Latest / Life Will Be the Death of Me with Chelsea Handler / You’re Not For Everybody with Yvonne Orji
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Hi, Catherine, Hi Chelsea. I am in Estoya and Majorca.
- 0:06Speaker 1: I've just spent five days alone. Five days alone, and Carla,
- 0:12Speaker 1: my assistant, is here as well. But my first guests
- 0:15Speaker 1: didn't arrive until the second so I had five days
- 0:19Speaker 1: of no drinking, utter seclusion, exercising, eating healthy. The thing
- 0:26Speaker 1: about being on vacation isn't possible to get on any
- 0:28Speaker 1: sort of program, so I got my shit together. I
- 0:32Speaker 1: didn't do anything. I did Glennon Doyle's podcast, Glennon and
- 0:35Speaker 1: Abbey's podcast. I recorded that, so look for that. That's
- 0:38Speaker 1: coming out shortly. We were trying to figure out a
- 0:40Speaker 1: time this summer and I'm like, you know what, I'm
- 0:41Speaker 1: alone for five days. I think that's the best time
- 0:43Speaker 1: for me to do a podcast. Since I'm all podcasted out.
- 0:46Speaker 1: I'm like, I have my own fucking podcast to deal with.
- 0:48Speaker 1: But yeah, so I have a full house of comedians,
- 0:52Speaker 1: So yeah, you can follow me on Instagram for all
- 0:55Speaker 1: the sorts of shenanigans. And then at the end of
- 0:57Speaker 1: this month, I go back on tour. I start my
- 0:59Speaker 1: little big which I'm really excited about. I've gotten so
- 1:02Speaker 1: much rest and relaxation and aggravation and I need a
- 1:06Speaker 1: vacation for my vacation, But what else is fucking new?
- 1:09Speaker 2: Yeah?
- 1:09Speaker 3: Now do you restore your energy alone or with other people?
- 1:14Speaker 1: I restore my energy mostly by myself. But I go
- 1:16Speaker 1: to bed listen. When I was in London, I stayed
- 1:19Speaker 1: in London for a month, in like the month of July.
- 1:20Speaker 1: I think I was pretty much in London. I had
- 1:23Speaker 1: a blast. I went to bed probably between two and
- 1:27Speaker 1: five am every single night. All I did was go
- 1:29Speaker 1: out and party. And it was so nice because I
- 1:32Speaker 1: was in a hotel and I could just I had
- 1:33Speaker 1: so many friends in London that I could just join
- 1:35Speaker 1: other people's action, you know, like whatever my friends were
- 1:38Speaker 1: up to, I'd be like, Okay, I'm going with them.
- 1:39Speaker 1: I'm going with them. I'm doing this.
- 1:41Speaker 4: You can float.
- 1:42Speaker 1: So that was perfect because I wasn't in charge of
- 1:44Speaker 1: the entertainment, you know what I mean. In my Orca,
- 1:47Speaker 1: it's my house. I'm in charge of the entertainment. But
- 1:50Speaker 1: I have a new policy I'm putting in place, like
- 1:52Speaker 1: everybody has a free day throughout the week. Go do
- 1:55Speaker 1: whatever you want to do. There's no organized plans. We
- 1:58Speaker 1: all will have dinner together, obviously, but breakfast and dinner
- 2:02Speaker 1: and then anything in between. Get your own fucking party started.
- 2:06Speaker 1: You can hang out, you can leave, but don't rely
- 2:09Speaker 1: on me.
- 2:09Speaker 4: Yeah no, that's smart.
- 2:11Speaker 1: Yeah, so that's that plan. And then yeah, so that's
- 2:14Speaker 1: what I'm in. I'm in. I have three different weeks
- 2:16Speaker 1: of guests coming, so we'll see, we'll see what happens.
- 2:20Speaker 1: I'm working hard on my book. I got a lot
- 2:21Speaker 1: of writing done. I have this great title for my
- 2:24Speaker 1: new book, which I can't wait to share with people,
- 2:26Speaker 1: but it'll be a few months before I can do that.
- 2:29Speaker 1: And yeah, I'm feeling very productive.
- 2:31Speaker 3: That's so good. Are you able to share any themes
- 2:34Speaker 3: of the book, like kind of the angles you're working
- 2:37Speaker 3: or keeping that under wraps for now?
- 2:39Speaker 1: I think it's just about female independence and freedom, nice freedom,
- 2:44Speaker 1: child free freedom.
- 2:46Speaker 3: I feel like that is absolutely something that people who
- 2:49Speaker 3: love you respond to.
- 2:51Speaker 1: So yeah, I think it's definitely underrepresented, you know what
- 2:54Speaker 1: I mean, We have so many people that are just
- 2:56Speaker 1: not the reason why it gets such a big reaction
- 2:58Speaker 1: is because there are plenty of people talking about it now,
- 3:01Speaker 1: more so than there were. But you know, it's not enough,
- 3:04Speaker 1: and it'll never be enough. That women have choices and
- 3:07Speaker 1: that we can choose to do whatever we want and
- 3:09Speaker 1: become whatever we want as long as we get all
- 3:11Speaker 1: of this nonsense out of our heads and stop listening
- 3:13Speaker 1: to what people are telling us.
- 3:15Speaker 3: Yes, yes, it kind It makes me think about what
- 3:17Speaker 3: Alice Lonan had said about, you know, the whole, not
- 3:21Speaker 3: just our culture, but.
- 3:23Speaker 1: Like the energy of the universe basically is like.
- 3:25Speaker 3: Swinging more feminine for the next Yes, who knows how long,
- 3:29Speaker 3: but it's just it feels like it's coming to pass.
- 3:32Speaker 4: And I like that.
- 3:33Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, great, Okay. So our guest today is she's
- 3:37Speaker 1: a real piece of work. She's an actress, a comedian,
- 3:40Speaker 1: and author of Bamboozled by Jesus. How God tricked me
- 3:44Speaker 1: into the life of my dreams. Please welcome vn Orgy.
- 3:48Speaker 1: Oh yeah, baby, hello, Oh yeah, look at you. Cutey, petuity,
- 3:54Speaker 1: fresh and fruity.
- 3:55Speaker 4: And he takes one to know one.
- 3:58Speaker 1: I was excited. I thought I was seeing you in
- 4:00Speaker 1: today and I was gonna do a little dry hump
- 4:02Speaker 1: and say hello. I was gonna jump on you. And
- 4:05Speaker 1: then she said you're virtually no, and I was like, oh,
- 4:07Speaker 1: what a bummer. But that's okay. We're happy to have you.
- 4:10Speaker 4: I'm pretty bummed about it too. That was like, okay,
- 4:12Speaker 4: we can do a body.
- 4:12Speaker 2: Well.
- 4:13Speaker 4: I've been a huge fan of yours.
- 4:14Speaker 2: Literally when people asked me, I was like about like
- 4:17Speaker 2: they were comedians. They were showing them like Chelsea Lately.
- 4:19Speaker 2: You not seen Chelsea lately. I'm like, every night I
- 4:22Speaker 2: tuned in BEFO I to move to LA. It was,
- 4:25Speaker 2: you know, fantastic, Thank you, honey. Well, likewise, right back
- 4:28Speaker 2: at you.
- 4:29Speaker 1: You're fantastic, And I'm so excited to have you on
- 4:32Speaker 1: and to be talking to you because we don't have
- 4:35Speaker 1: a lot of religious people on this podcast. We have
- 4:38Speaker 1: a lot of spiritual people. But as I was reading
- 4:40Speaker 1: your book, I realized that it's kind of one and
- 4:43Speaker 1: the same. It is it's a belief system, and I
- 4:46Speaker 1: love that it's like modern religion what you're talking about
- 4:49Speaker 1: in your book, and I want to talk to you
- 4:51Speaker 1: about that first and foremost. I want to talk to
- 4:54Speaker 1: you about your belief in God and all of the
- 4:58Speaker 1: signs that you I guess maybe early on the signs
- 5:01Speaker 1: that you got that made you believe in God, not
- 5:04Speaker 1: just that was instilled from your parents, but from your
- 5:08Speaker 1: own young adulthood.
- 5:09Speaker 5: I guess.
- 5:10Speaker 2: Yeah, it's really I like to say, it's really more
- 5:13Speaker 2: like a relationship. So with my book it was my faith,
- 5:17Speaker 2: it is very much more fate relationship.
- 5:20Speaker 4: Board.
- 5:20Speaker 2: I think when you have a relationship with somebody, it
- 5:22Speaker 2: makes it more personal. Like if your mom tells you,
- 5:25Speaker 2: like come home, and you know she loves you, and
- 5:26Speaker 2: you love her back, You're like, you know what, I'm
- 5:29Speaker 2: gonna come home even though I want to stay out,
- 5:30Speaker 2: I'm gonna come home, Versus like if it's somebody you
- 5:32Speaker 2: don't have a relationship with, like that aunt, that's always
- 5:35Speaker 2: your business that it's like you should come home.
- 5:36Speaker 4: You're like to the hotel not you know, you're just
- 5:39Speaker 4: you're not really out that life.
- 5:41Speaker 2: And so I think when people try to use religion
- 5:43Speaker 2: to like force people to do stuff and like there's
- 5:45Speaker 2: no understanding or no relationship behind it, it doesn't stick
- 5:48Speaker 2: and it doesn't also feel good, like what the heck?
- 5:50Speaker 4: Like why why would why would do we eat this?
- 5:52Speaker 2: So that's just kind of like where my center of
- 5:57Speaker 2: faith lies.
- 5:58Speaker 4: This is why I've been able to be a wish
- 6:00Speaker 4: for as well as I have.
- 6:01Speaker 2: But yeah, no, I got saved when I was seventeen,
- 6:03Speaker 2: Like I was not playing on going to anybody's blah
- 6:06Speaker 2: bla study.
- 6:07Speaker 1: I grew up Catholic, but from Nigeria. Well your parents
- 6:10Speaker 1: are Nigerian and were you you were born in Nigeria, right?
- 6:13Speaker 4: I sure was. I was born in Nigeria.
- 6:15Speaker 2: We immigrated to America when I was six and my
- 6:18Speaker 2: mom was a nurse at had.
- 6:19Speaker 4: With University hospital. And you know, back then they liked
- 6:22Speaker 4: the immigrants and so they gave us green cards. Naha.
- 6:25Speaker 4: Now they're like you can go. You're like, well, wait,
- 6:27Speaker 4: like you you told us to come in.
- 6:29Speaker 1: I love switching the rules. It's like yes, yes, we'll
- 6:31Speaker 1: take the tire the poor, and now we're like no, no,
- 6:34Speaker 1: actually we take it all back. We didn't mean that.
- 6:37Speaker 4: For sure, like nobody one of them.
- 6:38Speaker 2: There was a nursing shortage, so like that's why every
- 6:40Speaker 2: time you go to the hospital, there's gonna be a
- 6:42Speaker 2: Filipido or an African nurse. This is why when you
- 6:45Speaker 2: see hospital shows, you're like, no, this is not represented it.
- 6:48Speaker 2: There's got to be a madame orbs.
- 6:54Speaker 4: Like what are you talking about? Like that?
- 6:57Speaker 2: If there's not a Filipino nurse or niger nisse, I
- 6:59Speaker 2: would trust this hospital. So anyway, so that's how we
- 7:01Speaker 2: got to America, and you know, we again we were
- 7:05Speaker 2: Roman Catholic.
- 7:06Speaker 4: But I remember just going to church war.
- 7:08Speaker 2: As like a ritual, you know, like and after you
- 7:10Speaker 2: going up, you're just like, it's gonna be a fifty
- 7:12Speaker 2: five minute service, sixty if the priest is really feeling it.
- 7:16Speaker 2: But you know, I just love God and I'm also
- 7:19Speaker 2: afraid of my parents, so I'm gonna go to church.
- 7:21Speaker 2: But then I got to college and I was I
- 7:25Speaker 2: was like, let me tell you right now, we want
- 7:27Speaker 2: to go all the way wild.
- 7:29Speaker 1: We are in DC.
- 7:30Speaker 4: I am a grown woman. Let's go.
- 7:33Speaker 2: And I was on my way to the club and
- 7:35Speaker 2: my friend was like, why don't we go to this
- 7:36Speaker 2: Bible study before we hit the club?
- 7:39Speaker 4: And I was like, I mean, I mean, I guess
- 7:42Speaker 4: that makes sense.
- 7:43Speaker 2: Sure, It's like it was like, you know, I'm not
- 7:45Speaker 2: in a Bible study attire. I was probably supposed to
- 7:48Speaker 2: be a hole in my heart, you know what I mean,
- 7:49Speaker 2: Like I feel like in Jesus hadn't gotten me as
- 7:51Speaker 2: early as.
- 7:52Speaker 4: He would have. It made a different story.
- 7:54Speaker 2: So anyway, we go to the Bible study and the
- 7:56Speaker 2: woman preaching, she was just so in lovely God in
- 7:59Speaker 2: the way way that like being a Catholic, I'd never
- 8:02Speaker 2: seen someone want who like understood the Bible, new Scripture, whatever,
- 8:06Speaker 2: and I was just so drawn to it. I mean,
- 8:08Speaker 2: before I knew it, I was over there giving my
- 8:10Speaker 2: life to Jesus. I was like, we were supposed to
- 8:11Speaker 2: be on a poll tonight. Why am I now like
- 8:14Speaker 2: in tears, like I do love you Lord, I surrender.
- 8:18Speaker 4: So she got me.
- 8:20Speaker 1: So it was in that moment, what you decided to
- 8:22Speaker 1: commit to your relationship with God.
- 8:24Speaker 4: Yeah, Like I like that's how I already got bambooed
- 8:26Speaker 4: by teeth.
- 8:26Speaker 2: Like I was prepared to lose my virginity at eighteen,
- 8:29Speaker 2: I knew I was. I knew I wanted to lose
- 8:31Speaker 2: my virginity at eighteen because not because of that necessarily
- 8:34Speaker 2: religious purposes, but because I was like, if I get pregnant,
- 8:37Speaker 2: I just won't be able to make decisions as an
- 8:39Speaker 2: adult because if anybody calls my mama, I'm gonna be dead.
- 8:42Speaker 1: So I mean, can you imagine your parents working, probably
- 8:45Speaker 1: sacrificing everything to come to America and then their daughter
- 8:48Speaker 1: has a teenage pregnancy.
- 8:49Speaker 2: What a fuck you? I was like, I get I
- 8:52Speaker 2: don't want my mom to go and deal with thirty
- 8:53Speaker 2: five to life. I don't want that to be her esimoity.
- 8:56Speaker 2: So I just was like at eighteen, like I don't
- 8:58Speaker 2: even know what decisions I would make, but I just
- 9:00Speaker 2: both feel more of an adult to do them right.
- 9:03Speaker 2: And so I remembered when I was sixteen, I went
- 9:06Speaker 2: to see my my primary care physician and she had
- 9:09Speaker 2: to call the mother of a sixty year old to
- 9:11Speaker 2: tell her that her daughter was pregnant. I remember that
- 9:15Speaker 2: a just sketch in my mind, like, oh, nobody will
- 9:17Speaker 2: ever meet that call. So that's why I had the
- 9:20Speaker 2: eighteen And God was like, ooohol, I'm gonna let her
- 9:23Speaker 2: have this like timeline because I got a surprise with her.
- 9:26Speaker 4: I'm not saying when I was seventeen and a half.
- 9:28Speaker 1: So he got me, we're gonna take a quick break
- 9:31Speaker 1: and we're gonna be right back and we're back. Are
- 9:37Speaker 1: you still a virgin? I am, Oh my god, I
- 9:41Speaker 1: love this. This is the most original guest we've ever
- 9:45Speaker 1: had on and you what are you? Thirty nine? I am,
- 9:49Speaker 1: Oh my god, that damn is gonna break one day, baby,
- 9:53Speaker 1: and maybe.
- 9:53Speaker 2: Let the thing right now, I like people were like, oh,
- 9:56Speaker 2: you know. Even I was like, pray for him, whoever
- 9:58Speaker 2: he is. Why you've got a lot of pets up energy.
- 10:02Speaker 1: Up and here.
- 10:04Speaker 4: Okay, oh my god.
- 10:05Speaker 1: And you're gonna hit your sexual peak when you start
- 10:07Speaker 1: having sex. So yeah, you're gonna need a couple of men.
- 10:10Speaker 1: Probably you all went from.
- 10:14Speaker 2: Being universits of poly ellaly, Like that would be a
- 10:16Speaker 2: very interesting to events. That's I don't think that's the destimy,
- 10:19Speaker 2: but I will say, like, hurry up, if you know
- 10:21Speaker 2: any good men to the attend of my way.
- 10:23Speaker 4: Please please.
- 10:24Speaker 1: I you know what, it's funny. I know this Nigerian man,
- 10:27Speaker 1: he's married to my girlfriend. But I have so much
- 10:29Speaker 1: experience with their family and Nigerians, and I know how
- 10:34Speaker 1: dedicated Nigerians are to education and becoming a doctor, which
- 10:38Speaker 1: you cover in your book as well, And it's just
- 10:40Speaker 1: couldn't be more true. Like it's very serious. You know,
- 10:43Speaker 1: you have to be loyal and you have to like
- 10:45Speaker 1: it's almost like being in a family can also feel
- 10:48Speaker 1: like work for somebody who's like me, who gets to
- 10:50Speaker 1: do whatever they want. And all the time you're like, oh, oh,
- 10:53Speaker 1: this is a serious situation.
- 10:55Speaker 4: There's always like an outlier. I'm the outlier by family.
- 10:58Speaker 2: I was like, yeah, I feel like I'm met for
- 11:01Speaker 2: more than just what everyone else is doing. And so yeah, yeah, no,
- 11:05Speaker 2: and also as a Nijoria's supposed to be married at
- 11:07Speaker 2: twenty three, also an outlier.
- 11:10Speaker 4: But no, I'm actually really happy.
- 11:12Speaker 2: I feel like I don't think I could have ever
- 11:13Speaker 2: gotten married before this moment, Like honestly, maybe like thirty five,
- 11:17Speaker 2: I thought I was ready, but actually I think I
- 11:19Speaker 2: feel the most ready to be in the committed relationship now,
- 11:23Speaker 2: like that will actually last.
- 11:25Speaker 4: Everybody there get married.
- 11:26Speaker 1: At twenty three, they probably not together anymore. Yeah, how
- 11:30Speaker 1: did Nigerians feel about divorce?
- 11:32Speaker 4: I mean, it's happening more and more now, so it's like,
- 11:34Speaker 4: maybe don't tell your daughters to get married and just
- 11:37Speaker 4: find it could and I didn't, I, you know, before
- 11:40Speaker 4: they know themselves.
- 11:41Speaker 1: And how many siblings do you have?
- 11:43Speaker 4: I have three older brothers, okay, And are.
- 11:45Speaker 1: They in the States. They're all in the States.
- 11:47Speaker 2: Yeah, they very like I have one brother who lives
- 11:49Speaker 2: in Nigeria, go back and forth.
- 11:51Speaker 4: I have two brothers who are in the States. So yeah,
- 11:53Speaker 4: we're we're all over the place.
- 11:54Speaker 1: And you're the baby.
- 11:55Speaker 4: The baby.
- 11:56Speaker 1: Isn't that kind of the best place to be in
- 11:58Speaker 1: a family.
- 11:59Speaker 2: You know what?
- 11:59Speaker 4: I like if they listened to me more, I would
- 12:01Speaker 4: really appreciate this position.
- 12:03Speaker 1: I think with more the more success you have, the
- 12:05Speaker 1: more they will listen. That's my experience with my family.
- 12:09Speaker 1: For sure, they respect me way more than they did
- 12:11Speaker 1: when I really thought I had some smart ideas. So
- 12:14Speaker 1: talk a little bit. I like some of the stories
- 12:17Speaker 1: about your faith and belief being reinforced right signs of faith,
- 12:22Speaker 1: taking risks and knowing that God shows up for you.
- 12:24Speaker 1: So can you talk a little bit about that.
- 12:27Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 12:27Speaker 2: When I was getting my master's in public health, there
- 12:31Speaker 2: was a pageant called the Misbagerian American Pageant, and my
- 12:36Speaker 2: like my friends were like, want you to enjoy, and
- 12:38Speaker 2: so I did. And I just thought I was like,
- 12:40Speaker 2: you know what, I can wear a dress. I feel like,
- 12:42Speaker 2: you know body colleges is I'm fine. And in two
- 12:45Speaker 2: weeks before the pageant, they were like, well, what's your talent?
- 12:48Speaker 4: I was like, oh, I don't. I'm a job of immigrants.
- 12:50Speaker 4: I don't have one.
- 12:51Speaker 2: Like, we're not raised they have hotties and talents. And
- 12:54Speaker 2: they were like, well, everyone who performs, needs to have one.
- 12:57Speaker 2: So it's two weeks people have bought tickets for my
- 12:59Speaker 2: mom and my like cousins are comed hey, and so
- 13:02Speaker 2: I'm just like, well, what the hell. I can't like,
- 13:04Speaker 2: I can't mess up because again the Nigerian it means
- 13:07Speaker 2: like we gotta be excellent.
- 13:08Speaker 4: And I prayed.
- 13:09Speaker 2: By this time, you know, I had a relationship with
- 13:11Speaker 2: God now for like five or six years. I was like, hey,
- 13:13Speaker 2: God really needs a solid It's me dollan fast, it's
- 13:19Speaker 2: stat And God was like, do comedy, Like I've heard
- 13:22Speaker 2: the voice of all these favorite sayings.
- 13:24Speaker 4: Do comedy.
- 13:25Speaker 1: And when you say you hear the voice of God,
- 13:27Speaker 1: what do you hear? How does that present itself?
- 13:30Speaker 2: You know, it's it's one of those things where I'll
- 13:33Speaker 2: say out of body, but it's almost kind of like
- 13:35Speaker 2: a almost like a closing in because I know it's
- 13:38Speaker 2: not me, Like that was not an idea that I
- 13:40Speaker 2: could ever come up with on my own, and it
- 13:44Speaker 2: just sounds very clear, do comedy.
- 13:47Speaker 4: It wasn't really, it wasn't James Earl Jerald. It was
- 13:49Speaker 4: just you comedy. And I was like what And.
- 13:53Speaker 2: I remember being like, that's that's not what I would
- 13:56Speaker 2: ever do. So I was like, nah, I'm good. And
- 13:58Speaker 2: then I was like god, no, for like it's me Evon,
- 14:01Speaker 2: like like give me something I can actually work with.
- 14:03Speaker 4: And he said, either you're going to larger trust me,
- 14:06Speaker 4: or you're not.
- 14:07Speaker 2: And then the book spun away like it was like
- 14:09Speaker 2: I was just like whoa, you guys just dropped.
- 14:11Speaker 4: I was like to leave, what the hell? But it
- 14:13Speaker 4: was just so clear and I was so scared.
- 14:16Speaker 2: That's also how I know that it's him when he
- 14:19Speaker 2: asked me to do something that completely takes me out
- 14:23Speaker 2: of like the realm of logic, out of the realm
- 14:26Speaker 2: of something that I feel like I can do. I
- 14:28Speaker 2: know this nothing but God, because I wouldn't normally come
- 14:30Speaker 2: up with that.
- 14:30Speaker 4: That's stupid. Why would I? Why would I put my stuff?
- 14:33Speaker 2: Because Lenduria is like Americs are actually nice, like just
- 14:36Speaker 2: you know you have white friends and like when you
- 14:38Speaker 2: started doing comedy, they were like.
- 14:39Speaker 4: Honey, that was good.
- 14:40Speaker 2: You know they'll support, they'll clap, they'll support whether it's
- 14:43Speaker 2: good or bad.
- 14:43Speaker 4: When you bomb there like you'll get.
- 14:45Speaker 2: Them next size and you're like, oh, thank you. When
- 14:47Speaker 2: you know front of durious they do not care about
- 14:50Speaker 2: your feelings. Okay, if I were to bomb, they.
- 14:52Speaker 4: Would be like who's this?
- 14:54Speaker 5: Why?
- 14:56Speaker 4: And these are the parents? Okay?
- 15:00Speaker 2: And so I definitely was like, hey, okay, I'm very nervous,
- 15:04Speaker 2: I'm very scared. I also know that I don't want
- 15:08Speaker 2: a regular life like I just once I got said that,
- 15:10Speaker 2: I started like really representing the Bible.
- 15:12Speaker 4: I was like, oh, I.
- 15:13Speaker 2: Think I'm destined for more because for me, I think
- 15:15Speaker 2: when when you don't have friends and when you were
- 15:16Speaker 2: bullied and you feel like, oh man, all I wanted
- 15:19Speaker 2: to do was be long, and then you read the
- 15:21Speaker 2: Bible and it's like a blueprint to like belonging. It's
- 15:25Speaker 2: a blueprint to like finding a discovery yourself and your purpose.
- 15:28Speaker 2: I just I think I clung to it in such
- 15:29Speaker 2: a way that like I needed it. And so I
- 15:32Speaker 2: was like, well, maybe God knows something about me that
- 15:35Speaker 2: I don't know about myself and excars me so much.
- 15:37Speaker 4: But I would I would hate you know.
- 15:39Speaker 2: Even in the book, there's a chapter called Fears two
- 15:42Speaker 2: Boys and but regret as her bees, And for me,
- 15:44Speaker 2: I'm like, I would hate to like regret my life
- 15:47Speaker 2: because I just didn't do what God said because it
- 15:49Speaker 2: scared me so much, and so I spent the next
- 15:52Speaker 2: two weeks writing down what I thought was funny with
- 15:55Speaker 2: the dual identity of being that you're an American and
- 15:59Speaker 2: people who have and I almost I was so scared
- 16:02Speaker 2: of forgetting my lines, so I didn't do it. Like
- 16:04Speaker 2: like you know, when you get familiar with comedy, you're
- 16:07Speaker 2: able to improv, You're able to go with the jokes
- 16:09Speaker 2: to a crowd. Work that was not my case. I
- 16:12Speaker 2: was like, yeah, can y'all please start laughing? Y'all go
- 16:14Speaker 2: rest me up. And that was the first time that
- 16:17Speaker 2: I was like, Wow, I really really trusted God to
- 16:20Speaker 2: do something out of like the norm for me and
- 16:24Speaker 2: it worked out.
- 16:25Speaker 4: But I was so scared.
- 16:26Speaker 2: So I was like, hey, God, I want to do
- 16:28Speaker 2: this again, but if I know, I'm good if it's
- 16:31Speaker 2: not an audience of Nigerians with the same material.
- 16:34Speaker 4: And so that I did DC's Funniest College Student Competition.
- 16:38Speaker 2: I ended up winning for GW and part of winning
- 16:42Speaker 2: means you perform at the DC improv and so I
- 16:45Speaker 2: was like, oh my god, I think I can do comedy,
- 16:47Speaker 2: but it still scared me.
- 16:48Speaker 1: Yeah, I like that story. I talk about the story
- 16:51Speaker 1: when you moved to New York though, what happened with
- 16:53Speaker 1: that when you had no money or you.
- 16:55Speaker 4: Oh my god?
- 16:56Speaker 2: So that was like, well, those were like one of
- 16:57Speaker 2: the first moments. And then of course, like you keep
- 17:00Speaker 2: going and then.
- 17:01Speaker 1: And this voice becomes more familiar to you as you hear.
- 17:04Speaker 2: It absolutely, Like I know, like anytime I take a bath,
- 17:07Speaker 2: I always just bring my notepad and a pen because
- 17:11Speaker 2: when I'm still and I'm like set, like God, I
- 17:13Speaker 2: need to hear from you, that's when I'm like so
- 17:15Speaker 2: tapped in and so tuned in.
- 17:17Speaker 4: Inevitably I'll come out and I'll write something that I know.
- 17:19Speaker 2: All this is like waiting to download with me on
- 17:22Speaker 2: because he's always talking. And sometimes it's just kind of
- 17:25Speaker 2: like a feeling like I should go there, or I
- 17:28Speaker 2: should go do that, and sometimes it's like audible direction.
- 17:31Speaker 2: So when I was trying to avoid going to med
- 17:34Speaker 2: school by going to live in Liberia, which is just
- 17:37Speaker 2: finishial war because it's easier to like go to war
- 17:40Speaker 2: torn countries than to dismantle your parents' hopes and dreams.
- 17:44Speaker 4: And so the.
- 17:46Speaker 2: Last weekend I was there, I met this woman named Jackie,
- 17:49Speaker 2: and it was at a wedding it was literally I
- 17:51Speaker 2: met her one day. She was from New York. She's like,
- 17:53Speaker 2: you have me give my daughter, and that was it.
- 17:55Speaker 2: We went our separate ways. A couple months later, I
- 17:57Speaker 2: was like, I want to move to New York. If
- 17:59Speaker 2: I'm really going to do this comedy thing, I gotta
- 18:01Speaker 2: try it. So I just have enough to like buy
- 18:05Speaker 2: a bus ticket. Right, I'm like, I don't know where
- 18:06Speaker 2: I'm wanna stay. All I know is like, I gotta
- 18:08Speaker 2: get out of Maryland. So I get on a bus.
- 18:10Speaker 2: It's four hours. I'm texting everybody I know, like, hey.
- 18:15Speaker 4: Are you in New York?
- 18:16Speaker 2: Can I jump on your couch for a little bit.
- 18:18Speaker 2: Then I just post on Facebook. I was like, coming
- 18:21Speaker 2: to New York, need a place to stay, and that
- 18:23Speaker 2: was it. Two hours into my ride, I get a
- 18:25Speaker 2: message from Jackie that says call me.
- 18:28Speaker 4: She gets your.
- 18:28Speaker 2: Number and she goes, are you on your way to
- 18:31Speaker 2: New York. I'm like yeah, She's like, you can stay
- 18:33Speaker 2: in our basement apartment. My daughter is away of college,
- 18:35Speaker 2: so it's yours. I lived with this woman that I
- 18:38Speaker 2: had met once before I left war torn Liberia for
- 18:42Speaker 2: six months renfree. Those are the things where I'm like
- 18:46Speaker 2: you don't have all the answers before you go. I
- 18:48Speaker 2: was on a bus heading somewhere and I had no
- 18:51Speaker 2: idea where I was gonna stay and lay my head.
- 18:54Speaker 2: And as I went, without all the information, without every
- 18:58Speaker 2: tea cross and every I dotted, my answer came. So
- 19:03Speaker 2: that's where like my faith really, like definitely like I
- 19:06Speaker 2: don't extend those I've seen too much, Like I can't
- 19:10Speaker 2: back down, Like it's just it's just wild to because
- 19:13Speaker 2: the way I know how he works, I know how
- 19:15Speaker 2: he operates. And even now, like even bringing on the
- 19:17Speaker 2: relationship whereeople, like you think you're ever gonna meet someone
- 19:20Speaker 2: like Bro, I'm a immigrants who's living up our Wallace
- 19:24Speaker 2: dreams in Allywood.
- 19:26Speaker 4: There's eight billion people on Earth.
- 19:28Speaker 2: I feel like finding me one man is the easiest
- 19:31Speaker 2: thing I could do. It doesn't even cost in my
- 19:33Speaker 2: mind that it won't happen.
- 19:34Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the right attitude to have. I think a
- 19:36Speaker 1: lot of people would describe that. Also, not to say
- 19:39Speaker 1: that you're not, you know, have a relationship with God.
- 19:41Speaker 1: You obviously do, but a lot of people would say, oh,
- 19:43Speaker 1: that's instinct or the knowing, like your intuition when you
- 19:47Speaker 1: can sit still and really hear yourself and hear your desires,
- 19:50Speaker 1: whether it's someone telling you or whether it's an innate
- 19:53Speaker 1: feeling or an instinctual intuition, whatever. I think a lot
- 19:57Speaker 1: of people can relate to that. I love though. I
- 20:00Speaker 1: love the way you're talking about it. I love the
- 20:02Speaker 1: way that you believe in it, because I think when
- 20:05Speaker 1: we believe in things, it becomes true. A lot of
- 20:07Speaker 1: people are like, I don't believe in that. I don't
- 20:09Speaker 1: believe in that. I don't believe It's like, you don't
- 20:11Speaker 1: know what the fuck is going on. Nobody knows what
- 20:14Speaker 1: is going on in this world. When somebody's like, there's
- 20:16Speaker 1: no UFOs, I'm like, you don't know that. What are
- 20:19Speaker 1: you talking about. There's plenty of evidence to suggest otherwise.
- 20:23Speaker 1: You have this belief and it's closed and shut, and
- 20:25Speaker 1: that's the end of the case. You know, like your
- 20:27Speaker 1: opinion is valid because it's yours.
- 20:30Speaker 2: I feel like the one thing that is certain in
- 20:32Speaker 2: life is you live at the level to.
- 20:35Speaker 4: What you believe. Right, if you believe, you know what,
- 20:37Speaker 4: they're good people in this world.
- 20:39Speaker 2: And I've just I choose to be optimistic and yes,
- 20:41Speaker 2: even in the face of like bad things happening and
- 20:43Speaker 2: bad people coming to you, you're still like, yeah, no,
- 20:47Speaker 2: I really hope and they find joined their live, but
- 20:49Speaker 2: I'm gonna still choose to believe that there are better
- 20:52Speaker 2: people out there are good people.
- 20:53Speaker 4: So you just live at the level to what you believe.
- 20:55Speaker 4: And some people, for.
- 20:56Speaker 2: All a young age, have been like stunded to like
- 20:59Speaker 2: be like the world is stress, everything's sass.
- 21:03Speaker 1: To have to have limited belief systems, you know that
- 21:05Speaker 1: sum that aren't always growing, always expanding, like the idea.
- 21:09Speaker 1: The key to I think true awareness and enlightenment is
- 21:13Speaker 1: to have your opinion changed constantly to start believing. And
- 21:17Speaker 1: I'm not talking about QAnon. I'm talking about like learning
- 21:20Speaker 1: as you grow, like oh, I actually I'm open to
- 21:22Speaker 1: this or and I accept this, and yes that might
- 21:25Speaker 1: be a possibility. Just because it hasn't happened to you
- 21:27Speaker 1: doesn't mean it can. But I love the attitude. I
- 21:30Speaker 1: love all of it, like I can totally relate because
- 21:32Speaker 1: when you have high vibes, you get high vibe things.
- 21:35Speaker 1: You know, things come your way, for sure.
- 21:38Speaker 2: I love what you said about feasible because it's like
- 21:40Speaker 2: none of us are are the thing, Like I'm not
- 21:43Speaker 2: the thing as I was while I was seventy, Like
- 21:45Speaker 2: there's some character traits that are like these are the
- 21:48Speaker 2: things that make me. But like when new information, when
- 21:51Speaker 2: you read new books, when you when you go to therapy,
- 21:54Speaker 2: when you have different conversations, your world enlarger than expands
- 21:57Speaker 2: and you're able to be like, oh, you know what,
- 22:00Speaker 2: I didn't like doing that, Like now I like doing this.
- 22:02Speaker 2: I just wasn't ready to bring that into my life
- 22:05Speaker 2: at that point when you first asked me. But like
- 22:07Speaker 2: that doesn't mean like, oh, you're a flip flopper. It's like, no,
- 22:09Speaker 2: I just have new information now, Like I just enjoy
- 22:12Speaker 2: growing and learning. And then some things I used to do,
- 22:15Speaker 2: I don't do it anymore. Like God really got me
- 22:18Speaker 2: to a place, especially the pandemic. He was like, I
- 22:20Speaker 2: need you to trust you as much as you trust me.
- 22:24Speaker 2: So I'm going to be a little bit more quiet.
- 22:26Speaker 2: And you have to know that because I love you
- 22:28Speaker 2: and you love me, and I'm in you, that the
- 22:30Speaker 2: decisions you will make will be from a place that
- 22:33Speaker 2: make me proud as opposed to be like God, is
- 22:35Speaker 2: this what you want? God?
- 22:36Speaker 4: Is this what you want?
- 22:36Speaker 2: And so it's just like whoa that was like, Okay,
- 22:39Speaker 2: you're not all the choriny reels anymore, like you have
- 22:41Speaker 2: the bicycle go. And I think sometimes people just like
- 22:45Speaker 2: are chained even to like, well, this is what our
- 22:47Speaker 2: relationship was like, and God, like, why would you leave me?
- 22:49Speaker 4: I need you?
- 22:50Speaker 2: It's like I'm not a good parent if like you're
- 22:52Speaker 2: connected to my hip all the time. You have to
- 22:54Speaker 2: trust and know my voice and my love is in you,
- 22:58Speaker 2: so move accordingly.
- 23:02Speaker 1: What was the last book that you read? Oh, my goodness,
- 23:04Speaker 1: you mentioned books. I'm a big book a reader. We'd
- 23:06Speaker 1: like to talk a lot about books on this podcast.
- 23:09Speaker 1: Your last favorite.
- 23:10Speaker 2: Book, Uh yah, yas the tresenta Kingdom was a really
- 23:14Speaker 2: good one, and then Seven Days in June was a
- 23:18Speaker 2: really good one.
- 23:18Speaker 1: Like, what's that I haven't heard of seven Days in June.
- 23:21Speaker 1: The last time I checked, there were thirty Reilly.
- 23:25Speaker 4: I'd dealt with you.
- 23:27Speaker 2: It's by Tea Williams. It's a love story by these
- 23:32Speaker 2: two authors who spent seven days in June when they
- 23:35Speaker 2: were younger, and it was just like a whirlwind and
- 23:37Speaker 2: then like they separated. But then all of your books
- 23:40Speaker 2: are like low key about this intense love that they had.
- 23:43Speaker 4: And then they reunite.
- 23:45Speaker 1: Oh I like that. That sounds cute.
- 23:48Speaker 4: Uh huh.
- 23:48Speaker 1: Then summer I like to dip into a lot of fiction.
- 23:50Speaker 4: What about you give me some recommendations.
- 23:53Speaker 1: I'm reading Covenant of Water right now. I'm reading Andrea
- 23:56Speaker 1: Augusty's autobiography. Oh, I have a good book for you,
- 24:00Speaker 1: Lucky Girl. That's a good book. It's about these four
- 24:03Speaker 1: queer women while some are non binary, and these four
- 24:07Speaker 1: queer friends that live together and they work at like
- 24:09Speaker 1: a magazine that's about to get canceled, not canceled, but
- 24:12Speaker 1: they have no money, you know, so they're about to
- 24:13Speaker 1: get shut down. And then these new people come in
- 24:16Speaker 1: and there's kind of a lot of affairs and they're
- 24:19Speaker 1: all good friends. So it's fun and it's fiction, so
- 24:21Speaker 1: it's nice and light. And then there's another one that
- 24:23Speaker 1: I read that was really good. Wait, that's Lucky You.
- 24:27Speaker 1: Lucky You is a great book.
- 24:29Speaker 4: It's that.
- 24:30Speaker 1: Yeah, it's about a girl that grows up in Kenya,
- 24:32Speaker 1: moves to America and she has a really overbearing mother
- 24:36Speaker 1: and then she's kind of confronting the racism in America
- 24:40Speaker 1: compared to where she grew up in Kenya, where she
- 24:42Speaker 1: doesn't feel that kind of she doesn't feel American racism.
- 24:45Speaker 1: She's like, when you grew up in Kenya, you're surrounded
- 24:47Speaker 1: by all black people, so shut up and stop complaining.
- 24:49Speaker 1: It's kind of what the vibe she comes in with.
- 24:51Speaker 1: And then the transformation after spending so many years in
- 24:55Speaker 1: America and how different it is here when it's not
- 24:58Speaker 1: all black people, you know, and what you're up against.
- 25:00Speaker 1: So that was a really good book. I learned a
- 25:02Speaker 1: lot from that. It's fiction, but it's beautiful.
- 25:04Speaker 4: I can relate. I can't wait to get into that.
- 25:07Speaker 1: Okay, we're gonna take a quick break and we're gonna
- 25:08Speaker 1: be right back, and we're back. It happens so fast.
- 25:16Speaker 3: Are you ready to give some advice?
- 25:17Speaker 1: Are you ready to give some adviceive on, you won't
- 25:20Speaker 1: be what this podcast is. We have people that write
- 25:23Speaker 1: and call in and we give advice. So get your
- 25:26Speaker 1: shit together, girl.
- 25:27Speaker 3: Okay, Katie Wrights, Dear Chelsea, I have two questions, really, First,
- 25:32Speaker 3: does Chelsea have any advice for someone who has public
- 25:35Speaker 3: speaking anxiety but wants to try stand up? My anxiety
- 25:38Speaker 3: surrounding public speaking is pretty intense. I typically physically shake
- 25:43Speaker 3: and my voice gets stuck and garbled. I love to write, however,
- 25:46Speaker 3: and I've been working on some jokes, but the thought
- 25:48Speaker 3: of speaking in public and being in front of anyone
- 25:51Speaker 3: terrifies me. Does this mean that maybe trying this just
- 25:54Speaker 3: isn't in the cards for me? Eventually, I'd like to
- 25:57Speaker 3: submit a writing packet for a show or comedian, which
- 26:00Speaker 3: would be a dream come true, especially due to the
- 26:03Speaker 3: slim chance that anything would come from trying stand up,
- 26:05Speaker 3: which I know isn't logical or very realistic, given that
- 26:09Speaker 3: the dream outcome would be to get a comedy writing position.
- 26:12Speaker 3: Should I start there instead? This idea actually makes me
- 26:15Speaker 3: a lot happier to even contemplate. So maybe it's the
- 26:18Speaker 3: road I should try first, even knowing that it's an
- 26:21Speaker 3: extremely competitive field and I know nothing would probably come
- 26:24Speaker 3: of it. At least I wouldn't regret not trying. I'd
- 26:27Speaker 3: be so grateful for any sort of direction or advice.
- 26:30Speaker 1: Let me start from a medical standpoint. You can talk
- 26:33Speaker 1: to your doctor about beta blockers. You will not shake.
- 26:36Speaker 1: I've used beta blockers, my sister. Everyone I know has
- 26:39Speaker 1: used a beta blocker at some point in their lives
- 26:40Speaker 1: when they're too nervous, So that kind of cuts off
- 26:42Speaker 1: that signal that your brain sends to your body that
- 26:45Speaker 1: makes you shake or where you get dry mouth, or
- 26:48Speaker 1: it solves a lot of problems. If you're comfortable doing that,
- 26:51Speaker 1: I would highly recommend it because beta blockers work and
- 26:54Speaker 1: you don't have to take them forever. They kind of
- 26:56Speaker 1: rewire your brain to stop getting so nervous. I would
- 26:58Speaker 1: also recommend that, I mean, to any person that really
- 27:01Speaker 1: wants to face their fears, doing stand up comedy is
- 27:04Speaker 1: a great way to face your fears. You're always going
- 27:07Speaker 1: to be happy that you did it, regardless of what happens.
- 27:10Speaker 1: You're going to be happy that you took the step
- 27:12Speaker 1: towards making that happen. But if writing is also like
- 27:17Speaker 1: something that appeals to you, I think there's a much
- 27:20Speaker 1: better chance of success with writing than there is with
- 27:23Speaker 1: being in front of the camera. I feel like the
- 27:25Speaker 1: odds are slightly lower for being in front of the
- 27:28Speaker 1: camera than they are being a writer. And you know,
- 27:30Speaker 1: with writing, you can do that and that doesn't make
- 27:33Speaker 1: you nervous and it doesn't make you scared, and so
- 27:35Speaker 1: there's a lot of benefits that come with that too.
- 27:37Speaker 1: Following your path and it sounds like that kind of
- 27:40Speaker 1: feels like it is your path, but I would still
- 27:42Speaker 1: try stand up just to try it because it's so
- 27:45Speaker 1: exhilarating to do that. And I too have experienced shakiness
- 27:50Speaker 1: on stage and stuff, and that's how I found out
- 27:52Speaker 1: about beta blockers. I don't use them now because I
- 27:55Speaker 1: don't need them now, but I did have a period
- 27:57Speaker 1: of time where I did need them, and so they
- 27:59Speaker 1: can help in them. Yvon, what do you think.
- 28:02Speaker 4: A couple of things? So I would say, if you're
- 28:05Speaker 4: really interested to get.
- 28:06Speaker 2: Into the root of your social anxiety and you're able to,
- 28:09Speaker 2: I would try emd R therapy because that actually like
- 28:13Speaker 2: gets right into like where did this fear come from?
- 28:17Speaker 2: Like what is it rooted in that makes you feel
- 28:19Speaker 2: like whenever you get in front of people, like it's
- 28:21Speaker 2: so present that it blocks you. So if you're able to,
- 28:25Speaker 2: I would try that because I think that's not just
- 28:27Speaker 2: showing up in public speaking, that's showing up in other
- 28:29Speaker 2: areas of your.
- 28:30Speaker 1: Life, and that's getting to the root of the matter
- 28:32Speaker 1: rather than putting a band aid on it, which is
- 28:33Speaker 1: what it beta blocker propenolol would do.
- 28:37Speaker 2: Yeah, So, I mean, because that's just like for life,
- 28:39Speaker 2: that you're gonna you're gonna be around people for as
- 28:41Speaker 2: long as your life, right, So whether you just want
- 28:44Speaker 2: to figure out, like why why do I feel like this?
- 28:46Speaker 4: And is there ever is there any freedom from this?
- 28:49Speaker 4: That's what I would say.
- 28:50Speaker 2: First two, I would be more mindful and cognizant when
- 28:53Speaker 2: you say things like when you just read even though
- 28:56Speaker 2: I know nothing will ever come of it, you have
- 28:59Speaker 2: what you believe.
- 29:00Speaker 4: So words are so important for me.
- 29:02Speaker 2: I'm like, I'm huge on whatever you say is like
- 29:06Speaker 2: an arrow. So if you're like I just believe that
- 29:09Speaker 2: something could come of it, even if you're not sure
- 29:12Speaker 2: what it is. If you're starting a set to this
- 29:14Speaker 2: would be like I I know that you know nothing
- 29:17Speaker 2: will ever have it, It's like, well, nothing will ever happen,
- 29:19Speaker 2: You're right, So it's like a self fulfilling privacy.
- 29:22Speaker 4: So that's that just on the just in general terms.
- 29:24Speaker 2: But then I would also say, like, just also to
- 29:27Speaker 2: listen to our body, like the things that make us
- 29:29Speaker 2: feel better.
- 29:30Speaker 4: I do that, Like I think like so with somehow
- 29:32Speaker 4: society has been like push faster, your fears go to
- 29:35Speaker 4: the end.
- 29:36Speaker 2: It's just like, but what I do want to do this,
- 29:37Speaker 2: Like I don't like it, you know what I mean,
- 29:38Speaker 2: Like I I have a fear of blood, and I
- 29:42Speaker 2: was still like majoring in freaking biology, thinking I was
- 29:46Speaker 2: gonna be a doctor, like I don't like blood, like
- 29:49Speaker 2: so there's no verse, Like I.
- 29:50Speaker 4: Was gonna be an obgyn. The hell was like Dickie,
- 29:53Speaker 4: So like that didn't bring me joy.
- 29:55Speaker 2: I loved talking to people, so I got my master's
- 29:59Speaker 2: in public health.
- 30:00Speaker 4: I love traveling. I got my masters in global public health.
- 30:04Speaker 2: So it was just like those things actually made sense
- 30:07Speaker 2: and they brought me joy, and I was good at
- 30:09Speaker 2: them because they made me feel good. So it's like, yes,
- 30:13Speaker 2: you can push faster fears, and there's sometimes where fears
- 30:15Speaker 2: are quippling because it's stopping from doing the thing that
- 30:18Speaker 2: you're supposed to do. But then's sometimes I think people
- 30:20Speaker 2: like just do the hard thing because it's hard, and
- 30:23Speaker 2: someone told them that they have to do the art.
- 30:24Speaker 4: It's like, biggy girl.
- 30:26Speaker 2: From what I'm hearing, I feel like you're gonna be
- 30:28Speaker 2: a really good comedy writer. Get a comedic friend, and
- 30:31Speaker 2: like write jokes for them, so then you kind of
- 30:33Speaker 2: get the best of both worlds of being on tour
- 30:35Speaker 2: having your jokes be centered, but then you being behind
- 30:39Speaker 2: the scenes and then maybe enough breaths of that in
- 30:41Speaker 2: a new season you get you see that it's not
- 30:44Speaker 2: so bad, and then you're able to come to the forefront.
- 30:48Speaker 2: It's finny, like everything doesn't have to happen all at once.
- 30:51Speaker 2: There can be stages to your life and to your dreams.
- 30:54Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think too, you know, stand up doesn't
- 30:56Speaker 3: necessarily have to be like, oh, that's her end goal,
- 30:59Speaker 3: Like she wants to be a writer, but if she
- 31:01Speaker 3: were to take a class or do a couple open
- 31:04Speaker 3: mic nights, get her jokes out there, she would be
- 31:06Speaker 3: able to see like what's working, what doesn't like, what
- 31:08Speaker 3: does it actually sound like, you know, when it's up
- 31:11Speaker 3: on stage, And it'll help her refine her jokes a
- 31:14Speaker 3: little bit as well.
- 31:15Speaker 2: But I also love what like I think it was
- 31:17Speaker 2: like Tina Say and Amy Poehler. I love how they
- 31:19Speaker 2: were very much like, yeah, we couldn't be stand ups,
- 31:22Speaker 2: but we can be sketch artists. So like they're still
- 31:25Speaker 2: very front incenting, you know them as comedic women, but
- 31:28Speaker 2: they're not stand ups, right, and they are very vocal
- 31:31Speaker 2: about like no, that's a different beast. And I love
- 31:34Speaker 2: that because I think it shows that there's different ways
- 31:37Speaker 2: to be comedic and to be front and center would
- 31:40Speaker 2: not necessarily be like so the other day I was
- 31:42Speaker 2: walking down the street, you know, like it's just like
- 31:44Speaker 2: there's a different there's different chy points for everybody.
- 31:47Speaker 1: If you're really itching for that experience, go and do it.
- 31:50Speaker 1: You know, try it a couple times if you really
- 31:52Speaker 1: want to overcome that. But again, you don't have to.
- 31:56Speaker 1: But if it's gonna make you feel good, it's gonna
- 31:58Speaker 1: make you feel a little bit brave, and it will
- 32:00Speaker 1: only lend itself to your writing as well, because so
- 32:02Speaker 1: you're gonna have a big appreciation for it after you
- 32:04Speaker 1: try to do it.
- 32:05Speaker 5: Yeah.
- 32:05Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 32:06Speaker 3: One of my girlfriends just tried to stand up for
- 32:08Speaker 3: the first time, and she was like newly out as queer.
- 32:10Speaker 3: She was like really scared to sort of like get
- 32:12Speaker 3: up in front of a random room. So she took
- 32:14Speaker 3: a class that was all women. It was super supportive
- 32:17Speaker 3: and like even if Katie just took a class, you know,
- 32:20Speaker 3: even if she told herself, like I'm not going to
- 32:21Speaker 3: do the final thing where I get up in front
- 32:23Speaker 3: of people, but just even like getting in a class
- 32:25Speaker 3: and like seeing how that feels.
- 32:26Speaker 2: And then also thinking the brush it off, like make
- 32:28Speaker 2: your goal to just be to have fun, because I
- 32:31Speaker 2: think sometimes like what the intention you set, like if
- 32:34Speaker 2: you're like, I want to do them five minutes, set
- 32:37Speaker 2: just this is new for me and this is scary
- 32:39Speaker 2: and I'm actually being vulnerable, and so really a win
- 32:42Speaker 2: at the end of this class would just be to
- 32:44Speaker 2: be able to talk to you guys for two minutes
- 32:46Speaker 2: without feeling a little to fear that's okay. Just set
- 32:49Speaker 2: that as the goal, even if somebody else in the
- 32:51Speaker 2: classes like, yeah, I'm going to open up maddage to
- 32:54Speaker 2: square guard and at the end of.
- 32:55Speaker 4: This class, I cool, God bless you.
- 32:58Speaker 1: Amazing.
- 32:59Speaker 3: Well Katie, let us on how it goes. Our next
- 33:02Speaker 3: question comes from Sarah. Sarah says, Dear Chelsea, I need
- 33:07Speaker 3: some advice with dating. Full disclosure, I'm a thirty four
- 33:10Speaker 3: year old straight female and a virgin. I haven't had
- 33:13Speaker 3: a boyfriend since college. I have no idea how to date,
- 33:17Speaker 3: and to be honest, it terrifies me, like heart racing,
- 33:21Speaker 3: literally being scared to go on a date. I recently
- 33:24Speaker 3: got back on a dating app hinge and I was
- 33:27Speaker 3: asked out on a date. I immediately started panicking and
- 33:30Speaker 3: told my friend, I can't do this. I'm too scared.
- 33:33Speaker 3: Oh what the hell is wrong with me? Chelsea? And
- 33:36Speaker 3: what advice do you have for me to get past
- 33:38Speaker 3: this fear? Please help Sarah?
- 33:41Speaker 1: Oh geez, that's terrible. Well she needs to go to
- 33:45Speaker 1: therapy too and figure out why she's so scared of
- 33:47Speaker 1: a date. It should and I listen, the only thing
- 33:50Speaker 1: you can do to diminish fear is to attack it.
- 33:54Speaker 1: I mean, I'm a perfect example of being scared of
- 33:58Speaker 1: so many things and just go going after it and
- 34:00Speaker 1: then the fear diminishes. Like for dating, I've definitely been
- 34:03Speaker 1: nervous to go on dates, and you know, I've definitely
- 34:06Speaker 1: had too much to drink because I was too nervous
- 34:08Speaker 1: to go on a date. And then I realized, who
- 34:11Speaker 1: the fuck gives a shit? Like you're putting too much
- 34:14Speaker 1: pressure on the actual date. You should. The more dates
- 34:16Speaker 1: you have, the less anxious you're going to be about it.
- 34:19Speaker 1: So you I would beg you to figure out a
- 34:21Speaker 1: way to go on five dates in a week so
- 34:24Speaker 1: that you can just get over this hump of fear
- 34:27Speaker 1: and understand that it's not the end of the world,
- 34:29Speaker 1: Like nothing is that important to be that scared about,
- 34:32Speaker 1: and I mean other than somebody being sick or dying,
- 34:34Speaker 1: Like it's supposed to be fun. And I don't know
- 34:37Speaker 1: why you would, you know, be so so scared unless
- 34:40Speaker 1: there was a real deep issue that you would have
- 34:42Speaker 1: to work out again with a therapist. But in lieu
- 34:46Speaker 1: of that, I would say to practice it as often
- 34:49Speaker 1: as you can, even if you want to just say, hey,
- 34:51Speaker 1: we're going out as friends on the first date, I
- 34:53Speaker 1: just want you to know that, you know, if you
- 34:55Speaker 1: want to take the pressure off of the situation, I
- 34:57Speaker 1: just want to meet somebody and get to know somebody first.
- 35:00Speaker 1: I don't want any expectations to take some of the
- 35:03Speaker 1: pressure out of it so it doesn't feel so intimidating. Yvane,
- 35:06Speaker 1: what do you think?
- 35:07Speaker 2: I agree one thousand percent, like there there should definitely
- 35:11Speaker 2: be some therapy to get to the root of what's
- 35:13Speaker 2: happening too. I'm curious to know what happened in college
- 35:16Speaker 2: in terms of why she hasn't been on a date
- 35:19Speaker 2: since college, because like, from eighteen to thirty five, it's
- 35:22Speaker 2: a long time to not have gone out with somebody,
- 35:26Speaker 2: even it's just friends. So it's just like there's a
- 35:28Speaker 2: web and bite, Let's go get some pizza, let's go bowling.
- 35:30Speaker 4: That's something.
- 35:31Speaker 2: And then I think what happens with a lot of
- 35:33Speaker 2: women who are waiting, especially a lot of women who
- 35:36Speaker 2: are virgins, because you know, you have the folks who
- 35:37Speaker 2: like celibate or you know whatever, want to get virgins.
- 35:40Speaker 2: They feel like it's the scarlet let. They feel like,
- 35:43Speaker 2: you know, what if he wants to have sex with me,
- 35:45Speaker 2: or what do I say? And then what if he
- 35:46Speaker 2: doesn't like me?
- 35:47Speaker 4: What I tell him? I'm a virgin? And it's just
- 35:48Speaker 4: like what the hell? It's so much pressure.
- 35:52Speaker 2: And it's also like I remember I learned this a
- 35:54Speaker 2: long time ago, Like it's actually very rude to the
- 35:56Speaker 2: man to believe that all he wants from you is sex.
- 36:00Speaker 4: He could just be like, I just want to stay,
- 36:01Speaker 4: have a good time. I just want to get to
- 36:02Speaker 4: know your name.
- 36:03Speaker 2: And also see if like we vibe before we even
- 36:06Speaker 2: get to sex. Right, I've had long term relationships and
- 36:09Speaker 2: sets was not on the table, and we have had
- 36:10Speaker 2: a fantastic time. And so I think too, it's it's
- 36:14Speaker 2: this is more almost a reflection of like does she
- 36:17Speaker 2: think that she is worthy? Does she think that she
- 36:20Speaker 2: is a good time? Because I know, like there were
- 36:22Speaker 2: seasons where I didn't think I was beautiful. I wanted
- 36:25Speaker 2: to beat in a relationship, but because I didn't like really
- 36:28Speaker 2: fully see myself as that chick, that girl, it was
- 36:31Speaker 2: almost kind of like, okay, you know, I mean I
- 36:35Speaker 2: used to say the stupidest things. I'm like, I like, God,
- 36:37Speaker 2: do like me bad?
- 36:38Speaker 6: As?
- 36:38Speaker 4: Did I have no choice in this? You know, like
- 36:42Speaker 4: what if I don't like them?
- 36:43Speaker 2: Like?
- 36:43Speaker 4: Who the hell? Who's said that I didn't have a choice?
- 36:45Speaker 2: And so it's like once I got my bad girl
- 36:48Speaker 2: ish up, it was like, oh baby, I'm a king builder.
- 36:52Speaker 2: I know we not have a sex, but like you
- 36:53Speaker 2: can have sex with everybody else, but what you can't
- 36:55Speaker 2: have is what I bring to the table.
- 36:56Speaker 4: And maybe it's a lot.
- 36:57Speaker 2: So you can still decide to not rop And that's
- 37:00Speaker 2: fine because I'm not for everybody in that way, but
- 37:04Speaker 2: I know that they're the people that I haven't been
- 37:06Speaker 2: for bit fire, and so it's just now finding that
- 37:10Speaker 2: bit So for her, I would just say, one, get
- 37:12Speaker 2: to the root of what this is, to ask yourself,
- 37:15Speaker 2: for real, do you love you? Do you feel like
- 37:17Speaker 2: you're beautiful. Do you feel like you're a worthy date?
- 37:20Speaker 2: Like a guy is going to enjoy the heck out
- 37:23Speaker 2: of getting to know you. Have you gotten to know you.
- 37:26Speaker 1: And write those things down, that you are worthy, that
- 37:28Speaker 1: you're a queen, that you're a boss, that you're confident
- 37:32Speaker 1: enough to go on dates and and actually decide if
- 37:34Speaker 1: you like that person, because it's not about what they
- 37:36Speaker 1: think about you. Just like you, John said, we get
- 37:38Speaker 1: hung up on that we want people to like us
- 37:40Speaker 1: when we're too stupid, and then we realize, wait, I
- 37:43Speaker 1: don't even like you. So you got to say to yourself,
- 37:46Speaker 1: you got to write down some positive affirmations for yourself,
- 37:49Speaker 1: because I think you're in your head. I mean, I
- 37:51Speaker 1: know you're in your head if you're feeling this nervous
- 37:53Speaker 1: about it. It's normal to be nervous about things like this.
- 37:56Speaker 1: That's totally okay, but it shouldn't hinder you from actually
- 38:00Speaker 1: following through on the actual date and set yourself up
- 38:04Speaker 1: for success. Go to a place where you're gonna be
- 38:06Speaker 1: the most comfortable that you can possibly be. And I'm
- 38:10Speaker 1: not joking when I say do it as many times
- 38:12Speaker 1: in a row as you can do it to get
- 38:14Speaker 1: the nerves out of your system and extinguish that that
- 38:17Speaker 1: insecurity that you're feeling. And clearly it's a bigger issue.
- 38:20Speaker 1: But like all these steps that you take to sort
- 38:23Speaker 1: of self heal, they all start to build up together
- 38:26Speaker 1: and then things become much easier because you're being proactive
- 38:29Speaker 1: about your own well being when you actually are like, no,
- 38:32Speaker 1: I'm gonna do this because it's gonna be good for me,
- 38:35Speaker 1: rather than fall into your nervous side and say no, no,
- 38:38Speaker 1: forget it, I'm not gonna do it. I'm gonna stay home.
- 38:40Speaker 4: And also find your sexy too, And that means so
- 38:43Speaker 4: many different things for so many different people, right, but
- 38:45Speaker 4: like finding that sexy like whatever it is for you,
- 38:48Speaker 4: I don't know on a houshold you or how short
- 38:50Speaker 4: you are on being I'll split like that has nothing
- 38:52Speaker 4: to do with the sexiness of the continents because if
- 38:54Speaker 4: you if you know, like you'll want to walk on
- 38:56Speaker 4: a role I'm the bed a stick in here, like
- 38:58Speaker 4: and that's not just something you say like, that's something
- 39:00Speaker 4: like you're going to eat actually have to believe because
- 39:03Speaker 4: especially I mean tells you though being in Alleywood, you
- 39:05Speaker 4: walk in the room and like that's a line of
- 39:06Speaker 4: bounds up in here, my god. But then you're just
- 39:09Speaker 4: like that's cool. I'm also in here, so that I'm
- 39:11Speaker 4: also beautiful.
- 39:12Speaker 2: I'm also that chick and also trust and know that, like,
- 39:16Speaker 2: there are going to be some guys who are not
- 39:18Speaker 2: gonna rock with you because you were virgin, and that's fine.
- 39:21Speaker 2: They're lost. You're not for everybody. I would always say like,
- 39:25Speaker 2: I'm not looking for our.
- 39:26Speaker 4: Thousand guys, so like that's also a lot of pressure.
- 39:28Speaker 1: I need one good dude, like that's it.
- 39:31Speaker 2: And I used to friend zone myself a lot because
- 39:34Speaker 2: I did have that thing of like I would just
- 39:36Speaker 2: crack jokes and I'd be the funny girl and it's like, damn,
- 39:38Speaker 2: well a lot have been on the dating two years
- 39:40Speaker 2: because everyone's your friend.
- 39:42Speaker 4: And so it's like when I talk about finding your sexy,
- 39:44Speaker 4: it's that thing of being able to like look at
- 39:46Speaker 4: some dude and just be like, Okay.
- 39:48Speaker 2: I used to do the stupidest thing, Josey, And when
- 39:49Speaker 2: guys asking my number, I'm be like, you have my
- 39:51Speaker 2: email address?
- 39:53Speaker 1: That is so stupid. I love that. It's like what
- 39:56Speaker 1: does that mean? Also, five bad dates are going to
- 39:59Speaker 1: lead a good one. Like the sooner you get through
- 40:02Speaker 1: the bad dates, the sooner you're gonna find the good one.
- 40:04Speaker 1: And it's a trial and error, that's what online dating is.
- 40:06Speaker 1: So you took the first right step with Hinge, and
- 40:09Speaker 1: now we need you to go on some dates and
- 40:11Speaker 1: fuck your nervousness. Do whatever it. Take an edible, have
- 40:14Speaker 1: a drink, whatever you want, don't don't get wasted, but
- 40:17Speaker 1: have something to take the edge off. Beta blockers, Yeah,
- 40:19Speaker 1: take a beta blocker.
- 40:20Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 40:21Speaker 1: Go to your doctor and get propana all. That's a
- 40:23Speaker 1: beta blocker that'll help your Yeah, don't get row hipnawl.
- 40:27Speaker 1: Don't confuse row hipnol with a beta blocker.
- 40:29Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 40:30Speaker 3: And I think a couple of just practical things that
- 40:32Speaker 3: she can do on hinge is set the expectation right
- 40:35Speaker 3: up front, like looking for friends and maybe more so
- 40:38Speaker 3: like you're not committing anybody who hits you up. You're
- 40:40Speaker 3: not committing to anything more than like, we're just seeing
- 40:42Speaker 3: what this turns into.
- 40:43Speaker 1: I went on a date the other night and I
- 40:45Speaker 1: was like, I'm a forty eight year old woman, and
- 40:48Speaker 1: I was like, oh, I hope he doesn't think what
- 40:50Speaker 1: if I don't like him? And I was like, if
- 40:52Speaker 1: you don't like him, you're leaving, And that's exactly what
- 40:53Speaker 1: I did. I had a drink and then I was like, sorry,
- 40:56Speaker 1: I'm going to dinner with my sisters. I'm leaving now, right,
- 40:58Speaker 1: you know.
- 40:58Speaker 4: And that was it.
- 40:59Speaker 1: It wasn't happening, it wasn't on. There were no expectations.
- 41:02Speaker 1: And you're in charge. You're a woman, you get to
- 41:04Speaker 1: decide what's going to happen.
- 41:06Speaker 2: Yeah, we have choice, supposedly, that's like, that's like, that's
- 41:10Speaker 2: a away right there.
- 41:14Speaker 3: This exact scenario happened to Actually, the same friend who
- 41:16Speaker 3: just came out of queer turned out she wasn't into
- 41:18Speaker 3: guys and that's why she was always panicking on dates.
- 41:20Speaker 3: So you know, maybe expand our search.
- 41:22Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, yeah, expand your search, really expand it.
- 41:27Speaker 3: Okay, Sarah, let us know how it goes, and we
- 41:30Speaker 3: have our collor color just came so. Felix says, I'm
- 41:36Speaker 3: a queer person, gay, demisexual, says gender man, which means
- 41:41Speaker 3: I'm a boy who likes boys, but not very often.
- 41:43Speaker 3: I was raised in a very religious home. In fact,
- 41:46Speaker 3: my father is a pastor of a megachurch in my
- 41:48Speaker 3: home state in the South. My parents love me very much,
- 41:51Speaker 3: but my sexuality has always been the rainbow elephant in
- 41:54Speaker 3: the room. I was outed by some youth group members
- 41:56Speaker 3: when I was in college, and it nearly cost my
- 41:58Speaker 3: father his job. When it happened, I went back in
- 42:01Speaker 3: the closet, But after college, I moved out of state
- 42:04Speaker 3: and have pretty much been living as an openly queer
- 42:06Speaker 3: person ever since. In fact, I'm a qualified contestant for
- 42:10Speaker 3: Mister Gay America this year pretty fucking gay, so I'm
- 42:14Speaker 3: pretty much out, not so on social media. Whenever I
- 42:17Speaker 3: post anything queer related, I have a setting that hides
- 42:19Speaker 3: it from my friends and family and my church. I
- 42:21Speaker 3: want to be proud of my accomplishments as the state
- 42:23Speaker 3: title holder which qualified me for Mister Gay America, and
- 42:27Speaker 3: when I eventually meet someone special, I want my family
- 42:29Speaker 3: to be happy for me and come to my wedding.
- 42:31Speaker 3: I love my parents very much, and they make a
- 42:33Speaker 3: point to tell me they love me and pray for
- 42:35Speaker 3: me daily. But they're convinced I'm on a horrible path
- 42:38Speaker 3: and living out my truth as a queer person will
- 42:40Speaker 3: lead to ruin. I have an incredibly supportive sister and
- 42:43Speaker 3: brother in law who are both licensed therapists and run
- 42:46Speaker 3: a lot of interference, so that's helped a lot. But
- 42:49Speaker 3: we've been putting off this conversation as a family for
- 42:51Speaker 3: a long time. Not being able to fully receive love
- 42:54Speaker 3: from my parents because it's predicated on me being something
- 42:57Speaker 3: I'm not has taken its toll over the years, and
- 43:00Speaker 3: it's finally bubbling to the surface. My question is this,
- 43:03Speaker 3: how do I convince my parents that they raised a
- 43:05Speaker 3: good kid? Or I guess, how do I exist as
- 43:08Speaker 3: a queer person without breaking my parents' hearts? And beyond that,
- 43:11Speaker 3: how do I handle the backlash that I know is
- 43:13Speaker 3: going to come for my old church love? Felix, Hi, Felix.
- 43:19Speaker 5: Hi, how you doing?
- 43:20Speaker 2: Hi?
- 43:20Speaker 1: Felix. Our special guest today is Yvonne Orgie.
- 43:23Speaker 4: I'd be lex, Oh.
- 43:24Speaker 5: My god, Hi, how are you?
- 43:26Speaker 4: I I'm good. Are you about the board of flight?
- 43:29Speaker 5: No, actually just deplaned from one.
- 43:31Speaker 1: So good eye, von good eye.
- 43:35Speaker 4: I was like, feelings, do you work?
- 43:38Speaker 6: Or I'm actually traveling for a pageant in Atlanta for
- 43:42Speaker 6: Mister Gay America?
- 43:43Speaker 1: Or is this a different pageant?
- 43:45Speaker 6: Yeah, so this is a prelim to Mister Gay America.
- 43:47Speaker 6: So we'll be competing for mister Gay Southern.
- 43:50Speaker 3: Well, this is we have two pageant queens here.
- 43:52Speaker 1: Well I wasn't quite the queen, but I was. I
- 43:55Speaker 1: was on my way, and then I decided to re route.
- 43:58Speaker 4: She was top fifteen out of fifty, so.
- 44:03Speaker 5: Excellent.
- 44:03Speaker 1: I was tough fifteen out of sixteen.
- 44:05Speaker 5: There you go.
- 44:06Speaker 1: Anyway. I feel like, so your family southern and religious.
- 44:10Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, pretty pretty stereotypical Southern Baptist religious, very anti gay,
- 44:15Speaker 6: anti trans all that good stuff.
- 44:18Speaker 1: Okay, Yeah, and they know you're gay.
- 44:21Speaker 6: Yeah, it's kind of like the rainbow elephant in the room.
- 44:24Speaker 6: We don't talk about it. They never asked me who
- 44:26Speaker 6: I'm dating or things like that. It's just something that
- 44:29Speaker 6: we don't really talk about.
- 44:31Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, I think that's probably why you don't have
- 44:34Speaker 1: sex a lot, or you don't want to have sex
- 44:35Speaker 1: a lot, because you've probably feel so much shame because
- 44:38Speaker 1: of the way that you were raised and everything you
- 44:41Speaker 1: know around your family, which is very common actually. But
- 44:45Speaker 1: I would say to you, this is the life that
- 44:48Speaker 1: we're given, you know what I mean, This is the
- 44:50Speaker 1: chance that we get. If you're living your life for
- 44:53Speaker 1: your family, then you're not living your life for yourself
- 44:56Speaker 1: and you have to really dig deep and figure out
- 44:59Speaker 1: what's more important. Is it the approval of your family,
- 45:01Speaker 1: is it the approval of your church, or is it
- 45:04Speaker 1: your own growth and your own happiness and joy?
- 45:07Speaker 2: You know.
- 45:08Speaker 1: I mean, it's not fair for you to have to
- 45:10Speaker 1: take on their opinions and their judgments and prohibit you
- 45:15Speaker 1: from blooming, you know what I mean, and to the
- 45:17Speaker 1: person that you're supposed to be. And it sounds like
- 45:21Speaker 1: that's exactly what you're allowing them to do.
- 45:24Speaker 6: Yeah, And I've definitely allowed them to do it for
- 45:27Speaker 6: a long time. I mean, I think for me, it's
- 45:29Speaker 6: just the you know me coming out, you know again
- 45:32Speaker 6: to them and being like this and this is me,
- 45:34Speaker 6: this is my truth and they would just take it,
- 45:36Speaker 6: you know so personally and which just cause a big
- 45:39Speaker 6: group to the family.
- 45:39Speaker 5: And I don't know if I'm strong enough to handle up.
- 45:42Speaker 1: But you are strong enough. You are. We're all strong enough.
- 45:45Speaker 1: It's we all have a reservoir of strength that we
- 45:47Speaker 1: don't even know about until we have to get in
- 45:50Speaker 1: touch with it. So you are strong enough. It's a
- 45:52Speaker 1: matter of choice if you're ready to do it, and
- 45:55Speaker 1: I would are you in therapy I am.
- 45:57Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm also a person living with schizophrenic Yes, that's
- 46:00Speaker 6: a whole other topic, but therapy is more towards like
- 46:03Speaker 6: helping strategies and things like that.
- 46:05Speaker 1: Do you have schizophrenia?
- 46:06Speaker 6: I do schizo effective disorder, which is schizophrenia plus a
- 46:10Speaker 6: mood disorder which is really fun.
- 46:13Speaker 1: Okay, and you're medicated for that.
- 46:15Speaker 6: Yes, yeah, medication definitely helps. So maybe they'll lead you know,
- 46:18Speaker 6: pretty pretty normal life thankfully.
- 46:20Speaker 1: Yeah, Avon, what are your thoughts on this subject matter?
- 46:23Speaker 4: When we were hearing your story, there was something you said,
- 46:25Speaker 4: you said, how do I get my parents to or
- 46:30Speaker 4: how do I the reality? Like you can't make anyone
- 46:33Speaker 4: do anything. You could desire things to the people, but like.
- 46:36Speaker 2: There's no version that you can make anyone to you
- 46:39Speaker 2: as you want to be seen, love you like you
- 46:41Speaker 2: want to be like that.
- 46:42Speaker 4: Like so I think there is a there's going to
- 46:45Speaker 4: have to be a a.
- 46:47Speaker 2: Separation of desire and expectation in order for you to
- 46:50Speaker 2: like fully get beat and joy. And this is not
- 46:54Speaker 2: at all comparing my situation to your situation to very
- 46:58Speaker 2: different things. But I remember when I was when I
- 47:00Speaker 2: she saw my parents that wouldn't do comedy mind you.
- 47:02Speaker 2: I had been the good Nigerian girl. I had gotten
- 47:05Speaker 2: the masters. I was in church, do all the things.
- 47:08Speaker 2: They I told them I was gonna move to New York.
- 47:12Speaker 2: Our relationship was straying.
- 47:13Speaker 4: For eight years.
- 47:14Speaker 2: I would call and like, havevych other's day. I got it,
- 47:17Speaker 2: be gotty get by back. Today I'm like, well, what
- 47:19Speaker 2: the hell sick?
- 47:21Speaker 4: You died it? What's going on? Right?
- 47:22Speaker 2: And so it can't be my well right now for
- 47:26Speaker 2: joy or understanding because they don't understand. So I had
- 47:29Speaker 2: to find my tribe. I had to find the people
- 47:31Speaker 2: that I knew cared for me, loved me, champion b
- 47:34Speaker 2: celebrated me, all those things, because like, you need all
- 47:37Speaker 2: of that when you're doing something that's different than what
- 47:40Speaker 2: they considered to be norm right, and so what I
- 47:44Speaker 2: also had to learn after base. In my mind, I
- 47:45Speaker 2: was like, once I do this, then they will love
- 47:48Speaker 2: me again. Then then we'll receive me again, then they
- 47:50Speaker 2: will accept me, and then everything will be great. And
- 47:53Speaker 2: then I did the thing and it was like, but
- 47:55Speaker 2: your brother had a baby. I'm like, what the hell.
- 47:57Speaker 2: So it's just like all these things that I was
- 48:00Speaker 2: still combating, and I had to get in my mind,
- 48:03Speaker 2: I just love them for where they are, for as
- 48:07Speaker 2: much as they can understand about me and what they
- 48:10Speaker 2: can love about me. Everything else, I would be doing
- 48:14Speaker 2: myself with the service by trying to force my desire
- 48:17Speaker 2: for how I want to be seen and loved on them.
- 48:19Speaker 2: Sometimes it was sad because you're just like, damn, how
- 48:22Speaker 2: come they still can't see all the things that I've
- 48:24Speaker 2: been through.
- 48:24Speaker 4: I wrote the book, you know, it was it wasn't like, Wow,
- 48:27Speaker 4: you really struggled. I'm so glad you made it. It was like, so,
- 48:29Speaker 4: why are you talking about us? And I was like,
- 48:33Speaker 4: that's what you got from.
- 48:33Speaker 6: It, that's a thousand percent my family. Like if I
- 48:36Speaker 6: told them what I was struggling with, or you know,
- 48:38Speaker 6: if they found ot I was doing this, they would,
- 48:40Speaker 6: you know, be like, well, why are we talking about
- 48:42Speaker 6: our family? You know, like why you know, we're very
- 48:44Speaker 6: much like a type of family which I need to
- 48:47Speaker 6: break away from. And like, you know, my sister is
- 48:50Speaker 6: a is a counselor, and so is her husband, so
- 48:53Speaker 6: like we're a very therapy adjacent family.
- 48:56Speaker 5: But it's just we seem to not want to take
- 48:58Speaker 5: our own advice.
- 48:59Speaker 1: And and is there anyone in your family that is
- 49:01Speaker 1: on your side, so to speak, Like with regard to
- 49:04Speaker 1: you being gay and out as your sister, is that
- 49:07Speaker 1: someone that you have as an ally in your family.
- 49:09Speaker 6: Yeah, she's really the only one that I can talk
- 49:12Speaker 6: to about anything related to, you know, being gay or
- 49:15Speaker 6: anything like that.
- 49:16Speaker 1: And what about your friend community. Do you have some
- 49:19Speaker 1: friends that are close to you?
- 49:21Speaker 5: Yeah, I've got a fairly strong support network.
- 49:24Speaker 6: I mean it's rank over the past few years, like
- 49:26Speaker 6: dealing with some of my mental health stuff, but I
- 49:30Speaker 6: do have a core few people that I can rely on.
- 49:32Speaker 1: Okay, Well, I think you should really lean into that,
- 49:35Speaker 1: you know what I mean. I don't think you should
- 49:36Speaker 1: hide who you are. I really don't. It's so important
- 49:39Speaker 1: for each of us to really embrace everything about ourselves,
- 49:43Speaker 1: you know what I mean, and really live out loud.
- 49:46Speaker 1: And I know I don't mean that in like you
- 49:48Speaker 1: have to wave it in their faces, but you can't
- 49:50Speaker 1: diminish who you are out of fear for their reaction.
- 49:54Speaker 1: They need to get on board with the fact that
- 49:57Speaker 1: they love you and it's not a choice. This is
- 50:00Speaker 1: your life, this is how you were born, this is
- 50:02Speaker 1: who you are. And the more that you can lean
- 50:05Speaker 1: into that. I know it could be years, but eventually
- 50:09Speaker 1: most families come around. Yvonne's relationship with her family eight
- 50:13Speaker 1: years later after that strain, isn't you know, isn't as strained.
- 50:18Speaker 1: They did come around to the fact that she wasn't
- 50:20Speaker 1: following through with what they wanted her to follow through with.
- 50:23Speaker 1: And I know it seems like a huge mountain to climb,
- 50:27Speaker 1: and I'm sure it is going to be. But the
- 50:29Speaker 1: strength that you are going to gather from that climbing
- 50:32Speaker 1: that mountain, and the self esteem that you're going to
- 50:35Speaker 1: give yourself, and the way that it will affect and
- 50:37Speaker 1: impact the rest of your life, and the way that
- 50:40Speaker 1: it will impact the rest of your lovers and friends
- 50:43Speaker 1: and relationships, whether they're romantic or not romantic, is paramount
- 50:48Speaker 1: to how your family feels about what you're doing. You
- 50:51Speaker 1: can tell them you love them, but you can't be
- 50:53Speaker 1: living in a dishonest way.
- 50:55Speaker 3: And I think there's a misconception about boundaries being something
- 50:59Speaker 3: that we get to other people, but really we can
- 51:02Speaker 3: only set boundaries with ourselves. And I think it would
- 51:06Speaker 3: be good for you to remind yourself, like on a
- 51:07Speaker 3: daily basis, like I'm only responsible for myself, and when
- 51:12Speaker 3: you really believe that you understand this backlash from your church,
- 51:16Speaker 3: that you're foreseeing anything that anybody else does and says
- 51:20Speaker 3: you are not responsible for that. You're only responsible for
- 51:24Speaker 3: what you're doing. And when you can live your truth,
- 51:27Speaker 3: that's the best way that you can represent yourself. Anything
- 51:30Speaker 3: else that happens is not up to you. It's not
- 51:32Speaker 3: your fault. You didn't cause it by coming out, even
- 51:36Speaker 3: though they already know you know you were outed before.
- 51:39Speaker 3: This might be the time to take your power back
- 51:42Speaker 3: and tell your truth yourself.
- 51:44Speaker 2: I will say, I know it is not an easy
- 51:47Speaker 2: thing because I mean obviously being in the church, like
- 51:49Speaker 2: it is beyond a community.
- 51:51Speaker 4: Sometimes it's like it's.
- 51:52Speaker 2: So entrenched, and especially with your father being the head
- 51:55Speaker 2: of the church, there are so many ripple effects that
- 51:59Speaker 2: you know, even the three of us on this call
- 52:01Speaker 2: can't fully know. And it is that thing of your
- 52:04Speaker 2: mind goes into like will I be in Thanksgiving?
- 52:07Speaker 4: And like what if my dad loses his job?
- 52:09Speaker 2: And it just feels like all the compounding things fall
- 52:12Speaker 2: on you. So I would say it's easy or for
- 52:15Speaker 2: us to be like this and this, it's like no, no, no,
- 52:17Speaker 2: it's very hard to be in your position right now.
- 52:19Speaker 2: So I just want to affirm and acknowledge that because
- 52:22Speaker 2: it is their card to also like dismantle all of
- 52:25Speaker 2: the things that are connected to your one decision. So
- 52:29Speaker 2: do know that, And so it might be a process,
- 52:32Speaker 2: a three step process. And at the same time, when
- 52:36Speaker 2: you make decisions for you, understand that it will not
- 52:40Speaker 2: be the best decision for other people.
- 52:42Speaker 4: And you cannot control what they say about you, what
- 52:45Speaker 4: they do to you.
- 52:47Speaker 2: And just know that, like two things can be true
- 52:49Speaker 2: at the same time, this decision may affect them in
- 52:53Speaker 2: a way. And then you know, you hope, you desire,
- 52:56Speaker 2: you pray that they can be able to stand and say, listen,
- 53:00Speaker 2: even if we don't agree with this, because it's still
- 53:01Speaker 2: our son, we love him, and so I hope you
- 53:05Speaker 2: can understand our position in loving and protecting ourselves. That's
- 53:09Speaker 2: what you would want them to say. I don't know
- 53:11Speaker 2: if that's what they are prepared to say, and we
- 53:13Speaker 2: cannot control that. We cannot know that, right. And I
- 53:15Speaker 2: know how frustrating that made me for you as a
- 53:18Speaker 2: child who loves their parents, because there were times where
- 53:22Speaker 2: I wanted that protection right and not in the same
- 53:24Speaker 2: way obviously, but like you want that protection and sometimes
- 53:27Speaker 2: when you don't get it, it feels so sad because
- 53:29Speaker 2: it's like, why don't they just know me? Why can't
- 53:31Speaker 2: they just see me and receive me? But we can't
- 53:34Speaker 2: ask those questions. We're not them because we don't know
- 53:37Speaker 2: what is in them. That's preventing that. We only know
- 53:39Speaker 2: where we are in the seat that we sit at.
- 53:43Speaker 2: So I hope you have your tribe. I am so
- 53:45Speaker 2: grateful that you have your sister and her husband in
- 53:48Speaker 2: your life that can affirm you because you really just
- 53:51Speaker 2: need one good ally. You really just do need one
- 53:55Speaker 2: good ally who can, like you said, cushion the blow
- 53:57Speaker 2: for you. But it is a lot. I would definitely
- 53:59Speaker 2: be prayed for you, and I know you pray for
- 54:01Speaker 2: yourself as well, and maybe let the grays of God
- 54:04Speaker 2: things changed. But we're not holding our breadth of that moment.
- 54:08Speaker 5: Yeah, now that's hugely affirming.
- 54:10Speaker 6: Thank you, just because it really is not just coming out,
- 54:13Speaker 6: it's like basically saying to that entire community, I'm choosing
- 54:16Speaker 6: a quote unquote to live this way and be outspoken
- 54:19Speaker 6: about it and just thinking about a life where everyone
- 54:23Speaker 6: knows is just I don't know, a little mind bending
- 54:25Speaker 6: for me.
- 54:25Speaker 5: I can't really crap my arms around it.
- 54:28Speaker 1: Is there a scenario where you can be revealing about
- 54:31Speaker 1: everything that's happening on Facebook or whatever. Is there a
- 54:34Speaker 1: scenario where you can just take a little bit of
- 54:37Speaker 1: a break from them so that everybody has time to
- 54:40Speaker 1: kind of absorb the information and that you're not subjecting
- 54:43Speaker 1: yourself to their criticism or their rejection or any of that,
- 54:47Speaker 1: and you lean into your friend circle that you said
- 54:49Speaker 1: you have.
- 54:50Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, I guess I could do that, like
- 54:52Speaker 6: make a big, long post and then go dark for
- 54:54Speaker 6: a little bit and just focus on being around my people.
- 54:57Speaker 1: You don't have to go dark, But I'm saying if
- 54:59Speaker 1: there was spons is going to be, if it's going
- 55:02Speaker 1: to hurt you, and it's going to be hurtful, then
- 55:05Speaker 1: you have every reason in the world to say, listen,
- 55:07Speaker 1: this is my life. I have to live it. I
- 55:08Speaker 1: want my family support. But if you guys don't want
- 55:11Speaker 1: to support me, then I mean I have to take
- 55:13Speaker 1: a break from you, you know, to kind of reinstill
- 55:16Speaker 1: some confidence. You want to be loud and proud about it.
- 55:19Speaker 1: You should be. Everyone else is.
- 55:22Speaker 4: And also, I guess my question to you.
- 55:24Speaker 2: Do you A couple buys is do you still live
- 55:26Speaker 2: back at home in that community?
- 55:28Speaker 4: Like do you still live down south?
- 55:30Speaker 5: No?
- 55:30Speaker 6: I live about three hours away, so it's close enough,
- 55:33Speaker 6: but just far o the way exactly.
- 55:35Speaker 2: Is there a version where you can get on the
- 55:37Speaker 2: other side of America or another country? Like is there
- 55:39Speaker 2: anything really keeping you so close to the community?
- 55:42Speaker 4: Is there anything really keeping you in this country? Because
- 55:45Speaker 4: there's versions where you can.
- 55:47Speaker 2: Time and space and this is are are blessing. Those
- 55:49Speaker 2: are also boundaries as well, and also no one's saying
- 55:53Speaker 2: that you have to post anything about it. I'd feel
- 55:56Speaker 2: like there's a version where you can just keep moving
- 55:59Speaker 2: a wedding and like, again, that's still going to be hard,
- 56:02Speaker 2: but it's a decision to protect your mind space and
- 56:05Speaker 2: your heart space. I was like New York wasn't bart up.
- 56:07Speaker 2: I had to move to LA because I know anyway
- 56:09Speaker 2: get on the flight. But that was parted up the
- 56:12Speaker 2: space and the distance, and then also choosing to not
- 56:16Speaker 2: engage in certain conversations just like hey, I hear where
- 56:20Speaker 2: you are. I understand your point of view. I also
- 56:23Speaker 2: have shared my point of view. It doesn't feel like
- 56:25Speaker 2: it's being understood. And I understand why, but also I
- 56:28Speaker 2: choose nothing engaged in this conversation because there's no there's
- 56:31Speaker 2: no answer or in an impast and so let's just
- 56:34Speaker 2: not at the conversation.
- 56:36Speaker 6: Yeah, and I think there's definitely times where it's considered moving.
- 56:39Speaker 6: But you know, I do have two little nephews and
- 56:41Speaker 6: a baby knees within driving distance, so maybe when they
- 56:45Speaker 6: get a little older, think about maybe, but in some distance.
- 56:47Speaker 2: I will say, as much as I know you love
- 56:49Speaker 2: your niece and your nephew, that is still you putting
- 56:52Speaker 2: other people in.
- 56:54Speaker 4: Front of you. Know, I'm not at the I can't
- 56:57Speaker 4: tell you anyhing about that, like you're not, but.
- 57:02Speaker 2: It ends that you know that's still like, Hey, I
- 57:04Speaker 2: love middies and nephews, like we love that you love them.
- 57:08Speaker 2: And at the same time they can still know that
- 57:10Speaker 2: you love them. Mightighty's and nephew live one hundred bizillion
- 57:13Speaker 2: thousand miles away. Every time I see them, I FaceTime them.
- 57:17Speaker 2: I you know whatever, but I'm not going to put
- 57:20Speaker 2: myself in proximity to a bad family situation. But it's
- 57:24Speaker 2: like they still know that I love them. But at
- 57:26Speaker 2: the same time I'm able to live what PRIs me joy.
- 57:30Speaker 1: So consider that, consider that impact that you're having also
- 57:34Speaker 1: watching you know, your niece's a nephew or nephews and
- 57:37Speaker 1: niece are watching you. They're going to grow up watching you.
- 57:40Speaker 1: And do you want them to grow up watching you
- 57:42Speaker 1: live your life fully or do you want them to
- 57:44Speaker 1: see you being a fraction of yourself because of your
- 57:46Speaker 1: family's judgment.
- 57:47Speaker 3: Yeah, that a lot too, And Felix, as you well know,
- 57:51Speaker 3: planes exist, so like you can visit.
- 57:54Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it would be empowering for you to
- 57:55Speaker 1: get some space and time away from your family so
- 57:58Speaker 1: that you can actually find out what your own thoughts
- 58:00Speaker 1: are and what your own feelings are and kind of
- 58:03Speaker 1: diminish the shame and work with a therapist, definitely, because
- 58:06Speaker 1: this is so common among gay men, you know, whose
- 58:09Speaker 1: families reject them and don't understand. But please keep in
- 58:12Speaker 1: touch with us and let us know what transpires and
- 58:15Speaker 1: give us updates because you should be empowered, and I
- 58:18Speaker 1: hope you do feel empowered after us. Talking with you.
- 58:21Speaker 2: Away also doesn't mean forever, as long as you get
- 58:24Speaker 2: to whatever point you feel and you can stay, I'm
- 58:27Speaker 2: okay with it. That's a very different thing than be
- 58:30Speaker 2: like I'm not okay with it and I wish So
- 58:32Speaker 2: it's like you can still decide that what works best
- 58:35Speaker 2: for you is to be this version of yourself as
- 58:40Speaker 2: long as you're okay with you.
- 58:42Speaker 1: And you're not okay with it because you're calling in right.
- 58:45Speaker 5: No, this this has been I appreciate.
- 58:48Speaker 1: Okay, Well, we love you and we support you and
- 58:51Speaker 1: we are your allies. So you know, if you ever
- 58:53Speaker 1: need us again, call us back.
- 58:55Speaker 5: We'll do. Thank you so much.
- 58:56Speaker 1: Okay, you love all the planet.
- 58:58Speaker 4: Yeah that's fun.
- 59:00Speaker 5: Yeah, we'll do.
- 59:01Speaker 1: Okay, bye, thank you, Thank you guys, sending you off.
- 59:07Speaker 1: Do you know how many people call in with that?
- 59:09Speaker 1: How you could be a mother or a parent and
- 59:11Speaker 1: say no to your child? Oh my god, I couldn't.
- 59:14Speaker 2: You know what tells me it's one of those things
- 59:16Speaker 2: where like everyone has a different POV right for Nigeria.
- 59:20Speaker 2: Sometimes we think like how about our parents do s
- 59:22Speaker 2: Y and Z? And I had to remember they saw
- 59:24Speaker 2: a war where people were like killed in front of them,
- 59:28Speaker 2: so some of their decisions and there was no like
- 59:31Speaker 2: oh e MD or therapy available for them, you know,
- 59:34Speaker 2: or like the even they're like what they just tried
- 59:38Speaker 2: to survive to the next day. So it's not like
- 59:40Speaker 2: we're making excuses, but it's like sometimes to understand I
- 59:43Speaker 2: would totally do some things differently than like my parents were,
- 59:47Speaker 2: Like I have the privilege of being in America and
- 59:50Speaker 2: like knowing that I have another home, Like my dad
- 59:53Speaker 2: almost died in the war and like had to like
- 59:54Speaker 2: put on plane clothes and like walk three days till
- 59:58Speaker 2: like my grandfather's village to survive. It's like, yeah, maybe
- 1:00:01Speaker 2: there's a reason why he does X, Y and Z right,
- 1:00:04Speaker 2: or maybe there's a reason why like shame and embarrassed
- 1:00:06Speaker 2: her are so big in this community. We don't know
- 1:00:09Speaker 2: all the factors. And then especially when you add in
- 1:00:12Speaker 2: like deep rooted religion and this is the word, and
- 1:00:16Speaker 2: the word is you know, sharper than need two edged sword,
- 1:00:18Speaker 2: and it doesn't lie.
- 1:00:19Speaker 4: It's like all the things that come with that. It's
- 1:00:22Speaker 4: just like it's hard.
- 1:00:23Speaker 2: To see, just like love, because again Jesus was still
- 1:00:26Speaker 2: the same person. When the woman who had all the
- 1:00:29Speaker 2: husbands came to him at the well, he was like
- 1:00:31Speaker 2: a girl, get some water, and I know the man
- 1:00:34Speaker 2: at home is at your book and it's just like wait,
- 1:00:35Speaker 2: what And then she was able to be like, come
- 1:00:37Speaker 2: and see a man who has shold me everything about
- 1:00:39Speaker 2: my life because he didn't like judge her, he didn't
- 1:00:41Speaker 2: shame her.
- 1:00:42Speaker 4: He just was like, I know what's up you, dursty.
- 1:00:45Speaker 2: Yeah, and like that's just not what we as humans
- 1:00:48Speaker 2: who are all the way flawed, know how to do.
- 1:00:52Speaker 2: So it is difficult and convoluted and a lot of
- 1:00:55Speaker 2: times not right, but like who's to say what's right
- 1:00:58Speaker 2: and wrong other than just like how and compassion for humanity.
- 1:01:01Speaker 1: Yeah, we're gonna take a quick break. We'll be right
- 1:01:03Speaker 1: back to wrap things up, and we're back Avon Orgie.
- 1:01:10Speaker 1: What an ironic last name for you? Really?
- 1:01:13Speaker 4: I have questions with Jesus what I mean him of?
- 1:01:15Speaker 2: Like I think we live in on my walldle laugh
- 1:01:17Speaker 2: ning dreams here. I wait until I get married.
- 1:01:20Speaker 1: I love you. You're so vibrant and filled with good,
- 1:01:24Speaker 1: good stuff. I'm gonna DM you. I'll DM you my
- 1:01:27Speaker 1: phone number so we can hang out and have a
- 1:01:29Speaker 1: night together. Perfect, And thank you for being on the podcast.
- 1:01:32Speaker 4: Thank you for having me, Thank you.
- 1:01:34Speaker 6: Bye.
- 1:01:35Speaker 1: Okay, guys, we have added more shows to My Little
- 1:01:38Speaker 1: Big Bitch Tour. I added another second show in Toronto,
- 1:01:41Speaker 1: So I have two shows in Toronto now to December seventh,
- 1:01:43Speaker 1: December eighth, December ninth, I'm in Ottawa, and two new
- 1:01:48Speaker 1: shows at December fifteenth. On a Friday, We're doing a
- 1:01:51Speaker 1: seven thirty and ten pm show with Kevin Hart and
- 1:01:54Speaker 1: Friends that's in Thackerville, Oklahoma. And all my other shows
- 1:01:59Speaker 1: that you can buy tickets for at Chelseahandler dot com.
- 1:02:01Speaker 1: I'm starting my tour backup on September twenty ninth in
- 1:02:05Speaker 1: New York City at the Beacon, which is sold out,
- 1:02:08Speaker 1: but the next night there are tickets available September thirtieth
- 1:02:10Speaker 1: at the Beacon. So for all fall dates you can
- 1:02:12Speaker 1: go to Chelseahandler dot com for tickets and you'll see me.
- 1:02:16Speaker 3: If you'd like advice from Chelsea, shoot us an email
- 1:02:18Speaker 3: at Dear Chelsea podcast at gmail dot com and be
- 1:02:21Speaker 3: sure to include your phone number. Dear Chelsea is edited
- 1:02:24Speaker 3: and engineered by Brad Dickert executive producer Catherine Law and
- 1:02:28Speaker 3: be sure to check out our merch at Chelseahandler dot
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