Say More! Vol. 2: Hustle Culture Sucks & Other Dangerously Fun Confessions

Welcome to the most playful episode yet! In Say More! Vol. 2, Foster and Cesar return with their recurring series where they pull unexpected questions from a deck and go wherever the stories lead. What follows is a ride through ice cream scooping traumas, pit bull heroism, skydiving metaphors, teenage gang life, and what happens when you're faced with a really, really bad boss. 

Amidst the play, they touch on fear, self-expression, and the transformation that comes from choosing a partner who helps you become more yourself. This episode is a reminder that some of the most beautiful breakthroughs happen when you're just having fun and saying more. 

In this episode: 

• A true story about a deaf man, his pit bull, and a life-saving act you won’t believe
• Foster’s very first job—and why it only lasted 2 months (hint: bad lighting + poor triceps)
• Cesar’s epic “I quit” moment after a 5 a.m. beer truck meltdown
• Why Foster is so glad hustle culture is in the rearview—and what she’s replaced it with
• Cesar’s high school transformation from gang life to Buddhist robes
• The interview that shook Foster’s confidence
• What Cesar would do if he were a woman for a day

Foster mentions Leaps of Faith which is in Episode 1: Breaking Open. 

If this episode spoke to you, you will love the first volume of this game Say More! Boomers, Benders and Bare Skin!

You can also watch the episodes on YouTube!

If you enjoyed this episode, take a moment to follow Beauty in the Break on your favorite podcast app and leave a review—it really helps.

Reach out to the show—send an email or voice note to beautyinthebreakpod@gmail.com and be sure to follow on Instagram. 

Cesar Cardona:

• Attend his upcoming speaking engagements
• Listen to music from Cesar + The Clew on Apple Music and Spotify
• Receive his monthly newsletter Insights That Matter

Foster Wilson:

• Buy her poetry book Afternoon Abundance
• Learn about her postpartum services
• Receive her monthly newsletter Foster’s Village

Created & Hosted by: Cesar Cardona and Foster Wilson

Executive Producer: Glenn Milley

This episode is brought to you by Arlene Thornton & Associates

Transcript

For me, hustle culture was exhausting and a way directly into unfulfillment and unhappiness.

The last fear that I overcame was participating in becoming in a relationship with you.

When was the last time I cried today?

And I go, well, if you don't have your facts straight, then don't bring it to me, homeboy.

Okay?

He said, what'd you say?

I said, you heard me.

And I kept going.

Between us, who is touchier?

How about you and I say it at the same time?

Okay.

One, two, three.

Hello, and welcome to Beauty in the Break.

I'm Foster.

And I'm Cesar.

This is the podcast where we explore the moments that break us open and how we find beauty on the other side.

So whatever you're carrying today, you don't have to carry it alone.

We are here with you.

Thanks for being here and enjoy the show.

Welcome back, everybody, to Beauty in the Break.

Hello, hello, hello.

Oh my goodness.

We are so glad you are here with us today.

I heard this amazing story this weekend.

I met a Walmart employee and he was telling me this beautiful story that he, in his life, has had 10 different pitbulls.

Get out.

You were at a Walmart?

He said, I've had 10 pitbulls and not one of them has given me a bad experience.

In fact, one of them saved my life.

Oh.

He's a deaf man.

He was at home, went into cardiac arrest, and he could barely speak, but he said to his dog, whose name was Fiona.

He said, phone.

And she ran upstairs.

She got his phone in her mouth, gently brought it to him, and he swiped and called the paramedic.

Whoa.

And they got there in time to save his life.

He went in the ambulance.

They said he couldn't bring his dog in the ambulance.

So his neighbor, who was watching this happen, said, don't worry, I'll follow you.

She followed him to the hospital with Fiona, and she and Fiona waited in the ER waiting room all night long for him.

And then because she was the charge nurse at this particular hospital, as luck would have it, she knew the head of the hospital and said, this man needs this dog.

It's his service animal.

He's deaf.

He needs this dog when he wakes up from surgery.

And so they made an exception and let the dog stay in the hospital room with him.

Oh, my goodness.

And she would come every day and take the dog out and take her back to the hospital.

And I just was so moved by this story.

It was so beautiful.

Oh, that's so precious.

And I think he was really trying to debunk the myth that pit bulls get a bad rap and that they're fighter dogs.

They are bred that way, but they are really sweet, sweet dogs.

In the world of fighter dogs, there'd be Fiona.

Exactly.

I'm really excited today because we are bringing back our game that we like, our questions game, and we are calling these episodes Say More.

Say More.

I always want you to say more, and you always want me to say more, and that's what we're here for.

In this society, everybody's trying to condense themselves and shut themselves up.

The moment I told someone once, Say More, they were like, oh, okay.

It's so freeing.

So I want to always say that to people the same way.

But I like this game because I love stories.

You're a very good storyteller.

Right.

So it's just really a selfish thing for me to get to hear you tell stories.

Stop.

But I don't want to cut you off.

Continue.

And what's more is that if you happen to forget whatever the rules of the game are, there are no rules.

No rules.

Just how we like it.

You flip a card and ask a question that inspires dialogue, and we share what we have, and we say more.

That's right.

I'm getting into it.

This is the perfect question for you.

If you could switch genders for a day, what's the first thing you'd do?

I'm way – I say it?

Okay, great.

I would literally flash myself.

First thing I would do, I'd go straight to the mirror and be like, oh, yeah.

Absolutely.

And then I'd – that's probably – I would go back on the couch and watch stuff.

I would watch the reality TVs and, like, all the other things that typically are aimed towards women to see what's so enticing about it.

Not saying men don't enjoy that, but you can clearly see it's lean towards a feminine energy.

Interesting.

And I would lean and say, what are we picking up about this?

Interesting.

Yeah.

If I could switch genders for a day, I don't want to be a man.

I really don't.

Same, girl.

It doesn't sound appealing to me at all.

I understand that there is privilege and power in the idea of walking around this world as a man.

Okay, but first thought, best thought.

I feel like I would infiltrate somewhere.

I would try to get to the top of some system or company and then, like, utilize my feminine ideology and input that into a system in one day.

That's what I would do.

That's my plan.

All the while being very weirded out by something hanging between my legs.

It's wild.

It's absolutely wild.

It's so weird to me.

It's an intelligent design.

In that case, it wasn't intelligent.

If there is intelligent design, who knows?

Okay, my turn.

Have you ever quit a job and why?

Oh, my God.

After two months, I worked in an ice cream shop and I was done.

Two months.

My first job ever.

Dad joke coming in.

Was it Foster's Freeze?

Yes.

Come on.

Come on.

It was Swenson's Ice Cream in my hometown of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

And it was my very first job ever as an employee because I had owned businesses.

Yes.

Starting at 10, 11, 12.

I had owned businesses, but I hadn't worked for anybody else.

And that's the theme of my life because I lasted two months.

I hated working for someone else.

I don't even think there was two weeks notice.

I think at that time they're like, you're a child.

You get to go home.

What I didn't know at the time about myself is that aesthetics are really important to me.

And the lighting in the back was so bad that it was giving me a headache.

All day long in an ice cream shop, all you're doing is leaning over the edge

and using all of your tricep muscles to scoop ice cream.

And I realized, no, no.

The fun part about an ice cream parlor is going in and eating ice cream,

not working behind the scenes.

So I quit.

I didn't have grit, let's say.

I was like, you know, I'm a bit bougie.

I'm going to just work for myself at 15.

Well, it's a different direction of your grit because Scott Galloway says that

one of the traits of an entrepreneur is someone who doesn't like working for other people.

So you knew that from a very early stage.

That place wasn't for you, obviously, for the obvious reasons.

So you packed your bags and hit the rocky road.

Oh.

Don't unfollow me, please.

What about you?

I worked at this beer merchandising company.

Beer merchandising is when you see those guys in those trucks show up to the grocery store

and they load in all that beer into the fridge or into the warehouse.

It was that job.

They told me when they hired me, we treat each other like family here.

They did not whatsoever treat me like family.

First thing first, you do two weeks of training with someone else.

And there was a lot of labor because you have to be there at 5 a.m.

every day except Saturday.

You have to be there at 4 a.m. on that Saturday.

Oh.

Yeah.

Secondly, my very first day on my own.

I am no more than a mile away at 5 a.m.

And my tire blew.

Oh.

I went to call all of the managers.

No one answered.

Oh, right.

And because the roads were empty, this is in Jacksonville, Florida, the only people leaving

that warehouse street were other employees in their cars.

I went into the street and tried to flag them down.

They drove straight past me.

Oh, my God.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, my God.

So what did I do?

I ran all the way back at 5 a.m. a straight mile.

I was 18 at the time.

It wasn't working out in my life.

I get to this place.

I take a seat down.

I'm exhausted because, again, it's 5 in the morning.

It's cold.

And I ran for one whole mile.

And they're like, all right, you ready to get back out there?

We got you another van.

Nothing.

Nothing whatsoever.

And then there was one of the grocery stores where the manager there was known for being aggressive.

He was known for being, like, militant.

Especially at this time, I was anti-authority.

So one day, he walks up to me.

And he says, are you going to fill the refrigerators full of the beers?

I go, yeah, I do every time.

He goes, no, you didn't.

No, you didn't.

I was here last week.

I checked up on you.

You didn't do it.

I go, I did.

I do every time.

He goes, nope, you didn't.

I was here on Tuesday.

He said, Tuesday?

He said, yes.

I go, I don't work on Tuesdays.

I'm off Tuesday and Wednesday.

That's not it.

He goes, well, it was a different day than I go.

Well, if you don't have your facts straight, then don't bring it to me, homeboy.

Okay?

And I walked away.

He said, what'd you say?

I said, you heard me.

And I kept going.

I didn't even get back to that warehouse.

And he called them.

And they were like, listen, you can't have these problems with him.

This happens again.

We're going to have to suspend you or something like that.

The next day, I had to be there at four.

So what did I do that Friday night?

I turned my phone on silent, stuck it under my bed.

And then I woke up at 9 a.m. the next day with 30 missed calls.

Something I'm not proud of.

But I remember being that age thinking, this feels really nice to say like F them to these people.

You just never went back?

I never went back.

And it was one of the most satisfying things that I've ever done.

I'm not really one who wants to sever ties like that.

But I got pushed so many times without being supported by them.

It felt really good to be like, you know what?

You guys will be fine without me.

And I slept in and I felt great that Saturday.

Next card.

Groovy.

What's a trip you've been wanting to go on but haven't had the time to take?

So we were supposed to go to Japan this year.

And instead we made a podcast.

Yeah.

Next card.

What's a personal story you'd like to tell your children about?

It's been a long, strange trip.

I got a bunch of stuff.

I can't think of one in particular.

First thought, best thought.

First thought, best thought.

First thought, best thought.

I would tell them about the time that I sky dove.

Skydived?

What is it?

Skydived?

Skydived?

Skydived?

That sounds like it doesn't work.

But it does.

I would tell them about that.

Because the entire time I was thrilled to do it.

And it felt really amazing.

Because there's these two sides.

It's a rush of all this wind hitting you.

And then once the parachute opens up, you just get this view of the whole land.

And it's very peaceful.

So, yeah.

I'm sure there's a metaphor in there.

For me, I don't think I've ever told my children about my grandfather.

My grandfather's passing, which was before both of them were born.

And how I gave the eulogy at his funeral.

The metaphor that I used for my grandfather was that he was the magnolia tree that grew in his front yard.

He created a canopy for his entire family.

Roots in the ground and a canopy of shade for all of us to feel safe under.

And he was the patriarch of our family.

That I had it together enough to be able to get up in front of everybody and tell that story that many people in our family still remember.

And my kids weren't alive at the time.

Oh, that's very beautiful.

The first thing you ever said to me was about your grandfather.

That's right.

Hoping or wishing that you could visit him again to tell him about your kids.

So, these two answers are right next to each other.

Wow.

Okay.

Give each other a meaningful compliment.

Try to make it something they haven't heard before.

Dude, we compliment each other all the time.

But you're the most complimentary partner ever.

Yeah.

Ever.

I mean, it's 90 to 1 kind of in terms of compliments.

I love your curiosity about the world.

Maybe I've told you that before.

Maybe 1,000 times.

Maybe it's my most favorite thing about you.

Okay.

Is your curiosity and your interest in learning new things, bettering yourself, bettering the world, deeply curious about the way things work and about why someone would think that way and why someone would act that way.

In a world where people just take everything so much at surface level, you and I think probably so many of our listeners are so deeply curious about the world.

Thanks.

And I think that is absolutely beautiful.

Thank you.

I found it's a life hack one day.

Instead of judging something, just asking, I wonder how or why.

It's a complete life hack.

And it relieves you of all this anger that you could be giving to yourself.

Okay.

Yeah.

Thank you for saying that.

Compliment for you.

I'm going to preface by saying you and I don't, we don't hear music and start dancing.

So sometimes we're at events or something and I see you just go straight into dancing.

And I love every moment of it.

Watching you dance is so fun.

It's so beautiful.

It's romantic in a sense.

You know that gif that shows, I think it's Bugs Bunny's like this.

And then the ears go up and the eyes have all the hearts and everything.

When I see you dance, it's just fantastic.

The first thing you always do, you start at the shoulders.

Every time you're like, and then you'll sing whatever the song is.

And then all of a sudden your feet go and then you'll clap your hands.

I just love seeing you dance.

Thank you.

Yeah.

You got it.

Next question.

Describe what you were like in high school.

And is there anything you'd change?

change.

Okay, great.

So where should I start?

One, I was in a gang.

Two, I was selling drugs.

I was selling guns.

I was carrying weapons.

I was in gang fights and shootouts.

I was being shot at.

I had got arrested at one point.

I was on probation for it.

I had the police looking for me for two other felonies, which in Florida, three felonies

is life.

And oh, by the way, I was 15.

Oy.

And if I may say, and this is in one of my talks that I give, there's a picture of me that's

snarling at that age.

I got a long white t-shirt and I'm looking serious and he looks menacing.

But really, he's just scared.

Yeah.

And he's sad and he's lonely and he was angry about it.

And you had had so much anger in your childhood and been around a lot of anger and you internalized

all of that and you didn't know where you belonged.

Yeah, absolutely.

And now you are a very peaceful Buddhist.

Imagine this image.

At some point, I would walk down the street with 12 other gangbangers and not even four years ago, I was walking down the street in a monk's robe with Buddhist monks.

That second time, I walked down the street thinking, oh, wow, I remembered when my group

of friends were somebody else.

And that's the transformation right there.

And that's your beauty in the broken part of you.

Well said.

Is there anything that I would change from that time?

No.

No.

Interesting.

Really?

You know, there's things that I would love to apologize to people for that if I ever saw

them again, hopefully they don't try to harm me because of what I've done to them.

I would love to apologize and express how sorry I am for it.

But from a me to me state, these things are part of the journey.

I was a person who hurt people.

How about you?

Well, quite the opposite.

Tell me about the gang you were in.

I was a complete perfectionist.

I was very naive.

Much love to both my parents, but I was quite sheltered as a teenager.

I earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do when I was 15.

Thank you very much.

So I could fight, but I chose not to because we also, Tae Kwon Do also preaches peace before anything else.

I was a straight A student except for that one B from that one history teacher who just 

didn't want any of those goody two-shoe kids who were really smart to get straight A's.

So I was never valedictorian, much to my mom's dismay, but I was completely stressed out.

Completely stressed by school and life and everything, pressure, and it was all internal.

Believing that I needed to get everything right in order to go to the good college, to have a

successful life and career, and I've come very, very far since then.

Next question.

What are some of our most opposite qualities?

Literally everything.

Well, we could both answer this.

You are slower and I'm faster.

Like in the way of you're more calculated and calm.

You're dumb, Cesar.

Not like that.

I got straight A's except for that one B.

No, no.

I mean in the best complimentary way.

You are slow and intentional about everything you do and I'm quite quick.

And sometimes that I feel like I strumble and strip.

I stumble and trip.

Just like that.

Sounds good.

When I move too quickly, I stumble.

You always appreciate all of the things that are around us.

And sometimes I'm too far ahead of the present moment.

Yeah, you move pretty quickly.

You move quite quickly.

And it's one of the things I do love about you.

Sometimes I imagine you like a honeybee.

Sweet as can be, but buzzing quite often.

We have learned this by now after a lot of conversations.

I'm way more organized than you are.

Side note, we had an entire conversation driving back from the mountains about organization.

And we were both very respectfully disagreeing.

We're both very organized in very different ways, I think was the conclusion.

But I have never been with someone who is more organized than I am.

And that is something I will swallow.

It's interesting.

In the same category, in the category of same, we are opposite in that sameness.

We are both organized.

What I'm organized in, you particularly aren't.

What you organize in, I am not.

Which is so interesting.

We're on the same side of the coin, different ends of that same side.

I also think you are big picture thinker and I am a detail oriented thinker.

Yeah.

And I think that is probably one of our best traits that we have with each other.

Yeah.

We work that out wonderfully.

Yeah.

It's one of my favorite things about us.

Because you can come up with the idea and I can execute it.

And that is to play to both of our strengths.

Absolutely.

And I think there's a lot of things about us that are very different.

And I think that is why we are good partners.

Yep.

We have the same, very similar value system about the world and what we care about.

But we are very different in how we operate in the world.

And that allows us to be like a really great team.

Right.

Could not agree more.

Next question.

For one million dollars, one million doll hairs, would you be willing to never see or talk to your best friend again?

That's crazy.

No, that's crazy.

You're my best friend.

Oh.

That's right.

I'm going to be nuts.

Oh my gosh.

No, never.

Yeah.

Yeah, same.

I wouldn't.

And I'm thinking about you, obviously, and any other best friend I've ever had.

Yeah.

I understand that money buys a lot of privilege in this world.

But I just don't care for money that much or wealth that much.

The most crucial thing in my life are my relationships.

So.

All right.

Between us, who is touchier?

Who likes physical touch more?

How about you and I say it at the same time?

Okay.

One, two, three.

You / Me. 

That's it.

Yeah.

Totally.

100%.

Yep.

I love physical touch as a love language.

Words of affirmation would be my first one.

But physical touch is second if we're going by those five love languages, which there are so many love languages.

But just in the broad strokes, words of affirmation I love and physical touch, close, close second.

But you absolutely love physical touch.

I do.

I had to know that from the moment I met you.

I was like, please tell me what is your favorite.

Because it's so important.

Yeah.

All right.

What was the last fear you overcame?

How did you do it?

Very recently, I had a really intimidating interview.

The reason it was so intimidating was because I pitched myself really well.

And the interviewer was like, that's a great pitch.

And I suddenly went, amazing.

I can't.

Don't know if I can deliver on that pitch.

And I was nervous for like the month leading up to it.

And I was prepping for the interview.

And I was so terrified.

And I'm so, I recognize that fear very quickly now.

And I know I'm going to do it anyway.

And we've talked about this under leaps of faith in our first episode, Breaking Open.

But it was so terrifying.

And when I did it and I completed the interview, and not only did I finish it,

but I felt so great about myself on the other side, I was on cloud nine.

I felt like I was on fire.

And I immediately went and picked my kids up from school.

And I was like, you're never going to believe what I did today.

And I totally bragged about myself to my kids, which was fun.

Yeah.

Because I recognize that's important.

They should see the self-validating thing instead of looking from the outside.

You also reiterated it to me multiple times to set a new neural pathway.

Yeah.

So the next time the fear comes up, you have this memory of it.

Yeah.

Because you didn't just say, yes, I did it and move on.

You said, yes, I did it.

I'm going to remind myself systematically.

So the next time, I know how to handle that.

Very good.

That was great.

How about you?

My fear, the last fear that I overcame was participating in becoming in a relationship with you.

Really?

Yeah.

I was endlessly, tirelessly scared.

I was scared of my choices.

I was like, am I making wrong choices here?

Am I dumb?

I even asked my mom after the last breakup.

I said, is there something wrong with me?

And so I met you and you were fantastic.

And a lot of me wanted to go really slow was because I was so scared about ending up hurt

and more importantly, hurting someone else.

Yeah.

You did that really well, though.

You shared it with me along the way.

Yeah.

And that's a terrifying thing to share with your partner.

I'm scared of hurting you.

That's not something you want to hear.

How did you overcome that fear?

I know that if your intentions are to get it done and you do the work to work through the fear,

then verbalizing it out is a way to do that.

If you just verbalize it out without any intention, it's just complaining or it's just setting up

boundaries in your life.

But I had the intention of wanting to work through the fear.

And then that expressing it outward doesn't build a wall anymore.

It builds a bridge.

So that's how I was able to do it.

I'm expressing it.

You told me specifically, I am scared of this and I'm doing it anyway.

And I want you to know, even though the subject matter was the thing I'm scared of is being in a relationship with you.

Saying that you separated yourself from the fear.

And look where we are.

Look where we are.

Look at us.

Look at us.

That's what you said to me on the first date.

Look at us.

Ready?

Run it.

What's something you're glad is in the past?

All of my drinking and drugs and self-loathing and jumping from one fire to the next.

Drama.

Being impulsive.

Being a slave to my impulses.

Not being able to control my own thoughts and actions and words.

Thinking that some new person is going to give me something more.

All of that is one thing.

Yeah.

Unfulfillment.

Lack of self-love.

Right.

I'm glad that those two things are gone.

Oh, that's good.

That's all unfulfillment.

That's all lack of self-love.

Wow.

And it iterated itself in so many ways in you.

Oh.

Like a kaleidoscope.

Wow.

How about you?

I'm really glad that hustle culture is in my past.

Oh, that's great.

I believed for so long that hustling was the way.

Didn't we all?

Don't we all?

Yeah.

Yeah.

And maybe somebody listening still feels that way.

But for me, hustle culture was exhausting and away directly into unfulfillment and unhappiness.

And that hustle is never done.

To-do list is never done.

Running, running, running.

Barely sleeping.

Meh.

At minimum, I must rest well, sleep well, eat well, take care of my body.

At minimum.

Yeah.

Fill your own cup.

Yeah.

And that belief system about hustle culture is in my past.

So I know I'll never...

I might hustle for a bit, but I'll never go back to believing that that is the only way.

Oh, absolutely.

I think it's clear that both of us are agreeing on this, but we're also not saying don't ever hustle.

Don't ever do it.

Right.

That's not the captain to the ship of your life.

Not one time should it ever take the wheel.

The quality of life matters more to me.

The lack of stress I feel, the calmness I feel, that matters more to me than anything.

And somehow my output in work has gotten better, ironically.

All right?

You have one.

When was the last time you cried?

Today?

When was the last time I cried today?

I cried twice today already.

I cry all the time.

I don't even need to give a reason.

I cry all the time.

And I say that because I actually like the fact that I cry quite often.

I don't see it as being sensitive, which is a bullshit word we should kind of give it up.

I don't see it as being too sensitive.

I see it as I allow my emotions to move through me.

And once they've moved through me, I'm past it.

Yes.

And I have had so much grief in my life.

But because at some point I processed it out, I now can reflect on those moments of grief without emotion.

Sometimes I do still get emotional, but I think most of that has moved through me.

I love crying.

I think it's so therapeutic.

When it's over, I feel so refreshed.

That's great.

You're really good with that too.

Anytime you're stressed, when you get to the point of crying, I know this is the end of that stress.

Because the next day you're going to pop out and be like, okay, this is what I'm going to do.

And it's pretty great to see.

What about you?

When was the last time you cried?

There was something that happened more specifically to me that I could feel my body and I felt that gushing, but nothing really happened.

There was kind of a weeping, but it didn't physically manifest itself.

When I gave a talk recently about my past, the talk had finished.

And I sat down and I was thinking, I don't think I really tapped into it.

I missed a handful of things that I wanted to say.

And this very, very like bigger than life man walked up to me and looked at me in the eyes and said,

that might have been one of the best talks I've ever heard.

Aw.

Because I was vulnerable.

And in that moment, I was like, oh, thank you.

And then I got in my car and it just all washed over me that all the stuff that I've done in my life was just on a screen.

And it gave somebody something like that, which lets me know I'm doing what I should be doing right now.

And that gave me more emotion.

That's beautiful.

Yeah, thanks.

One more question.

Let's do it, playa'

Have you changed since being in this relationship?

And in what way?

Oh my gosh, absolutely.

Well, one, because you have much more energy, it by default makes me much more chill, right?

So that works.

The second part, the most important part is I feel safe to try out things, to be more confident.

I feel safe to try to learn how to learn again.

Public speaking, for example.

All of that change because what's the line?

That the best investments you can make is not a stock or your assets or in the company.

It's the partner you choose because that is an accountability.

That accountability between you and I, and it's a glorious accountability, has required me to be the best version of myself.

And then I can see it.

I'm like, I didn't know I could do this.

And I can.

It used to be I'd look back three or four years at my previous self and say, what a different person.

And now it's like six months ago.

I'm like, what a different person.

And it's great.

It's really great.

I'm ever grateful for you to give me that space to consistently change, reiterate.

I love giving that space.

Thank you.

I have changed a lot since being in this relationship.

I think I have embraced my creative side more.

The side of me that used to be afraid to express myself.

And that is literally within a relationship, but also me to the world.

My self-expression, which could be called creative output.

But to me, it's just my self-expression.

I feel so safe to open up the floodgates of what I have to say and to release it out into the world.

And I'm not afraid of what anyone else thinks or judges about it.

That's my truth.

I was teetering on the edge of that, finding that before I met you.

But once I met you, you had such amazing, creative self-expression habits that I leaned into mine.

And your embracing of your creativity allowed me to do the same.

And I feel like I've just been flying in that regard ever since.

I mean, I put out a book and since I met you, none of it had been written.

And now that book is out in the world.

And that has changed everything.

You're right.

I realized at some point for me as an artist, put out your craft, whatever.

Let everybody take it the way they do.

You're focusing on just still creating, still creating.

And all that pressure just kind of went away.

That reminds me, this is great Andy Warhol quote.

It says, don't think about making art.

Just get it done.

Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad while they're deciding.

Make even more art.

And that is our intention here on this show.

That's absolutely it.

Just make it.

You have to decide what you think about it.

Hopefully you have conversations about it.

And we appreciate you listening.

And if you do have thoughts about it, please say more.

Say more.

Yeah.

So if any of these questions resonated with you and you want to answer one, send us an email.

beautyinthebreakpod@gmail.com

That has been another edition of Say More, Volume 2.

We love it.

We'll see you next time.

Thanks for listening.

And most importantly, please be kind to yourself.

If this episode spoke to you, take a moment and send it to someone else who might need it.

That's the best way to spread these conversations to the people who need them the most.

And if you want to keep exploring with us, make sure to follow Beauty in the Break wherever you get your podcasts.

We'll see you next time.

Beauty in the Break is created and hosted by Foster Wilson and Cesar Cardona.

Our executive producer is Glenn Milley.

Original music by Cesar and the Clew.