me hit you with question two real quick, as you've grown up and adopted some of those things into your value system empathy, self-reliance, these types of things. If anything's changed, what are some of your values now? Or what are some more consistent values you decide to I don't know bring up publicly and vocally stand behind?

Jesse Jackson:

For the longest time. I was not very political. Over the past eight, 10 years some of my friends have like when did Jesse become so vocal for more of leftist causes? Let's just say I think it's hypocrisy of of saying that you care for people but then doing decisions that clearly show you don't care for people. My sister says that I'm a big proponent of the high road is never crowded, and I do. I try to give a lot of people grace. I think grace is a powerful word that I'm going to try to give them a bit of the doubt. I'm going to believe the best in people. I think one of the things that bothers me about work environments and society is Porter, I want to believe the very best in myself and the worst in you. If I make a joke, it's because I'm being funny. If you make that joke, it's because you're a racist. If I make a mistake, it's because I just didn't know any better. If you make that same mistake, it's because you don't care about people and you don't want to do the right things. So I try to give people grace and an understanding. After a while you realize this has been consistent. Now I think I've given them enough grace. Their intentions are not honorable. I think that would have been my biggest changes. For the longest time I would have like no, no, no, they don't mean it that way. Now that I've come to side that, there are some people in this world that maybe shouldn't get your grace because they don't have the best intents.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

Already, folks sit tight and we'll be right back on Transacting.

Speaker 5:

Value. She didn't just visit the sick and poor, she moved in with them. It wasn't convenient and it wasn't pretty, but they needed help. Twelve more than joined this saint of the goddess. They were soon followed by over 4,000 other nuns who gave healing care in orphanages, AIDS hospices and charity centers. Mother Teresa couldn't do it all, but she gave her all. Compassion is in you. Now Pass it On from PassItOncom.

Jesse Jackson:

There are some people in this world that maybe shouldn't get your grace because they don't have the best intents.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

All right. So a realistic approach to critical thought, let's say for a second. Yes. Eve, and I think that's fair. I think it's a fair point and I think it's a valid point to make because, well, frankly, no matter how much you want to be able to trust other people or see the good in other people, it's just not always going to be their day. It just doesn't happen. Well, here's an example I work on a military base right here in the States. For anybody new to the show, if you're listening and you're unfamiliar, I spend a majority of my career, much like Jesse's dad, but in a Marine Corps, except for that piece, but in the infantry, and then training Marines and sailors to work in different cultures, environments, tactics, whatever operations apply. Now, saying that there's a certain, I think, bias that comes in from a more Western perspective like mine, which is what I've grown accustomed to, compared to a global perspective. Right that I tend to believe what I think is appropriate, because, based on my background, experiences, perceptions, whatever it fits, my pattern of perceiving the world in traveling around everywhere and working with other militaries, going into people's houses to have tea and other cultures and villages and whatever applies, I've learned that I'm actually only right some of the time and rights even a loose term here, but more appropriately, effectively right some of the time. The biggest thing I've learned, though, is that's okay, it's natural, it's okay to be wrong sometimes, and I think I don't wanna call it humility here, but that realistic approach to critical thought in my case introspectively is necessary, it's necessary, and I think there's opportunities in life If we can call them challenges, I'm gonna call them opportunities in life where we're able to realize those things. So, Jesse, what instances or if you could think of maybe just one, it's up to you have you lived through, or maybe even encountered that you've sort of had this more realistic, critical approach let's say introspectively, more appropriate even to the show where you've had to rely on, say, your value system to rediscover some self-reliance or inner strength or something to get through? Does any of that apply to you?

Jesse Jackson:

I remember I was attending like a business kickoff. Yeah, you know how for those of you I don't know if they do that in the military, but often you know, to kick off a new year, they'll bring everyone in and they'll have a speaker, and that you know we're all kinds of breakout sessions and this guy made a presentation about what do you do if you don't agree with the direction the company's going or a policy they're gonna make. And he says you know it's your responsibility as a teammate to share your concerns, to express why you think this isn't good, and then accept it and give 100% support because you've been wrong before, and I love that thought. Right, I have been wrong before, just because I feel this is the right decision or what they're doing is the wrong decision. I've been wrong before. So I'm gonna tell a funny one versus a business one. All right, okay, what do you got? Yeah, you guys can't see this because it's audio and even Porter can't see it because I have a virtual background. But I am in our spare bedroom and this is my podcast studio. For the longest time I recorded in our front room because that was where the DSL location was, and so when someone walked in our house, the first thing they saw was my computer and my headset, and my wife was, like we need to move you to the bedroom because that way you'll have more privacy. I'm like, no, you just don't want this stuff in the front room. No, I need that, I'm happy there, I don't need this. And she kept pushing and I kept pushing back. So my son, who's now an adult, moved in and said hey, dad, I just wanna bring up that when you're podcasting we have to leave the living room because the way our house is, it's all one big room and so we can't watch TV, we can't do anything because you're podcasting. So if you would move in the guest room, we would be able to continue doing things, we wouldn't have to go to the bedrooms. I'm like, okay, that's good. So we changed everything and after my first podcast I went to my wife and I said I've never been more wrong in my life. I love having this in this secluded room. I love shorting the door. I am so sorry, you are right, I am wrong. And I've never been more wrong about anything in my life. And she, of course, we've been married since 84. She smiled, she was not too smug. She was just the right amount smug for her, and so that's a funny version of I was just convinced I was right, I was correct, I was doing everything right and I was just wrong. I was just very wrong.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

All right, if folks stay tight, we'll be right back on Transacting Value.

Speaker 6:

Here's my bucket list for the day Read an article on a new subject, say only nice things about others and listen to everyone's opinions, because making things better requires change. Now, these changes aren't going to show up on your news feed, but they're things I can do. So change something today. It's not going to change the entire world, but it's going to change your world. Change is in you. Pass it on From PassItOncom.

Jesse Jackson:

I was just convinced I was right, I was correct, I was doing everything right and I was just wrong. I was just very wrong.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

Yeah. Well, those are times you catch on, though, right? Yeah, what about times when you don't, where I'm still convinced I'm right, but things aren't going my way. You know, like I had this argument I can't even call it a conversation I had this argument with my ex-wife as we were going through divorce proceedings. There were a lot of these moments right when I thought I was right and, conversely, so did she, and to a certain degree we both were, and to a certain degree we both weren't in hindsight. But at the time, what did I do wrong? Why am I being punished? I didn't do anything wrong, you know, and you're sort of convinced of the opposite. What do you do then?

Jesse Jackson:

I'm kind of running into that a little bit now, and you and I had shared this before we hit record. As we're recording this, our company is going through a transition. My day gig and my boss came to me and said you know, I don't know if we're going to be able to keep you. I'm working to keep you, but just where our current situation is, where we are revenue-wise with your salary, I want to keep you, but I don't know if I can. So at 64, I'm back on the job market Now. He's given me some time and they have been very respectful and helpful, but it's hard for me not to go. Dude, you hired me one month before COVID started. I have been doing this job. I worked all the way through COVID. I have done everything you wanted me to do and I'm a valuable part of the team that's respected and loved and I will do anything. Why can't you find a place for me? That just doesn't make any sense. So now I go back to core values. I believe that, hopefully, things are going to work out, but I need to stay positive. I need to see to work and I will have four or five songs that will play on a loop that are positive mindsets, because it's easy to have faith when everything is going well. It's harder to have faith in yourself and in the greater vision when things aren't going as well. So this core value of well, maybe if I'd f-ed over a few other employees, maybe if I hadn't helped them get their dreams, I'd be more valuable. But do you really want the job? If you have to screw someone over to get it, would you be happy with yourself? No, I wouldn't, Porter. I don't think you would be. You and I have spent a little bit of time together and I know, as a Marine, no one left behind. You're always going to worry about the person next to you. And so there's this thing like well, should I have been more selfish and you go? Well, short term it may have helped me, but in long run that's not the kind of person I want to be. I want to be someone that cares about others, that makes the decisions that are right for my family, my community and myself, and then let the chips fall where they may.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

You're fixing to go, obviously, along your journey let's call it to fight your demons and you're fixing to go into the cave and obviously the goal is come out the other side as the dragon warrior or whatever. You want to be the kung fu panda of your day. Cool, do you feel ready? I mean realistically focusing on some of your values and maintaining positivity and understanding that you feeling sorry for yourself is just as much a condition and degree and scope and scale of self-reliance as it is to feel good about yourself. Does it actually do anything for you?

Jesse Jackson:

So no, I mean feeling sorry for yourself will not help, though I think you have to acknowledge that it's OK. You're going to have down days. You're going to feel that you're the fire hydrant and everyone around you are the dogs so and you just have to keep plugging away. You hope for the best plan for the worst, and I do think that people can get in a self-fulfilling prophecy of feeling sorry for yourself and expecting bad things and being very negative. I also think you can't be Pollyanna. You know that. Oh, everything's great and everything's wonderful. You just have to find the realistic. Yes, it's going to be tough. Job markets are always difficult. I am an older gentleman, I have a few gray hairs on my head, so there might be a little bit tougher. I will try to sell my experience, but I know other people may go. Yeah, but I can get someone younger and cheaper and faster, and so I'm realistic that this is going to be an interesting journey. But I have to remain positive and hopeful and then work hard.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

Already, folks stay tight and we'll be right back on Transacting Value.

Jesse Jackson:

I'm realistic that this is going to be an interesting journey, but I have to remain positive and hopeful and then work hard.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

Yeah, well, and that's the thing about value systems, right, and I've talked about it a little bit too but they don't pay the bills. They really don't. Unfortunately, goodwill doesn't get you an income more often than not, right, but a desire and a drive for goodwill can definitely create you a nonprofit that can earn you grants, that can get you income to continue doing what you have a passion in. You know and it's not to say that's an option for you or not, just to point out that I agree, I think you're realistically going to be in a tough position if everything continues the direction that it may. On the flip side, I think your head's in the right place, man, and I think inner strength goes a long way. I think an ability to maintain perspective is important. I think an ability to maintain reality and accept that there's going to be rough days is equally as important. But you know, you talked about self-reliance, you talked about being emotionally self-sufficient, and I think a lot of that maturity, at whatever age it comes or presents itself, is in also understanding that it's not over, it's not the end of anything. There's something I talked about with a guy a couple days ago which is a pretty interesting point, I think and it pretty readily applies here too, the point that you brought up earlier, jesse, about it's easy to have faith in good times and then, obviously, in down times. The more stressed we get for any number of variables and reasons, the more stressed we get. It's easy to think I'm getting closer to my tolerance of stress and I'm losing it, and I don't know if I can sustain this. It's too much for me Oftentimes. If we have a way or, in my opinion, in preference, a set of values to reframe that threshold as an opportunity to what end, who knows? But to reframe it as an opportunity it's also possible, instead of seeing it as the top end of your tolerance, to see it as the bottom end of your next level up tolerance. We just oftentimes tend to not realize we're at that transition point where we're reinventing and leveling, because it's easy to see it as a problem. My active duty contract just ended, like we talked about a couple days ago. Actually, for all intents and purposes, I'm unemployed right now, and so I get it. I mean, aside from 30 years difference, we're essentially in the same boat. We're both wearing headsets, talking to ourselves. You know what I mean. So it's a lot of things in common. I'm nervous because I don't know what to expect. The stability is gone.

Jesse Jackson:

You know one of the things. I'll tell you another story that I thought I hope your audience will find entertaining. Linda and I had been married for a while and she was talking to someone and she said they said Jesse never seems to be discouraged down. And she says he is, but you don't see it very often. But she goes. In fact, the first few years we are married I thought he was too dumb to worry. I was just like, ok, he's just, Jesse just has no idea what's going on. She was, but I learned very quickly that Jesse doesn't waste his energy on worrying what ifs? He says, oh, here's the problem, what are we going to do about it? And then work a plan to try to fix the problem. She says the only time I'm worried is if I ask Jesse what are we going to do? And he says I don't know. Then she goes. I panic because Jesse is always someone who OK, I have a plan. So I think that is another core value as we're talking about this, as we change Porter, is that you can spend a lot of time anxious, like in your case. Well, should I have signed up for another? No, I know it's the right thing, but now I don't have income. What am I going to do? What am I going to do for benefits? Being a Marine was a big part of my life and that will always be. I'm also, you know, all those other things going. I made the best decision that I could with the knowledge I had, and now then here's my plan to march forward, and my plan may change. My plan may change a lot based on when I get new input, when I get new data, but as long as I have a plan, I'm going to figure it out, and I think that's where people borrow trouble right. Worrying is barring for trouble. That may not happen and I just you go. Okay, I realize that this could happen. What am I gonna do? What are we gonna try to do? Come up with a plan and then do the best you can to meet that plan.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

I suppose that's all you can really hope for, yeah.

Jesse Jackson:

That's all you can do, yeah.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

Yeah, flexibility makes a big difference. Realistic flexibility, not like hasty, go this way, go that way, go this way, that way, right, yeah, that's a great point. More specifically, realistic and critical, which helps, right, you know, you're able to sort of make haste more deliberately. You might say I really do.

Jesse Jackson:

As you know, I end every one of my podcasts with a merry question and for those of you I won't go into it too long, but please go listen to Porter's. It came out last year. I'm hopeful you will include the link in the show notes. But basically, the question is at the end of Bruce Springsteen's song Thunder Road, Mary is on the porch and she has a choice she can go back in the house or she can get in the car with the singer. And is she afraid to take that step forward? Is the question. And change is scary. Staying in the same place is safe. It may be uncomfortable, but it's a familiar uncomfortable. And going making a change is going to be uncomfortable, but it's an unknown uncomfortable. And what if it's worse? But it could be better. But yeah, but it could be worse. And I think that you have to not be afraid to change you off to as you said. You can't blindly go without a plan in your terms of your engagements. Right, when you guys were deployed, you had a plan, you just didn't go. Okay, we're going to dump all these people here.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

We're going to figure it out. It's till we landed, yeah.

Jesse Jackson:

Everyone's got plans, so someone starts shooting at you, right?

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

But you know that's the other thing too. You got to understand what you bring to the table and even in situations like that, when there's confusion and dust and smoke and debris and all these things happening and all of this chaos, or in some cases, even just in your head, it's perceived to be worse than it actually is you got to stop and breathe for a second. If you can't control your stress, you can't control the situation, and a lot of those opportunities for establishing healthy boundaries oftentimes get handed to us not because we decided when we want to do establish new ones. And that's life. I think you put it pretty well and you know what, Mary, we'll see if you get in the car. We'll stay in touch and we'll see how this plays out. But for now, because of time, I really do appreciate the opportunity, J esse. I think this was great man, obviously super practical, super realistic and all those things from my show and my listeners, and that was great. But I really appreciate the opportunity just to hang out with you for an hour or whatever it was, vent a little bit, get some perspective from you a little bit Because, like I said, we're basically in the same boat, man, and for all intents and purposes. You've lived this experience more than once, and this is basically my first time hitting it, so from, if nothing else, a mentorship perspective, I appreciate your time too, man.

Jesse Jackson:

Like anytime. I feel like one of the beautiful things about guesting on other people's podcasts and having people on your podcast is when it goes well. You feel like you've made a friend and I certainly feel that with you. I love spending time with you, even though I called you the wrong name, but we had a blast and I think we connected and I am looking forward to continuing to follow your journey and we will stay in touch.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

Yeah, man, I'm all about it. Now, for anybody that wants to obviously tune into my show, it's pretty straightforward, cause I tell them and I put it to all the places where they're going so far they wouldn't have stayed with me. But for any of them or anybody else new who wants to follow you and follow setlusting or get information where do they go, how do they do it?

Jesse Jackson:

Sure. So I am still on X aka Twitter at Jesse Jackson DFW. The show is at setlustingbruce and the go to any podcast platform. It is set S-E-T. Lusting, l-u-s-t-i-n-g. Bruce, and the reason behind that is when Bruce is performing live, people follow along the set list and when he does a song that they didn't expect him to do, they start instead of listing, they start lusting. I am on the social media is Jesse Jackson from Louisville, Texas, setlustingbruce@ gmail. com is an email address you send me that say you wanna talk about the Rolling Stones. You wanna talk about, you know, Van Morrison. You wanna talk about Michael Jackson. It doesn't matter who you wanna talk about. I just had a guy talking about Jimi Hendrix and we had a blast. Send me an email, let me know you wanna be on this show and we'll make it happen.

Josh "Porter" Porthouse:

All right, cool, yeah. So if everybody listening to this conversation, then whether you're new to the show, whether you're returning to Transacting Value, if you go to whatever streaming platform you're using and click, see more, click, show more and you see the description for this conversation. We'll also put all the links up there for Jesse's show, setlustingbruce, and for his social, and you'll be able to access it through there as well. So if that's easier for you, feel free to use that guys. But saying that we call it Firewatch, I guess in your lingo you may call it all along the watch tower, but I think it's a manner of speaking right when it's just networking and it's the ability to look out for each other and the ability to help each other out and being able to tell stories and, in particular, for podcasting, swapping stories I think makes all the difference when it comes to humanity and, more importantly, humanities, and it's the opportunity to preserve our culture and sharing this human condition, regardless of our differences. And it's a super phenomenal opportunity that you , Jesse, to be able to speak languages with anybody in the world through music, and so for anybody listening or anybody that hears this, I highly recommend it, I highly encourage it and you know what, if being on the air is not for you, don't just push, play and then listen along and stay in time with it and keep to your own beat, right? It's a super cool opportunity. But again, Jesse, I appreciate it. Man, thanks again. I'd like to thank all of you guys for listening. I'd like to thank all of Jesse's family and his inspirations as well Obviously, backstreet, frankly, jesse. I'd also like to thank your dad. A 20-year career in any branch is not something to be taken lightly. There's a lot of sacrifice and a lot of things that come with that, but I've got a special place in my heart for the infantrymen, so special thank you to him. Joe, the horrible boss man, if you're out there, just know you ended up being a pretty solid inspiration, maybe not in the way you intended, but hey, take where you can get it. You know I've also got to say the strong-willed child. I didn't catch the author, but thanks for that book. And you know, if it weren't for Wild Cherry, this entire conversation wouldn't have started the way that it did, and so I'd just like to thank you guys for playing that funky music, and you know what I'm saying, Jesse. If it weren't for all of these inspirations, man, our conversation wouldn't have been anywhere near as cool as it was, so I really appreciate the opportunity to talk to you. I appreciate the opportunity to bring them up and bring them into this and sort of highlight their role in your perspective and the impact they had on your life. Thank you to our show partners and folks. Thank you for tuning in and appreciating our value as we all grow through life together. To check out our other conversations, merchandise or even to contribute through feedback follows time, money or talent and let us know what you think of the show. Please reach out on our website, transactingvaluepodcast. com. We stream new episodes every Monday at 9 am Eastern Standard Time through all of your favorite podcasting platforms and we'll meet you there Until next time. That was Transacting Value.

Jesse JacksonProfile Photo

Jesse Jackson

Podcaster

Over the past several years, Jesse Jackson has been talking to Bruce Springsteen fans from around the world. He believes that every Springsteen fan has a story to tell and it's his job to record as many as possible. At over 1,000 episodes and counting, fans of Bruce (as well as fans of other musicians) have shared how the magic and power of music has helped them celebrate successes and mourn losses. Music has been part of births, deaths, birthdays, weddings and other major events in their lives. Part of Pantheon Podcasts.