EP12: Finding My Voice | Speaking from Love as a Latina American Woman

In this episode, I share my personal experiences as a Latina American woman navigating fear, culture, and identity in today’s U.S. climate. I talk about reconnecting with my heritage, reflecting on what it means to honor my roots, and finding the courage to speak up — even when it feels risky.

We dive into the idea of speaking from love versus responding from fear or anger, inspired by moments like Bad Bunny’s Grammy speech and Super Bowl performance. I also share the small rituals that help me stay grounded: journaling, connecting with family, and leaning into my spiritual practices.

This episode is for anyone exploring cultural identity, self-expression, personal growth, and mindful action. I invite you to reflect on what “speaking from love” could look like in your own life and how small, intentional actions can create alignment, courage, and power in everyday moments.

Whether you’re navigating identity, facing fear, or learning to stay aligned in a loud world, this episode offers guidance, reflection, and encouragement to embrace your voice with intention and humanity.

So grab your favorite bevy, settle in, and lets begin

Thanks for hanging out with me on Mostly Aligned.

If this episode made you feel seen, think a little differently, or just kept you company….following or subscribing is a small way to support the show and keep it going. Sharing it with a friend or leaving a review helps too, in that quiet-but-important kind of way.

If you ever want to say hi, share what you’re moving through, or tell me what landed, you can email me at mostlyalignedpodcast@gmail.com.

Until next time! Make yourself a cup of tea, don’t overthink everything, and stay mostly aligned.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Welcome back to Mostly Aligned, where we're figuring it out mostly. Tis I, your girl, Lola, your host, resident story weaver, intuition apprentice, herbal girly, and proud card carrying member of the I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm trusting the universe anyway, club. If you're new here, welcome to the Cozy Chaos. Truly. I'm really glad you found your way here. And to my returners, hey friends. Thanks for walking this path with me, for letting me grow out loud, and for sticking around through all the reflecting, spiraling, healing, and okay, but now what moments. Mostly aligned is my little audio journal, my healing, intuition, starting over, protecting your peace, and noticing those tiny magic moments that quietly remind you who you're becoming. So if you're ready, grab your favorite bevy, settle in, and let's begin. From time to time, I do find myself wondering how much of my own culture do I really know. As I was going through the medicine wheel last year with each passing direction and learning about this other way of living, this question has gotten louder and louder. I've never visited Peru and when I have family that visits from there. I do spend some time with them. I mean, when I don't have to work or haven't made any other plans, or I'm not gonna lie, I tend to sit out when they hit the stores. They spend almost all day shopping, and I don't carry that same endurance. From what I've gathered about life in Peru is basically from what my parents and other relatives have shared from when they were younger before coming to Florida. In my younger days, I did consider myself cultured AF, mostly because of my mom's cooking. She was crowned the best cook of the family and knew how to prepare a variety of Peruvian dishes. I technically spoke Spanish first and learned English very shortly after. I still remember being in the ISO classroom for the first two or three weeks of kindergarten, and then they moved me into the English classroom. Which, fun fact, sometimes I like to joke around with people, and every once in a while, when I can't understand them or hear what they're saying, I gently drop in there, sorry, English is my second language. That just cracks me up because it's true, but honestly, my English is way better than Spanish as I've gotten older. My parents raised us the way they were raised, and some of those values, perspectives, and philosophies were passed down. But once I hit high school, I did struggle with that because there were things I wasn't allowed to do that my friends were, and it led me to rebel a bit whether it was lying to my mom or having my friends help me convince her to let me go out or sneaking out of my bedroom window when I had no other choice. Eventually, though, my mom caught on, and thankfully we reached a compromise. I wasn't lying anymore, and she was a little more lenient about letting me hang out with friends. But when I sit here and think about it, I feel like that was when I started becoming more Americanized with this newfound freedom. I don't want to say my upbringing was just thrown out the window because it wasn't. I am very grateful for it. But as I've gotten older, there were parts that definitely needed to be readjusted. And to stand here today and truly say, I know my people, that might not be entirely true. But if I were to make a list of what I do know, it would include things like some history about the Incan Empire and how the Spaniards conquered them, which Loki is shady as fuck. I'm not gonna lie. That Peruvian cuisine has been celebrated around the world, and yes, I thought, and still do, it was the second largest cuisine. I didn't fact check this, I just ran with it, but it's true in my heart. They have a sandboarding resort, and that's on my bucket list, along with Machu Picchu, Cusco, Sacred Valley, Moon Temple, the Nazca lines, and a few other spots I want to visit. Our Independence Day is July 28th. Though I'm not too familiar with the independence history. Most of all, I do know that one day I'd like to live there for a time, reconnect with my roots, meet family I haven't met yet, which is a lot, see where my ancestors rested, and ultimately learn about a part of myself that's always felt distant. I feel a yearning to learn, experience, and immerse myself in my culture, and to proudly share it with anyone who'd love to listen and hopefully encourage people to go and experience it themselves. But lately, reality kind of rushed in and it loudly, boldly, and sadly has made headlines. I've been getting small waves of thoughts and feelings about how potentially dangerous it can feel to be Latina or an immigrant in this country. Although I was born and raised here, it's starting to feel like that doesn't matter because of how I look. Now, this feeling doesn't linger for long here in Miami, due to the obvious. But I have lived in other places where you could say I was a tasty glass of mango margarita in a fridge full of whole milk. Most of the people I've met have been truly kind, friendly, and welcoming. And I've made many friends who love me for who I am. But with all this good I've experienced, I've also come across the not so good. I've made a few moments, I've had a few moments where an individual or two would remind me that I'm not the same or make me feel inferior. And while it never escalated into anything dangerous, it did feel unsafe and exposed. And I'm grateful for the kind strangers who would speak up during those interactions or in passing and reassure me that I belonged. And to not pay any mind to those unpleasant people that say otherwise. And to those kind strangers, wherever you are, thank you, truly. What has happened in the last month, what I've been reading, hearing, watching, is nowhere near what I've experienced personally. And yet it still stirs something in me. Reading about innocent people who had the courage and humanity to speak up in defense of others being treated inhumanely. The anger, the grief, the fear, and the sadness that comes with that, it hits all at once. What has happened and is still happening feels hate-driven. And that's terrifying. If you made it this far, thank you. I know mostly aligned isn't political, racial, or anything along those lines, and I promise that's not my intention here. This is a space to share lived experiences in this alignment era in my life. And right now, the main feeling I'm processing is fear. Fear for myself, fear for my people, fear that people blinded by hate and enabled by power are pushing us out with violence and authority. And to turn my mic on and come on here and not share these thoughts, feelings to just carry on like nothing is happening, it would feel like a disservice to myself. And when I really sat with that, oof, it hit a nerve. I've slowly been unlearning some things. And I don't know if it's cultural or if it's a woman thing, or maybe it's both, but I'm done trying to stay quiet because it's safer, stay agreeable because it's easier, or stay small because it seems wiser. And for a long time I called that self-preservation, and maybe at some point it was. That's performance. That's me stepping out of my character just to make others feel comfortable. And I'm in the middle of unpacking this, trust me. It's it's been a time, but uh I I found myself paying attention not just to who's speaking right now, but how people are choosing to use their voice because there is a difference. There is a way to speak from anger that hardens you, and there's a way to speak from love that still holds power. And one moment that really stood out to me recently was Bad Bunny's Grammy speech and his super bold performance. And I want to be clear, he's a man, not a movement, and he's not the only celebrity speaking up. This is not me putting him on a pedestal. But right now, he is in the spotlight, and the way he used that spotlight caught my attention. Among everything he said, what stayed with me was hate gets more powerful with more hate. And the only thing more powerful than hate is love. And man, that landed hard. He's not out here rallying people to fight back with more violence or division. He wasn't encouraging chaos, he was reminding people of their humanity. He was saying, we are not animals, we are not aliens, we are human beings. And during the Super Bowl, that message stretched into something even bigger: love and unity. Together, we are America. And whether you agree with him or not, what resonated for me wasn't the celebrity of it. It was the tone, it was the resistance, it was the choice. He chose to speak in a way that didn't betray his humanity. And that matters to me because I've been asking myself, what does it look like to speak up without feeding the hate? What does it look like to not shrink but also not let anger consume me? What does it look like to respond to fear without becoming fear? Because I don't want to respond to what's happening by turning into someone I don't recognize. I don't want to fight hate with more hate. I want to stay human. I want to stay aligned. And maybe that's what resonated the most. The reminder that love isn't passive. It isn't weak. It's not pretending nothing is wrong. It's choosing to hold on to your humanity when it would be easier to let it slip. And that feels like the medicine. The kind that helped me find my voice again, the kind that taught me that power doesn't have to be loud, to be real. The kind that says you can stand firm without losing your heart. And if this path has taught me anything, it's that the real work isn't to fight harder, it's to stay human, to stay aligned, even when the world feels loud. And for me, practicing that looks like action in small intentional ways. Being with my family when I need grounding, journaling my thoughts, speaking out loud to God, the great spirit, the universe, when fear, anger, or sadness shows up. These moments don't erase the weight of the world, but they anchor me so that when I do speak, when I do act, it comes from love, not reaction. I want to invite you to reflect for a moment. What does speaking from love look like in your life? Maybe it's having a hard conversation gently, setting boundaries, standing up for someone quietly, or pausing before reacting in anger. It can be a small act in your everyday life, but it's still action. Oof. And friends, that's it for today. I know short and sweet. Thank you for being here with me. I love sharing the space with you where we can be real, aligned, and maybe even brave together. If you feel called, I'd love to hear from you. You can email me at mostlyalignpodcast at gmail.com, share a story, a reflection, or even a little moment that made you smile. I would love to hear from you. If you're enjoying the show, leave a review, follow, subscribe, or five-star rating. Really, it helps others find a space. Whether you're listening on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or whatever you podcast. It'd be greatly appreciated. All right, y'all. Thank you for being here. I hope this episode gets you going to wherever you're going. Sending you so much love and a whisper of magic. Till next time. Bye, y'all.