Latest / Adult Child of Dysfunction / E 355: How Poetry, Purpose, and Self-Expression Can Help You Heal | with Michael Teferi

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E 355: How Poetry, Purpose, and Self-Expression Can Help You Heal | with Michael Teferi · Adult Child of Dysfunction

• 0:02
  Well, hello, everybody, and welcome back to another episode of Adult Child of Dysfunction.
• 0:05
  Today, I am excited to introduce Michael Teferi.
• 0:08
  He was born in Washington, DC, of an Ethiopian heritage.
• 0:12
  Michael grew up throughout the DC Metro area and now lives in Manassas, Virginia.
• 0:17
  Michael describes himself as kind, compassionate, open-minded, and caring.
• 0:21
  But after- experiencing bully in middle school, he chose to let those experiences make him more empathetic rather than bitter.
• 0:29
  He's been divorced since 2016.
• 0:31
  He's spent the past nine years focused on personal growth and is still hopeful about finding lasting love.
• 0:37
  Welcome, Michael.
• 0:39
  Thank you for having me.
• 0:41
  Yeah, no problem.
• 0:42
  So we talked a little bit before, and I just wanted to kinda jump right in and talk about some of the things you're doing.
• 0:47
  But I did have some questions before you started.
• 0:50
  Mm-hmm.
• 0:50
  First, talk about what you do with your poetry.
• 0:54
  Sure.
• 0:55
  My poetry consists of, inspiration, self-help, personal growth, and spirituality, and I write poetry.
• 1:03
  I started writing poetry ever since March of 2025.
• 1:07
  That's when I became a poet, writer, and debut poetry book author.
• 1:11
  Okay, perfect.
• 1:12
  So you write about all kinds of different topics, which I'm assuming is the same kind of topics that you speak about.
• 1:18
  Absolutely.
• 1:19
  Okay.
• 1:20
  So I wanted to ask you, I know you had those three bullying experiences when you were younger, and I know you described them kind of in detail, what people did and how they punched you, when you punched them
• 1:30
  back, and- do you think that helped you become that compassionate person,, kind of being more empathetic towards the people around you?
• 1:37
  Absolutely.
• 1:39
  That was very meaningful and diverse for me Okay.
• 1:43
  Yeah, I can only imagine.
• 1:44
  I know a lot of people when they do get bullied, it's like they become...
• 1:48
  Sometimes they become scared, and sometimes they become empowered and realize that they're gonna kinda change things so that those people don't bully other people.
• 1:59
  Yeah.
• 1:59
  I make sure to, to take care of myself in terms of, self-defense, and so I I've done that.
• 2:05
  I've learned a lot about martial arts, through my, my Uncle Abby.
• 2:09
  He helped me out when I was a young child, growing up in elementary school and middle school.
• 2:14
  He introduced me to martial arts masters and, martial arts movies.
• 2:18
  So that's how I started with my own life in terms of self-defense.
• 2:22
  Okay.
• 2:22
  So did you actually take martial arts classes and stuff?
• 2:25
  I didn't do that.
• 2:27
  So you're self-taught?
• 2:28
  Absolutely.
• 2:30
  Okay.
• 2:30
  How'd that work for you?
• 2:32
  Pretty good.
• 2:34
  It definitely had its moments.
• 2:36
  when I was bullied, I was bullied a lot in elementary school, middle school, and parts of my college experiences, and so I made sure to take care of myself physically and mentally and emotionally.
• 2:48
  Wise.
• 2:48
  Wise decision.
• 2:50
  Thank you.
• 2:51
  Well, you're smiling today, so that's good.
• 2:55
  Thank you.
• 2:56
  Yeah.
• 2:57
  So, you had a couple questions that you wanted to, me to ask you, and I'm gonna kinda just bounce around in them.
• 3:03
  But when you...
• 3:05
  you were going through this bullying phase, and then I guess you you moved to Washington Lee High School, so that was in Arlington, Virginia, probably, what, junior, senior year, sophomore year?
• 3:15
  It was, ninth grade in, 1996.
• 3:18
  okay.
• 3:19
  So how did you...
• 3:20
  How were things different there?.
• 3:22
  How did you bring yourself and put yourself in situations where you could actually make some quality friends?
• 3:28
  Yeah, so I didn't make any friends at first.
• 3:31
  It took a whole year for me to make friends.
• 3:33
  I started in 10th grade.
• 3:35
  That's when I started making friends.
• 3:37
  I started making a lot of friends, actually.
• 3:39
  I can tell you their names.
• 3:40
  I know, I still remember them.
• 3:42
  I bet.
• 3:45
  Yeah, so I, so I, I started focusing on my studies and my education.
• 3:50
  in 1996 I had a wonderful experience with Miss Cassidy, who was a English teacher, and she really introduced me to the art of poetry.
• 3:58
  And I can tell you anything about that if you're ever interested in- About what?
• 4:02
  Poetry.
• 4:04
  Oh, yeah.
• 4:04
  We'll talk a little bit about poetry for sure, Poetry and writing in general, and journaling, and just being any kind of creative expression like that is so healing for people that have gone through any kind of trauma really.
• 4:17
  I concur.
• 4:18
  That's very important to me, too.
• 4:20
  I think it's very meaningful and purposeful for everyday life.
• 4:24
  Do you have books?
• 4:25
  Talk about that a little bit.
• 4:27
  Yes, I have three poetry books that I finished and completed as a trilogy, and I'm working on my fourth, poetry book that's in development right now.
• 4:36
  So you already have three books already printed?
• 4:39
  Yeah, they're printed, but they're not published yet, so I'm waiting.
• 4:41
  I'm trying my best to become a published author to market and publicize my poetry books going forward.
• 4:47
  Okay., How do you now connect with people?
• 4:50
  How do you show people your poetry that you're doing now?
• 4:53
  I do it on Substack.
• 4:55
  Substack?
• 4:55
  Okay.
• 4:55
  It, it's free to use, and I create...
• 4:57
  So I created that back in March of 2025, and I've done that for the past year and four months so far.
• 5:04
  So do you do poetry readings, or people just go there and they can read what you wrote, or how does it work?
• 5:09
  Yeah, people can read what I write, and, I can have a Substack live event, live conversations where I can talk about my poetry as well.
• 5:18
  Oh, okay.
• 5:19
  Okay, so another question I had, you call yourself a positive psychology coach.
• 5:25
  What does that mean to you?
• 5:26
  Like, what does that mean?
• 5:27
  I've never heard that exact expression.
• 5:30
  that's a great question.
• 5:31
  So positive psychology is the scientific study of helping people thrive via human flourishing.
• 5:37
  I learned about that when I was in, college at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, as a commuter student.
• 5:44
  I first learned about positive psychology, when I took this phenomenal course called The Science of Wellbeing slash Character Strengths with Todd Kashdan, PhD.
• 5:53
  He's a, Professor of Psychology, master coach, and music aficionado.
• 5:59
  He's an amazing guy.
• 6:00
  I still remember him.
• 6:01
  We became friends on Facebook after i received an A in his course, and I learned a lot about the science, neuroscience, the character strengths, growth mindset, meditation, and many other things in spring of 2011.
• 6:17
  Okay.
• 6:17
  So the positive psychology, is a, a certification you got?
• 6:22
  Yes.
• 6:22
  I...
• 6:23
  So I received a certification in summer of 2025, so last year, and I it through the help of Ms.
• 6:29
  Linda Wallace who works at the WholeBeing Institute, which is an organization based in Massachusetts Okay.
• 6:38
  So when you work with people, have you...
• 6:40
  Are you, are you already coaching now?
• 6:42
  Are you working with clients?
• 6:43
  Not yet.
• 6:44
  I've been trying to connect with people.
• 6:46
  It's been very hard to try and find people who are college students and adults, adults who are 21 years of age and over who are interested in being coached by me.
• 6:57
  So it's been hard to market myself to the masses.
• 7:00
  It's been really difficult.
• 7:01
  I don't know how to do it.
• 7:02
  I'm not good at it, to be honest.
• 7:04
  Oh, you'll figure it out.
• 7:05
  You figured out how to write three books.
• 7:06
  You figured out how to do your poetry.
• 7:08
  You'll figure it out.
• 7:09
  I have 100% faith in you.
• 7:11
  But, it sounds good.
• 7:12
  And what I would honestly suggest, and tell me if you think I'm crazy or wrong, just keep putting that poetry out there because I feel like your heart and soul is in that poetry.
• 7:21
  I completely agree.
• 7:22
  That's why I created...
• 7:23
  I even created a poetry business called Poetry Business Alliance, and it's really aimed at connecting with inspired readers to helping people to enjoy poetry and to, who are l- and to help people towards, people who are looking who...
• 7:37
  for inspiration to realize their dreams and to create a unique sense of wellbeing for the long haul.
• 7:44
  Well, it sounds like you have a plan.
• 7:46
  It sounds like You got your fingers dabbling in a whole bunch of different things, right?
• 7:49
  Uh-uh.
• 7:49
  You got your poetry.
• 7:50
  You got your coaching.
• 7:51
  You got your alliance.
• 7:52
  That poetry reading alliance, that sounds really interesting.
• 7:55
  So you're trying to spark people's interest in poetry for healing, right?
• 8:01
  Or just for anything?
• 8:02
  Absolutely.
• 8:03
  For healing.
• 8:04
  It's for healing and for inspiration.
• 8:06
  Okay.
• 8:07
  It sounds to me like that's where you got your clients.
• 8:09
  Because if people come to you and you find those people, and it's a lot easier to be talking while you're talking to someone and telling them, "Hey, come join me.
• 8:17
  Write your poetry, read your poetry, express yourself."
• 8:20
  And then you're talking about y- their poetry.
• 8:23
  You're coaching them.
• 8:24
  Absolutely.
• 8:24
  So you're doing what your dream is.
• 8:26
  It is my dream.
• 8:28
  These are my passions, to be honest, and it's very important to me and I value them highly.
• 8:33
  For all the listeners out there, I can tell you, and I've been, I think, preaching, and I'm not preaching to the choir.
• 8:38
  You guys know this- if you've ever heard me talking.
• 8:41
  But there comes a point in your life where you just have to do what lights you up, and that is the easiest way to put it.
• 8:49
  If it doesn't light you up, don't do it.
• 8:51
  I agree.
• 8:52
  And, people come to me all the time and they say, "I need to make money."
• 8:55
  And I'm like, "Well, what do you like to do?"
• 8:57
  And they're like, "That has nothing to do with it.
• 8:58
  I need to make money."
• 9:00
  And I'm like, "No, it has everything to do with it."
• 9:03
  Because if you don't love what you're doing- it's a job and it's a task and it's a chore.
• 9:08
  But if you love what you're doing, you're doing it and the money will follow I agree.
• 9:16
  Makes a lot of sense to me.
• 9:17
  Thank you.
• 9:17
  Yeah, absolutely, 100%.
• 9:19
  I'm gonna go back a little bit more to this positive psychology.
• 9:22
  So what would you, let's say hypothetically you got a coaching client sitting right in front of you.
• 9:27
  What kind of things do you help with?
• 9:28
  Who are your ideal clients?
• 9:30
  My ideal clients are college students and anyone who's, is 21 years of age and older.
• 9:36
  Those are my ideal clients.
• 9:37
  And, they're people who are looking to be inspired, in case people are having issues, whether it's personal issues or, or professional issues, I can help with people, people with that through my personal insights and positive psychology coaching.
• 9:50
  Okay.
• 9:50
  So let's say hypothetically, because You just- -gave yourself a really big group of clients.
• 9:55
  Yeah.
• 9:57
  Okay.
• 9:57
  So we're back.
• 10:00
  Thank you So you were telling ab- me about the positive psychology.
• 10:03
  And so I was just basically thinking, I'm like, "Okay, so you got this demographic of people that have issues or struggles or questions or anything.
• 10:11
  That is 90% of the world.
• 10:14
  I wanna get you clients.
• 10:16
  I want somebody to come to you.
• 10:17
  What would be their number one struggle?
• 10:21
  it could be seeking employments, for example.
• 10:23
  I'm really good at helping people find employment.
• 10:25
  I've done it myself in my own past, so I know what that's like.
• 10:29
  so I'm really good at searching for jobs.
• 10:31
  I'm also really good at, getting into, the the positive psychology prowess.
• 10:36
  Well, when it comes to, learning people's thoughts, values, and, thoughts and values systems, and, learning about how to recognize different aspects of yourselves.
• 10:47
  Okay.
• 10:48
  And that's me.
• 10:48
  I'm really good at, I'm very good at doing that.
• 10:50
  Okay.
• 10:51
  Now, if I came to you and I said, "Michael, I just am freaking lost.
• 10:56
  I'm 55 years old.
• 10:57
  I don't know what I wanna do.
• 10:59
  I don't have a job.
• 11:00
  I don't blah, blah, blah," and all these things.
• 11:02
  "I grew up in complete, utter chaos."
• 11:06
  Where would we start?
• 11:09
  We'll, let's talk about, what, what, lights you up.
• 11:11
  what is your personal experiences, and what brings you to meet with me, first of all?
• 11:18
  And what are you looking for?
• 11:20
  Okay.
• 11:20
  So you are literally a one size fits all coach.
• 11:24
  Absolutely.
• 11:25
  Pretty much it.
• 11:27
  Okay.
• 11:27
  Well, that sounds really cool.
• 11:29
  I'm more...
• 11:29
  i've been looking at some of your stuff just recently, and I don't really...
• 11:33
  I didn't get to read a lot of your poems, and I need to go back and do that, so I'm gonna put the Substack link in the show notes so people can go back.
• 11:41
  But are your poems more...
• 11:44
  Are they upbeat, positive, or are they- Yes reflective?
• 11:48
  They're both.
• 11:48
  Or what do you think?
• 11:49
  They're both.
• 11:51
  Yeah.
• 11:51
  they're very, they're always positive.
• 11:53
  They're very transformational.
• 11:55
  They're reflective, and they're unique.
• 11:58
  Do you by chance have a poem that you could read to us handy?
• 12:02
  Oh, okay.
• 12:03
  That's a good question.
• 12:04
  Yes.
• 12:05
  give me a moment.
• 12:10
  I have a journal right here.
• 12:13
  Okay.
• 12:13
  It's a blue journal, and it has, it has some of my poems.
• 12:16
  Okay.
• 12:17
  Just pick one that's a shorter one, but just so we can get a feel for what your poems are like.
• 12:22
  Okay.
• 12:23
  All right.
• 12:24
  I'll, I'll show you the first poem I ever wrote.
• 12:26
  It's called Respect.
• 12:28
  Okay.
• 12:29
  All right.
• 12:30
  Reading totality and how we used to live.
• 12:33
  Escaping and what we want to give.
• 12:36
  Spreading one's dreams and lifting people's hearts is all we aim to do.
• 12:43
  Placing the burden and how we climb up to choose.
• 12:48
  Elevating one's purpose in life.
• 12:51
  Every voice in sync.
• 12:54
  Coming to terms when one lives on every moment to bring Time chooses you and gives a meaning of our existence.
• 13:02
  That's it.
• 13:03
  I love it.
• 13:04
  And is that kind of the same format you use for all of your poems, or is it different?
• 13:08
  Some are long form, or- Yeah, some are long form.
• 13:11
  the majority of them are...
• 13:13
  actually, they have a rhyming scheme, so there's, there's rhyme and flow to them at the end of every sentence.
• 13:19
  And I also, for the majority of my poems are acrostic poetry.
• 13:24
  Have you heard of acrostic poetry before?
• 13:26
  No.
• 13:27
  Okay.
• 13:27
  So acrostic poetry is a type of free verse poem.
• 13:31
  It's a way of writing poetry where the first letter of every, first letter of every, sentence coincides with the name of a sentence of, of the title of the poem.
• 13:45
  So for example, respect, yeah, my, my first poem is called Respect, right?
• 13:50
  Okay.
• 13:51
  So when you read the first letter is reading, so it's R.
• 13:55
  The first letter, the second letter, the second sentence is escaping, so it's E.
• 13:59
  Okay, I got you.
• 14:00
  That's- So when you actually visually look at the poem, the whole left side is gonna spell a word.
• 14:05
  Absolutely.
• 14:06
  That's what it means to be acrostic poems.
• 14:08
  Oh, I wanna try doing one of them.
• 14:10
  Please do.
• 14:11
  I recommend it.
• 14:12
  It's wonderful.
• 14:13
  It's very unique.
• 14:15
  Okay, I'm gonna have to try one.
• 14:17
  I'll start small.
• 14:17
  I'll use the word love.
• 14:20
  I loves it.
• 14:20
  That's a good- Okay.
• 14:21
  I'm gonna try one, and then I'm gonna send it to you, and you tell me what you think.
• 14:25
  Please do.
• 14:25
  Don't forget.
• 14:26
  I won't.
• 14:27
  That's, that's pretty cool.
• 14:28
  and for the people out there listening, you might be wondering, like, "Okay, so I hear all this.
• 14:33
  That's great, but what?
• 14:34
  What with it?"
• 14:35
  Guys, you have no idea, and I think Michael really, his, his mission it sounds like to me is to show people through writing, through poetry, through expression of any form, but he happens to use writing and poetry, that
• 14:51
  we can get some of our burdens out of our bodies and out of our minds, and put them into the world for not only you to hear and you to see and other people to see, but also when
• 15:03
  you physically write something down, you're releasing it from your body.
• 15:08
  It's the same thing if you get up and you tell a speech, and I know, Michael, you're interested in speaking as well.
• 15:13
  When you get up and you tell a speech and you voice that to a thousand people or three people, it doesn't even matter.
• 15:21
  Right.
• 15:21
  You are releasing that energy of that experience from your body, and it's healing.
• 15:27
  It is superbly healing.
• 15:29
  Would you agree?
• 15:30
  I agree.
• 15:30
  Absolutely.
• 15:31
  It's fantastic experience.
• 15:33
  It's a welcome way to behold expression.
• 15:36
  I love freedom of, speech and freedom of expression very much so.
• 15:40
  Yeah.
• 15:41
  And if you are afraid to put it out there, you don't want anybody to see it, I know when I was a little girl, I had journals and I wrote in them, but my mother used to break into
• 15:49
  them, steal my diaries, open them with the key, smash them, rip them, whatever she had to do to read my diary.
• 15:54
  So I was very guarded in how I expressed myself writing.
• 15:58
  But it felt good to write.
• 15:59
  And I didn't know back then as a kid why it felt good to write, but I, I know now obviously.
• 16:05
  But I used to write, and then I used to rip them up and go down to the river, and put them in the water and let them float away And now I know...
• 16:14
  And it was funny, I just kinda did that instinctually, but now I know how healing that was for me.
• 16:21
  That's wonderful experience.
• 16:24
  Thank you for sharing that.
• 16:25
  That's really amazing.
• 16:26
  they tell you that.
• 16:26
  When you're going through healing and you want to forgive someone, write a letter to them.
• 16:31
  It doesn't matter if you never send the letter.
• 16:33
  Mm-hmm.
• 16:33
  Write it and then burn it.
• 16:35
  I agree.
• 16:35
  But get it out of your body.
• 16:36
  I am a huge believer in all of these suppressed emotions.
• 16:39
  those people that bullied you, write a letter to them and forgive them, and then throw it away.
• 16:45
  Who cares?
• 16:46
  That kind of expression and that kind of release is what we need to start healing.
• 16:51
  I love that.
• 16:52
  That's a great point of intention.
• 16:54
  I love that.
• 16:55
  That's amazing.
• 16:55
  Yeah.
• 16:56
  Thanks.
• 16:56
  And life is intentional.
• 16:58
  Yep you don't heal unless you intend to heal.
• 17:01
  You have to- put some effort into things, and- Right so I try to say I do everything with intention.
• 17:06
  But poetry is such...
• 17:09
  I, I have books and books and books of poems that I found.
• 17:13
  I actually found a, folder- Oh and it had all these poems stuck in it that I had written.
• 17:17
  And it was kind of fun, and then it was kind of morbid, 'cause I went back and read them, and I was like- "Wow, I was really sad."
• 17:24
  That happens.
• 17:25
  Life happens when you least expect it.
• 17:27
  I know that feeling.
• 17:28
  I've had times when I've been sad, too, growing up, because I was, because I was bullied at first, and so I know what it's like.
• 17:35
  'Cause- I had a dysfunctional family.
• 17:38
  It was part of my life experience growing up.
• 17:39
  But life taught me huge lessons, and I, I had a lot of my faith and spirituality that enabled me to, be loved by God and, have friends in my life who have really helped me out fully.
• 17:52
  Well, I think that is super important, and for the people listening, I think that's super important, too.
• 17:57
  So if you had to say,, growing up,, after that dysfunction, what are the three biggest influences you had to make you healed, or feeling better, or on your way to healed?
• 18:07
  I can tell you, first of one, the first one is friendships.
• 18:11
  The first...
• 18:11
  second one is music.
• 18:13
  Music, okay.
• 18:14
  And God, of course.
• 18:16
  And God, of course.
• 18:17
  I love that.
• 18:17
  Yeah.
• 18:18
  But you didn't start with God.
• 18:19
  That's funny.
• 18:20
  I know.
• 18:21
  That's ironic.
• 18:21
  I apologize.
• 18:22
  No, Never apologize.
• 18:24
  You do you.
• 18:26
  I just think it's funny, 'cause you said, "And God, of course," just the way you said it would be like, God, music, friendships.
• 18:32
  Yeah, that's what I was supposed to say.
• 18:34
  I wasn't thinking.
• 18:34
  No.
• 18:34
  No, because Maybe your finale was God.
• 18:38
  Yes, that's correct.
• 18:41
  I save the best things for last.
• 18:43
  There you go.
• 18:44
  Amen to that.
• 18:45
  And I think that's important.
• 18:46
  But it's, again, I deal with a lot of people that don't even have that belief and don't even have that faith and that hope.
• 18:52
  I personally believe that you- It makes it a lot easier Right And I think, I don't know where you're coming from, but for me it was kind of nice to throw it up and surrender and be like, "Hey,
• 19:05
  I can't handle this.
• 19:06
  I can't...
• 19:07
  Like, I need you to take this off my plate," and then just relax and just know that there was something out there bigger than me.
• 19:14
  I think that's the big concept.
• 19:16
  To me it was.
• 19:17
  That's nice.
• 19:18
  I like that very much.
• 19:19
  That makes a lot of sense to me too.
• 19:20
  Yeah.
• 19:20
  I agree.
• 19:21
  Yeah.
• 19:22
  So, so tell us if people wanna work with you, how do they work with you?
• 19:27
  I will...
• 19:27
  Is it just through Substack?
• 19:29
  No, I have other social media platforms too.
• 19:32
  Okay.
• 19:32
  So for example, I'm on Blue Sky i'm, @romanticsinger24 on Blue Sky.
• 19:41
  Okay.
• 19:42
  And I'm also on, Facebook.
• 19:44
  It's, michael.teferi.16, so you can find my Facebook profile there.
• 19:51
  And I also have a, a, a personal Instagram page.
• 19:56
  It's called @romanticsinger24 And I also have my Instagram professional page with, for my positive psychology coaching experience, which is, @michaelteferi24.
• 20:07
  Okay.
• 20:07
  And I will put all of that in the show notes, so if you guys are listening and you're driving or you're not being able to write something down, don't worry about it.
• 20:13
  Everything will be in the show notes so that you can reach Michael i'll put the Substack link in there so you can read his poetry.
• 20:19
  It's, I'm sure, amazing.
• 20:21
  So, Michael, thank you so much for coming on, but you're not off the hook yet.
• 20:26
  That's fine.
• 20:27
  Okay.
• 20:27
  Do your thing.
• 20:27
  If you had to give the listeners one piece of advice or words of wisdom from Michael Tefari, what would it be?
• 20:34
  I would say that it's really important to move forward in a direction you care about with a genuine dose of meaning, purpose, and conviction.
• 20:41
  Amen.
• 20:42
  Poof.
• 20:42
  You had that one nailed, huh?
• 20:44
  I came up with that a very long time ago.
• 20:47
  I, it's, I...
• 20:47
  It's my forte.
• 20:49
  Okay.
• 20:49
  I- So repeat it again slowly so the audience can hear.
• 20:52
  You can do everything, everything you want towards moving forward in life towards, meaning, purpose, and conviction.
• 21:01
  Okay, you can do anything you want and you can do anything you want, moving forward in life with m- purpose, meaning- Meaning- Oh, do it again.
• 21:10
  One more time.
• 21:11
  It says...
• 21:12
  That's fine.
• 21:12
  I'll do it again.
• 21:13
  So you can move forward in a direction you care about with a genuine dose of meaning, purpose, and conviction.
• 21:22
  Amen.
• 21:23
  Mm-hmm.
• 21:23
  I'm not even gonna try to repeat it.
• 21:24
  You said it perfectly.
• 21:26
  Thank you.
• 21:27
  I learned about that many years ago as part of my life experience.
• 21:30
  It's a lived experience that I have.
• 21:32
  Okay.
• 21:33
  And honestly, it's the lived experience that is gonna let you be a coach and let you be a poet and all of that stuff, because you are expressing yourself, and you are helping and being compassionate and empathetic and
• 21:44
  loving and kind through your lived experience.
• 21:47
  And I know the world appreciates that.
• 21:50
  Thank you so much.
• 21:50
  I am happy to have you here during this call.
• 21:53
  It's been an amazing experience for your podcast.
• 21:56
  Thank you so much for having me.
• 21:57
  You are very welcome.
• 21:58
  And for everybody else out there listening, you've heard it.
• 22:01
  Check out Michael Tefari's Substack.
• 22:03
  Check him out.
• 22:04
  Just see what he does.
• 22:05
  Listen to him.
• 22:06
  Read his poems.
• 22:07
  And know that if you have something that is stuck in you, and it needs to get out, that poetry, writing, speaking, anything you can do is going to step you forward to being happier, and it's going to be
• 22:21
  one step forward to that life that you so want and also so deserve.
• 22:27
  Right.
• 22:27
  So I hope you guys loved this.
• 22:29
  And for the rest of you and for everybody else, come back next week.
• 22:33
  You all have a very blessed day.
• 22:35
  And don't forget to tune in tomorrow for Tammy's Takes, where I take one concept from this podcast- And build on it Can I mention one more thing?
• 22:44
  Yes, you can.
• 22:46
  So when it comes to my Substack on my, bio, it has my phone number, so anyone can call me too.
• 22:51
  I just wanna let you know about that.
• 22:53
  Peace out.
• 22:53
  Okay, cool.
• 22:55
  Sounds great.
• 22:56
  So yeah, so it's on there in the Substack.
• 22:58
  You can reach out to Michael, text him, call him, whatever you wanna do.
• 23:01
  Reach out and learn how someone came from the dysfunction and the bullying and all that stuff, and is now here to make the world a better place.
• 23:10
  So we will see you all back soon.