1:30

Hi Prolific family , welcome back

1:32

to the Prolific Hub podcast

1:35

, welcome to season four . Oh

1:37

my gosh , I am so excited to be here , I'm

1:39

so excited to have you back and I'm

1:41

so excited and honored

1:43

for our guest today me to

1:45

have a conversation about

1:47

her work and her creative

1:49

journey and where she is now . And

2:00

Lyvonne is an Emmy

2:02

Award winner , an author

2:04

, a body and

2:07

sex positive pastor

2:09

, which is just incredible

2:12

, is

2:17

just incredible , a multi-faith womanist healer , and she's leading a pleasure-based movement into

2:19

righteous , sacred , holistic relationships with our bodies for

2:22

Black women and femmes , and I'm just

2:24

so excited to

2:26

have her on the show . So , without

2:29

further ado , let's jump

2:31

into the episode . All

2:34

right , hello everyone . Welcome back to the

2:36

Prolific Hub Podcast . I'm your host , Aliya

2:38

Cheyanne , and I'm so excited today to

2:40

be joined by Lyvonne Briggs

2:42

. Hi LaVon .

2:43

Hi Aaliyah .

2:45

Hi honey , Thank you so much for having me

2:47

. Thank you so much for joining

2:49

. I'm so honored to have you here and I'm so excited

2:52

to dig into Sensual Faith with you . But

2:54

first I want

2:56

to do just a quick introduction

2:59

. I love for guests to

3:01

introduce themselves

3:03

as who they are and who they want to be seen

3:05

as today , but I also want to share with our audience

3:08

how I know of your work . So

3:11

I discovered you . Yeah , I

3:13

discovered you on social media I

3:16

feel like someone yeah

3:18

, yeah , I feel like someone had

3:20

shared maybe a post of yours

3:23

, like a few

3:25

years ago at this point , and

3:27

I was just immediately so

3:29

intrigued and so curious

3:31

, so I've been following

3:33

you on Instagram ever since then . I

3:36

love and listen to the Central Faith

3:38

Podcast . Thank

3:41

you , and I'm

3:44

late to the family , but I

3:46

got my copy .

3:47

No you're not . You're right on time .

3:49

I'm right .

3:51

All things in divine timing

3:54

.

3:55

Absolutely , Absolutely . So I've

3:57

been really enjoying working

4:00

through central faith , because something I've spoken

4:02

about on the show recently is just

4:04

I mean it's in the title

4:06

coming home to my body and I

4:09

feel like central faith has been the

4:11

medicine that I've needed and been

4:13

looking for , so I've just been really

4:15

enjoying

4:17

reading it and I'm so just

4:19

grateful and honored to spend this time with you

4:21

to talk more about your creative process

4:24

and more about central

4:26

faith . But before we jump into that

4:28

, I would love to give you a moment to

4:30

introduce yourself

4:32

to the audience for folks who for

4:35

whatever reason , don't know you .

4:38

For the uninitiated .

4:40

My name is LaVon .

4:41

Briggs . Right , my

4:43

name is Lyvonne Briggs and I'm a baddie for a living

4:45

. You're welcome . That

4:48

basically means that I show up in the world

4:51

as the healer that I am destined

4:53

to be and I'm living into . I'm

4:55

an Emmy Award winner , I'm a Queens

4:57

girl and I'm a joy finder . I

5:00

am a daughter of the church and the diaspora

5:03

and I am an author and

5:06

a podcaster and a content

5:08

creator and a filmmaker and

5:10

a beauty lover , and so essentially

5:13

all of my work

5:15

points towards healing and

5:17

liberation for Black women . I am a Black

5:19

woman spiritual leader who is no

5:21

longer at war with her body and

5:24

on a journey to invite other Black women

5:26

and femmes to do the same .

5:38

I love that and I'm so excited to speak with you more

5:40

about all of that . Your work is transforming the lives of so many . It's

5:43

allowed me to reevaluate and assess my own spirituality

5:46

and my faith and my relationship with my

5:48

body . So I'm grateful

5:50

to have this time with you . So before

5:53

we dig into other

5:55

items , I'd love to just talk to

5:57

you a little bit more , because I've

6:00

learned through your work that you

6:02

are a studied

6:04

expert after

6:07

someone with the credentials you went

6:09

to school for this . This is not a game

6:11

. But you're also deeply

6:13

committed to you

6:15

, committed to versions of academia

6:17

or learning that live outside

6:20

of school or church

6:22

through lived experience . But

6:24

I would love to know how all those things

6:26

come together and how your faith

6:28

and your spiritual practices have actually supported

6:31

you and guided you on your creative

6:33

journey , like in what ways have they shown

6:35

up in your work ?

6:37

Really beautiful question , and so I

6:39

refer to God as God

6:42

creator . Oladumare , you

6:44

or some of your listeners might say , universe

6:46

, divine , light source

6:48

, energy , universe , like whatever language you want

6:50

to use , just know that's what I'm conjuring the

6:53

God of love and light and liberation . And

6:55

so , for me , I am

6:57

a church girl through and through . I was

7:00

born and baptized

7:02

and confirmed in the

7:04

Caribbean middle-class

7:07

church of my childhood , st James Lesbos

7:09

Episcopal Church in Queens , and so I

7:11

always had a deep understanding

7:14

of ritual and

7:16

liturgy . I was an acolyte

7:18

or an altar girl , and so

7:20

I was around candles

7:23

and bells and incense and

7:25

frankincense and myrrh . So when I

7:27

got older and got into sage and

7:30

Palo Santo , it wasn't that far

7:32

of a jump . It took me some

7:34

meandering to get there , and

7:36

I had a really radical religious

7:38

conversion experience when I was in

7:40

college at a Pentecostal church

7:43

, and it was the first time that I experienced

7:45

like a demonstrative show of the

7:47

Holy Spirit through speaking in tongues

7:49

. Now I'm an Episcopalian

7:52

child Okay , I don't know anything about speaking

7:54

in tongues , so the fact that I was speaking in tongues , it was

7:56

very clear that God wanted

7:58

me to have this experience that I

8:00

could not shake , and

8:02

so , at 22 years old

8:04

, I have this zeal for the King James Version

8:07

of the Bible . I don't know many 22-year-olds

8:09

walking around talking about thee thou

8:11

this is brethren talking about thee thou . This

8:13

is right , brethren . But as you can imagine

8:15

, in reading the Bible I started to have a lot of questions

8:17

that Bible study

8:20

and Sunday school were not answering

8:22

and I was like , if y'all not going to answer my questions , I'm

8:24

going to go find the people who are so I started discerning

8:26

my own process to seminary , which I didn't

8:29

even know was a thing until I went to visit my

8:31

best friend who was at Duke Divinity School

8:33

, and so I went to class with him one day

8:35

and they were talking about theology

8:37

and the auction block which theology

8:40

is , the study of God . Right , god

8:42

, talk in womanist terms , shout

8:45

out to Dolores Williams . And so

8:48

I was like wait , people are doing this , people are

8:50

talking about God and chattel slavery

8:52

and free like what . It had

8:55

never been presented to me

8:57

that way . And so I discerned

8:59

that I was called to Yale Divinity School and while

9:02

I was there I studied

9:04

Christian social ethics and Black women's issues

9:06

. I got a

9:09

full view of the historical Christ

9:11

figure . I learned about Black

9:13

liberation , theology and womanism

9:15

, and everything

9:18

started to come together

10:13

for me . Some people would say that it crumbled , but

10:15

for me , decolonizing my

10:17

Christianity , reclaiming my

10:19

African spiritual base and practices

10:22

, having space to heal

10:24

my bodily trauma , all

10:26

of that helped me learn how to love myself unapologetically

10:29

, which is not what most Black

10:31

religious spaces are encouraging

10:33

for women , which is odd

10:36

because most Black churches

10:38

, their congregations , are at least 85%

10:41

Black women . Black church leadership

10:43

is nowhere near 85%

10:45

Black women , and so I started to

10:47

see the threads of patriarchy

10:50

, the illusion of white supremacy

10:52

, the sexism , the racism

10:55

, the internalized misogyny , and I started

10:57

to say you know what God ? You

10:59

called me the pastor , but I'm not your

11:01

mama's pastor . Okay , I'm

11:04

not your mama's preacher . I cuss

11:06

, I twerk , I smoke

11:08

some weed , right Like what

11:10

are we doing ? And so I

11:13

turned to social media and

11:15

podcasting as my

11:17

pulpit and my platform .

11:18

And .

11:19

I was so grateful that me being

11:21

my authentic self led me

11:23

to a book deal where I

11:25

could channel a book that

11:27

I needed when I was younger , right

11:30

. Sensual Faith is not just my

11:32

first book , it's a love letter to a

11:34

younger version of LaVon , and I think that's

11:36

why it's being so influential

11:39

with other Black girls

11:41

, women and femmes .

11:43

Yeah , oh , all of that . You said

11:45

a word and and I resonate with

11:48

all of that so much . Just even as

11:50

someone who was a

11:52

churchgoer once upon a time , I

11:54

started to question some

11:56

of the sermons that I would hear , because I would

11:58

always be like , well , where

12:00

do I fit into this ? Because a lot of this sounds

12:02

like misogyny , a lot of this sounds

12:04

like misogynoir , a lot of this sounds like patriarchy

12:07

, like what ? are we actually doing

12:09

here , and I think

12:12

that's why just you and your work have been

12:14

such a breath of fresh air for me and

12:18

even in some ways healing

12:21

my own relationship with the

12:23

faith I grew up in versus the spirituality

12:26

I'm in now . So thank you for

12:28

sharing that .

12:28

Yeah , I'd like to say , of course , my pleasure

12:31

and you're worthy right . I like to say

12:33

that there's the religion of our childhood

12:35

and there is the faith of our womanhood

12:37

. Like what we were reared in

12:39

, what we were raised in , didn't always serve

12:41

us . We grew up and we like wait , I can't have sex

12:43

before marriage . I'm going to hell . Like wait

12:46

, I'm going to hate gay people . Like what

12:52

a marriage . I'm going to hell , like wait , I'm going to hate gay people . Like what are you what

12:54

? What are you talking ? That don't sound right Right .

12:55

So for Black women who are currently or formerly church , who know that there's got to be something

12:58

more to it than this .

12:58

This is the this right . Sensual faith is

13:00

an invitation for Black women

13:02

in particular to live their

13:04

spirituality from a place of pleasure

13:07

rather than shame . So much of

13:09

what we've heard from religious pulpits

13:11

and even family , church and society

13:13

have been about shrinking ourselves

13:15

, taming ourselves , making

13:17

ourselves small , keeping ourselves quiet

13:20

. And you can't tell me that God

13:22

is good and God is great , and God is doing

13:24

a new thing and I'm

13:27

not an expression of God on the earth . Right

13:29

, you can't tell me I'm a child of God . But then

13:31

be like , oh , but everything about you is evil . That

13:33

don't make no sense , none whatsoever

13:36

. It sounds like . Right , there's an ulterior

13:38

motive here . And I'm not drinking

13:40

the Kool-Aid , no more . So

13:42

it's liberation in motion for us .

13:45

Yeah , absolutely so . Thank

13:47

you for sharing that . I

13:50

mean you answered the next question , which is what ?

13:52

inspired you to write Central Faith .

13:53

And you said it's a love letter to

13:56

a younger version of yourself . And so many

13:58

young Black women

14:00

of all ages I want to say young are

14:02

discovering your work and learning

14:05

their worthiness .

14:06

Oh for sure I have moms

14:08

who buy my book for their teenage daughters

14:10

and they say I'm going to read it with her I

14:12

have a 62-year-old woman who

14:14

was like thank you so much for writing this . So

14:17

, even though I wrote it for

14:19

Black women ages 18 to 45

14:21

, or whatever the marketing plan said

14:23

, I knew that this was

14:26

going to transcend age

14:28

.

14:28

I knew that it was going to transcend race .

14:29

I knew that it was going to transcend race . I knew that it was going to transcend

14:31

gender . I have women who happen to be white

14:34

talking about . I know you wrote this for Black women , because I

14:36

did . When you read Sensual Faith , you will know

14:38

I'm writing to Black church

14:40

girls , okay , but

14:42

they're , like I feel so liberated . I

14:44

have men oh my gosh , who

14:47

have read my work and they're like thank you for this

14:49

, Like this is helping me . One understand

14:51

the plight of Black women but , two know

14:53

how to hold other men , particularly

14:55

Black men , accountable right . For

14:57

what we are also hearing and learning

15:00

from these pulpits preachers , teachers

15:02

, so , child , the

15:04

pastors wasn't going to let me come preach sensual

15:06

faith , so I had to publish a book to get

15:08

it to the church .

15:10

Yeah , but what you're also speaking

15:13

to is the fact that I don't

15:15

know like I don't know . Liberating Black

15:17

women liberates everyone .

15:19

Babe , absolutely . I have a colleague who says , yeah , that Black

15:21

women have never wanted a freedom that did not include

15:23

everyone . Black women have never

15:25

wanted a freedom that did not include everyone

15:28

. And this is also why I identify

15:30

as a womanist , and not a feminist . Because

15:32

when them white women were creating feminist frameworks

15:35

, they were not thinking about us . Not at all , not

15:37

one bit .

15:37

Not at all , and many of them still don't

15:40

. Many of them still don't .

15:42

That's why you know they have to talk about intersectionality

15:45

right . We are walking

15:48

. Intersectional beings Black women don't talk

15:50

about intersectionality . We just exist and

15:52

that is inherently intersectional . Like shout out

15:54

to Dr Kimberly Crenshaw for giving us that language

15:56

. But womanism centers the perspectives

15:59

, vantage points and experiences of Black women

16:01

. And the thing is , when Black women

16:03

are free , everybody else is going to be free . Think

16:05

about a poor , young

16:07

, queer , differently

16:10

abled or disabled Black

16:12

girl If she can sit

16:14

on a pew in a church and

16:17

do what she can do to praise God

16:19

you don't think we're going to be

16:21

able to be good If

16:23

she's good we

16:25

good right , so that's why

16:27

it's so important to center the liberation of black

16:30

girls , women and femmes absolutely

16:32

.

16:32

You have such like an uncanny ability

16:34

to constantly remember and

16:36

cite people like , yeah

16:39

, like academics , like civil rights

16:42

leaders , like ancestors in your work

16:44

, and I'm , I'm in such admiration

16:46

of that I'm in such admiration of that I'm in such admiration

16:48

of that .

16:48

Well , here's the thing y'all these student

16:51

loans didn't get here for no reason

16:53

, okay . So I've always been

16:55

a lover of words . I'm a reader and

16:57

I would be remiss if I didn't lift

16:59

up my dear sister friend , hip

17:01

hop woman and scholar Ebony Janice Moore . She

17:04

talks about citing Black women

17:06

and how citation makes you more

17:08

credible , because it means that you've read

17:10

something you took time to understand

17:12

it and to internalize it and digest

17:15

it , and now you can share it with others . So

17:18

, that's why a lot of these podcast bros

17:20

are failing , because

17:22

they're not reading . A

17:25

lot of these people with Twitter fingers are

17:28

not reading and it shows

17:30

. You got to study to show

17:32

thyself approved . That's the scripture , right ? It's

17:34

not just saying memorize the scriptures . Who

17:36

are the ancestral voices that we need

17:38

right now ? Who are the artists that

17:41

are preaching to us more than like

17:43

a misogynistic pastor ?

17:45

right .

17:45

Who are the Black women whose

17:48

theories are being stolen by

17:50

white women right

17:52

and presented at TED Talks

17:54

and whatnot , and they're making money off of our

17:57

labor . Like you got to go to the source

17:59

, babes , so

18:02

I model that for folks .

18:03

Go to the source 1,000%

18:05

and so beautifully

18:08

, always . I think that's another thing that really attracted

18:10

me to your work is just your

18:12

brilliance and your ability

18:14

to share and put me on to other brilliant

18:17

people that I might not have known about .

18:19

So thank you for that gift

18:21

, not just for student loans , but the

18:23

gift , yeah

18:26

.

18:27

So a lot of your work around sensual

18:29

faith and just reading through

18:31

the book itself centers just embodiment

18:34

and feeling things in your body . But on

18:37

the other end of that . I would

18:39

love to know , like in

18:41

your own thoughts , like how has disembodiment

18:45

made life harder

18:49

? Or like how has this embodiment

18:51

shown up and , you know , kind

18:53

of deterred you from your path in different ways

18:55

or disconnected you from your

18:58

gut and your intuition . I'm very curious about what

19:00

that has looked like for you prior

19:03

to moving into embodiment

19:05

.

19:08

Into embodiment yeah . You

19:20

know , healing my bodily trauma was the biggest thing , you know , because

19:22

I have experienced so much , which I'm very

19:24

candid in the book about all of the trials and tribulations I have survived

19:27

. For a moment , the flashback

19:29

would come or the sorrow

19:32

, or the rage or the grief . These are

19:34

not words I would have used when I was younger , but

19:36

I know now that that's what was

19:38

coming up for me , but it feels

19:40

like suffering in the moment and no one

19:43

likes to suffer . It's

19:45

why we tell people to put on a brave face . And

19:47

people are crying and it's they're there . Don't cry

19:49

. No , god gave us tear ducts for a reason

19:51

Like I need to purge and process this and

19:54

over time , I started to meet

19:57

people who would give me space to

19:59

feel the pain , the rage , the

20:01

grief , and I realized that feeling

20:03

. It didn't last as long as I thought it would

20:05

. I just needed to give it space . I

20:07

needed to see it in order

20:09

for it to be true and to transmute . So

20:12

, over time , through talk therapy

20:15

, through spiritual community , worship

20:17

experiences , ritual praying

20:19

at my altar , grieving all of

20:21

those things together , moving my

20:24

body , I started to realize that

20:26

there is no emotion that I cannot alchemize

20:28

body . I started

20:30

to realize that there is no emotion that I cannot alchemize

20:32

Like one of my spiritual gifts is being a master alchemist , and I can , when , when Christians

20:35

say , oh , you know , you take what the devil

20:37

meant for evil and God will turn around for your good

20:39

, like I took the things that should

20:41

have killed me and I have made it medicine

20:43

. And so now

20:45

embodiment is so second

20:47

nature to me that it's

20:50

not disembodiment but it's

20:52

more of a betrayal of my embodiment

20:54

. Yeah , whereas before

20:56

I couldn't feel my feelings because it felt

20:58

like too much . Oh , babes , I

21:00

feel my feelings for a living now . Yeah , but

21:03

my intuition , she and I

21:05

are locked in . Yes , she and I are locked in . So when I don't

21:07

listen to her and

21:09

the horror comes , it's

21:12

not that I don't have someone to blame , because

21:14

, blame , I hear my pastor , and my

21:16

well , she is like a pastor , my therapist

21:20

. I hear Dr Breonna Boyd

21:22

in my ear saying like you know , don't

21:29

try to place blame .

21:29

Like it is what it is . Don't try to , because that's you trying to rationalize

21:31

it .

21:31

Just feel what you're feeling . I know what life is

21:34

like when I listen to my intuition and follow

21:36

and trust , and I know what life is like

21:38

when I don't listen to my intuition and

21:41

so betraying

21:43

myself . Looks like hearing

21:46

something and not following through self

21:49

. looks like hearing something and not following through feeling the dread and

21:51

going through with something anyway , and then the oh , this

21:53

is what I was feeling earlier comes

21:55

up right . So my

21:58

gift to myself right

22:00

and compassion and self-compassion

22:02

is , even when I

22:04

betray myself and I don't listen

22:06

to my intuition and something

22:09

happens , it's not to dwell

22:11

in the horror but to say to

22:13

celebrate that . I heard right Like

22:16

now I got this thing . That I've got to heal child

22:19

, but let me just know

22:21

, I heard right and that

22:23

is the gift and that always brings

22:25

me back home to myself .

22:26

Yeah , oh , my goodness , that

22:30

is so profound it's making

22:32

me think about . I had done an episode

22:34

recently of this show where I was talking

22:36

about something I had gone through earlier

22:38

in the year and the aftermath

22:40

of it was just a

22:43

lot and I realized that I had been suppressing

22:45

so many of my feelings around it that it just kind

22:47

of erupted and I allowed myself

22:50

to feel it and sink into it

22:52

. I gave myself space to

22:54

feel the grief . I gave myself

22:56

space to feel the rage , and that's something

22:58

that I don't always do , and

23:00

exactly what you said . I

23:02

realized that what was driving a lot

23:05

of that is because I had betrayed my intuition

23:07

and I had betrayed my gut . I

23:11

knew maybe I should not have gone

23:13

through with something . I knew

23:15

I should not have done it but I betrayed

23:18

myself . I did it anyway and

23:22

I had to allow myself to

23:24

move through the emotions of that and I

23:26

think what you said just resonated

23:29

and I love the perspective shift around

23:31

disembodiment

23:33

versus betraying

23:35

your embodiment . You know , betraying yourself

23:38

.

23:38

So that's just such powerful language , so thank

23:40

you for sharing that , jem , yes , you're worthy

23:42

, and I do want to offer this because I don't want

23:44

listeners to get stuck in the

23:46

harm of the betrayal right , like

23:48

, because then it becomes self-blame . As

23:51

deep as the betrayal goes is

23:53

as wide as the grace flows

23:55

.

23:55

Oh , that was good . Come on , Spirit .

23:57

That was good , as deep as

23:59

the betrayal goes is as wide

24:01

as the grace flows . So

24:03

it's not about . Oh God , I can't

24:05

believe . I didn't listen because it's so easy

24:08

to get into that really , you

24:10

know being unkind to yourself , stuff , but

24:12

to say , okay , I

24:14

heard it , I didn't listen Next time

24:16

. I know what it feels like . Next time

24:19

I know what it sounds like . I know

24:21

the hair stands up on my neck . I

24:23

know the dread I feel in the pit , in my

24:25

stomach .

24:25

I know the tone that .

24:26

I hear in my left ear Like these

24:29

are all sensual spiritual

24:31

gifts . Right , I talk about in the book

24:33

how sensual

24:37

spiritual gifts . Right , I talk about in the book how sensuality is the ultimate practice

24:39

in mindfulness . Right , and if all of our faculties are functioning

24:41

healthily , we can see , we can touch , we can

24:44

taste , we can hear , we can smell . Well

24:46

, similarly , as above so below

24:48

in African cosmology , as in the physical

24:50

, so in the spiritual some of us have the spiritual

24:53

gift of sight . We see spirits , we

24:55

see light , we see orbs . Right

24:57

Some of us have the gift of hearing . You can actually

25:00

hear messages , voices or

25:02

you hear a high pitched or a low pitched tone

25:04

, depending on which ear it's in , depending on what

25:06

you know what message spirit wants to convey

25:08

. Some of us smell things . Your Nana been gone

25:11

since 1999

25:13

, but that Coco Chanel perfume

25:16

you're like what ?

25:18

the Don't nobody have no Chanel perfume .

25:19

Randomly right , but that's how

25:21

you know spirit . Is there ? Some of y'all raw vegan

25:24

, but you got a taste for some oxtail . That's your

25:26

ancestors , babes , and

25:29

these are gifts that some Black

25:31

Christian spaces have demonized , right

25:34

? I've heard stories of people being like oh I

25:36

see Nana , and Nana's been

25:38

an ancestor for five years

25:40

, and people get scared and they drag

25:42

this seer to the church and lay hands

25:44

and pray off this demon , like that's not a demon

25:47

, that's a spiritual gift that's going

25:49

to edify the whole body , if you let it

25:51

. So . Sensuality

25:53

on first

25:55

hearing

25:57

or on first visitation , upon

26:00

first inspection , might seem

26:02

like something that's just bodily , but

26:04

I argue , just like African

26:06

cosmology does , that there's no separation between

26:08

body and soul or body and spirit . So

26:10

anything that has to do with your body

26:12

automatically has to do with your spirit .

26:16

Yes , yeah , oh my goodness , oh my goodness

26:18

. You're preaching to me .

26:20

I know , this is so good , this is

26:23

so prolific , okay

26:25

.

26:25

I like that . Thank you , LaVon .

26:28

I see what you did there .

26:30

Oh my gosh , oh my gosh . So

26:32

I want to talk

26:34

to you about so many things , but

26:36

one thing I would just love

26:38

to know , and I think would be really good for listeners

26:40

, is just how has

26:43

centering your , your

26:45

sensuality , your pleasure

26:48

, dropping ?

26:49

into your body .

26:50

How has that like served

26:52

you ? How has that ?

26:53

served your creativity ?

26:55

How has that served your life Like

26:57

how has that ?

26:58

been for you . Yeah , that is

27:00

so good . So I remember

27:02

for the longest time being taught that yoga

27:04

is demonic and so I stayed away

27:07

from it . I stayed away from it for a very

27:09

long time , yeah . And then

27:11

, when I was in my first year at Yale Divinity

27:13

School , I had a classmate from Brazil

27:15

who practiced yoga

27:17

activism Right so

27:20

he started to offer yoga

27:22

classes in our chapel on Friday mornings

27:24

. It was like 730 in the morning . I didn't have classes

27:27

, so like there was really no excuse beyond

27:29

let me get up early enough to get to this

27:31

class . But I remember the first time

27:33

I practiced and , aaliyah , when I

27:35

tell you , I felt so grounded , I

27:38

felt so sensual and sacred

27:40

and holy and divine and

27:43

like self-possessed

27:45

and I was like , oh , yoga

27:47

is not demonic but

27:49

, how I feel after practicing

27:52

yoga is dangerous because

27:55

a Black woman who is self-possessed

27:58

sensually , sexually , financially

28:00

, emotionally she is a

28:03

threat to the system right

28:05

? And so I quickly realized

28:07

that a lot of the hodgepodge

28:10

, this toxic ideology

28:12

, and people put God or Jesus on top of

28:14

it and it's masquerading as theology is

28:17

actually warped dogma

28:19

to have us at war with ourselves , because

28:23

how I felt after

28:25

my first yoga practice and after most of

28:27

my yoga practices , honestly , is how

28:29

every Black Christian woman felt

28:32

every day of her life oh

28:34

, babes , the tithes wouldn't be getting paid

28:37

, listen . Okay , the protests

28:39

would be going forth . Okay

28:41

, the demands for Black

28:43

women being ordained would

28:46

be high , right . And

28:48

so how do

28:51

I get you at war

28:53

with your body ? Well , I tell you that your body's inherently

28:55

evil right . Because if we

28:57

don't talk about bodies , we're not talking about what

28:59

happens to our bodies . And we're not talking about what happens

29:02

to our bodies . We're not talking about sexuality

29:04

.

29:04

And if we're not ?

29:04

talking about sexuality . We're not talking about sex and

29:07

we're not talking about sex . We're not talking about bodies

29:09

and we're not talking about bodies . We're not talking about menstrual cycles

29:11

. We're not talking about irregular periods . We're

29:13

not talking about prostates . This

29:15

is bigger than just Black

29:18

women's bodies .

29:19

But if we start talking about Black

29:21

women's bodies , well well , we're gonna talk about the grandmothers

29:23

but

29:38

I have one grandmother in particular who

29:40

is just seven-day

29:42

eventist through and through , doesn't know

29:45

or function anything outside of

29:47

that faith that practice

29:49

and sure , I think to myself

29:51

sometimes had

29:54

certain tools been available

29:56

, like maybe when she was a younger woman , certain

29:59

platforms , certain resources , certain books

30:01

.

30:02

You know just different knowledge

30:04

been available .

30:05

Like how profoundly different could her life

30:08

have been , you know , and

30:11

I'm so grateful now to be in

30:14

a world and a part of a generation where

30:16

me being in touch with my body

30:18

, my liberation , not only

30:20

serves me but serves other people

30:22

around me and we can speak about it

30:24

so freely

30:29

. My pleasure in centering my sensuality

30:31

has been so important to me , even in

30:35

small ways , small rituals , I do for myself

30:37

to make sure that . I feel centered

30:39

and I feel good and I feel grounded . So hearing

30:42

you speak about that is just really , really

30:44

good , and I

30:46

can't imagine somebody saying yoga is demonic

30:49

. That is just so crazy to me .

30:52

That is so crazy . That is just so crazy . To me , that's so crazy . Male preachers

30:54

was running around years ago talking about

30:56

sage is the devil's aromatherapy

30:59

.

31:00

Oh , please .

31:04

I beg Y'all , just don't want us to enjoy things

31:06

. You know what I mean , because that's the thing about pleasure , right

31:08

, like

31:12

I talk a lot about sensuality and sexuality , which are two different things . They

31:14

inform

31:51

each other , but they're different . But also pleasure is me , you

31:53

know , deciding which water vessel I'm going to

31:57

drink out of this mug says listen to

31:59

women preach . I'm drinking water out

32:01

of a mug that says listen to women preach why

32:03

.

32:03

Because I'm a woman preacher .

32:05

Right , and I remember I

32:08

was serving at a , you know

32:10

, moderately large Black Baptist

32:12

church in the Bay Area and

32:15

it was the first

32:17

Sunday that I preached , which , if you know about

32:20

the Black Baptist church child , that first

32:22

Sunday is communion Sunday and it's a big

32:24

fucking deal . Right and

32:26

the pastor was out of town .

32:27

It was like Labor .

32:28

Day weekend . I'll never forget it . And I preached

32:30

. What

32:32

did Tamar ? What was her catchphrase back

32:34

in the day ? Oh my goodness , yeah , yeah

32:36

, yes , I preached . Get your life

32:38

it was a good ass sermon too yeah . And

32:41

I remember afterwards

32:43

a woman came up to me and she was

32:45

like now I don't believe in women preachers

32:48

, but you're a preacher . And

32:50

I was like , well darling . I preached

32:52

, I did and last time I went to

32:54

the bathroom I had a vagina

32:56

and a vulva . And so I'm also

32:59

a woman . I identify as a woman . So

33:02

I don't know what you got to do in your mind

33:04

to reconcile it . But

33:09

just know you just saw a woman preacher , and so it was so

33:11

wild to me that another Black woman

33:13

who was older I'm talking about a wife and

33:15

mother- okay saw

33:18

me preaching and was like having

33:20

cognitive dissonance in real time . Like

33:24

she's a woman and she's preaching . Now , I

33:26

don't believe in women preachers . Now do you not

33:28

believe in women preachers ? Or were you taught not to believe in women preachers Because

33:30

you not believe in women preachers ? Or were you taught not to believe in women preachers

33:32

because you're seeing a woman preach right in your face , right , and you're being blessed

33:35

by her right ? So that just shows

33:37

you how deep the conditioning is

33:39

, that you can witness something in real

33:41

time and still

33:43

like to witness . Right struggle

33:45

to to witness , to bear witness to

33:48

what you're witnessing , yeah .

33:49

Yeah , the conditioning

33:52

is deep . It is , it's

33:56

deep . That's why you got

33:58

to pull it out at the root child . You

34:01

have to . That's the only way .

34:03

I'm so grateful for all of the unlearning

34:07

and relearning and everything

34:10

that's happening now because it's so important

34:12

and it'll only make a better world

34:14

in the future .

34:15

So precisely . I love central

34:17

faith podcast . Thank

34:19

you . And I really enjoy it

34:21

. And there was one episode in particular

34:24

I don't remember exactly which one , but you had mentioned

34:26

that creativity is aligned

34:28

with liberation , and I remember that phrase

34:31

sticking out to me

34:33

.

34:33

Yeah , I said if .

34:34

I ever spoke to you . I

34:36

have to talk to you about that

34:39

. So I would love for you to

34:41

talk a little bit more about what

34:43

that means and what that

34:45

looks like .

34:47

Yeah , so I mention

34:49

this to my digital communities often

34:51

right . I say that there's a difference

34:54

between creativity and productivity

34:56

. Productivity is tied

34:58

to capitalism . Productivity says

35:00

I need you to produce as much as possible

35:02

, as quickly as possible , because

35:05

resources are finite , and this is

35:07

what I need you to do , right , and I'm going to put a

35:09

price per hour on your labor

35:11

and compensate you unfairly

35:14

. This is how it works

35:16

, whereas creativity you

35:19

need space to be creative , you

35:21

need room to rest and to

35:23

play and to read and to

35:26

think and to ideate

35:28

Right , and

35:38

to ideate right , creativity requires time , and time is the enemy of productivity

35:40

. And when I say that I mean taking time , slowing down , stretching out

35:42

that lunch hour , taking a nap instead

35:45

of hopping on another

35:47

call , turning your camera

35:50

off for the Zoom conversation you

35:52

need to be on . Those

35:54

are ways that you save little

35:56

pockets of time and energy so

35:58

that you can actually dive into

36:01

the creative work that you are here to do

36:03

. Because in my belief system in African

36:05

cosmology , we're all sent here with a purpose

36:07

and before we break the

36:09

time and space continuum , we look at our life

36:12

, we look at our soul contract and

36:14

we either say yay or nay . Those

36:16

of us who were here , I believe , said yay

36:18

. Then we

36:21

come in , born into this matrix of

36:23

systems of oppression particularly around

36:25

capitalism . And

36:27

we have credit scores right

36:30

and we're paying rent on pillaged

36:32

land and

36:35

that is like spiritual cognitive dissonance

36:37

, because the way we were . On the continent . Everybody

36:39

has space to operate in their gifts , and

36:41

we just not saying that it was , like , you know , a utopia

36:44

or anything . But it wasn't

36:46

this hot messery , it wasn't this

36:48

election year , and so I say that creativity

36:50

is tied to liberation , because creation

36:53

gets us closer to the creator

36:55

. I identify as a

36:57

co-creator with the creator , and

36:59

so creativity as a spiritual practice

37:02

is going to destroy

37:04

productivity as a capitalistic

37:06

ritual .

37:07

Yeah , oh my goodness . Wow

37:09

, babes , spirit is speaking

37:11

on your podcast okay , it is . I

37:13

feel like spirit always shows up wherever

37:16

you are . So , oh , thank

37:18

you , like I , I'm

37:20

just , I'm so grateful yeah

37:22

, but yeah good one yeah

37:25

, that that's just , that's just

37:27

so profound . I love the idea

37:29

of co-creating with the creator because

37:31

I I have felt for

37:33

a long time and whenever I've expressed

37:35

it which is another reason why I gravitate

37:37

toward your work so much is that I say

37:39

all the time . There is no separation

37:41

between me and God

37:44

. None , there's

37:46

none whatsoever , none

37:48

whatsoever

37:57

. And if I am a drop in the ocean or drop in the bucket , whatever , I am a part of that spirit

37:59

, I'm a part of it . There's no separation

38:01

. So when I see so many things in

38:03

this life that try to alienate

38:07

us from that idea or separate

38:09

, us from that idea and tell

38:11

us that we're not , we

38:13

could never be . It shuts us off from

38:15

our gifts , it shuts us off from our creativity

38:17

and it's just so harmful

38:20

so I love being in spaces

38:22

where we can recognize

38:24

our power , our worth , our connection to

38:27

spirit and how we are driven

38:29

to live in our purpose and create things

38:31

that are ultimately manifestations of

38:33

spirit in this physical realm

38:36

, you know . So I think that's the

38:39

stuff . Preach

38:41

Aliyah , no , yes

38:43

, pass the collection please , oh goodness

38:45

. But I

38:47

just think what you said is so beautiful

38:49

, so thank you for that I would

38:51

love to know in what ways

38:53

authoring Essential Faith

38:56

was just healing

38:58

to you , because I know there's so much . I

39:00

don't want to give things away . I'm still also

39:02

working through it myself

39:05

and I want people to get their copy and read

39:07

it , and I know there's so much you've unpacked

39:09

in the book already . And I know that folks also

39:11

much you've unpacked in the book already and I know that folks

39:13

are also have heard things online

39:15

as well but I would love to know in what ways

39:17

writing about your

39:20

journey and your path

39:22

has been healing for you in

39:25

creating this work .

39:27

First , let me just say that when I was writing

39:29

and even when I was editing , you know cause

39:31

having my editors and publishers

39:33

reading through the work you know we're going back

39:36

and forth and we're , uh , making

39:38

everything as pretty as possible . It was pretty

39:40

fun and liberating and then the

39:42

time came when it was like here's a mock-up

39:45

of your book and I was like , oh shit , this is

39:47

going to be out in the world . These

39:49

people are going to be reading my business

39:51

, and

39:57

so when I was writing it , it felt freeing it felt liberating

40:00

it felt like , finally , I'm not protecting people anymore . It felt like , finally , I

40:02

am telling my full , unadulterated

40:04

truth and little LaVon

40:06

is being vindicated . Teen

40:08

La , you know somebody's going

40:10

to bat for her .

40:12

Young adult .

40:12

LaVon has an advocate Shoot you

40:14

know 30 something . Lavon , like I

40:16

see her too , and so

40:18

, for me , the healing part was

40:21

letting go of the need to feel

40:23

like I needed to . Oh , let

40:25

me hold this back , or let me make this pretty

40:27

, or let me , you know , airbrush

40:29

this out Like no , here's the full

40:31

, unadulterated truth , and

40:35

let the chips fall where they may , because

40:37

, at the end of the day , I don't quote

40:39

this woman often because I found out she's racist

40:42

. But Anne Lamott she

40:44

said basically

40:48

stop protecting people in your writing . If people

40:50

wanted you to write warmly about

40:52

them , they should have been better behaved .

40:54

Oh yeah .

40:54

Yeah , and I find that

40:57

with writers because I coach writers who want to

40:59

be published authors that the

41:01

stories are in them . The

41:03

truth is within them , but

41:05

they're stopping themselves because they still feel

41:07

responsible for other people . They're

41:10

stopping themselves because a part of them still

41:12

is codependent . Or is people

41:14

pleasing , or they feel like I won't

41:16

be loved if I share this truth . The

41:19

fact of the matter is , I'm more loved than I've ever been

41:21

because , even though I'm more

41:23

or less estranged from both sides of my

41:25

family , I'm not estranged from my ancestors

41:27

. I'm not estranged from the community

41:30

that I have co-created . I'm not estranged

41:32

from God , and so

41:34

it was really healing to tell my truth and

41:37

to be like I didn't stutter

41:39

. I said what I said . I

41:41

said what I said . I

41:43

didn't change any names , did

41:45

I ? No , cause I got

41:47

consent from my husband to share that story . I

41:49

don't name my dad . Um

41:52

yeah , I didn't change any names right in

41:54

the story . So , um

41:57

, that was very healing for me .

41:58

Yeah , you spoke your truth , you wrote your truth

42:00

, you told your truth , I wrote my truth

42:02

and I stood on it . Yes

42:04

, you did , you

42:07

did . I've seen online that you do coach other writers

42:10

and you support people with doing book

42:12

proposals if they're wanting to write a

42:14

book and all of that work as well

42:16

, and I think had

42:19

you not gone through the process yourself , like

42:23

you know , you've built this expertise

42:25

and this just deeper knowing from your own

42:27

experience , and now you're able to be on a path

42:30

where you're supporting others to tell their stories and

42:32

their truths and more so . I think

42:34

, that's really beautiful in a full circle moment

42:37

.

42:37

Thank you , thank

42:39

you .

42:40

Yeah , I would just love

42:42

to know if you have any wisdom

42:44

you would like to share for someone who

42:46

is maybe

42:49

scared to tell their truth , but they want to create

42:51

a thing or do a thing , whether it's a book

42:53

or something else . What advice

42:56

you might have for them to just

42:58

step into who they are and just

43:00

do what it is they want to do

43:03

and create what they want to create

43:05

.

43:05

Stop doing , start feeling , stop

43:09

doing , start feeling . Here's what I mean by that . For

43:11

many of us , particularly Black women , especially if

43:14

you are a child in an immigrant family

43:16

, there is this notion that

43:18

you have to do , say

43:21

, be , achieve , be on top

43:23

.

43:24

There's a reason why I was valedictorian in sixth

43:26

grade because I was taught that school

43:28

is Number one most important

44:03

.

44:04

Right , you're going to go to school , you're going to graduate , you're going to get

44:06

a good job , even though I graduated from college without

44:08

a job .

44:10

Okay .

44:12

I was like y'all lied . I'm about to do life

44:14

on my own terms now

44:17

, but you

44:19

do not need to do another

44:22

thing . You don't need another book , you don't need another degree

44:24

, you don't need another certificate you

44:26

are already called , authorized

44:28

, ordained . For this , ebony

44:31

Janee says , you are the authority . That

44:33

being said , feeling

44:36

and knowing

44:39

, intuiting , discerning

44:42

how that work

44:44

shows up for you is the key

44:46

, because we can run ourselves ragged

44:48

and be burnt out and tired

44:51

and depressed and stressed

44:53

and broke , and all of that Not

44:55

realizing that if we rest , the

44:58

idea will come . If we take a nap , the

45:00

ancestor will visit . If we rub

45:02

one out and fall into a deep sleep

45:04

, we'll have a dream . Have

45:07

you want to rub one out ? Right , wake

45:09

up and all of a sudden it's clear who I'm

45:11

supposed to text , who I'm supposed to call email , what

45:14

offering I need to launch right

45:16

. My ancestors gave me the idea

45:18

for the book proposal challenge . I was fussing about

45:20

money and they were like child , is that what you're coming to us

45:22

about ? They were like

45:25

one thing you're not going to worry about is money . Here

45:27

do this book proposal challenge Teach them

45:29

people how to get out of their own way

45:31

, we'll have more content out in the world

45:33

that we need Because , trust me , white folks

45:36

they getting they deals

45:38

. It's really just a language

45:40

barrier . We have

45:42

so many different stories that need to

45:44

be told and that deserve to be published

45:46

, but if you can't translate it to the industry

45:49

, they're not going to get it . And that's all we're

45:51

doing . I'm not telling you to not be yourself . I'm just

45:53

saying package it in a way where

45:55

the people who got the money get

45:57

it . My ancestors gave me that idea babes

46:01

. So this is what I'm saying

46:03

Stop feeling like I got to have this plan , I got

46:05

to do this . Yes , have a plan

46:07

, but also leave room for spirit to move

46:09

, leave room for your intuition to guide

46:12

you . Call in aligned collaborations

46:15

instead of trying to , like , nail down partnerships

46:17

, like be mindful

46:19

that there is a spiritual component

46:22

to everything . Yeah , including

46:24

your professional life . Yeah , including your creative

46:26

life , including your entrepreneurial

46:28

endeavors yeah , right . And so stop

46:31

feeling like you got to go , go , go , do , do , do , do , do

46:33

, acquire , acquire , be , achieve

46:35

. Are you really like a

46:38

hyper ? What is it ? Are you really type

46:40

A ? Are you really like a go-getter ? Are

46:42

you really a boss ? Or were you taught

46:44

that you may not be worthy

46:46

of love if you're not hyper-achieving ? Were

46:49

you taught that you can't sit down and read a book

46:51

? Were you taught that rest is equated to laziness

46:54

? This is what I mean when we say we

46:56

got to pull shit out at the root because

46:59

you will run yourself ragged and the

47:01

whole time your idea is waiting for you in

47:03

a bathtub .

47:06

That's a word . Listen , I

47:09

had done an episode with

47:11

the founder of the Color Girls Liberation Lab

47:13

, Joan Roberts , and it was about dreaming

47:16

, resting and playing , so the fact

47:18

that rest keeps coming up in our conversation

47:20

is a confirmation of

47:22

how important it is . And

47:25

on a recent episode I was

47:27

talking about a lot of things , but one thing I also

47:29

brought up was my human design

47:31

and how a part of my human design

47:33

is resting like that's

47:35

important for me .

47:36

I'm a projector so I'm a

47:38

generator .

47:39

Really we're like complimentary like

47:41

this , yeah , so yeah

47:44

, I I don't know you're speaking to me

47:46

a lot when it when it talks about

47:48

just rest and all kinds

47:50

of things I'm into so many things

47:52

and randomly I had astro

47:55

cartography reading last night because I'm like I'm

47:57

in astro cartography , I'm

48:00

learning . So I did one

48:02

last night and

48:15

you know we're to get into flow

48:17

with it . You cannot think

48:19

to yourself that you have to just constantly

48:22

go , go , go , go go when there's ebbs and flows

48:24

you have to lean into it , so all

48:27

of this is just confirmation

48:30

confirmation

48:37

.

48:37

Oh and for the uninitiated human design is kind of like what would you say , like a

48:39

?

48:39

frame , an energetic framework . Yeah , I think that's a great way to show up in the

48:41

world .

48:41

Yeah , yeah like as a generator

48:44

. Surprise , surprise , I have to go with

48:46

what lights me up . Yeah right , surprise

48:49

, surprise and

48:51

this goes back to the question that you asked me about pleasure

48:54

, because , um , when

48:56

I was talking about how the church led

48:59

me to believe that yoga was demonic , it was also

49:01

how I started learning about the Yogi system

49:03

and um chakras

49:05

right . Which are energy wheels . And so

49:07

in your womb area is the sacral

49:09

chakra , which has everything to do with

49:11

sensuality , sexuality and pleasure , but

49:14

also creativity , and so it's

49:16

so interesting that those two

49:18

themes are inextricably

49:20

linked in this ancient

49:23

system of wisdom

49:25

. So I bring that up to say

49:27

that as a generator that's my energetic

49:30

framework I got to go after my

49:32

joy . I got to pay . I have a high sacral

49:34

energy . If it doesn't feel good to my

49:36

intuition , it's a no go .

49:38

Right .

49:39

But then also to your point about astrocartography

49:42

. It's kind of like astrology for

49:44

the land .

49:46

Yeah , locational astrology .

49:47

Yeah . And seeing where

49:50

would be good fits for you , depending

49:52

on what you want to activate in your

49:54

life .

49:54

Yeah .

49:55

You know I'm an educated child . I want

49:57

to make sure everybody was with us in the conversation

49:59

. No child left behind . You're right

50:01

, no child left behind .

50:03

You know . You know what I think is so cute . Cute

50:05

about that , though , is you've expressed in your

50:07

work like from Queens , I'm in

50:09

New York , I'm in the Bronx Okay

50:11

, be that , yeah

50:13

. But something else on another

50:15

note that you've also expressed on

50:18

the Central Faith Podcast is your love for

50:20

New Orleans . Yay , yes .

50:24

Yeah , having lived there , I love .

50:25

New Orleans so deep . I

50:28

know it translates in your work a lot

50:30

and you know when I had first reached

50:32

out to you to be on the show . I mentioned

50:34

to you too . Like I had listened to

50:37

, I Kissed New Orleans . Goodbye

50:39

that episode you had done like two

50:41

weeks , I think , before I went on a family trip to

50:43

New Orleans and it

50:45

just the timing was perfect

50:47

. I like texted it to my mom and my sisters . I

50:49

was like listen to this episode . I think

50:52

it's really great we're about to go there

50:54

. There's so much history . Like

50:56

you just laid out so much history . You

50:58

laid out your love for New Orleans . I

51:00

haven't lived there but I visited a few times

51:03

. I loved it there when I visited and

51:05

I could tell from that episode

51:07

how much you're going to miss it , because I know you

51:09

have to move .

51:12

I miss it every day . Yeah , so I was just texting a

51:15

new acquaintance that I met at

51:17

a coffee shop . Yeah , and

51:19

he . It was so funny girl because

51:21

I was walking to my car coming out of the shop he

51:23

was like kind of walking perpendicular .

51:25

Okay .

51:26

Yeah , and I could tell

51:28

he wanted to say something to me , because you know I'm

51:30

stunning in a bad he , not um

51:32

he was also older , okay and

51:35

so I saw he had on a new orleans

51:37

saints t-shirt and he had a 504

51:39

tattoo on his forearm . Yeah , so

51:41

I was like . I was like you from new orleans . Hey

51:44

, immediately , it's just so about

51:46

people from new orleans like they love meeting

51:48

other people from the city . They love when you

51:50

love the city and we just just exchange

51:52

contact , information and child . We've been going back and forth

51:54

about restaurants have you eaten here ? Have you eaten

51:56

here ? Like getting the bucket list

51:58

together , and he's there now

52:01

. So , like this older , I

52:03

guess Creole child , I don't know . He said

52:05

he didn't speak to me because he was like I didn't want you to think

52:07

like why is this old white man talking to me even though

52:09

I'm not white ? I'm like child , it's fine

52:11

it's a whole other conversation right

52:14

, but New Orleans is just such a magical

52:16

, mystical place and I just

52:19

I healed like in leaps and

52:21

bounds when I was there particularly

52:23

as it pertains to my paternal lineages . Child

52:27

, I'm trying to

52:29

go back before it's underwater

52:31

.

52:32

Oh you've expressed that on the episode too

52:34

. Climate change is climate

52:37

changing and changing .

52:38

Oh , mama , mama yeah .

52:40

It's changing a lot of things .

52:41

It's really sad it is .

52:43

I think the other thing like when I went on that trip

52:45

that was interesting

52:47

is just how much certain

52:51

areas have changed since Hurricane

52:53

Katrina and what it looks like for

52:55

the people who were there who were displaced

52:58

and who is living there now .

53:01

Yeah , If you haven't been to New Orleans yet

53:03

. Listeners , I don't know where

53:05

else you plan to travel within the continental

53:07

United States but New Orleans needs to be top

53:09

of your list . And when you go , don't just go to

53:11

take , go to give as well . Take offerings

53:15

, spend and invest in local

53:17

businesses . There are so many Black-owned

53:19

places , so many Black

53:21

woman-owned shops and restaurants

53:24

and stores . Just do your research

53:26

, be mindful , ask if you don't

53:28

know and . And you know , enjoy

53:30

yourself .

53:31

Yeah , this

53:33

has just been really great . Aw

53:35

, yeah , I don't know . I've loved this conversation

53:38

, so to end Likewise . Thank you

53:40

To end on a positive note

53:42

. I would love to know , what's something

53:44

that's bringing you just immense

53:46

joy these days ? What's bringing you joy

53:49

, what's making you happy and feel

53:51

good ?

53:52

This is probably the third time I've said this on this podcast . Being a baddie

53:54

for a living , that means that I

53:57

take care of myself . I make sure

53:59

I look good , smell good , feel good

54:01

. That could mean exfoliating my body . That

54:03

could mean masturbating with a vibrator

54:06

. That could mean putting on a lip and a wig

54:08

. It could mean going out to a cigar

54:10

lounge and ending up being treated

54:12

by four Negroes . Okay

54:16

, I'm telling my business , but

54:20

just living life . It doesn't matter

54:22

what my bank account says , it doesn't matter

54:24

who has their misconceptions

54:27

about me , it doesn't matter who

54:29

doesn't think I'm living the

54:31

way that I'm supposed to Like . As long as

54:33

I am doing me and I feel good and

54:35

I'm being ethical and aligned

54:38

and I'm not hurting nobody , babes

54:40

, I'm going to do me . OK so what's

54:42

exciting me now are

54:44

my books and my evolution .

54:46

Yeah .

54:46

So I'm currently reading Sula by Toni

54:48

Morrison .

54:48

OK , because .

54:49

Sula is bae . Yeah , by

54:54

Toni Morrison , because Sula is bae . I read Sula for the first

54:56

time when I was 15 .

54:57

And I feel now that I'm circling back to that text at 41, . It's just going

54:59

to be chef's kiss , right ?

55:00

And I'm also reading Salvation Black

55:02

People in Black Glove by Bell Hooks

55:04

. I feel like now's a good time for me to

55:06

take a deep dive , you know because I want my man

55:09

, my man , my man , all right , yeah

55:11

, but also

55:14

shedding the former version

55:16

of myself like as much as . I love

55:18

talking about sensual faith . Sensual faith

55:20

, the platform , the book , the podcast

55:22

, the audio book , the framework has

55:24

been so , so good to me . And

55:27

listeners , you can't see me , but I'm like sitting

55:29

here with my hands over my heart and my eyes are

55:31

closed because I'm feeling how

55:33

good sensual faith has been to me Also

55:36

, and there's more to me than

55:38

sensual faith Absolutely , and so there's

55:40

been some grief in , you know

55:43

, dislodging from sensual

55:45

faith and like kind of

55:47

absorbing it into my being

55:49

and just expanding and coming out of my cocoon

55:51

, being like what's next it into my being and just expanding and coming

55:53

out of my cocoon , being like what's next ? Have a yeah , so um , that's

55:55

what's bringing me joy these days

55:58

.

55:59

I love that practicing embodiment

56:01

and exploring what's

56:03

next and using your

56:06

work as a foundation to propel you into a new

56:08

area . Lavon , this has just been a really beautiful

56:10

conversation with you . Thank you for saying

56:12

yes to the invitation and taking

56:14

the time , your word , my love . Thank you for

56:16

speaking to me and I'm just so honored and

56:19

grateful and a baddie

56:21

you are Like

56:23

. You are inspiring me to get it together

56:25

If you don't know .

56:26

Now you know . Yes , Don't leave me Holler at

56:28

me . I'm

56:33

at LaVon Briggs on all the things . Lavonbriggscom is my website . My Patreon is patreoncom

56:36

slash LaVon Briggs , I do one-on-one spiritual life coaching , book

56:38

coaching , group coaching , all the coachings I speak

56:40

, I teach , I preach invite me out to

56:42

all the things and let's keep the conversation

56:45

going .

56:45

Yes , and all of that will be linked in the show

56:47

notes for this episode . So thank you so

56:49

much . You're worthy beloved

56:52

.

56:52

Thank y'all .

56:56

What an incredible conversation

56:59

with LaVon Briggs . Lavon

57:03

is such a

57:05

big personality , she is

57:08

just larger than life

57:10

, and to just

57:12

be in conversation with her and

57:15

to have

57:17

a moment of her time , to be in her presence

57:19

, to bear witness to her brilliance

57:22

and her mind and her creative

57:24

power is just , oh

57:28

, it feels so great and I'm so

57:30

honored to have had some time

57:32

to speak with her and to have had such an incredible

57:34

conversation . I hope that it

57:37

fed you , I hope

57:39

that you learned something new

57:41

. I hope that you feel seen

57:44

and empowered and

57:47

inspired by that conversation

57:49

. And , yeah

57:51

, by

57:57

that conversation . And yeah , if you love the episode as much as I did , please be sure to share

57:59

it with a friend or a family member or someone who you know needs

58:01

it , and feel

58:04

free to come back to it as a resource and a

58:06

reference at any time . And , lavon

58:09

, thank you again . So

58:11

incredible and so inspiring and

58:13

I'm deeply honored With

58:17

that . That is the end of our episode

58:19

, so I will catch you all on

58:21

the next one . Thank you so much for tuning Bye

58:23

.