So much of finding our voices is about remembering who we are and saying yes to our soul’s call.

In this episode I speak to a long-time psychotherapist and guide who uses psilocybin mushrooms in her practice.

“The medicine guided me through the depressed states and I realized that I could go through it. Instead of trying to go around it or bury it I had the strength to go through it.”

There are endless sounds and stories held in our bodies, when we learn to free them, we discover our one-of-a-kind music.

Whatever it is you are afraid to be, you have likely tucked away in what’s called your “shadow.”

Your shadow contains vital parts of yourself that, when cut off, also cut off your life force and ability to create amazing things in this world.

These buried parts of ourselves want expression and, when we pretend they are not there, usually end up causing trouble.

On the flip side, you can harness the power of what’s in your shadow to fuel your life and work.

We are not taught to see ourselves accurately and so, for so many of us, the prospect of being seen makes us want to run and hide.

Photographer and breathwork facilitator Melodee Solomon uses fear as fuel to create.

She holds space for people to be more fully seen with her camera and, in doing so, step into the next level of their work.

You don’t need to spill your guts and life traumas online to grow an audience.

You need only learn how to speak heart to heart, human to human.

Excavating your one-of-a-kind truth is one of the most powerful ways to connect with yourself and your people.

This week I’m speaking with Tovi Scruggs-Hussein about racial healing and how my own journey began in earnest with a shame-filled moment of her calling me in, back in 2020.

That moment and how Tovi met it and me, taught me how to work with shame in a way I never have before. It sent me on an ongoing path to be more forgiving of myself when I inevitably get things wrong. To grow my confidence in my ability to make an ongoing impact through radical self-love and acceptance. 

This conversation is not only about racial healing work that I believe to be some of the most important work of our time. It’s about a path to finding our voice along with our humanity.

This week I’m speaking with Tovi Scruggs-Hussein about racial healing and how my own journey began in earnest with a shame-filled moment of her calling me in, back in 2020.

That moment and how Tovi met it and me, taught me how to work with shame in a way I never have before. It sent me on an ongoing path to be more forgiving of myself when I inevitably get things wrong. To grow my confidence in my ability to make an ongoing impact through radical self-love and acceptance. 

This conversation is not only about racial healing work that I believe to be some of the most important work of our time. It’s about a path to finding our voice along with our humanity.

There is a quality that lives in all of us and I think is essential in our ability to heal, speak, create, make art, make a ripple here in this world.

And that quality is willingness.

Willingness has driven all the twists and turns on my path.

Willingness is a unique flavor of courage that puts the soul in the driver’s seat. That helps us stop fighting the resistance and instead welcome it.

What are you willing to risk to speak your truth?

When I started making ‘Blessed Child’, my documentary about leaving my parents’ faith, it opened up some painful history I had tucked away. From early childhood trauma to struggling in my arranged marriage during my twenties.

It took me seven years to make this documentary, in part because I was terrified of losing my parents. At one point it felt like there was no possibility of a happy ending. Either, I speak my truth and lose this relationship or I hold it all in to try to preserve what we have. I got to the point where I was willing to risk the relationship to speak my truth. The call to tell my story was just that strong.

In today’s episode, I’m sharing this story with you and the lessons I have learned on the way. You’ll also hear a conversation I had with my parents last fall about their experience of me creating my documentary and the way it has changed our relationship.

Does speaking your truth come easy to you? It never has for me.

Twelve years ago, I got a call to tell my story about growing up in a wild religion/cult. When I first started, I had every reason not to tell this story. This part of my life was behind me, it wasn’t part of who I was anymore. There was no point in bringing it all up again.

Exploring my story put me on a healing path and part of that healing was letting my version of the story and all the emotions wrapped up in it be witnessed. When our stories are witnessed, they start to lose their grip, and over time, new ways of looking at that story emerge.

Listen in, as I share how I answered the call to tell my story and the lessons I learned through it.

Finding your voice and sounding like yourself doesn't just happen overnight. It’s a practice.

We all have these parts in us that are scared and much more comfortable playing roles than being ourselves. The only way to make them feel safe is by taking small bold action. And, little by little, show them that they get to relax, and we can let more of ourselves out.

I’ve been on a long ass journey when it comes to sounding like myself and I’m sharing part of my journey, my practice, with you in this first episode.

In the end, the only way to find your voice is to use it. Let’s start.