Hey You, Yes, Yes, Yes, You

How to wake up to Thor, God of Thunder, cheering you on

This newsletter is about the inner conflict of a Gorilla struggling with Anxiety & Depression who desperately wants to walk The Path of the Every Day Santa. To paraphrase Dorothy, "Anxiety, Depression, and Joy! Oh my!" All will be discussed here.

What to Expect

• 54 seconds of Chris Hemsworth showering you with validation

• A metaphor a bout a cat and cacti

• An iOS Shortcut to play the audio from the Chris Hemsworth video

Chris Hemsworth Loves You

This video was released by Netflix in 2020 as part of the marketing for the release of Extraction. If you have somehow not seen this video, please watch the first 54 seconds. You will love it.

A Cat Amongst Cacti

Like many of us in 2020, I was struggling due to the pandemic, as ‘sheltering at home’ was becoming lonely, tiresome, and stressful. Sure, I could teach my classes in my underwear, as long as I wore a dress shirt and remembered not to stand up, but the lack of social interaction was emotionally challenging.

A cat amongst cacti

As an American expat in Japan, I already feel like “a cat amongst cacti.” Whereas most Westerners tend to thrive on light physical contact, Japanese culture actively prohibits it. It is a social faux pas to hug or touch someone without clear notice here. (Physical contact here is about 3% “companionable,” such as putting an arm around a friend, and 97% “incidental or intimate.” The balance of the 97% greatly depends upon where you live. For example, I live in the middle of nowhere, so my 97% would be mostly hugging my wife, kids, and granddaughter. While a person living in Tokyo would probably get 95% of their physical contact from strangers on the train. Location matters.

Over the years, I have grown to accept ‘close proximity’ to others, along with daily ‘hug therapy’ from my wife¹, as an acceptable substitute for the light physical contact I am accustomed to due to my upbringing. However, my solution to the “cat amongst cacti” problem was to raise my own litter of cats…

Do I still find myself wanting more physical contact? Yes, of course. Luckily, I have a friend or two who feel the same way. I have thought of getting a “Free Hugs” T-shirt to wear around town, but somehow I don’t think that would fly in West Nowhere Japan.

Every Day is Thorsday

So when the video of Chris Hemsworth from above was released, I found it incredibly healing. What it lacked in physicality it made up for with warmth and acceptance. It was like I could close my eyes and feel loved. It felt seen. It was a good thing. So, out of a selfish desire to revisit this sensation, I decided to play around and see what I could do with it.

I created an Apple Shortcut to run on iOS. For a while, it was my Panic Button. Whenever I felt too stressed, I would activate the shortcut, close my eyes, and let the smooth warm voice of CH wash over me with love and acceptance. It was a touchstone, and helped me more often that I expected².

How to Create Your Own Shortcut

1. You need to save the audio file.

2. Save it to Apple Music and make sure it is saved on your phone.

3. Create a new Shortcut in the Shortcuts app to play the file.

Or, you can skip all the above and just add the file to Music app with Chris Hemsworth as the artist, and ask Siri to “play Chris Hemsworth.”

At my lowest point of the pandemic I had this shortcut set to run each morning after I silenced the alarm on my phone. It was nice, until it wasn’t. However, I do still find it useful when I am feeling down, so I hope it helps you as well.

The Takeaway

It does not have to be Chris Hemsworth, but everyone should have a song, or a video on YouTube, that can pull you back from the brink. If you already know what it is, then try to find a way (such as iOS shortcuts) to reduce the friction of getting yourself to it.

1. Yes, we make a point of hugging daily specifically for my mental health. As a Japanese person she does not require this physical contact for her emotional well-being, but she supports me in this. She is good that way. 🫂

2. Around the same time, I had set up a shortcut to the “Emergency Calm” meditation in the Calm App. However, I found the simple 53-second clip of Chris Hemsworth more emotionally supportive, and therefor more suitable to my needs at that time.