SPEAKER_01 0:05

We have been taught to measure our days by what we caught, the deal that closed, the tasks we ticked off, the thing we brought home. But somewhere along the way, a lot of us stopped noticing the water itself. The morning light, the quiet, the breath we took between cash. And maybe that is where the real exhaustion lives. Not in doing too much, but in missing the moments we were actually inside of. And what happens to a mind when it finally goes quiet. That is exactly what we are talking about today. How peace doesn't come from achievement and what a fishing line in still water can teach us about a living, fuller life. With that, I welcome my guest Robert to the show.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

Thank you. Glad to be here.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Absolutely, sir. So, Robert, before we get into all of it, I love to start somewhere simple. When you think back to the very first time fishing fed, like more than just the finishing, more than just the fishing, where were you and what shifted inside you in that moment?

SPEAKER_00 1:51

That's a good question. Um, some of my earliest memories are fishing with uh like my dad, my grandpa Bowers, my cousin Rusty, my brother. And I've tried to pass that along, you know, um taking my nephews fishing with me a lot. It's not about catching fish, you know, it's about making memories for the most part. I mean, you're out there for the experience and you always learn something, you know. Um I I I was very lucky that I got to go fishing with some older gentlemen who were much better fishermen than I was. And I learned a lot from them. They asked me to go, and I was, you know, I didn't want to appear too meager, but I I couldn't wait to go fishing with these guys. And I learned a lot from them. And I've just, you know, you always learn something from you spend the day with someone, you're gonna learn something if you're paying attention. And like I say, it's not about always catching. I mean, catching fish when you're fishing is always nice, but it's not always, it's not all about that, it's about the experience and making memories. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

And uh, you know, there is this common idea that peace is something you can earn after you have achieved in a had or really got exorted. But your life seems to push back against that misunderstand about peace and where it actually lives. So, what do you think most people misunderstand about peace and where it actually lives?

SPEAKER_00 3:43

I mean, each place you go fishing is its own little ecosystem, you know, whether it's a a lake or a river or a creek or a farm pond, and there's always something going on, and then you can rarely can you see what's going on under the surface of the water, so you don't know, you know, and there's always something happening, even if it's quiet and still. Maybe it's a bird in the tree behind you or a frog croaking on the shore across the pond, you know. So like I say, it's just uh the experience, and a lot of times it's the serenity. You just kind of let your mind be at peace and uh just enjoy the moments, you know, because like I say, it's about the experience. And it's even better if you've got sometimes if you have somebody to share it with while you're there, but not always. I go fish it by myself a lot, too. So, you know, it's uh it's always an experience. Sometimes it's a sometimes it's more interesting than others for sure.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

And and so when you say peace, do you mean an absence of noise or is it something more acting than that? Like something you you have to choose?

SPEAKER_00 5:13

Um, I think it's when I say peace, I mean uh just to get away from the hustle and bustle of every day, whether you're you know you're at work all day and you want to go fishing every evening when you're off of work. I used to do that a lot. Or you just can't wait for the weekend, you know, when you're working, so you can go go somewhere just to get your mind off everything that's going on around you, you know. Just want to tranquility, peace, you know, be at peace for a little while, you know. And sometimes that's all it takes. You just need a little break, just uh kind of reset, you know, and sometimes that's uh very healthy, I think. Sure was for me and still is, even though I'm retired now.

SPEAKER_01 6:05

And that is beautiful because peace is a posture rather than a destination, and it reframes the whole chase, doesn't it? Because which makes me want to go to a little deeper into why we struggle to access it in the first place. So so many people today say they want stillness, but the second they sit beside it, they get restless, anxious, even a little afraid. So, what do you think is actually underneath that discomfort with quiet?

SPEAKER_00 6:40

I think it's a state of mind more than anything else. And if you could if you can go and just kind of get away from the everyday grind, get away from whatever whatever that is, you know, whether that's uh personal problems or you know, stuff going on at your work, you know, it's important to make a break, just to get away from all of all of that background noise. You know, uh it's um I think it's important for your just to just your state of mind, you know, just to be able to reset for, you know, even if it's just for a few hours, sometimes that's all it takes to uh, you know, just kind of reset and take a deep breath and just to get away from whatever it is, you know, it could be lots of things depending on, you know, your job or your it could be anything. But I've always appreciated being able to just go out. You know, some people just take they'll get in their vehicle and just take a drive. They'll drive to the park to walk around the park or they'll out here where I live, people will go drive, take a drive in the country, you know. And me, I just go fishing, you know, whether it's at the lake, at a farm pond, a creek, the river, you know. But it amounts to the same thing, I think. You're just trying to get away and just trying to reset. Maybe you need need some things you need to think over before you make a decision. That's a the best time to do that, I think, when you're, you know, just out there just taking taking your time, you know, where you can think without too much outside influence.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

And and have you noticed in your own life or in the people you've sat beside on a riverbank that what tends to surface first when the noise finally drops, when they understand what peace and serenity is?

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Uh, you know, it's all kinds of things. Whenever my fishing partners through the years, we talk about all kinds of stuff. Maybe we're talking about the last time we were together fishing, you know, and this certain something happened, or maybe we're talking about something that uh we're gonna be facing in the near future. You know, we've got a maybe we've got something going on at work, or uh, you know, just uh or maybe we're just focusing on trying to catch a certain species of fish. You know, maybe we're targeting walleye or crappie or largemouth bass, you know, so we're talking about that. But that's still part of just focusing on the moment and not worrying about all the other stuff that's going on besides, you know, in in your lives, besides what you're doing right there.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

Yeah. And that makes sense because we are so used to filling the silence that we forget there's something waiting in the need for all of us.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

Oh yeah, I agree. I think everybody needs needs a time to uh time to reflect, you know, on what's going on around you. Maybe what you've got coming up that you're maybe you're dreading on confronting something, some issue. You know, it could be anything. Maybe it's a bill you have to pay, maybe it's uh personnel issue at work, you know. I always hated those. Um but uh you know, it could be anything, but just the peace and tranquility of you know being out fishing. Um it's just therapy for the soul, I think.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

But Roberts, most of us are not going to spend the morning beside a quiet lake. We are in the traffic, you know, in the inboxes in the middle of thousand small responsibilities. So I want to know what is the spirit of fishing that patience, that presence look like for someone whose life is not built around it.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

Well, first off, I I I agree issues, not for everybody. Um, some people just where they live, maybe they just don't have the opportunity, the place to go, but it's just a shame, really, because you really don't know what you're missing if you haven't tried it. Um I don't know how everybody needs a way to do that. I think, you know, like I say, maybe it's a walk in the park, walk your dog, you know, maybe you're just walking your dog around the block. Uh maybe, like I said, uh drive in the country just to get away. Some people probably put their earbuds in and turn on their favorite music. It's it amounts to the same thing. You're eliminating all that background noise. Uh I think, you know, that's I think it's very important. You just need to. I used to know a fellow who would go out and sit by the creek and he would write stories and write poetry. That was his way of which at the time I thought that was a little odd, but now I'm doing kind of doing the same thing, you know. So uh what where whatever it is that you know people need to find, need to have some place where they can just kind of get away from what's going on around them and just kind of where they can, you know, reset and think about you know what's going on and everything. I I just think that's pretty important in people's lives. Uh like say some people hate fishing. I love it. I've been fishing since I was a little kid. Um I go a lot by myself with friends, with family. Uh people who don't do it, uh, you know, they just don't know what they're missing. Come go with me, I'll take you fishing.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

I love that, you know, because it tells the listener they don't need to escape their life to find peace. They they just need to look at it differently.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Yeah, I agree. You know, whether it's on the on the bank or out in the middle of the lake on the boat, uh I do a lot of both. And uh like I say, it's it's it's not about it's not always about catching, it's about the experience. You know, we're making memory. You know, I I've wrote written about some of the experiences that I had with some of those old, more experienced fishermen, and some of the experiences I've had with some of my good buddies that were, you know, and I love taking people fishing. I can't tell you how many times somebody has told me, or I posted some pictures of a fish that I caught. People said, Where'd you catch that? And I tell them, man, we fish that all the time. We never catch anything. Well, I can't help that, but you know, come go with me. Maybe I rarely get skunked. I may not catch a lot of fish all the time, but nobody does. But uh, yeah, I I love to take people fishing. I used to love to take my nephews, I still do. They're all grown men now, but I still love to take them fishing. And uh maybe one of these days they'll take me or they'll take their kids, their nieces and nephews fishing and make memories with them. That's what I owe.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

And Robert, you have lived a lot of life and written six books from it. If someone came to you today, tired, scattered, feeling like they are always behind, what is one practice or shift you would quietly recommend?

SPEAKER_00 15:24

I think it's important to laugh. A lot of my stories are funny, you know, as some funny things happen to me and some other people. Um what's the old saying? Laughter is therapy for the soul, something like something like that. Uh, I think there's a lot of truth to that. You need to be able to laugh, even if you're laughing at yourself. But that's part of like when you go fishing with somebody else, gives you somebody else to laugh at. You know, hopefully they're laughing at themselves and at you. It's all about just having a good, you know, you need to have a good time. Um and, you know, laughter's good medicine. That's very important. Who wants to go through life grumpy and agitated and you know, that's just why being miserable and then make everybody around you miserable too? So you know it's important to have a smile and uh, you know, have some humor. Get grief. Life's too short.

SPEAKER_01 16:28

That's you know, even of the even the dire situations become easy if you just laugh or just humor it.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

Yeah. I mean, if you're gonna hang around me, you better have a sense of humor because we're not gonna get along if you don't. Guaranteed. Because we're gonna be uh I'm gonna be making jokes, and maybe you don't appreciate my sense of humor, but I it'll grow on you. I promise. Perfect.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Robert, for people who want to connect with you or just want to learn about your books, or learn about you, where can you do that?

SPEAKER_00 17:11

My books are all on Amazon. Uh I have four volumes of uh Campfire Tales from Uncle Rob. They're all on Amazon under Robert O. Bowers. Uh, those are all true stories about things that happened to me. Um, and then I've got two fiction books. Um, last November I put one out uh called uh Red Eyes at Black Mesa. And just a few weeks ago, I put my newest one out. It's called Hap Dog Will Travel. And it's there those two are fiction. They're kind of in the cryptid horror thriller genre, you know. Uh I'm trying to uh be mysterious, be scary. Um they're all about they all happen in mostly in the outdoors, in an outdoor setting. Um that's kind of my that's kind of my focus, you know. But I love I love stuff about cryptids. Uh animals that people see and claim to exist, but they're not proven by science. That just fascinates me. So I'm kind of writing about that. And that kind of reflects on some of the stuff that happened to me in the Uncle Rob books, too. There's weird, weird things that happen in those. So yeah, they're all on Amazon.

SPEAKER_01 18:32

Perfect. And to everyone listening, all these links are in the show notes, so just go and check those out. Robert, is there any last message that you want to leave us with?

SPEAKER_00 18:44

Um like I say, uh, I think it's important that you uh, you know, people have some way to uh just kind of get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and a reset. And for me it's fishing, you know, and uh I hope everybody has some place to go where they can some way of of doing that, you know. And uh if you read my books and you like them, the I love feedback. I love, you know, give me a review on Amazon. I can't tell you how much that means to an independent author, but it means a lot. And uh I love feedback. That's that's what it's all about. People read my story, said, man, I that story really, you know, that certain story, just something about that. Maybe they've had something similar happen to them. That's that's what it's all about. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

Thank you so much, Robert, for the time, the honesty, and the quiet wisdom you brought into this conversation.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

And to whoever is listening right now, in your car on a walk, late at night, when the house has gone still. I hope you give yourself permission this week to do one small thing that has nothing to do with achieving anything. Sit somewhere, breathe, notice. That is not wasted time. That is the time that actually puts you back together. This is healthy mind, healthy life. I am Yusuf. Take care of your mind, take care of your life, and we'll see you on the next one.