Self-Worth Revolution: Tips for your Transformational Journey
Have you ever felt trapped in your own mind, unable to see a way out? Have you ever sat in a room feeling alone, ruminating, and asking yourself: How can I transform my life from darkness to light? How will I get through this darkness? I was once in that very room, feeling like the walls were closing in on me. But I chose to break free from my pain and trauma, and it changed my life forever.
Are you searching for your life's true purpose? Are you ready to find inner peace and tranquility? Do you want to live a life filled with abundance and happiness? Do you want to connect with like-minded individuals on a journey of self-discovery?
This is the right podcast for you. Self Worth Revolution is a podcast hosted by a survivor turned Transformational and Relationship Coach where I share my story and the stories of others who have survived and thrived. This is not a podcast of generic advice. This is a podcast where you will hear real stories of survival and transformation. Together, we'll explore the practical tips and strategies that have helped us live mindful, purposeful lives free from bullshit.
Are you searching for your life's true purpose? Do you want to live a life filled with abundance, happiness, love, and inner peace? Are you looking for actionable steps to improve your life? If so, this podcast is for you. Join me as we dive deep into topics such as:
- Overcoming trauma and pain
- Finding your higher purpose
- Living a mindful and purposeful life
- Cultivating abundance and happiness
- Achieving inner peace
Are you ready to transform your life? Tune in to Self Worth Revolution and discover how you can break free from your past and create the future you desire.
Self-Worth Revolution: Tips for your Transformational Journey
Unveiling Resilience on the Path to Personal Truths with Alexandra Alvarez
Have you ever stood at life's crossroads, weighted by grief, only to embark on a quest for self-discovery that transforms everything? This is the crux of my poignant conversation with Alexandra Alvarez, who shares her emotional odyssey following the loss of her parents, illustrating how adversity can lead to a life of authenticity and fulfillment. Together, we unravel Alexandra's European roots, her brave leap to America to chase her dreams, and the creation of a podcast that gives voice to her experiences, offering sanctuary to others wrestling with their own stories.
Our discussion ventures into the tender realms of healing and the courage it takes to face the depths of our emotions. Alexandra's journey through grief, the complex family dynamics that shaped it, and the resilience required to navigate new horizons, including immigration, are laid bare. We delve into the spiritual sustenance that faith provides during times of trial, and how embracing our struggles is pivotal to achieving abundance in life. Alexandra's narrative serves as a beacon for anyone seeking to chart their own course through life's tumultuous seas.
This episode culminates with profound reflections on the liberating act of forgiveness, its role in emotional freedom, and the choice we all have in steering our emotional compass. We recount a serendipitous encounter with a hairstylist, a moment of true connection interwoven with creativity and empathy. As Alexandra recite a heartfelt poem inspired by this chance meeting, we celebrate the beauty in every individual's tale and the undeniable truth that acknowledging our worth is not just an act of affirmation but a daily necessity for resilience in the face of life's challenges.
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The "The Self Worth Revolution" Podcast may, at times, cover sensitive topics including but not limited to suicide, abuse, violence, severe mental illnesses, sex, drugs, alcohol addiction, psychedelics and the use of plant medicines. You are advised to refrain from watching or listening to the Podcast if you are likely to be offended or adversely impacted by any of these topics. Neither The Company, The Host nor the guests shall at any time be liable for the content covered causing off...
your dad's passing helped you become more your authentic self, and so you became more aligned with what you wanted to do for yourself instead of living in the footsteps that your dad was creating for you, and it took you to see that when your dad passed, and so that must have been very hard for you. Going through that phase in life, how did you, how were you during those hard times when you did lose your dad and you lost your mom at such a young age?
Speaker 2:So, now.
Speaker 1:Not having both parents at such a young age must have been very difficult for you.
Speaker 2:Definitely, definitely. I had to reconnect with my heart, my emotions, and I really saw that I did not have, I did not grieve correctly my first loss. So the second one revealed how much you know, because when you're so young you grieve to the extent of the adults around you. And I saw my father not a very, even though he had so many great qualities, but he had three daughters. I think it was just a really a hint like connect with yourself and your emotion. You know it was.
Speaker 2:I think so and I and I kind of felt that, so I did not express much of myself.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Self-Worth Revolution podcast hosted by Vivian Medrano. I am not only a podcaster, but a mother, a nurse, a life coach and a survivor. This podcast is about turning your pain into your power, your experiences into your lessons, and to start living a life full of abundance, inner peace and fulfillment. My higher purpose is for my listeners to find their self-worth and their value by following their path to greatness. We are all deserving of living our best lives. It is time to stop identifying with our past. Start living in the present for a better future. This podcast will have guest speakers that will share their stories of how they transformed their lives and found their worth.
Speaker 1:My mission is to let my listeners know this is your time to shine, to know that you are not alone. Healing is empowering. It takes courage to be vulnerable and our voices have power. Hold on to your lives, because this will be an incredible ride of self-transformation, self-empowerment and radical change. It is time for us to take our power back. Hi everybody, welcome to the Southworth Revolution podcast. I am here with Alexandra Alvarez. She's also a podcaster, she has her One Minute to Glory, who is going to be airing soon, and so we'll talk a little bit about her podcast and why she started up in a bit, but first I want Alexandra to introduce herself and let us know a little bit more about her.
Speaker 2:Hi, vivian, I'm so excited to be here and thank you so much for inviting me. It's just a pleasure and I see I love stories and the power of stories and because it tells a lot. It says a lot about who we are and also why we do what we do, and sometimes we get a little bit of, you know, it's hard to find clarity or we kind of overlook certain aspects, and so just to be here and for you to ask me about me, you know it's a time for me to reflect back on myself, my story, instead of just giving and pouring myself out. So thank you so much. So yeah, I'm originally from Europe. Actually, my first language is French. I grew up in Belgium and I'm half Belgian, half Bulgarian, so I grew up, the setting of my life started in Europe. We traveled all over between Eastern Europe and Western Europe and everything in between. My father loved history and culture, and so we were totally surrounded by that in Europe and I learned a lot. There were a lot of books in my house, and so I've been surrounded by culture my whole life and it's something that's very dear to me. I love to hear about people's lives and then the history and what people left behind. You know, when you travel in these old countries, you see all kinds of artistic representations of people's lives and how they, what they went through and what brought them to create something, and so so that is what brought me actually also to create and to on my own terms and to do this podcast.
Speaker 2:I moved to the United States by myself after experiencing many losses and I needed to start anew and not be focusing on the past and but really kind of move forward, and I didn't feel like there was any future for me in Europe. So being here in this new country very, you know, very important, very special. I actually came here when I was 11 with my father and I felt like I will be back here. This is, this feels like home and so, you know, flash, you know, like just 10 years later, here I am and here I was, and so and I got married here.
Speaker 2:I have two children. We live in South Florida and it's so wonderful to be in sunny Florida, because I grew up in rainy Belgium and it was yeah, it was hard, you know, it was hard for me to be there and to to in a gray country and so being in the sun, seeing the ocean every day and reflecting on life. And now I definitely want to give back, and so here I am. I've been doing real estate also for a lot of time. I love, you know, beauty in all its forms, and we have a lot of beautiful homes here. I still have my license, but I'm more of a creative person, so I've been doing a lot of writing, and now I am actually I'm offering poetry as well.
Speaker 1:I want to know can you share one of your most memorable moments with your dad that you had? Because it seems like he means a lot to you. You bring him up a lot, so what's one of your most childhood memories with him that you hold so dearly with you?
Speaker 2:Well, actually, when I was 11 and I traveled with him, so he had three daughters, we're three girls and so he traveled separately with each one. We used to travel a lot together. So traveling to me means a lot, it has a lot of it. It bonds us in a way, it creates lasting memories and that comes from my father. And so when I was 11 and I so I was born in November so I went to you know, it was a year early at school and everything.
Speaker 2:So growing up. So he's like you know it's time to take you. And so he chose Los Angeles, and you know it's time to take you. And so he chose Los Angeles, and you know, california, the the west coast, and we went to New Orleans and it was just great. I remember having vivid memory, memories of I felt like you know, yes, I was traveling with my father, but I felt like a grown-up and I just was dreaming of having my own family and traveling with my husband and going in great hotels and experiencing life and how exciting. So it was filled. That trip was very memorable because it was filled with really strong emotions and dreams and visions of the future and all the possibilities, and so that was exciting.
Speaker 1:Those were like moments of hope that your dad gave to you. You know, and it's so nice to have those moments because I think a lot of people out there, some of them, haven't had those opportunities with their parents. As you have to be able to create those moments of hope or those moments that your dad said you know this is what you're worthy of. You know this is what's good for you. I want to show you the world because I want you to have the world in your hands, and so I think, by your dad doing that for you as well, in hindsight, he kind of was opening up the world to a bigger vision that you could even ever imagine. Like you, living in your home, you know Belgium on your own and coming to a new country by yourself. How was that journey for you? How does that feel for you?
Speaker 2:Well, it's true You're so right about. You know, it's great to know where those dreams come from. You know, sometimes we don't know. Some people grew up without parents. My father passed away sadly when I graduated college and so I started working. I worked at the European Union. You know, brussels is the capital city not only of Belgium but of Europe, so you have people from all over Europe there, and so he really pushed that he wanted. He saw how easily I learned languages and I could fit in any culture. But it wasn't really my path. I love languages, but because I love to assimilate things, I was more creative and so he did not. Sometimes we get, we are influenced by our family, by our family, but despite circumstances, or even we don't know really how much we influence people or what it is that we, we are going to impact them. And so what was your question? You said you, so I wanted to touch on that, but you mentioned something else. So you traveled by yourself here?
Speaker 1:yes, I was a. You know that was like a path in your and it took a lot of courage for you to, especially as a woman traveling by yourself into, like a new country where you knew no one. And you took that step and how did that feel for you, going from comfort to becoming uncomfortable, to find, you know, the life that you wanted to live.
Speaker 2:Well, it wasn't that comfortable anymore, you know, and it doesn't have to be that way. For us to make changes in our lives, to be in a comfort my father had passed away and to me, to continue in what he wanted for me didn't make any sense anymore, even though it was a very comfortable yeah, it was a comfortable position to be at the European Union and to just have a great salary and everything paid for. But at the same time, because of the losses, I just felt like I had to regain my dreams, you know, and to own them. And I had lost my mother also when I was five years old. She was from Bulgaria and it was communist old. She was from bulgaria and it was communist. So with her passing I also lost contact with her, the entire side of of that, I mean that family. So so I had to. I had no family, no one to please.
Speaker 2:I do have to repent of people pleasing and so the fact that he passed was also, in a way, a blessing in disguise, because I was living for him and trying to please him, fear to lose him, perhaps, and so he was gone and that I had no purpose to be. It was just a nice job in an empty you I used to call it a golden jail because you're so comfortable no one leaves at such a job but at the same time, why I could do so many. Life is just starting, isn't it so? And I always cherished that time with my father, where, you know, in California, where I had such strong emotions and such strong dreams. So, I mean, it is one thing to move, it is another to move on inside, because truly it is. The work is truly in our minds more than it is a physical, you know, because wherever I go, that's where I am, you know, but it's still me.
Speaker 2:So it's with moving, yes, I was in a different setting, and then I also discovered my faith and grounding myself in a more, in a spiritual, you know God, and to me it's like that's my real father, that's the one that is truly what I have been looking for, because I felt like, you know, they gave me all these things, but what is, you know, it didn't work out for him. So would it work? You know, like I had all these doubts and I needed to figure things out for myself and it took as long as it took, but it is a journey and so, yeah, I had to reconnect with why I do what I do. What I loved and for me to move was to be away from the distractions of the past and the things that kind of pulling me down in a way that I could. It was just it would have been too hard.
Speaker 1:I think it's easier to start new, but it takes courageous actions to get out, because sometimes we get comfortable in our old self and old doing and being, we become comfortable in what's familiar to us and so, knowing that we have to go somewhere where it's unfamiliar and we have to, kind of like, adapt to it I think that's where it becomes hard, because that's what we're programmed to believe it's like, oh, that's familiar, oh, that's easy.
Speaker 1:Okay, let me just stay right here, because I feel safe and so as soon as you become unfamiliar with your surroundings, it's like you have to start over again, but I think with you that was the beauty of it. You know your dad's passing helped you become more your authentic self, and so you became more aligned with what you wanted to do for yourself instead of living in the footsteps that your dad was creating for you. And it took you to see that when your dad passed, and so that must have been very hard for you going through that phase in life. How did you, how are you, during those hard times when you did lose your dad and you lost your mom at such a young age? So now, not having both parents at such a young age must have been very difficult for you definitely, definitely.
Speaker 2:I had to reconnect with my heart, my emotions, and I really saw that I did not have, I did not grieve correctly my first loss. So the second one revealed how much you know, because when you're so young you grieve to the extent of the adults around you. And I saw my father not a very, even though he had so many great qualities, but he had three daughters. I think it was just a really a hint like connect with yourself and your emotion, you know it was.
Speaker 2:I think so, and I and I kind of felt that.
Speaker 2:So I did not express much of myself, I was just there for him, trying to, you know, but but yeah, so I needed to move, and that was the easiest of the part, even everything lined up. I've always been goal-oriented in a way, and those dreams really are what give me the courage, because they're so filled with potential, and so I'm like well, there's more possibilities there than here, but it does take a lot of work first to see, okay, so now it's just me, so everything that is around me or that I am, I have to take ownership for it. But I can't just say, well, my dad, well, he's no longer there and I'm no longer alive, so what am I going to do? So that took a long time to take ownership. And then, yeah, but then things, you know, I got married and then spent a lot of time. You know, we had to work on our paperwork, and so the immigration aspect was not easy. It was easy to move, but then afterwards to stay was really a long, long, long process, and during that time I was able to mourn what I needed to mourn, to revisit a little bit my past and my story to and then to be married and grow a family, all of that at the same time. So it was a lot and I did not understand much. You know all of it.
Speaker 2:Until now, more recently, I would say in the past five years, I think, things have come up a little bit more for me where I believe again, you know, in those dreams that felt like, well, what happened to those dreams? I moved, but then it felt so. It's a long journey. It takes a lot of courage to just continue on. It's not something that comes overnight, especially for me. But I am, yeah, just working, and working also on my mind. You know that right now I am grateful. Right now I'm thankful for what I do have and from that place, just welcome new things and new possibilities what would you say?
Speaker 1:was that moment where you were sitting in that space, that you I guess you could call it your enlightenment, your awakening, where you realized I need change? Can you remember that?
Speaker 2:moment you mean back then or recently, because it's constant really. I mean recently, I just realized that, you know, I was still working to please my husband, or to please, you know, and so starting this podcast was a way to say no more this pattern. It does not serve me, you know, and I have grown to a point that I was able to do that, and at that at the time, you know, I think that my dreams and aspirations are what keep me going. In a way, it's like no, there is more to this situation. I may not understand everything, I may not be in a place where I can really unpack it all, because sometimes you have to be in a safe emotional space to, and even with my faith, even with that, you know, I would just cry out to God and talk to people and still would not feel I feel like, okay, I feel like I'm heard, but there is no answer. And so it's just in this silence, you know, and it reminded me of a story of Joseph in the Bible, who stayed in prison for over a decade, almost as long as I had to be here and work with immigration, and you know just all of that.
Speaker 2:And there is something that happens when you have to stay still and there are no answers and you cannot come out of that place of stillness. There is a reason, and so that was to be on the inside and I had to be in a space, you know, where I could do that, where I could feel safe enough to. You know and that's the space that I want to create, also on my podcast is a safe place where people can also just lay their burdens a little bit and expose the longings of their souls and how unique they are and how God wants to reach us all and has plans. But we have also a role to play, god, and then you know us. It's also no, we have something to do with the story that we live in. You know, it's not just happening to us.
Speaker 1:I think a lot of times I know I've done it too, not consciously, but growing up, you always you know you pray to God, you ask God for things, and a lot of times God doesn't show it to you in the way that you want to see it, so you ignore it. And a lot of times God has to show you the hard path in life in order for you to come and align with yourself and see that you've encountered and you've gone through so much. Okay, if you're able to go through that and you're able to overcome that, then everything else that he's going to give you along the way it's not going to be that hard to accomplish and it's like I think he wants to put you through that path to see how strong and show you how strong you are. So then, therefore, then that's when your life is going to be more full of abundance, because you've accepted all that as part of you.
Speaker 1:You didn't ignore it and you know that it was there for a higher purpose for you, and that's the way that God works through us is that he and sometimes we don't listen, and so he has to show us the harder way Right, and that's the hardest.
Speaker 1:Show us the harder way, right, and that's the hardest part for us, because he's like Okay, if you're not going to listen to me, then I'm going to make it extra harder for you to listen to me, until the point where you just have to hit rock bottom sometimes in order for you to get up.
Speaker 1:And that's the hardest part for us, and it wasn't because it wasn't there in front of us this whole time and we weren't staring at. What didn't resonate with us was because we were ignoring it. And so I've done a lot of things with myself in order to heal through my traumas and understand that everything that was given along my path was for me to be here now and share my stories and know that you're not alone and that there's so much greatness behind that dark tunnel. So, for you, what were the things that you did along the way to make you realize I'm going through this path in life and now I'm here? What were the modalities that you used for yourself? Because, as you say, you have to have a strong mindset, you have to have positive thoughts, because your body follows what your thoughts are, what your mindset is. What did you do to help you get through that path?
Speaker 2:what comes to mind is definitely reframing my story right, how I got here, because I think I everything was all bundled into, okay, a tragedy that I leave behind, but there is so much more and so many more colors to my story and unless I see all the, the colors and and all the things and I really explore. So I went back to Bulgaria and I I just really journeyed into the places where my mother used to go, saw communist buildings, and really just feeling again and and really forgiveness is also a big one, you know, understanding where she was coming from and like I forgive you. You know those are powerful things to do to ease ourselves from a burden that was that is not necessary, but at the same time it opens up so much, so much more possibilities, you know, of connection and understanding and then just really falling in love with myself through that, you know, and with God, and so seeing okay, and then being more resilient in the sense that things do not have to come my way to just be more fluid, more open. So writing has really been so journaling journaling like erratically, but then more specifically. You know I took some masterclass and definitely having coaches has been helpful to kind of guide my work into a certain direction.
Speaker 2:That I wanted to go and was what was impactful was to rewrite my stories, first, like five years of implementation, you know, to just see a little bit, more and more, and then to see, wow, you know. And in act 17 in the bible, it does mention, you know, god sets the boundaries of our lives, and the fact that I came here, all that was may have already been a plan, and the plan for me to see my creator, you know, and to and to see that I'm not a victim or I'm not the, you know, object of circumstances, that I also that there's a purpose and that I'm the main character of this story.
Speaker 2:I'm maintaining my place in the proper way, but definitely writing my story. And then I have a lot of emotions, even though I'm very peace even on the outside, I have a lot of emotions, and so I've been writing a lot of poetry as well, which reminded me of all the books that I had read growing up and the different artistic, you know, forms of expressions that I grew up with and I saw everywhere. I went to Italy and Spain and Greece and you know France, and I'm, like you know, know that's why people create. It's because of the overflow, because there's life and there's our dreams, and then this is the human condition and and then it's all. You know, we, we need to figure it out and and so how do we go about that? And and then there's those impulses and this, this, we just cry. You know that that is so important.
Speaker 2:So writing to me has been good. And then I've been writing as a gift to other people because, like I see you, I see the story you're telling, and people love it. They've received a lot of, you know, validation of who they are. So if you want a poem, let me know. There is a special.
Speaker 1:I would love you to write a poem about me. I would love to see the words that flow from you and I will read it on here. It would be so beautiful to read a poem from you. That would be amazing. I would love to see like what words resonate with me that come from you, that just by you interacting with me. That would be so great.
Speaker 1:I think one of the important things that you mentioned was forgiveness. I think a lot of times, people tend to hold grudges, or people tend to not forgive tend to hold grudges or people tend to not forgive because they feel that, oh, if I forgive, then that means that that person I'm saying that person didn't do what they did to me or they didn't hurt me the way they hurt me. And the thing with forgiveness it's not you're not forgetting what happened to you. You're not ignoring what happened to you. What you're doing is not letting that control you anymore. Your actions, your reactions, your responses you know, the things that you welcome into your life are not coming from what happened to you. And that's what's important about forgiveness is that you're not only able to forgive yourself for not choosing to heal and grow and to still continue to bring negativity to your life, but you're choosing now to let go and forgive those who have hurt you, and by doing that now you're growing into a stronger person, because their actions, their pain, the trauma, the hurt that was caused by them does not control you. You've converted that into something so much more powerful, and I think that's one of the things that you know. You always tell somebody you know it's important for you to forgive why? Why should I forgive them? They don't deserve to be forgiven. And I'm like, because you're not doing it for them, you're doing it for you. So therefore you deserve it for yourself to forgive them, so you could stop being so resentful and so hurt inside and stop hurting inside the way you do because of the actions stated. And so I love that you said that word forgiveness.
Speaker 1:I think it's so powerful and I've learned to have to forgive a lot and I was there one time where I didn't want to forgive. I mean, I even had a conversation with God and I was like I'm so mad at you right now. I do not know why I'm here. I do not know why I'm hurting. Still, you know I'm such a good person Like why are you doing this to me.
Speaker 1:You know I'm such a good person Like why are you doing this to me? And I would have these conversations with him all the time and finally, one day I was like, thank you, I understand now why I had to go through what I had to go through. You know, you've made me stronger for welcoming all that, things I had to go through in order to understand myself. And then that's when forgiving myself started happening, and so I'm sure you've grown a lot from forgiveness. And what would you say, besides your journaling, your poems, which, I'm sure, amazing, what else have you learned from yourself as a person by forgiving everything and all that pain that you were holding inside?
Speaker 2:I hope, surges, because you know you can change and you're not controlled by outside circumstances. But also, I would say, reading. You know reading books and always staying consistent. Especially for me, it's the bible. You know, being consistent with that has been really transformative at some point. It did not reach my heart so I had to really see what is my responsibility in that, and there was this passage that was really powerful where it says you have to let go of the anger. It's in Colossians I can't remember exactly the words, but the way that it's.
Speaker 2:If, if god asks us to to control our anger, it means that it is in my power to first. First, it is my responsibility, that I have a responsibility in how I feel and therefore I can change the way I feel. Otherwise you wouldn't ask that, right? God wouldn't ask us to not be angry or to control that anger and turn it for something good. So just being aware first of my own feelings and taking ownership of them, that's very important, right, we have to be aware of how we feel, because people are people. We think very. We find sometimes that we are very. We have all good reasons why we shouldn't love. However, we chose to not love all our people that bad. You know, we choose the bad and it really is annoying, or it is, you know, or it's really hurtful. It's like, well, you know, I can see that and I can just say I must stop being angry. And so what are the other options? Right? So it's kind of like a subconscious, uh, way of doing. It's like, well, are there other options? That would be. That was very freeing actually, to just.
Speaker 2:And then the fact that I have the power to forgive, because then I, I can detach myself from my own emotion, understand other people's behavior, and sometimes I mean, you know, of course, you know you can't to see the humanity in someone. It's hard, I mean, when you see Hitler and you're like, okay, how do you forgive? You know the devastation that one person could create. So you know it's not excusing the person, but you know, and sometimes it's for much, much, much, much, much less that we just hold grudges. I am so, you know, and we, you know, and we, you know there's also other passages that would say, well, if you don't forgive others, then I will not forgive you. So I too need forgiveness from someone else. So, doing things a little bit outside of my own little bubble and to see that I have power to control my emotions and then to choose which one I want to have. And there starts the journey of, you know, just being free and whole and create good and do good and and do helpful things around me.
Speaker 1:I think that's important because our emotions are connected to us and every emotion has its purpose. So it's okay for you to be angry, but it's not okay for you to stay angry. So it's like you need to be able to recognize what's making you uncomfortable. Why are you angry? It's you know the why and reflecting on that, and then you have a choice whether you're going to continue to stay angry and then it's just going to fester inside of you and you're just going to let everybody else. Now you need to make everybody else feel the way you feel, which is, if you feel angry, then they also have to feel that.
Speaker 1:Or you could choose to convert that anger, reflect off what made you angry and convert it into something positive, and it doesn't necessarily have to be happiness at that point. It could be anything that you want to convert it to, but it's just not going to be anger and it could be understanding for what it is that you're going through, and then you learn to let go of that and then it converts into something that's happy for you in that moment. But if you let that linger inside of you for that long, everybody around you then starts feeling how you feel inside, and so that's why they say like energy attracts like energy. So if you're happy, people feel that happiness inside of you. So you, by nature, are going to attract good people into you.
Speaker 1:But if you're walking around with this darkness inside of you, where you're angry, you're unhappy, you're just living as a victim, you're going to attract unhealthiness into your life. Living as a victim, you're going to attract unhealthiness into your life. And so you could either choose to attract people who are unhealthy into your life or change that anger into something positive and start attracting goodness into your life. But at the end of the day, you have to make that choice. We can't make it for you and I think that's the hardest part is becoming vulnerable with yourself, to understand that it's okay to be vulnerable, it's okay to cry, it's okay to feel, and through that, every emotion has its purpose. But, like you said, we get to choose what emotion we want to stay in, because our emotions don't are not there to control us.
Speaker 2:Yes, and that's why writing has been so helpful, because all that energy, all those feelings, I can just conjure them into something creative or use them, you know, to do something else. You know the the channel that energy to do something different, all my, my passion, you know my, all my emotion, into something that is creative instead of destructive you know and that's so beautiful.
Speaker 1:Like I didn't know, you wrote poems and when I did find out, I wanted, I would love for you to read a poem. If you have a poem handy, I would love for you to read one of your poems because I feel the listeners they would, that would bring value into their lives if they were able to bring one of your poems, whichever poem resonates with you that you feel you know words are so beautiful they.
Speaker 2:And poetry is really an elevated form of expression with words, you know, because they evoke images, you know, right, well, regular other genres would be more, you know, narrative and very just descriptive. So I do have a poem, because I actually happen to have given one to my hairstylist and I did an episode, a podcast episode, about him where he was just like, while he was doing his job, you know, telling me all these stories about himself, and I felt like, wow, where have I been? Like I've been for an hour and a half, like, wow, where have I been? Like I've been for an hour and a half. I. I felt like I traveled through time and history and up north, because he's from Portland, maine, and and, and then he was telling things, and so I just felt like so appreciative, because I felt so connected and I was just expecting just to have a haircut, you know, and so it was a gift and I didn't know what to do with that gift. It's like I need to give back what I received. And so I wrote a poem that only him would understand. But he texted me back and he said, oh my gosh, you remember me. I can't believe it. I just feel like, you know, he felt so seen and you know, and there's so much that comes from just giving back and being creative on how we give back.
Speaker 2:So I have it because I had a few copies. I give it to him in a little with a little bow, but his name is Dennis. So I looked up, dennis, where it comes from. It comes from Dionysus. You know the divinity of. You know wine and ecstasy and all of these things. But Dionysus is also in the Bible. It's also in Acts 17. So I'm like, wow, this is really incredible. So I have the poem, I can read it. That would be the first time that I read it, although you know I haven't shared the episode yet. So that's a special thing. But do you want me to read it?
Speaker 1:Yes, of course I would love for you to read it. I mean, one of the things that you really said out loud right now is that you, he, felt seen, and I think a lot of people out there. They just don't feel seen. They walk around and they're not acknowledged for just the simplest things that they do for others, like the simplest acts of kindness that they do for others. So they stop doing those acts of kindness because they feel that they're not seen.
Speaker 1:And it's so important for us to be able to acknowledge just the small gestures that people bring to us so they could see what a positive change they bring to us just by a simple act of opening up the door. Maybe nobody's opening up the door, maybe nobody's opening up the door for that person ever. They've never felt what it was to for somebody to do something like that for them. And it's like you tell them thank you so much. That meant so much to me. For them it's like I was seen, I was recognized, I'm here, I exist and so it. That must have brought him so much joy. I could just imagine right now how happy he was, because I know I would have been so happy just being acknowledged. I'm like, oh, I didn't realize. You saw that in me.
Speaker 1:You know so yes, please read it. I think it's so beautiful.
Speaker 2:Okay, you may not understand everything, it's based on everything he told me, so just saying. But Dennis, follower of ecstasy, my hair stylist of the day, fine touch, outspoken and lively, so much grace with the elegance of a figure, ice skater, flying, spins and crossovers, speed and tenderness, the joy of an art well done. We are humans and are loved. From the dome of a church punctured by a bomb which landed launched by the enemy, undetonated, casco Bay, peaks Island, portland, maine. History is among us, a remnant of past intentions touching our present. A friend with lung cancer, a cat, is no longer moving south and starting over where the sun is brighter and a new beginning dawns. Welcome humanity. I love to meet you, grace and protection, always at proximity. Following suit, the rider pens and your story unfolds.
Speaker 1:It is so beautiful.
Speaker 2:He created so much beauty into his life from what he went through yeah, he was explaining you know where he was from, and then he started talking about a story, like a miracle that happened during war, and then, you know why, he moved to south florida and so, and he remaps just him. And then he loved to do ice skating. And then, you, he was telling me all about it, and then I tried to do ice skating. So I'm like, oh, now you know, but I was like, wow, this is a whole world I have. No, I know nothing about. But thank you. So I was just so, you know, appreciative and all that. My hair was being done and you know, so it's just the extra giving was being done and you know, so it's just the extra giving. And you know, I just felt so overwhelmed by his kindness and his generosity and the stories and his life and all of these things that were coming out of his mouth, like I have to do something for him, I have to remember this moment, and so these stories matter.
Speaker 1:It's like our stories matter. We've all have our own stories and we've all gone through something in life, and so we never need to undermine what we went through because we feel somebody else might have gone through something harder. You know, no, it's your story, and your story matters because it's you. That's what makes you your person, and so the fact that you listen to everything he told you it was probably like wow, she listened to me and she wrote it down. It also gave him that moment in his life where he realized I've overcome that into creating this beautiful part of me.
Speaker 1:And so now he delivers it by doing your hair and making you, you know, feel beautiful, because you could look beautiful, because you're very beautiful. But if you don't feel beautiful, then you're going to look in the mirror and not see that beauty that you hold from within, and so that's why they say beauty starts from inside first, because that's what makes you beautiful. So, yes, that I love that you shared your poem. So, now that we're talking about your podcast, say a little bit about what your one minute to glory is, because our life is actually not just 60 seconds or one minute not just 60 seconds or one minute, no, no, and it's not about the time that we put in and get to the glory.
Speaker 2:You know that we want so much, but it's that it's available at any time. It's just a change of mind, a mindset, but also that it's right here, right now it's available, so that one minute to glory also comes from a verse in the Bible. I am inspired, I mean, god is my inspiration, that's, you know, I learn, and the synchronicity sometimes, you know, of things that I read with my thinking. Just really, I feel like there's a conversation with God and so that scripture that talks about that. When we look up with we have unveiled faces and our unveiled heart as well allow us to grow from one level of glory to the next. So, yeah, it's about our focus and how we can grow also from one level of glory to the next. And it doesn't take, it may never happen. It really is a choice or it't take, it may never happen. It really is a choice, or it may take a split second. It really isn't that much. So one was the the smallest amount of time, because the truth it can happen in an instant. Um, all this new number and and it's. There's a second line said live your best life. Now. You know that it's available at us. No matter what happens in our life, we can just be, and I and I also had heard about oprah say once that she just phrased it in a way that clicked where she said to live in the present, because that's where god is right. In our past, well, no longer, and the future is not here yet. So this is where it is, so this is where you, you can, by looking up and you know, having that moment that you can really grow from one level of glory to the next. And it's available right now. Now is the time. So, and it's so. It was just.
Speaker 2:It came to me this title.
Speaker 2:I know it may be confusing, but it is really what it means.
Speaker 2:It's not a matter of time, it's a matter of the condition of our heart and our intentions, and it was created in order to give my soul a platform, because I felt like I just go from you know, I'm very strongminded and I want to do, and my heart is hardened and here I am doing things and and I disregard my very own soul, and it's like do I take the time to see what my soul, which is me, desires, and so it's to give this platform that where it can express itself, and to allow to others as well to have a platform where this can can happen.
Speaker 2:So this is what the podcast is about is to give voice to my soul, and it's my terms as well, in the sense that it's not anyone's agenda or understanding or willingness to. It's just really about me putting it out there, taking full ownership and responsibility for what my soul desires and go going after it. It's not easy. I feel like I just live hidden, lived hidden my whole life, and so uncovering myself is really not about me, the ego, but it's. It's my soul and so, yeah, so that's what it is in a nutshell.
Speaker 1:I actually think your name is great because, if you think about it, when people decide to create change, it happens in the split of a second. You start creating change because you finally get this awakening moment that comes to you. In that moment in time, it doesn't take longer than a couple seconds for you to start saying I've had enough. It's time for me to create this change.
Speaker 1:So, it definitely makes sense because your one minute of glory you're not putting a time frame to it, it just means that you have a choice to make that decision now to create that glory in your life. And so I love your title. It's great, it completely makes sense. But I wanted to tell you thank you for coming on here because I feel that it is time for us to sorry.
Speaker 1:Create that worth within ourselves. And by creating that worth within ourselves, then everybody around us start realizing that they're worthy of also changing their life to live a better life for themselves.
Speaker 1:And so we have to start it within us, and that's the hardest part is that we don't need to get outside validation, we don't need to get outside acceptance to know that we need to create that for ourselves. We need to accept ourselves as we are, and once we start doing that, then we start living the life that we are intended to live. And so I want to thank you for sharing your story with us, and especially that beautiful poem. That's great, and I know people are going to be like that's just so beautiful.
Speaker 1:And yeah, I can't wait to you know, see more of your growth and for us to connect some more together, and I appreciate the time that we spend here. No, you're welcome. Thank you. If you can leave the audience with one thing that empowered you to choose yourself and to let go of the trauma, the pain that you were living with, what would that be?
Speaker 2:When I moved here, I kind of interested myself in something bigger than myself. I think that's the first start, right, and so it starts with our creator, and so I would say God is one, always number one, and everything else will come. But I think that we do need to entrust ourselves into the hands of our father to be for our souls to be home. Finally, right, we need to be for our souls to be home. Finally, right, we need to be home. We can't just fight endlessly, um, and so that's what I felt, that all of this to me was, and my soul is home, you know. So all these things are great, but that's the really the most important beautiful, thank you.
Speaker 1:That's so beautiful. Our soul is home. That's so powerful. Thank you so much for sharing with us.
Speaker 2:Thank you, vivi, for having me, and I wish you the best with your podcast thank you so much.
Speaker 1:The best with your podcast. Thank you so much. Thank you for taking your time and connecting with me on this beautiful journey of life. Please subscribe and review, and don't forget to follow so you don't miss out on any of these amazing and empowering episodes. Always remember you matter. If nobody has told you today, I am here to tell you that you are enough, you are worthy and you are deserving of the best. Every day that you wake up, I want you to take one moment and just look at yourself in the mirror and know that the person staring back at you is so proud of you and loves you beyond measures. You are a true warrior. Guitar solo. I'm sorry.