The Long Strange Trip Episode 37: Why Your Wisdom Doesn’t Matter If Nobody Wants to Hear It | Lawrence Markx
About the Episode:
You Can't Force Someone to Learn From Your Wisdom
I've spent a lot of time thinking about wisdom and what we're supposed to do with everything we've learned over the years.
Most of us have made plenty of mistakes. We've had relationships that didn't work out. We've made decisions we wish we'd made differently. We've learned things the hard way, and sometimes those lessons took years to understand.
Naturally, we want to pass some of that knowledge along to our kids.
There's just one problem.
They don't always want to hear it.
I sat down on The Long Strange Trip with Lawrence Markx, author of Question Marks, a book built around 33 unconventional questions designed to make us think differently about our beliefs, relationships, and assumptions.
Our conversation got me thinking about something I've struggled with myself: how do we share what we've learned without turning it into another lecture nobody wants to hear?
Wisdom Starts With Asking Better Questions
One of the things I liked about Lawrence's book is that it doesn't simply hand people a collection of answers.
It asks questions.
I think there's something important about that distinction.
We spend a lot of time telling people what we think they should do. We offer advice. We explain what worked for us. We try to save them from making the same mistakes we made.
But does that actually help?
Sometimes the best thing we can do is ask a question that makes someone stop and think.
A good question can open a door that advice might keep closed.
And maybe that's part of what wisdom really is. Not having all the answers, but being willing to question what we think we know.
Our Mistakes Can Teach Us More Than Our Successes
Lawrence and I talked about how experiences like divorce, parenting, and personal mistakes can shape the way we see the world.
I've made plenty of mistakes myself.
One of the things I've had to come to terms with is that I wasn't always the father I wanted to be. I spent a lot of time focused on my business, and I didn't always give my kids the attention they deserved.
I can't go back and change that.
But I can be honest about it. I can own my part in what happened. And I can try to do things differently now.
I think that's an important part of passing wisdom along.
It's easy to tell people about the things we got right. It's harder to talk about the things we got wrong.
But sometimes those are the stories people need to hear most.
Not because we want them to feel sorry for us, but because honesty gives other people permission to look at their own lives honestly, too.
You Can't Repair a Relationship by Giving More Advice
We also talked about vulnerability, listening, and repairing relationships.
This is something I've been learning for a long time.
When a relationship isn't working, our first instinct is often to explain why we're right. We want the other person to understand our point of view. We want them to see what they've done wrong.
But that doesn't always get us anywhere.
Sometimes it makes things worse.
I've learned that being right and having a good relationship aren't necessarily the same thing.
If we really want to reconnect with someone, we may have to stop trying to win the argument.
That means listening. It means admitting when we've made mistakes. It means being willing to hear something uncomfortable without immediately defending ourselves.
And it means understanding that repairing a relationship takes time.
You can't demand trust. You have to rebuild it.
Let People Find Their Own Answers
One of the ideas that came through in our conversation was the importance of helping people discover answers they can actually own.
I think this applies to parenting, business, and just about every relationship we have.
When someone asks for advice, it's tempting to jump in with the answer.
We have experience. We've seen this before. We think we know where things are headed.
But the answer that worked for us may not be the right answer for someone else.
And even if it is, they may need to figure that out for themselves.
I've had to learn that giving someone room to think isn't the same as abandoning them.
Sometimes the most useful thing we can do is ask another question and let them work through it.
What Are We Really Leaving Our Children?
This brings me back to something I think about a lot: legacy.
When we talk about what we're leaving behind, we usually think about money, property, businesses, and the things we've accumulated.
Those things matter.
But what about the lessons we've learned? The mistakes we made? The relationships we've built or damaged? The things we wish we'd understood earlier?
And here's an uncomfortable part of that conversation: our children may not appreciate our wisdom while we're still here to share it.
They may understand some of it years later. They may discover the value of certain lessons only after they've made their own mistakes.
We can't control that.
What we can control is how we show up in the relationship now.
Are we listening? Are we willing to admit when we're wrong? Are we creating an environment where our kids feel comfortable talking to us, even when they disagree?
Because I don't think a meaningful legacy is just about what we leave people.
It's also about the relationships we build while we're here.
Are We Willing to Change Ourselves?
My conversation with Lawrence reminded me that wisdom isn't something we can simply hand down.
It has to be discovered. It has to be questioned. And sometimes it has to be learned the hard way.
I'm still working on this myself.
I don't always get it right. I still have to remind myself to listen instead of jumping in with advice. I still have to question my own assumptions and recognize that what made sense to me years ago might not make sense today.
I'm not coming at this as an expert. I'm a fellow traveler trying to figure this stuff out in real time.
And maybe that's the most important lesson here.
If we want to pass wisdom to the next generation, we have to be willing to keep learning ourselves.
Are we more interested in making sure our children hear our advice, or in building relationships where they actually want to hear what we have to say?
Transcription:
Intro (Josh)
Welcome to The Long Strange Trip. I’m Josh, the host of the show. We’re going to dig into six areas together, finding real work-life integration instead of that brutal 95/5 split too many business owners live with. We’re going to approach retirement as an actual reinvention rather than just stopping work, and we’re facing death honestly and avoiding PTSD around death.
We’re also building resilience when life throws us curve balls, we’re sharing wisdom across generations, and finally, we’re understanding the patterns that show up in all our transitions. I’m not coming at this as an expert. I’m a fellow traveler figuring this stuff out in real time, especially now as I navigate my own dual cancer diagnosis at 73.
Josh
Welcome to The Long Strange Trip. I’m glad you’re here
Hey, how are you today? This is Josh Patrick and you’re at the Long Strange Trip podcast. I’m really glad you’re here. And my guest today is Lawrence Markx. Lawrence and I had a really interesting conversation in our pre-interview, and I kind of think of him as a Renaissance man. But today we’re gonna talk about wisdom ’cause he has found a way to gain wisdom and share it with others.
So we’ll bring Lawrence on. Hey, Lawrence. How are you today?
Lawrence 01:50
Hey, Josh. Thanks for having me, man
Josh 01:55
My pleasure. So I’m curious, what is your definition of wisdom?
Lawrence 02:02
Oh, you hit me hard right at the beginning.
Josh 02:06
Yeah, well, I do that. That’s a bad habit I have
Lawrence 02:12
I think wisdom is the introspection of just seeing a broader picture. I just cannot come up with any more bullshit than that. Um, it, you hit me hard right at the start, man. Um, perspective, introspection, broad view. Those are just simple terms to, I guess, define it easily
Josh 02:44
How do you gain it? I mean, when, what, what do you do to gain... Yeah, I mean, I don’t believe that people purposely work to gain wisdom. It just happens
Lawrence 03:08
Um, it, precisely experience. Uh, if I looked at 20-year-old ago me, I’d say that guy pretty much sucked, and 20 years later, um, I can look back and understand that, and I think that is where the wisdom is. The ability to discern that I sucked 20 years ago is that growth that you only gain through experience.
Um, my, my favorite word i- is perspective. I have it tattooed across my collarbone. It’s in reverse, so when you look at me, it looks backwards. When I look in a mirror, it reads properly because it’s all about how you look at things. And so I think wisdom applies the exact same way.
Josh 03:55
It seems to me that, um, to gain wisdom, you have to be willing to be introspective.
Lawrence 04:04
Absolutely
Josh 04:07
And unfortunately, I think there’s a lot of people in the world who aren’t all that, are not all that introspective.
Lawrence 04:18
I think most people like to live in their little bubbles of reality, unwilling to consider anything. I mean, we look at that from a faith-based standpoint, from a political standpoint. You just take any slice of pie, and we all just kinda live in that slice, and, you know, you don’t realize that the whole cake is pretty delicious.
Josh 04:47
Yeah, that’s, uh, it’s actually too bad. Although I do think that people become introspective actually are able to share wisdom if they want to when they get past 70, 75 years old. ’Cause at that point, you’re kind of staring death down the, down the pike, and might wanna start thinking about, “Gee, uh, here’s what I wish I had done differently in my life.”
Lawrence 05:15
I think we can bring that a li- I think parenthood is a transcending space for a lot of people as well, in the sense, like, all the time that we are smarter than our parents or believe to be smarter than your parents, and then you tell something to your kid and you actually hear your parents’ voice in your voice, and you’re like, “Ah, they got me.
Damn, Dad.” And so I feel like it’s instilled through that experience, and h- having kids is a great stepping stone to that kind of vantage point of that hierarchy of wisdom. I know I caught myself saying things my dad said no less than 100 times to my kids, and now my kids are 19 and 17, and I can’t wait...
You know, I, I can wait. I... They’re both girls. I’m more than patient for them to, uh, go ahead and have kids, but I can’t wait for them to have those moments where they go, “Ah, Dad got me,” and they hear their voice. They hear my voice in them. Um, but I agree. I can’t wait to be in my 60s, 70s, 80s and gain even more introspection and, and kind of that...
I don’t know if I’m gaining the knowledge or just acknowledging the knowledge that was probably there the entire time.
Josh 06:48
What you’re probably gonna find, that if you, if you agree to be authentic and vulnerable, in fact, I just wrote a piece on this before we got on, is that I think the key to repairing relationships, um, I was a terrible father. Unfortunately, when my kids were six, seven, eight, nine, 10 years old, I treated them like my employees.
Lawrence 07:20
I understand that.
Josh 07:23
And, uh, yeah, and unfortunately, I never even realized it till I was in my 60s, and I didn’t do anything about it till I was in my 70s.
Lawrence 07:38
Is it too personal for me to ask? Are, are you, have you repaired, are you in a good standing with them now or?
Josh 07:48
We’re making progress, let’s put it.
Lawrence 07:52
Okay. That’s, that’s the most important part? Yeah.
Josh 07:56
You know, we’re making progress. I, uh, with one of my children, I share texts and I say, “Here’s what I’m thinking about, do you think I exhibit this behavior? And please be honest with me.” Um, so that’s, from that point of view, I think it’s, it’s, it’s moving in the right direction. I am not confident, but I’m hopeful that we’re gonna get to a good place. And we’re in an okay place now, like to move past okay to good.
Lawrence 08:30
I’ve been in that same place, uh, the highest high and the lowest low where, you know, specifically my eldest didn’t talk to me for six months because I, I tried to, I tried to be a parent and tried to teach lessons, and she did not want to accept that knowledge, that information. I’ve been there. It, I also share that same sentiment.
You know, as a young father, I’m taught my role is to provide, provide, provide, and that comes at an expense of not nurturing, not nurturing, not nurturing. And that resentment, even at a young age for my kids, it, it built. And so I’ve been in on that journey of, you know, repair and build. I’m in a good place now, but you know, they’re college kids and I’ll tell them something else they don’t like, and I’m sure I’ll be in that same episode another time, you know?
Josh 09:33
Yeah, I, what I
Lawrence 09:36
Mm-hmm.
Josh 09:38
is that the best way to deal with everybody, and not just children but, you know, people who work with us.
Lawrence 09:52
Mm-hmm.
Josh 09:54
People we’re associated with, is be curious and ask good questions. And hopefully you’re asking questions from an authentic place. Because the real, the real... You know, again, I used to be very involved with neurolinguistics back a zillion years ago, and one of those sayings is the meaning of your communication is the way it’s received. And unfortunately, today, most people don’t follow that dictum. Do you have any thoughts about that?
Lawrence 10:10
Um, I think most people like to hear their own voices. I think most people live in their little echo chambers of like-minded viewpoints, and I think that goes back to the beginning where, you know, we all just live in our bubbles. I tell my kids often, find people that don’t look and believe in what you believe.
They’re gonna be the most interesting people you ever encounter. Um, it’s, I think why I’m enjoying doing some of these podcasts is just talking to diverse minds and, and growing. Like, if I’m not learning from this conversation, we have failed. And I, I, I just think, it, we’re such a div- divisive society. No one, no one cares, man.
We all just wanna hear our own voices, and social media has done nothing but hurt this entire ability to grow as a, as a species. It’s just kind of, it, it, it’s, we always joke about it’s social media, but it’s the most antisocial thing that we all do on a daily basis.
Josh 11:22
Yeah, I would, I would agree with that. I think the issue with listening or asking good questions you have to make your mind empty and listen to what the other person is saying. too often, we as, uh, humans, I know I was guilty of this, especially when I was younger, was as soon as someone else started talking, I knew what they needed to do, and I stopped listening to what they said, and I was gonna set them straight. Um, you can imagine how well that worked.
Lawrence 11:58
Yeah
Josh 12:00
So
Lawrence 12:02
the, I was the angry atheist as a young guy. I, I definitely relate the, “Oh, I’m gonna get them on that one,” right? Like, it’s like, what, what am I doing? Like, learn something. Listen. Uh, definitely, 100%.
Josh 12:20
Yeah. So what’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in the last, I don’t know, one, five, 10, 15 years?
Lawrence 12:30
Um
Josh 12:32
Or the most important lesson, let’s put it that way, not the biggest, the most important lesson.
Lawrence 12:40
I look at life through life experience. And so unfortunate for me, which has turned out in hindsight to be one of the best thing that’s ever happened. The most transcending thing that ever happened to me was divorce. It taught me, um I use, let me regress. I use the phrase, “Wake up to be a better version of yourself than you were the day before,” every day.
And I believe so wholeheartedly in that premise of it, be better tomorrow, every day. And if you just consistently try to obtain that, um, betterment, whatever that’s defined as, that’s, that’s a self-exploration That ability to just change the perspective of cup half empty to cup half full when the cup is still 50/50, that has been the most transcending vantage point.
And I have to kind of give credit to my ex-wife for holding true and, you know, pursuing a divorce, and that was my lowest low. But it’s made me, in my eyes, the best version of myself, the best partner to my fiancée, the best dad to my kids, the best employee to my employer. In every interpersonal dynamic, I’ve had to learn to shift perspective to...
And, and, and you can make the argument it’s just glossing over, you know, the, the crap. But yeah, who cares? It’s great. It makes life navigate a little easier. And I think that’s been my saving grace, ’cause I was Debbie Downer. I was that, that douche who was like, um, “I’m not a pessimist, I’m just being real.”
And I’m like, like, “No, you suck, man. Chill out, bro. It’s not that bad.” And changing that, that vantage point of life, that has been my single-handed biggest, um, life lesson and just makes things so much easier, man, so much better.
Josh 14:24
Yeah, you know what that just brought up for me is that, uh, a, um, strategies that people can basically run their lives by. An away strategy or towards strategy, and I am definitely the towards guy. You have to tell me all the good things that might happen to, to get me to move. If you tell me all the bad things, I kind of shrug my shoulders and go, “Okay, that’s interesting.”
Lawrence 15:10
Yeah
Josh 15:12
The challenge comes in is that most of the world in my experience runs in a, um, an away strategy. My father was definitely an away strategy, and he and I just butted heads unbelievably hard. He used to say, “Well, I’m from Missouri. Prove it to me.” And that was a thing that just always set me off.
Lawrence 15:40
Right.
Josh 15:43
But, um, when you are thinking about, um, to serve others, what is the most important lesson that you can help others learn from?
Lawrence 15:55
Well, you gotta listen to what the problem is, right? What are, what are they seeking to obtain? What is their challenge and how can you guide them to overcome? It’s also, I think, important to never give people answers and to just make them come to the conclusion, guide them in their line of questioning to obtain the information themselves.
And, um, I mean, if it’s objective, it’s objective. You know? Like, if I’m trying to figure out two plus two, sure, it’s four. But if I’m trying to figure out, you know, what do I want for dinner, you know, there’s n- that’s like the most simplistic thing ever, but simple example. You know, it’s like, okay, well, what do you not wanna eat?
What... It’s, it’s just kinda holding their hand. We’re all adults, man. First off, we shouldn’t be holding people’s hands at, you know, an adult... But we’re all humans and we need it. Everybody needs that kinda help, and if you can get to it yourself or if you can help somebody guide, guide them to that answer themselves, then it’s more fulfilling for them, and you’ve fulfilled your obligation as a, as a partner, as a listener, as a friend, as whomever
Josh 17:14
Yeah, when they, when you guide them to the answer, they own it.
Lawrence 17:20
They own it. Yep.
Josh 17:23
it becomes their solution, not yours. Uh, I have found over the years that almost never the person doesn’t have the answer to the question themselves. We just need to help them figure out.
Lawrence 17:40
They need the journey to find it. That’s it.
Josh 17:44
Yeah.
Lawrence 17:46
Yep
Josh 17:48
And, um, by telling them, in my experience, doesn’t work.
I mean, one of the things I, you know, I ask a lot on the Long Strange Trip is, do you impart wisdom so others wanna listen? And one is not... And the number one thing I’ve learned is stop telling
Lawrence 18:16
Yep. Yeah, pretty much
Josh 18:20
So do you have any thoughts about that?
Lawrence 18:24
Um, I don’t... Is it appropriate if I kind of plug a book? ’Cause it’s applicable.
Josh 18:30
Yeah,
Lawrence 18:32
Okay, so I mean, that’s sort of how we got introduced, Josh, is I, I wrote the book called Question Marks. Um, props, here we go. Bam. And it’s 33 existential questions, but they’re not answers. It leads into questions of, on, on religion and politics, and so it, it plays into that.
I don’t pretend to have any answers, and I live my life as such, as we’ve just been discussing. And so it is the journey of asking things of, you know, um, if Jesus knocked on your door, do you answer it? Um, why do we celebrate birthdays and put so much emphasis? Um, it talks about neutrality of heaven and hell and happiness and unhappiness, and it’s just that guiding by way of inquisitive questionings, um, to make you discover your answers rather than me providing them.
And so 33 questions on a slew of different topics that kind of make people, in a super satirical way, if it’s not funny it’s not good. And, you know, you kind of take that journey and laugh along the way to ask your thys- self things, um, questions that you wouldn’t, uh, traditionally consider in the most unconventional ways.
And so I-
Josh 19:50
what, so what are some of those questions?
Lawrence 19:54
Um, one is if, if Jesus knocks on your door today, do you answer it? Or do you look at him and go, “Who are you?” Do you ask him to prove it? Um, what if he’s already been here? Um, existentialism from the sense of where did we all come from if, um If the universe is ever expanding, expansion implies boundary, but how can something expand infinitely if there is no boundary?
Um, what would a most high, a god, a bigger being do-- what was he doing prior to creation? ’Cause if he’s everlasting. Um, birthdays, I go into birthdays of, from a statistical standpoint of there’s eight billion people, you divide that down, you are one of, I think, two hundred and fifty-four people to celebrate a birthday every second of every single day.
Um, so you are .0039% special for one second, so why do we put so much emphasis on the not dying around the s- uh, orbit of the universe? Um, parenting, things like, um, we only owe downwards, not upwards as parents, right? We kind of just spoke about this at the beginning of this podcast, but I owe everything to my children.
I owe nothing to my siblings. I know nothing upward to my parents. My parents happen to be amazing humans, and so I want them to be a part of my life. But that double standard will apply when my kids get to answer that same question. Hopefully, I’m good to them, and then thus they want me in their life. Um, I talk about things like sports fandom and superstition, like why do we put on lucky socks, and why do we not shower for the 12 hours before this World Series game?
Um, it’s, it’s fascinating. Um, isms, nationalism, sexism, racism, these are all things that we have no control. We had-- we-- someone rolled the dice for us. We came out, but yet we all die on that sword of America and Black and white and male and female. Um, things like charity, you know, the, the idea of giving back.
Why are we giving back? What are we doing it for? Is it for us? Is it for the actual charity? So it just explores a number of topics. It is relig- it, it... This book is a little religious-heavy on the front end. Um, I, I spend a lot of my life just exploring my faith, which sadly is nonexistent. Maybe sadly, maybe not.
Who knows? Um, but that, that’s sort of the, the genesis of the book. Um, the chicken and the egg story, I discuss the chicken and the egg. Um, I pay homage to my dad, who passed away a couple years ago, and that journey of life, those last seven days of his life in the hospital and the, the ebb and flow of emotions and his, uh, his wherewithal of, um, um, being cognizant and then being lethargic and then being aware 15 seconds before he passed, like just that entire journey.
It’s a really vulnerable book that covers just about everything. But while asking questions.
Josh 23:42
There’s a wonderful book, which reminded me of the last, you know, time of your dad, Final Gifts. It was written by two hospice nurses, and one of the things that many people find incredibly disturbing is that when their loved ones die, they’re in the process of dying, they’ll often be talking to people who are not in the room. Which
Lawrence 24:28
Yeah
Josh 24:30
Which gets into a really interesting sort of, um, examination is, who are they talking to? What are they talking about? are these guides helping them move into a liminal space between life and death?
Lawrence 24:54
Yeah
Josh 24:56
And there’s been, there’s a ton of interest in that particular topic right now. Um, I think it’s one of the things that keeps people from having a good death, is that they refuse to consider these sort of things.
But it’s fascinating. Yeah, go ahead, go ahead
Josh 25:18
You know, it’s really, it’s a really interesting thing. I’ll often get into that conversation with death doulas when they’re on the podcast.
Lawrence 25:28
Mm-hmm.
Josh 25:30
Um, or with people who are doing guided journeys, which is another area which I’ve found a lot of interest in my life, which helps us gain wisdom ourselves. So here’s a question for you that’s just popped into my head For us to share wisdom I’m assuming we have to gain that first, but if we don’t gain wisdom, how do we share the wisdom that we have in our life?
Lawrence 26:00
Well, if you’ve got no wisdom to share, then your job is easy. Just chill out, go through the day, be status quo, and you, you instill the whatever you got. Someone’s there. But providing the wisdom is separate from someone wanting to receive the wisdom. Like, you know, here I wrote a book and
Josh 26:22
that’s the key is that, you know, I, I recently wrote a post about being old versus being an elder, and there was a woman that we found in our research who went out and declared, “I’m an elder.” That doesn’t make you an elder. Elders are bestowed by others. this is my opinion. If you’re an elder, other people treat you like an elder.
Lawrence 26:54
Right
Josh 26:56
You’re just old, they treat you like you’re old,
Lawrence 27:00
Yep
Josh 27:02
And that’s a, a bit of where ageism comes in, in my opinion.
Lawrence 27:08
Yeah, I did, I could agree. I think being that elder comes from a place... And I don’t think you can appoint yourself an elder. Like, I think the community needs to elect you, appoint you, sort of, uh, acknowledge you as this person might know some stuff. Let’s listen to him. Yeah, I don’t think one can just claim that.
But goes back to the, to have the wisdom is different than people wanting to hear the wisdom. You know? Like, I wrote a book. Maybe 100 people read it, maybe a million people read it. That’s up to the person who’s willing or, uh, open to wanting to read satirical philosophy. You know, I-- Having the wisdom and offering it might be the gift, but like we were saying earlier, people have to be, you know, open to wanting to become more knowledgeable and, um, you know, learn.
If, if not, then none of our wisdom matters. It all dies with us. It’s that legacy piece of life
Josh 28:07
Yeah, I think that where wisdom can actually live is with your, um, descendants. And I’m not sure how long it can live for, but it,
Lawrence 28:21
Yeah
Josh 28:23
Has the ability to live. unfortunately, children often, es- especially up until they get to be 25 to 30 years old, have no interest in their parents’ wisdom whatsoever.
Lawrence 28:36
Josh, chapter 14 in this book is a poem to my kids. The book’s been out since November. They’ve-- they know it exists, have not read it, do not care. It is what it is
Josh 28:49
Yeah, I have one of my child reads everything I write and the other child reads
Lawrence 28:58
Yeah, it is what it is
Josh 29:02
you know, it’s, uh, we c- we could have a conversation about what that means,
Lawrence 29:08
Yep
Josh 29:10
Um, I think I’ll, I’ll leave that for another day. But
Lawrence 29:16
Yeah
Josh 29:18
But it’s, it’s just, you know, um, there has to be an interest from the other looking at what you’re talking about, at least in my experience.
Lawrence 29:36
And the very first question you asked me, um, leads into this answer, which is, uh, like about legacy. You know, um, our kids or the next generation, they may not acknowledge the gift of wisdom that we’re trying to bestow upon them until they get to the point where it’s too late, where they can’t, um... Not too late in the sense of not gaining it, but not being able to share in the joy of gaining that wisdom.
And, you know, I, I look at all the, the wisdom that I’ve gotten from my dad. Um, a lot of it I tried to get while he was alive, and then there’s so much that I understand now in his passing that I can’t share. I can’t share that laugh of like, “Hey, Dad, I get it now. Thanks, man. Like, I couldn’t have done this without your example or your bestowed kn- knowledge.”
And it- it- it’s that legacy piece that unfortunately dies more often than not. Um, like Hamilton, um, that, that play Hamilton, you know, it’s all about his legacy and, um, who’s gonna t- who’s gonna tell your story? Like, that’s... I don’t know why that matters to me. I’m, I’m so not vain, and my... I want my grandkids and my great-great-grandkids and, you know, l- the lineage to have known that this guy once existed, and not from a, like, a pat myself on the back, “Hey, look at me, this guy.”
But I do try to instill wisdom. I do try to learn wis- I try to gain wisdom as often as I can, wherever it’s available, you know? And that legacy piece, um, is likely to probably two generations from now, three generations from now, you know, d- die off and, you know, maybe I’ll exist. I’ll... Luckily, in today’s world, you can go on the internet and find everything about everyone previously.
You know, but for our grandparents and our great-grandparents and our great-great-grandparents, if our parents or that lineage didn’t keep, uh, a family tree, I would honestly have no clue who my family was. No idea. And I know of some name changes that have, uh, have happened, and you can’t go down that rabbit hole far enough if you don’t know those things.
It’s... Legacy is big and small at the same time. I don’t know why it matters so much, especially to me, but it, it does for whatever reason
Josh 32:54
It does for many people, by the
Lawrence 32:58
Yep。
Josh 33:00
Know, there’s a,
Lawrence 33:03
Yep。
Josh 33:05
A whole industry around creating legacy memories for
Lawrence 33:12
Yep. Yep
Josh 33:14
Mostly they’re videographers. I’m actually going to write a memoir, and that’s... It, it’s a legacy piece. People are gonna say, “Well, you’re writing it for?” Well, I could say I’m writing it for my kids and my grandchildren, but the truth is I’m writing it for myself.
Lawrence 33:28
Amen. Yep
Josh 33:31
And this is where you being honest with yourself is really important, and we’re gonna have to leave it pretty, uh, here pretty closely, but I’ll just, you know... A, a friend of mine asked me when I first started the Long Strange Trip. I said, “Well, who are you doing this for?” And the, you know, easy answer for me to say is for others to read and, you know, uh. But the truth is, it’s been a self-exploration, and it’s been a self-exploration that I am truly, truly loving. So Lawrence, this has been a fun conversation,
Lawrence 34:22
Yes, thank you
Josh 34:25
We’re out of time. So I’m hoping that people would wanna find you, or what would you like them to do?
Lawrence 34:34
Um, they can find me at Question Marks. That’s Question Marks, M-A-R-K-S, .me. www.questionmarks.me. From there, you can find my books, graphic design services, funny T-shirts, the whole nine. Um, but the quickest way to, you know, find me on antisocial media and all those fun things
Josh 35:02
I like that, anti-social media. That, isn’t that the truth?
Lawrence 35:08
Mm-hmm.
Josh 35:10
There’s two things I would like you to do. One is to give us an honest rating and review. So if you love us, give me five stars, and I do a little happy dance. And if you hate us, you give me one star, and I cry big crocodile tears. But the challenge is, um, I will
You won’t see it, but I’ll have a lot of big, you know, wet things on the floor from my crying, but that’s okay. second thing is if you would like to be on the show, I’d love to talk to you about it. Just, you know, send me an email, [email protected]. That’s the number two, and solution is singular. So [email protected]. This is Josh Patrick. We’re with Lawrence Markx. You’re at the Long Strange Trip Podcast, and go find a Grateful Dead song and listen to it today. I hope to see you back here next week.
Outro (Josh)
Thanks for spending this time with me today. I really appreciate you being part of this journey. I’d be grateful if you’d leave an honest rating and review. It helps other people find these conversations, lets me know what’s landing with you and what isn’t. If you love the show, give us five stars, and if you hate it, give it one star and I’ll just cry a little bit.
Keep asking the hard questions. Keep being honest about what’s difficult. And remember, we’re all just trying to figure this out together. I’ll talk to you next time on The Long Strange Trip. Thanks for stopping by
