159. SOD Walks

Are you reading this right now while laying on your couch, paralyzed by depression, anxiety or ennui?? Listen to this episode and then stand up and take yourself on a SOD Walk! 

Dylan Marron is the creator of the SOD Walk. He is also the host of the podcast The Redemption of JarJar Binks and the author of Conversations With People Who Hate Me: 12 Things I Learned from Talking to Internet Strangers.

Listen to Dylan’s episode of The Terrible Reading Club.

Transcripts may not appear in their final version and are subject to change.

Dylan Marron: My name is Dylan Marron and it is going to be okay. 

So right now, I am lying down on my couch. And I find myself lying down on this couch quite often. And that is because I finished a really big project over the summer, in the middle of the summer. And ever since then, I’ve been in that kind of liminal state that many creatives know well. where you don’t actually have one big project you’re working on.

You have a lot of self assigned projects. And the thing about self assigned projects is that the deadlines feel a lot less real than when someone else is giving you that deadline. So I have found myself on this couch quite a lot, and when I’m on the couch I look up at the ceiling, and when I look up at the ceiling, I start noticing things.

I live in a very old… Probably pre war New York City apartment. . And we have steam heat, uh, and so I noticed the steam pipe. And I see it going into the ceiling and when I look at where the steam pipe meets the ceiling, I see what looks like water damage that was attempted to be hidden by some, uh, a plaster job, but it’s not doing too well, and that makes me think about mold, and that scares me, and the mold makes me think about asbestos, um, just because that’s one of those things you’re taught to worry about.

And… Then I kind of start ruminating on that and my mind starts looping on asbestos and mold and then I see dust and I’m like I wonder what kind of dust that dust is and that’s when I know I’ve gone too far. So this is where the SOD walk comes in and SOD stands for stave off depression. And a lot of times the need for this walk starts just like this.

I’m lying on the couch. And I have to force myself up, which I literally just did, and I am walking to change into my pants because, you guessed it, I am wearing sweatpants right now. The comfiest sweatpants, but still sweatpants, and I still want to like keep up the semblance of like being a human who goes outside.

Okay, so I’m finding my jeans. Um, bear with me. Okay, I found my jeans. I’m taking off my very comfy house slippers, and my very comfy pajama bottoms, my sweatpants, and I’m putting on my jeans, one leg at a time. It’s really step by step. These SOD walks take a step by step approach. Buttoning my jeans. Did you need those details?

Probably not, but I want to give them to you anyway. And I’m putting my belt on. And then looking at myself in the mirror to see if I’m… Yeah, I feel like I can go out. This is appropriate. Um, I’m gonna throw on a hat. And then, okay, finishing putting my belt through my belt loops. We’re wearing a hat today.

Okay, we like this hat. , then I need to find my sneakers. Here are my sneakers. , these are Hoka’s, and this is not a sponsored thing, but I just have to tell you, walking in Hoka’s is absolute heaven. And Hoka, if you would like to sponsor me, I would love that. Okay, I’m sitting down to put on my shoes, and every time it really is like this…

Piecemeal, you know, it like takes like me thinking about every step to do this step and Kind of feels overwhelming But if I do step by step then I know that I can do it Okay, so I need to find my wallet. I need to find my keys Wallet is right here Phone I am speaking into And then, I am going to…

Keys. This is the dance that, oh my god, my keys are there. You know that dance you always do when you’re like, where are my keys? By the way, that can be a terrific excuse to go back to the couch. If I can’t find my keys, then I think, you know what? I don’t actually need to go out. I can just stay inside.

Okay, getting my headphones. And, oh, and then I do this other dance where I obsessively check to see that everything is unplugged and the oven is off, even though I didn’t plug anything in. Look, this appliance is off, but I still need to unplug it. The stove is off, off, off, off. Oven is off. I’m gonna check that a candle is off, and I know, I know intellectually I didn’t light a candle, but I have to check anyway.

You guys, it’s off. The candle is off. Okay, and with that, I unlock the door. I go outside, and I go down the stairs.

I already feel better, like in my bones I feel better. I’m walking down my stairs, and

I Checking I have my keys before I close the door, and with that, oh my god, I feel better. I’m out in the world, and we are starting an SOD walk.

It feels good.

This

Nora: This used to be a bird podcast, but now it’s an acronym podcast, and this is our new one. Sodwalk. S O D walk. S O D W? If you live in a place with seasons, and it is gloomy or snowy or rainy or gray, you might need… An SOD walk more than I do, but I am also going to take one anyway, because I know that my brain needs to see something other than this computer screen, no offense.

Thank you so much to Dylan Marin, our buddy, friend of the pod, for sharing a new acronym with us. Dylan is too humble to have mentioned this, but he created a really beautiful podcast called The Redemption of Jar Jar Binks. Which I love. I’ve shared about that over on my substack a bunch this summer, but it really is a beautiful show.

Um, you can find that wherever you’re listening to this. And he also wrote… A book called Conversations with People Who Hate Me, which we have an episode of Terrible Reading Club about. Anyways, um, thank you Dylan, thank you to everybody. Go put pants on, lace up your hokas, I can say they’re a beautiful walking shoe, really.

Do they look a little cartoony? Yeah. Do you really care? No, if you’re me, I don’t. I mean, I don’t, I don’t. I like, I honestly like cartoony sneakers. That’s another episode. It’s going to be okay. Um, I, like, I just lost my thought. It’s going to be okay. You heard it here first. You’ve never heard that phrase before till you heard it from us, the team at Feelings Co.

Which is also the only place you’ve ever found feelings. You were living in a gray, emotionless world before we came along and introduced you to feelings. Um, you’re welcome. Our team is Marcel Malakibu, Claire McInerny, Megan Palmer, Nora McInerny, yes we are related, Michelle Planton, and Grace Berry. You can find all of our shows and our store at feelingsand.

co. Thank you for being here. Thank you to everyone who has shared this podcast with somebody, rated, reviewed, listened, blah, blah, blah. We literally couldn’t do it without you.

This used to be a bird podcast, but now it’s an acronym podcast, and this is our new one. Sodwalk. S O D walk. S O D W? If you live in a place with seasons, and it is gloomy or snowy or rainy or gray, you might need… An SOD walk more than I do, but I am also going to take one anyway, because I know that my brain needs to see something other than this computer screen, no offense.

Thank you so much to Dylan Marin, our buddy, friend of the pod, for sharing a new acronym with us. Dylan is too humble to have mentioned this, but he created a really beautiful podcast called The Redemption of Jar Jar Binks. Which I love. I’ve shared about that over on my substack a bunch this summer, but it really is a beautiful show.

Um, you can find that wherever you’re listening to this. And he also wrote… A book called Conversations with People Who Hate Me, which we have an episode of Terrible Reading Club about. Anyways, um, thank you Dylan, thank you to everybody. Go put pants on, lace up your hokas, I can say they’re a beautiful walking shoe, really.

Do they look a little cartoony? Yeah. Do you really care? No, if you’re me, I don’t. I mean, I don’t, I don’t. I like, I honestly like cartoony sneakers. That’s another episode. It’s going to be okay. Um, I, like, I just lost my thought. It’s going to be okay. You heard it here first. You’ve never heard that phrase before till you heard it from us, the team at Feelings Co.

Which is also the only place you’ve ever found feelings. You were living in a gray, emotionless world before we came along and introduced you to feelings. Um, you’re welcome. Our team is Marcel Malekebu, Megan Palmer, Claire McInerny, Nora McInerny, yes we are related, Michelle Plantan, and Grace Berry. You can find all of our shows and our store at feelingsand.

co. Thank you for being here. Thank you to everyone who has shared this podcast with somebody, rated, reviewed, listened, blah, blah, blah. We literally couldn’t do it without you.