June 12, 2025 • 56 mins
In this episode, Devi Brown engages in a profound conversation with Willie Greene, founder of We The Urban.
We The Urban is a sanctuary for millions of people offering beautiful reminders for the soul; celebrating self-love, and personal growth, and boosting your power daily!
The conversation explores themes of mental health, creativity, and the responsibilities that come with being a voice for the marginalized. Willie shares his journey of founding We The Urban, the challenges of navigating bipolar disorder, and the importance of self-care. The discussion highlights the power of community, the gifts of mental health struggles, and the legacy of Black creators throughout history.
Devi & Willie reflect on the pendulum of social progress, the necessity of standing up for humanity, the balance between darkness and light in life, and the evolution of digital culture towards kindness.
Connect: @DeviBrown @WillieGreene_
Learn More: WeTheUrban.com
Visit the Merch Shop: DeviBrown.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Take a deep breath in through your nose. Holds it.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Now, release slowly again deep in, helle.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Hold release, repeating internally to yourself as you connect to
my voice.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
I am deeply well. I am deeply well. I am
deeply I'm Debbie Brown and this is the Deeply Well Podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Welcome to Deeply Well, a soft place to land on
your journey. A podcast for those that are curious, creative,
and ready to expand in higher consciousness and self care.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
I'm Debbie Brown.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
This is where we heal, this is where we transform.
All month long, we have been diving into the inner workings.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Of self and creativity.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
How to summon the sacred, how to invoke the muse,
and how to get so clear in your own channel
and connection to the divine that you're able to really
lock into your life's work with balance, with ease, with purpose,
with strength. This episode, I am so excited to share
(02:29):
this incredibly special person with you, who takes up space
in the world literally answering the call to everything that
I just listed. In two thousand and nine, at just
fourteen years old, Willie Green founded We the Urban. He
founded it from his bedroom in North Carolina, and what
(02:51):
began as an online community celebrating fashion and art, notably
championing black creativity. Soon became Tumblr's first blog to transform
into a nationally syndicated print magazine.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Evolving with time.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Willie shifted towards a more vulnerable, authentic, emotionally intelligent content strategy,
offering daily, introspective and inspirational messages, often stemming from his
own real time, real life experiences. These resonated worldwide, particularly
during twenty twenty, as We the Urban emerged as a
(03:27):
sanctuary for millions seeking comfort and healing through life's challenges.
We the Urban is now one of the biggest mental
health platforms on social media from marginalized voices today, with
over one billion impressions across Instagram. Over the years, We
the Urban stands as one of social media's largest destinations
(03:48):
for empowerment, guiding the world towards self discovery and resilience
under Willy's leadership as founder, writer, and designer, Willie's reaction
posts for the post election were some of the most
viewed posts on Instagram with over one hundred million impressions
and engagement, and The New York Times highlighted this following
(04:10):
its release on October eighth, twenty twenty four, Willie's debut book,
Not Sure Who Needs to Hear This but quickly became
a national bestseller, appearing on USA Today, Amazon, and Barnes
and Noble bestseller lists. This milestone marks just the beginning
of a transformative journey for We the Urban, with an
exciting future on the horizon, soon to expand into calendars,
(04:33):
affirmation card decks, journals, and other self care products.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
We the Urban is on track to.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Cement itself as an innovative powerhouse in the self care space,
blending both digital and physical products to inspire and uplift.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Today, with over.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
One billion impressions on Instagram, We the Urban stands as
one of social media's largest and most influential platforms for empowerment,
guiding a global communit unity towards self discovery and emotional
resilience under Willy Green's visionary leadership.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Willie, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
Wow, thank you for having me. I feel so honored
to be on this platform. I've seen your work before,
and I'm just glad to be in a safe space
as I'm popping out for the first time.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Yeah, sometimes you got to pop out.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
And okay, okay, I mean Wow. Wow, how does it
feel hearing all of that out loud?
Speaker 5 (05:36):
It's wild, It's really wild because there's just been so
much solitude and just like keeping my head down, simplifying
my life. So aside from like my small group of
friends and my family, I'm relatively alone with my dog
(05:58):
creating a lot. So it's kind of hard to see
or feel that impact, and it's something I'm still grappling with,
the just the magnitude and how everything has grown. But yeah,
I feel so grateful and I see it now as
a gift. And I know that now when you understand
(06:22):
your gift, you kind of have a responsibility to live
up to it, to respect it. So even though it's
a lot, I'm up for the challenge.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Can we talk about that a lotness?
Speaker 5 (06:36):
Please? Please? Because the overwhelming nature of it all.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Yes, it's so interesting because I think something I've observed
is when you are when you are designed to be
a lighthouse for others, right, which is such a sacred post.
It's such a sacred birthright. And we're all here for
various reasons, but not everybody is here to be the lighthouse, right,
And so when.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
You do occupy that space and bring so much freedom
to people's hearts. There is also this feeling of maybe
parentship that you have, you know, over.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
The collective, and this expectation sometimes of you to be
kind of the all knowing, the all scene and the
always available, And people can't always necessarily understand because when
your work is invocative to the feeling, it's hard to
think of the practicality for the creator.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
But how is that balance of really.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Being a called to serve but then being someone who
is worthy of your own human experience too?
Speaker 5 (07:45):
Wow? Well, thank you so much for that level of consciousness.
I don't think I've ever in my life I've been
asked a question like this, Because there is, and as
the platform grows and my career gets bigger, there is this.
I do feel that all of that, this needing to
say the perfect thing, or understanding how people perceive me
(08:08):
and have me on this certain pedestal, and really I
am just like everyone else, just trying to figure it out.
And it doesn't feel like a burden. It actually like,
especially as time has gone by since twenty twenty, which
was the whole resurgence of We the Urban, they've actually,
(08:28):
like my audience and community have actually sort of saved
me in a way because I have bipolar and I
go through my own mental struggles and sometimes it's hard
for me to find center. And I realized that, like
showing up for them is my center. So if I'm
ever lost, it's like create and show up for your people.
(08:50):
And I think about my audience so much. It is
a genuine love. And it's also kind of weird because
I don't know who I Yeah, you know, they're here
for we the urban and not like me and my presence,
which is why it's also so cool to now be
trying to bridge that gap. But it's something I've learned
(09:13):
that is it's a blessing. And it's like I figured
out that when you have a big microphone and a
big platform, you might as well say something liberating, say
something that will help someone, say something productive because there's
so much noise on the Internet. And I realized that
(09:34):
a part of my mession is sort of like cutting
through the bs that we scroll by thousands of times
a day. So I'm grateful. It's not easy, and you know,
I've seen it show up in my personal relationships as well,
and it's kind of different like meeting new people or
even going on dates because there's just this relationship that
(09:58):
they've built with me based off of what they see
on Instagram and you know, aside from the reality of me. Yeah,
but all in all, I feel so lucky to have
a platform and people to show up for.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Thank you for pulling back these layers because I have
more to say here, but there's other places that now
I'm like, we have.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
A path forward. We got to talk about let's.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Go, let's go you know something something that we talked about,
and thank you for sharing your consent off camera with.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Me to kind of go into this space.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
But you know, operating with this big mission and then
also having that diagnosis, how has your life kind of
expanded or flowed being able to kind of understand how
you're wired and designed better?
Speaker 5 (10:50):
Wow, Well, my journey to figuring out like what was
going on in my brain and all of the chemical
imbalances was really long, really long, and we either rb it,
Like getting to this place has been really long. This
is my life's work that I started at thirteen and
I'm thirty and now finally doing podcasts and doing all
(11:13):
these things. And a lot of those first like ten
years was me wondering like what is going on? And
I realized that I was experiencing so many different symptoms
like the first one maybe around like twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen.
It was just I went through this season of why
can't Why does it take superhuman strength to just get
(11:34):
out of the bed and do the basics of taking
care of myself? Why do I have all these ideas?
Then I sit down to do it and I lose
focus in like two seconds and I can't complete a
full task, or like why do I feel like really
sad for really prolonged amounts of time or fall into
(11:55):
negative thought spirals? So I think around eighteen I went
to like I was such a novice. I was looking
for a psychiatrist. But I went to a therapist and
didn't understand why she couldn't give me a diagnosis. And
then I finally found a psychiatrist and explained to them
my symptoms. And I remember something that is stuck with
(12:18):
me since that time was I walked in and I
sat down, and before we even discussed like any of
my symptoms or anything, she told me, I know, whatever
you're going through is real because I have never seen
a young black man come in my office in like
all of her years, and that clicked in me because
(12:40):
this is also right before the Me Too movement, which
fostered also a conversation about mental health and just a
whole new paradigm on the Internet. So I was kind
of thugging it out, and I was put on the
wrong medications. I was misdiagnosed with add or eighty eight.
(13:01):
And sometimes it's a process and a really long process,
and I understand why people either give up or don't
want to try, because I was put on the wrong medications.
I was put on things that like actually made what
I was going through much worse. So the final thing
they or medication they put me on was adderall And
(13:23):
anyone with bipolar knows that adderall, like all it does
is induce a manic state, so and it makes it
hard for you to really just be grounded and understand
what is going on. So I went through a nine
month rampage, like acting on impulse, doing like reckless things
(13:45):
like excessive partying and just excess excess and not working,
not feeling creatively in tune with myself, and I hit
a wall. I hit a wall, and that was the
like the day I decided to like end. That was
the exact day that I googled bipolar spirit or something
(14:09):
told me, and at that time, Google had like this
image that basically showed what the two sides of bipolar like,
sometimes you're really up, sometimes you're really down. And I
saw and read and was just like, thank God, finally
it has been years. It has been years, and we
are here now that I understand now that now that
(14:30):
I have the tools and the information, I can fix this.
So I finally And it took some time to figure
out like what medications helped with or were the most
effective for me, and it changed everything. It changed everything.
I finally had the fortitude and the focus and discipline
(14:53):
to do what I needed to do in my life
to get to this point. And that took moving to
La with a dollar and a dream with my best
friend at the time, and really trying to cultivate a
work ethic. And so the journey to figure out what
was going on was a long time. The journey to stabilize.
(15:16):
Once I found a foundation, it was like the catalyst
to all of this. And now I've realized that, like
taking care of my mental health is a part of
my job, so it's a lot of work, but it's
also really rewarding and a very like even reciprocal healing experience,
because even though they can't see me that it does
(15:39):
something to you. When you get hundreds and thousands of
comments and messages of people like I'm going through it too,
I feel it too, there's something really healing in it
for me. So it's been an interesting journey and it's
ever evolving. I found out a year ago that I
had OCD, which I didn't know manifested as thoughts and
(16:00):
like racing thoughts, and you know if you go through
I went through a breakup and I couldn't understand why,
like months later, even when I wasn't thinking about this
person or the situation, I was like, it was just
always there. And now I'm figuring that out. So it's
something I'm also open to learning more. It's a journey,
(16:20):
but a rewarding one.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
There's so much and I know those listening right now,
this is going into so many different chambers and compartments
for who needs it.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
There's so much. There's just so much to what you said.
One I'm so.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Grateful to hear you describe the process to getting your
best fit right like if you are finding if you're
on the path of saying I'm realizing that there is
something going on that I want to investigate and seek
support for that even in the seeking support, you may
not get it right the first time, because I think
sometimes that can.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Be so crushing.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
You know, if you feel like you're going into a
medical doctor and you want to be seen and helped,
there is this process of discovery that sometimes does really
have to take place because it can feel so defeating
if you get the wrong meds or if you're getting
the wrong diagnosis, and then it's like, Okay, now I
want to remove myself completely because y'all can't keep doing
(17:21):
this with me. I can't keep being laid bare or
being this vulnerable and open and not.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Get what I need.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
But to be able to have the fortitude to sit
kind of at the bottom of the ocean with that
process and like find find the right road. And then
also something I'm hearing in what you're saying, which I'm
so curious about, is when you do find out right
because I think myself and my own journey, I had
a similar experience, but with my chronic pain and autoimmune
(17:50):
and being able to be believed being able to find
what it is that's wrong. It just takes so much time,
and you're explaining to every new person you meet, and
it's like, at least for me, I'm trying to.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Be like such a good steward of myself.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
So I'm like, okay, well here's my trauma list and
these are this, and so this is what happened.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
And I learned this yere, and you know, like you're just.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
You're trying to be so like astute showing up for yourself.
So it's just that in general is just so powerful.
And I know so many people listening have been coming
to new understandings of what they may have thought was
like a deficiency in them or a brokenness in them,
or something that people didn't understand about them.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
And then you find that very often these are our.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
Powers, our superpowers. Yeah, yes, I'm so glad you said that.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
And coming into that space of understanding that like this
isn't about what is wrong with me.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
This is about like what is actually a gift about me.
I just need to.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Find the right levels for it or the way to
support it in the way it needs to be cared.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
Four.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
How is that unfolded for you.
Speaker 5 (19:03):
Yeah, I realized a really long time ago that everything
I had been experiencing, the mania, the depression, and luckily
I had more of a mouth form. There's many different
types of bipolar and intensities. But I was a really
young teenager thirteen fourteen on Tumblr, but I was posting
(19:25):
like ten times a day. I was editing a magazine
and commissioning photoshoots from like the bathroom in school in
high school, and wow, I would wake up at seven
am and then at school, get home at three, and
then I go to bed at like four after working
that entire time. And maybe that's not the most healthy.
(19:46):
And I didn't know like why I could like do that,
but I realized, like, oh, that was the bipolar. You
were in like a little bit of a hypomanic state
while you were doing all that. That's why we're like
doing super super human superhuman things. And shirt has its pitfalls,
(20:09):
but clearly it had its advantages as well. And even
with the OCD, I realized, maybe that's why I'll never
have Maybe that's why I'll never have like wait, what
am I? What word am I searching for? Not a
deficient deficiency? That is why I'll always have something to
talk about. I realized that I put out ten slides,
(20:32):
ten different thoughts a day, and to do that for
years and years, I'm like, oh, no, wonder it's because
my mind goes really fast and it thinks a lot
and comes to a lot of conclusions, and it's always
dissecting things. So it's another part of the genius of
the work. So I think with with introspection and a
(20:55):
treatment plan which is beyond medication, there's it's a lifestyle. Really,
I think anyone could see how it actually benefits them.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Deeply well.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
To be alive right now and to understand that, like none.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Of us have to be the same, you know, like
just none of us have to be the same about
anything for any reason. It is about utilizing how we
are designed to be with our creativity, to be with
our work.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
But it's always in service. It's always in service to
the greater good.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
And I think I love to study great masters of
different times, that includes like teachers to philosophers to painters.
Speaker 5 (21:41):
Do you all the time?
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Oh my god, utterly, like just.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Leave me home all day and like let me study
and research things. But you know, and you've probably found
this in your studies. Like, the thing to me that
is always so remarkable is so many of our greats
had been these ticks about them or these things that
made them them. And it makes perfect sense. You have
(22:06):
to be that disconnected from the zeitgeist, like that disconnected
from the collective of whatever time, to make the work
that stands the test of time, to make the work
that changes things and creates those paradigm shifts. But when
you think about you know, even so many of the
great profits of our time throughout history seem to have
(22:29):
suffered from nervous system disorders. When you read certain scriptures,
when you read certain passages or books or recordings of
you know, they speak to the nervous energy that was present,
or the anxiety that was present. And the more I've
been on my own path, I realized, well, of course
they were anxious. Of course their nervous systems were dysregulated.
(22:50):
They were bringing truth to the earth in a time
when people didn't necessarily want that truth right. And it's
like same thing with our great painters. You think of
how then Go was tortured right, and what it took
to get.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
That art out, and all of our great writers. When
you really look at what people have written, the James Baldwins,
Nikki Giovanni, the Maya an as Nan, Yeah, the Maya Angelous.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
There is the undercurrent of pain, there is the undercurrent
of exhaustion with humanity, and there's the undercurrent of exhaustion
in the physical body.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Or in the mind or in the heart.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
And so it's yeah, it's just it's really powerful for
you to describe your journey, because this is really the
journey of light, This is the journey of the creator.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
Thank you, thank you for saying that. I do the same.
I research a lot and I found the same that
a lot of our greatest minds, greatest inventors, people that
have changed society, they experienced a lot. I remember reading
about Maya Angelo for the first time, and she went
(24:01):
through a really traumatic experience as a child, and I
think no one believed her or she spoke out and
it led to someone's just a very sad situation, but
it made her mute herself for five years, and somewhere
in like somewhere in her and having that era of solitude,
(24:22):
she found her voice and that voice ended up changing.
That voice she muted ended up changing the world. And
I also think of Nina Simone, who also was one
of the first people, and her documentary on Netflix is amazing,
But I learned that she had bipolar as well, and
she was like the sound of the civil rights movement.
(24:45):
And then the more I think of these people, the
more I think of identity and being a black queer
creator and just even how I'm stepping out now is
just sort of rebelling against what's happened to me and
my community, and oftentimes we are. If we look at
(25:06):
history the most influential in many different ways. We think
of Francis Thomas or Thompson I believe it is her name,
a formerly enslaved black trans woman who was the first
trans woman to testify in Congress, I believe from Memphis,
and that testimony led to a bigger conversation around civil rights,
(25:28):
which eventually led to the Fourteenth Amendment situation, which literally
gave us protections and freedom that this race has never
seen before. We see Rustin who was like the brain
and the engine behind the MLK movement. We see Martha P.
Johnson who pride that is her that is because a
(25:51):
black trans woman, and there's been this erasure of them,
and I think it's a shame, and I I don't
want to be a part of that. There's something powerful
and all of these millions of people all over the
world knowing that they're ingesting meaning and getting inspired by
(26:14):
and reading life through the lens of a black queer person.
I now see the power and stepping out. So when
I do things like this, it's more it's not vanity.
It's I think of all the people like me that
are going to see this and be like, hey, actually
look at the possibilities. I could be there too. So totally,
(26:36):
I think there's so much in history we can learn from.
Its valuable. That was lot. I wasn't ready to do
a history lesson. No more.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
No, it's so good, and I just like something I'm
feeling grateful for this conversation is I think it is
so important. We're talking about this a little bit before
the show, where I struggle with this idea of having
to feed people thoughts and content all day because I
live in the nuance, like I just love settling into
(27:13):
the undercurrents right and everything that you're describing right now.
The reason that I know it's being felt so powerfully
by everyone listening is because it's such a layered view,
like you're giving the complexity and the nuance of how
all these understandings come together. And it's so many things
at once, you know, But yes, it's something I've been
(27:36):
I'm so curious your thoughts on this, really, you know,
It's like in human history, we are constantly swinging to
extreme ends with the pendulum, right. So it's like every
time we make advancements, it feels good and we think
things are changing, and then that thing will swing back
(27:57):
so far and it turns out we're only making like
or mental steps.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
And I feel that because we have, especially.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Since kind of the onset of the Me Too movement,
we have been making so many conscious strides as a species,
like in our.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Evolution forward, right, like, we have.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Been putting under the microscope misogyny and the understanding of
patriarchy and feminism and abuses and abuses of power. Then
after that we're like quickly moving through this curriculum as people,
right Like, then we're being thrust into having global eyes
on systemic racism and how it permeates the world. Then
(28:37):
we're finally having global eyes on the queer community on
the lbed.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Excuse me, I want to say this absolutely correctly, LGBTQ plus,
the LGBTQ plus community, the trans community. It is like
it's been.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
So powerful, and then it also to me feels like
all of a sudden, now things are swinging.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Backwards, and it's like, how do we hold space.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
For that right for the progress and then sometimes what
feels like a failing that begins to happen in our consciousness.
Speaker 5 (29:17):
Yeah, yeah, I feel that so much. And you know,
I know there's a full wide range of political spectrum
and beliefs in the world and in this country, but
I don't think that there's anything wrong about standing up
for people's humanity, like basic humanity, basic respect of their truth.
(29:42):
That's where I lie on the political spectrum, and I
think I've used my platform and been very vocal more
so in the past, and now I'm getting back into
it as I see the world is needing that kind
of reassurance and comfort and maybe just a nudge of
(30:03):
fortitude for them to keep going and to see things
in a different way, because there is an ebb and
a flow back and and forth, and it almost reminds
me of my own diagnosis up in the down nature
of it, And I know that there's a way to
exist through it and to find sanctuary in it. And
(30:24):
we have countless examples of this through history as well,
of nothing is permanent, and sometimes sometimes there really is
no reason to believe, and you've got to hold on
to blind faith and maybe a little bit of delusion
and just believing and better and more, even if it
(30:44):
doesn't feel like it, because if we all let go
of that, then you know what's next, how bad will
it get? Like someone has to still believe, and it
can be hard, especially for black people. You know, in
twenty twenty, the George Floyd situation and all of the
police brutality that was on the news and like hyper
(31:07):
magnified because we were all stuck on screens for two
three years and we saw this uprising of protests and
the Black squares and all these companies implementing DEI policies.
And it's years later now we see companies stripping all
(31:30):
the DEI. We see how much that was just performative
and not real, And it feels like a slap in
the face this many years later to see this and
to see the direction of our country, and the only
thing I know to do is to figure out how
(31:51):
to put my mind in a place that's productive, because
sitting around in a dark place forever is not going
to change anything. It's not going to belize anybody.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Yeah, it's so true and it's so deep, and I
think where I've landed with life is that I just
accept darkness as a part of it.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
You know, it's a part of being here.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
And I'm not saying we have to endure or be abused,
but that is part of what this human experience is.
And no one that has ever lived has ever got
it right, you know, truly, there has.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Never been peace on earth ever.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
So it's like not even looking to that as the ideal,
but looking at for me, it's like human dignity as
the ideal, you know, just decency, integrity as the ideal
to whatever extent you can muster it, whether you're in
darkness or light.
Speaker 5 (32:47):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. I feel that it's an ebb and
a flow and the yang of it all. And what's
beautiful is that we get to choose our perspective on it.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
We get to choose.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Yeah, you know, your work really focuses on enlightenment, inspiration,
and empowerment. When did these concepts of self care and
well being really start to come to your life, and
specifically to the.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
Tone of we.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
The urban is so incredibly direct, purposeful, yet deeply compassionate.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
It's a soft landing. I think when your eyes.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Land on your page, like when they land on even
the pages of your book, even the diffusion and the colors.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
I'm like, Oh, he's regulating my nervous system. How kind
of you.
Speaker 5 (33:40):
Thank you, Thank you for saying that.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (33:46):
Yeah, It's something that started really like in twenty twenty
when the world flipped upside down. It was the apocalypse
that I was living in Hollywood, which is already just
a very chaotic energy, and being stuck there, and then
I was in a wild living situation. So it got
(34:07):
to a point where I was like, all right, I
don't know what to do with all of these feelings,
so I'm just going to put them out there and
try to help people. And somewhere in all of this,
like mental health conversation, I realized like, oh, I need
to take care of myself. I can't show up for
others if I'm not making taking care of myself a priority.
(34:29):
I can't pour from an empty cup because I've done that,
and I know the consequences of that.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Well, especially coming from like a fashion background, coming from
like a really cultural orientated background, and coming into creating
things that are really about like emotional intelligence, Like how
did you decide that.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
That could exist in the world you had created?
Speaker 5 (34:53):
Yeah, I realized well number one, you know. And if
people'scrol back years, they'll see how the writing has improved
and the insight has gotten deeper as I've learned more
in my journey and been through therapy finally, and obviously
just continuing to keep taking care of myself a priority
(35:16):
and processing what I'm going through. But I have this
policy of always ending everything with productivity, something purposeful. So
it's like, yes, i might comment on the despair, I
might tell you a little bit about yourself, I may
honor the dark things that you're experiencing, but I'll always
(35:38):
give you something productive at the end. And maybe that's
because I need it too. I need I need a compass,
and I didn't have one, so I decided to make it.
And somewhere through like all of this consistent writing, that
whole process and intention just grew and grew, and I'm
(36:01):
always taking an information in my life and a lot
from therapy when I tell you there's some of the
best things I've ever written and have had the most engagement,
where like musings right after a therapy session. So and
I'm interested in I don't know why. I've always had
a big ambition, even since a little kid. I was
(36:23):
just like I want to do something. I want to
be big, I want to change the world. Am I
a singer? Am I a photographer? Like? Where is my lane?
And I think it's so cool that when I leaned
into the purest authentic expression of myself, I got there
and it's all like really dope, Like it's helping people.
(36:45):
It's really really helping people. So I've learned just through
experience and through the writing and also seeing how important
this topic and niche is on the internet because there's
so much. You know, there's like this culture on the
internet of like who can say the most funniest disrespectful
(37:07):
thing about somebody who, Like who is the one we're
going to dog pile on today because they made a
human mistake? Right, Like what negativity? Can I indulgence to
like not think about my own issues? And then it's
a lot on the internet is people projecting. There's a
lot of negativity because they're dealing with a lot in
(37:28):
their lives and they need somewhere to just like get
it off and through all of that noise, there has
to be something productive, something helping people's mental health. So
I think that's where I found purpose, and just hearing
people's stories about certain quotes, seeing how people live with
them day to day and prioritize them and their health
(37:51):
and share them with people. So it's just it's too
valuable of an angle to not lean into.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Deeply.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
Well, the Internet tries to forget things really fast. But
it's been interesting watching people who were kind of terrorizing
people online like find the Light right, and now.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
It's like people that I think used to be like.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Like read Culture one oh one, where you know, like
the content they made was about tearing down whoever was
in the news. I've been seeing so many people make
these shifts into like I want a soft life, where
like we need to treat each other better, and you know,
for I think for the people that that is their
real kind of genuine, authentic experience that they might have
(38:46):
come through through a lot of self reflection. It's like welcome,
I'm so glad you're here, thank finally, thank you for
coming to the light. And then there's others that you're like,
oh and and this is the pivot because that's no
longer on brand, right, like it's on brand to be
positive or it's on brand too.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
Yeah, and it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
But I think no matter what in the sea of expression,
people will always find what their heart is meant to
find or what resonates you know. Yeah, but it's it's
been really interesting. I think even just watching the digital
unfolding about the way the way that we hold space
for each other now, like the kind of comments that
(39:27):
are left now. I remember when I first put myself
on the internet. I'm older than you, so it was
you know, I was just a baby. But I remember
one of the first times I put like an interview
of mine on the internet.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
It was the night Barack Obama.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
Got elected, and it was YouTube and there was no
there was no Instagram at the time or anything like that.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
Twitter had just started. Yeah, it was like MySpace and YouTube.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
And I remember, like I was, I was so proud
of this interview as on some music video said and
it was beautifully done. And I go on YouTube and
one hundred percent of the comments were males telling me
that they wanted to like beat me in the face
with a rock and like put me in a trunk,
(40:12):
like literally that, and I remember, like that had such
an effect on me. Then I'm so sorry. That was
a very heavy description. I did not mean to throw
that out there, but I say it with such ease
and casualness because I'm safe, fine and happy. And this
was fifteen years ago, but I remember like the effect
that that had on me because at the time I
(40:32):
was on the radio, but I also ran the community show,
and I was trying to make broadcasting content that was
more like my idols, mister Rogers and LeVar Burton and
you know, some.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Of those great teachers of kindness.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
And then you're doing these things that you're proud of
and people are like wishing death on you in really
horrible ways. And that's just how so much of the
internet landscape looked back then. Like even if you saw
something beautiful, the responses and the comments with like invokes
sometimes the worst and the human spirit.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
So even being.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
Able to digitally watch our collective progression and how we
feel about ourselves and what we think is okay to
throw on to other people it's been interesting watching that
shift in consciousness too, you know, not just in what
people are creating, but how people will let themselves receive
(41:28):
the creations.
Speaker 5 (41:29):
Of others exactly. Well, first of all, I'm sorry you
experienced that. Thank you, And unfortunately I can relate. Yeah,
I just got a death threat like two days ago
in my email. I've heard people call for me to
be flogged and start like crazy things, and I'm just like,
all I do is put out positively. Are you okay?
Speaker 2 (41:52):
But yeah, you're like, I'm helping you heal, You are welcome.
Speaker 5 (41:56):
You're well, like what did I do? And Yeah, it's
something that has been something that's been really challenging because
especially when it comes to political things. I just did
a post that went viral on election day and it
had a very clear point of view, and there's obviously
(42:18):
that group that doesn't agree, and it is a lot
to read vile in those vile things you've ever seen
about yourself or towards you. And that is why I
am such a champion for seeing your digital space as
your home, your digital home and protecting it as such.
(42:38):
So if you were to see my blocklist, you could
scroll for hours. Block block block, follow unfollow.
Speaker 1 (42:47):
Yeah, you lose the right exactly.
Speaker 5 (42:50):
Yeah. So that's how I've found some sort of piece and.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
Really yeah, I would love to hear Willie about some
of your crew creative process and your self care. How
do you kind of nurture the gift?
Speaker 5 (43:07):
Yeah, I got to keep the vessel clear. Yeah. So
step one is like, are you getting enough water? What
kind of are you eating? Nutritious foods? Like, let's think
about your brain health. What supplements are you taking your
glutithio because you're getting a little older. Okay, all of that,
(43:30):
all of that.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
I just got my little shot.
Speaker 5 (43:32):
It might be twelve, okay today, you get it. You
get it. So it's like figuring out how to be
as clear as possible.
Speaker 2 (43:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (43:41):
I go on like this same three mile walk every
single day, well most days, and it's where I get
to just like and I don't take my phone, just
have my little Apple watch in my music, and it's
where I get to like get it all out and
think and process. People probably think people walking by I
probably think I'm in saying because I like talk to
myself out loud and I really just try to get
(44:04):
all of anything clogging the source in the vessel just away,
and then I'm someone that like, I don't know why,
I'm like a night owl person. Most of the things
I write are in real time, like the night before,
and I kind of wait sometimes until that feeling of oh,
(44:26):
I got to write, I have something to say. Just
honoring that creative nulge has been really helpful and enacting
discipline in it a certain level of work ethic, which
is interesting as an artist when you want to flow
and you want to honor your process. However that unfolds.
(44:47):
But when you're also trying to make something on a
commercial scale or turn your art into a lucrative business,
It's like this weird balance of all right, I have
fifty thousand email and deadlines and I got to write.
All I want to do is laym my couch, which
is also productive sometimes, so I'm trying to figure out
(45:11):
that balance. But I also do find reward and pushing through,
and I find reward and compartmentalization, which isn't always healthy,
but in some ways and in certain instances it is
because I also I feel everything. I feel everything intensely,
every kind of emotion, but anyone experiences I feel, it's
(45:33):
like the one hundredth degree. So that can also be
a little and can make like a really rocky foundation
in creating. But my process is really simple. I walk
around my house. I have music playing a lot of
Cleo soul and beautiful chorus affirmation really okay, because we
(45:56):
might be you get it, you get it.
Speaker 1 (45:59):
Crea che I will walk around my house and that's
what I listen to.
Speaker 5 (46:02):
Yeah, really I understand. Yeah, it's very helpful. It helps
me think. Because there's not too many complex lyrics or
drums or anything, I can really get inspired. And I
write everything on my notes app on my computer or
my phone. If something appears throughout the day, I'll make
(46:23):
sure to like write it down and refer to it later.
And sometimes I'm not gonna lie. I have a little
herbal refreshments or a gummy or something, yes, and I
just write exactly. And there's also this thing about being
in tune, like trying to be in tune with what
(46:46):
people like, what masses of people might be feeling. So
I'm looking at holidays, I'm looking at weather, I'm looking
at just political climate, socio political climate, things that are
happening in the world. And so you know, around this
time a lot of people experience seasonal depression and I've
(47:06):
swinged all the way down. So having that in mind,
I'm like, all right, I should talk about this thing
and I should uplift them in this way. Or you know,
a lot of people start thinking about their loved ones
that aren't here anymore during the holiday season. So that's
something else I know to lean into. And then there's
sometimes where I just don't have it, where I don't
(47:27):
have it, and I think it's a great reminder to
every artist who posts their stuff on the Internet that
it is okay to repost your work. We scroll by
so many things. Yes, we want to see it again,
and the way algorithms and everything work, most people that
follow you don't see it the first time anyway. So
that's helped me in my process as well of being like,
(47:49):
you know what, I'm going to run this neck from
a few years ago.
Speaker 2 (47:53):
Well, and quotes mean different things so us at different
points in our lives.
Speaker 5 (47:57):
You know.
Speaker 2 (47:57):
It's like, I think some of the quotes or something
that I've read that have meant something to me when
I see it again with new experiences that have happened,
or maybe different kind of deeper healing that has taken
place within me. I take it to mean something entirely
different when I set eyes on it again.
Speaker 1 (48:14):
So it's it's like, yeah, those.
Speaker 2 (48:16):
Those kind of universal truths, they can evolve with your
life in so many different seasons.
Speaker 5 (48:22):
Exactly. Yeah, it's and it's something I do as well,
like the fresh eyes is because when I do repost
old clothes, I'm usually jigging them up and adding some
sauce and the new insight and the more mature aspect,
and some of those things are the ones that people
share the most. So I think the Internet has this
(48:44):
confuse that we just have to produce, produce, produce, produce,
and that's something we created. Is just it loses its
value once people aren't engaging with it on the Internet. Yeah,
it's really.
Speaker 2 (48:56):
Important to be saying this out loud. I think it's
really really important to be saying this out loud because
people have also anyone listening. Can I just say directly
to you, you have a right to prioritize your real
human life like you have a right and honestly a
duty to actually prioritize your human experience above your digital experience.
(49:17):
It's why we're here and I think so many of
us are disregarding our humanity for these kind of sim
realities of who we think we are in a post
or based on the perception of another person. And it's
just so important to keep both feet in your real
(49:38):
life and world is so important.
Speaker 5 (49:42):
Thank you for that word.
Speaker 1 (49:45):
Yes, I'm curious, Willie.
Speaker 2 (49:48):
And then I actually have some homework that I would
like for you to give the audience.
Speaker 1 (49:53):
At this point in your life, in this moment.
Speaker 2 (49:56):
Where the level of integration that you're at where you've arrived,
especially in the kind of harmony and balance you've found
for your unique path, body, mind's heart. What kind of
space does faith and creativity take up in your life?
Speaker 1 (50:12):
How do those two.
Speaker 2 (50:16):
Essences of existence kind of show themselves in your world?
Speaker 5 (50:22):
Wow, I've never been asked this. I don't think I've
considered it, but thinking about it, I think, well, number one,
blind faith is what got me here. And like I
said earlier, sometimes there have been seasons in my life
where no one's believed in my vision, where I hardly
(50:44):
believed in my vision, but there is a piece of
me that was just like just hold on, like you
might be. It might be around the corner. You might
almost be there and not even know it. So hold
on to that faith. And faith is not it's not
always some pretty glossy divine experience. Sometimes it is really
(51:08):
messy and really scary, but always worth it. So having
the ability to keep that faith, and also my evolving
journey with religion and God and what I see as
source and sort of removing religion out of the equation
and seeing the world and my purpose why I'm here differently,
(51:32):
it's definitely helped me be more open and more creative
and access new parts of my brain that may have
been blocked before due to indoctrinated beliefs that weren't mine.
So I have faith. I have faith in myself. I
have faith in the future. I have faith and progress.
(51:55):
And I also have built faith in my confidence. And
to achieve greatness and bring a vision to greatness, you
have to have faith.
Speaker 1 (52:07):
Mm hmmm, mm hmmm.
Speaker 2 (52:11):
I feel like in my life, I always say for myself,
I got to keep like a little oven inside burning
for myself.
Speaker 1 (52:18):
I love that, you know, That's how it feels in
my body.
Speaker 2 (52:21):
It's like that little oven, And sometimes the kindling comes
down a little low, and then sometimes it is like
this raging flame, but tending that fire, feeding that flame.
Speaker 5 (52:32):
Yes, I feel that I'm gonna start thinking of it
as that too. It's a beautiful imagery.
Speaker 1 (52:39):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (52:40):
I would love to ask now, at the end of
every episode, I give our honored guests this ask of
providing homework for the listening audience, something to help integrate
everything that was heard and felt from this conversation.
Speaker 1 (52:56):
And sometimes that looks like a.
Speaker 2 (52:59):
Maybe an query or a journalinge prompt or a breath
or a quote, a thought starter, a practice.
Speaker 1 (53:06):
Of some sort.
Speaker 2 (53:08):
But what can you share with our audience that they
can use to spend time with after they hear this?
Speaker 5 (53:14):
Wow? Okay, Well, I want everyone to pull out their
journal or their notes, app or however they get their
writing out, and I want them to start with, in
this next season of my life, I'm going to improve.
(53:36):
And then I want you to write ten different things.
They can be affirmations, they could be things about your relationships,
your habits. Write out ten things that you need to
improve on and stick it on your fridge or make
it your wallpaper on your phone. Figure out a way
for it to be in your subconscious even if you're
not looking at it directly and see what happens, see
(54:00):
what happens after.
Speaker 1 (54:03):
I love that. I love that that's where your work is.
Speaker 5 (54:08):
Yes, get out of that pen.
Speaker 2 (54:12):
Willie Green, thank you so much for joining us on
this episode. Your book is in stores now. I know
everyone can see it right behind him. I'm not sure
who needs to hear this, but thank you for all
the work you do in the world. Thank you for
me the Urban, thank you for this book, and just
thank you for your existence.
Speaker 5 (54:32):
Thank you, thank you so much for sharing your platform.
And this is my favorite interview I've ever done period.
I love that we talked about real things. So I
appreciate you so.
Speaker 1 (54:45):
Greatful, my friend. We will be back next week, no mistayay.
Speaker 2 (54:56):
The content presented on Deeply Well serves solely f educational
and informational purposes. It should not be considered a replacement
for personalized medical or mental health guidance and does not
constitute a provider patient relationship.
Speaker 1 (55:11):
As always, it.
Speaker 2 (55:12):
Is advisable to consult with your healthcare provider or health
team for any specific concerns or questions that you may have.
Connect with me on social at Debbie Brown that's Twitter
and Instagram, or you can go to my website Debbie
Brown dot com and if you're listening to the show
on Apple Podcasts, don't forget, Please rate, review, and subscribe
(55:35):
and send this episode to a friend. Deeply Well is
a production of iHeartRadio and The Black Effect Network.
Speaker 1 (55:41):
It's produced by Jacqueesse.
Speaker 2 (55:43):
Thomas, Samantha Timmins, and me Debbie Brown. The Beautiful Soundbath
You heard That's by Jarrelen Glass from Crystal Cadence. For
more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
Take a deep breath in through your nose. Holds it.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Now, release slowly again deep in, helle.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Hold release, repeating internally to yourself as you connect to
my voice.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
I am deeply well. I am deeply well. I am
deeply I'm Debbie Brown and this is the Deeply Well Podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Welcome to Deeply Well, a soft place to land on
your journey. A podcast for those that are curious, creative,
and ready to expand in higher consciousness and self care.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
I'm Debbie Brown.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
This is where we heal, this is where we transform.
All month long, we have been diving into the inner workings.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Of self and creativity.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
How to summon the sacred, how to invoke the muse,
and how to get so clear in your own channel
and connection to the divine that you're able to really
lock into your life's work with balance, with ease, with purpose,
with strength. This episode, I am so excited to share
(02:29):
this incredibly special person with you, who takes up space
in the world literally answering the call to everything that
I just listed. In two thousand and nine, at just
fourteen years old, Willie Green founded We the Urban. He
founded it from his bedroom in North Carolina, and what
(02:51):
began as an online community celebrating fashion and art, notably
championing black creativity. Soon became Tumblr's first blog to transform
into a nationally syndicated print magazine.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Evolving with time.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Willie shifted towards a more vulnerable, authentic, emotionally intelligent content strategy,
offering daily, introspective and inspirational messages, often stemming from his
own real time, real life experiences. These resonated worldwide, particularly
during twenty twenty, as We the Urban emerged as a
(03:27):
sanctuary for millions seeking comfort and healing through life's challenges.
We the Urban is now one of the biggest mental
health platforms on social media from marginalized voices today, with
over one billion impressions across Instagram. Over the years, We
the Urban stands as one of social media's largest destinations
(03:48):
for empowerment, guiding the world towards self discovery and resilience
under Willy's leadership as founder, writer, and designer, Willie's reaction
posts for the post election were some of the most
viewed posts on Instagram with over one hundred million impressions
and engagement, and The New York Times highlighted this following
(04:10):
its release on October eighth, twenty twenty four, Willie's debut book,
Not Sure Who Needs to Hear This but quickly became
a national bestseller, appearing on USA Today, Amazon, and Barnes
and Noble bestseller lists. This milestone marks just the beginning
of a transformative journey for We the Urban, with an
exciting future on the horizon, soon to expand into calendars,
(04:33):
affirmation card decks, journals, and other self care products.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
We the Urban is on track to.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Cement itself as an innovative powerhouse in the self care space,
blending both digital and physical products to inspire and uplift.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Today, with over.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
One billion impressions on Instagram, We the Urban stands as
one of social media's largest and most influential platforms for empowerment,
guiding a global communit unity towards self discovery and emotional
resilience under Willy Green's visionary leadership.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Willie, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
Wow, thank you for having me. I feel so honored
to be on this platform. I've seen your work before,
and I'm just glad to be in a safe space
as I'm popping out for the first time.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Yeah, sometimes you got to pop out.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
And okay, okay, I mean Wow. Wow, how does it
feel hearing all of that out loud?
Speaker 5 (05:36):
It's wild, It's really wild because there's just been so
much solitude and just like keeping my head down, simplifying
my life. So aside from like my small group of
friends and my family, I'm relatively alone with my dog
(05:58):
creating a lot. So it's kind of hard to see
or feel that impact, and it's something I'm still grappling with,
the just the magnitude and how everything has grown. But yeah,
I feel so grateful and I see it now as
a gift. And I know that now when you understand
(06:22):
your gift, you kind of have a responsibility to live
up to it, to respect it. So even though it's
a lot, I'm up for the challenge.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Can we talk about that a lotness?
Speaker 5 (06:36):
Please? Please? Because the overwhelming nature of it all.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Yes, it's so interesting because I think something I've observed
is when you are when you are designed to be
a lighthouse for others, right, which is such a sacred post.
It's such a sacred birthright. And we're all here for
various reasons, but not everybody is here to be the lighthouse, right,
And so when.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
You do occupy that space and bring so much freedom
to people's hearts. There is also this feeling of maybe
parentship that you have, you know, over.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
The collective, and this expectation sometimes of you to be
kind of the all knowing, the all scene and the
always available, And people can't always necessarily understand because when
your work is invocative to the feeling, it's hard to
think of the practicality for the creator.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
But how is that balance of really.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Being a called to serve but then being someone who
is worthy of your own human experience too?
Speaker 5 (07:45):
Wow? Well, thank you so much for that level of consciousness.
I don't think I've ever in my life I've been
asked a question like this, Because there is, and as
the platform grows and my career gets bigger, there is this.
I do feel that all of that, this needing to
say the perfect thing, or understanding how people perceive me
(08:08):
and have me on this certain pedestal, and really I
am just like everyone else, just trying to figure it out.
And it doesn't feel like a burden. It actually like,
especially as time has gone by since twenty twenty, which
was the whole resurgence of We the Urban, they've actually,
(08:28):
like my audience and community have actually sort of saved
me in a way because I have bipolar and I
go through my own mental struggles and sometimes it's hard
for me to find center. And I realized that, like
showing up for them is my center. So if I'm
ever lost, it's like create and show up for your people.
(08:50):
And I think about my audience so much. It is
a genuine love. And it's also kind of weird because
I don't know who I Yeah, you know, they're here
for we the urban and not like me and my presence,
which is why it's also so cool to now be
trying to bridge that gap. But it's something I've learned
(09:13):
that is it's a blessing. And it's like I figured
out that when you have a big microphone and a
big platform, you might as well say something liberating, say
something that will help someone, say something productive because there's
so much noise on the Internet. And I realized that
(09:34):
a part of my mession is sort of like cutting
through the bs that we scroll by thousands of times
a day. So I'm grateful. It's not easy, and you know,
I've seen it show up in my personal relationships as well,
and it's kind of different like meeting new people or
even going on dates because there's just this relationship that
(09:58):
they've built with me based off of what they see
on Instagram and you know, aside from the reality of me. Yeah,
but all in all, I feel so lucky to have
a platform and people to show up for.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Thank you for pulling back these layers because I have
more to say here, but there's other places that now
I'm like, we have.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
A path forward. We got to talk about let's.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Go, let's go you know something something that we talked about,
and thank you for sharing your consent off camera with.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Me to kind of go into this space.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
But you know, operating with this big mission and then
also having that diagnosis, how has your life kind of
expanded or flowed being able to kind of understand how
you're wired and designed better?
Speaker 5 (10:50):
Wow, Well, my journey to figuring out like what was
going on in my brain and all of the chemical
imbalances was really long, really long, and we either rb it,
Like getting to this place has been really long. This
is my life's work that I started at thirteen and
I'm thirty and now finally doing podcasts and doing all
(11:13):
these things. And a lot of those first like ten
years was me wondering like what is going on? And
I realized that I was experiencing so many different symptoms
like the first one maybe around like twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen.
It was just I went through this season of why
can't Why does it take superhuman strength to just get
(11:34):
out of the bed and do the basics of taking
care of myself? Why do I have all these ideas?
Then I sit down to do it and I lose
focus in like two seconds and I can't complete a
full task, or like why do I feel like really
sad for really prolonged amounts of time or fall into
(11:55):
negative thought spirals? So I think around eighteen I went
to like I was such a novice. I was looking
for a psychiatrist. But I went to a therapist and
didn't understand why she couldn't give me a diagnosis. And
then I finally found a psychiatrist and explained to them
my symptoms. And I remember something that is stuck with
(12:18):
me since that time was I walked in and I
sat down, and before we even discussed like any of
my symptoms or anything, she told me, I know, whatever
you're going through is real because I have never seen
a young black man come in my office in like
all of her years, and that clicked in me because
(12:40):
this is also right before the Me Too movement, which
fostered also a conversation about mental health and just a
whole new paradigm on the Internet. So I was kind
of thugging it out, and I was put on the
wrong medications. I was misdiagnosed with add or eighty eight.
(13:01):
And sometimes it's a process and a really long process,
and I understand why people either give up or don't
want to try, because I was put on the wrong medications.
I was put on things that like actually made what
I was going through much worse. So the final thing
they or medication they put me on was adderall And
(13:23):
anyone with bipolar knows that adderall, like all it does
is induce a manic state, so and it makes it
hard for you to really just be grounded and understand
what is going on. So I went through a nine
month rampage, like acting on impulse, doing like reckless things
(13:45):
like excessive partying and just excess excess and not working,
not feeling creatively in tune with myself, and I hit
a wall. I hit a wall, and that was the
like the day I decided to like end. That was
the exact day that I googled bipolar spirit or something
(14:09):
told me, and at that time, Google had like this
image that basically showed what the two sides of bipolar like,
sometimes you're really up, sometimes you're really down. And I
saw and read and was just like, thank God, finally
it has been years. It has been years, and we
are here now that I understand now that now that
(14:30):
I have the tools and the information, I can fix this.
So I finally And it took some time to figure
out like what medications helped with or were the most
effective for me, and it changed everything. It changed everything.
I finally had the fortitude and the focus and discipline
(14:53):
to do what I needed to do in my life
to get to this point. And that took moving to
La with a dollar and a dream with my best
friend at the time, and really trying to cultivate a
work ethic. And so the journey to figure out what
was going on was a long time. The journey to stabilize.
(15:16):
Once I found a foundation, it was like the catalyst
to all of this. And now I've realized that, like
taking care of my mental health is a part of
my job, so it's a lot of work, but it's
also really rewarding and a very like even reciprocal healing experience,
because even though they can't see me that it does
(15:39):
something to you. When you get hundreds and thousands of
comments and messages of people like I'm going through it too,
I feel it too, there's something really healing in it
for me. So it's been an interesting journey and it's
ever evolving. I found out a year ago that I
had OCD, which I didn't know manifested as thoughts and
(16:00):
like racing thoughts, and you know if you go through
I went through a breakup and I couldn't understand why,
like months later, even when I wasn't thinking about this
person or the situation, I was like, it was just
always there. And now I'm figuring that out. So it's
something I'm also open to learning more. It's a journey,
(16:20):
but a rewarding one.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
There's so much and I know those listening right now,
this is going into so many different chambers and compartments
for who needs it.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
There's so much. There's just so much to what you said.
One I'm so.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Grateful to hear you describe the process to getting your
best fit right like if you are finding if you're
on the path of saying I'm realizing that there is
something going on that I want to investigate and seek
support for that even in the seeking support, you may
not get it right the first time, because I think
sometimes that can.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Be so crushing.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
You know, if you feel like you're going into a
medical doctor and you want to be seen and helped,
there is this process of discovery that sometimes does really
have to take place because it can feel so defeating
if you get the wrong meds or if you're getting
the wrong diagnosis, and then it's like, Okay, now I
want to remove myself completely because y'all can't keep doing
(17:21):
this with me. I can't keep being laid bare or
being this vulnerable and open and not.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Get what I need.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
But to be able to have the fortitude to sit
kind of at the bottom of the ocean with that
process and like find find the right road. And then
also something I'm hearing in what you're saying, which I'm
so curious about, is when you do find out right
because I think myself and my own journey, I had
a similar experience, but with my chronic pain and autoimmune
(17:50):
and being able to be believed being able to find
what it is that's wrong. It just takes so much time,
and you're explaining to every new person you meet, and
it's like, at least for me, I'm trying to.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Be like such a good steward of myself.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
So I'm like, okay, well here's my trauma list and
these are this, and so this is what happened.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
And I learned this yere, and you know, like you're just.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
You're trying to be so like astute showing up for yourself.
So it's just that in general is just so powerful.
And I know so many people listening have been coming
to new understandings of what they may have thought was
like a deficiency in them or a brokenness in them,
or something that people didn't understand about them.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
And then you find that very often these are our.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
Powers, our superpowers. Yeah, yes, I'm so glad you said that.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
And coming into that space of understanding that like this
isn't about what is wrong with me.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
This is about like what is actually a gift about me.
I just need to.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Find the right levels for it or the way to
support it in the way it needs to be cared.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
Four.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
How is that unfolded for you.
Speaker 5 (19:03):
Yeah, I realized a really long time ago that everything
I had been experiencing, the mania, the depression, and luckily
I had more of a mouth form. There's many different
types of bipolar and intensities. But I was a really
young teenager thirteen fourteen on Tumblr, but I was posting
(19:25):
like ten times a day. I was editing a magazine
and commissioning photoshoots from like the bathroom in school in
high school, and wow, I would wake up at seven
am and then at school, get home at three, and
then I go to bed at like four after working
that entire time. And maybe that's not the most healthy.
(19:46):
And I didn't know like why I could like do that,
but I realized, like, oh, that was the bipolar. You
were in like a little bit of a hypomanic state
while you were doing all that. That's why we're like
doing super super human superhuman things. And shirt has its pitfalls,
(20:09):
but clearly it had its advantages as well. And even
with the OCD, I realized, maybe that's why I'll never
have Maybe that's why I'll never have like wait, what
am I? What word am I searching for? Not a
deficient deficiency? That is why I'll always have something to
talk about. I realized that I put out ten slides,
(20:32):
ten different thoughts a day, and to do that for
years and years, I'm like, oh, no, wonder it's because
my mind goes really fast and it thinks a lot
and comes to a lot of conclusions, and it's always
dissecting things. So it's another part of the genius of
the work. So I think with with introspection and a
(20:55):
treatment plan which is beyond medication, there's it's a lifestyle. Really,
I think anyone could see how it actually benefits them.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Deeply well.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
To be alive right now and to understand that, like none.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Of us have to be the same, you know, like
just none of us have to be the same about
anything for any reason. It is about utilizing how we
are designed to be with our creativity, to be with
our work.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
But it's always in service. It's always in service to
the greater good.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
And I think I love to study great masters of
different times, that includes like teachers to philosophers to painters.
Speaker 5 (21:41):
Do you all the time?
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Oh my god, utterly, like just.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Leave me home all day and like let me study
and research things. But you know, and you've probably found
this in your studies. Like, the thing to me that
is always so remarkable is so many of our greats
had been these ticks about them or these things that
made them them. And it makes perfect sense. You have
(22:06):
to be that disconnected from the zeitgeist, like that disconnected
from the collective of whatever time, to make the work
that stands the test of time, to make the work
that changes things and creates those paradigm shifts. But when
you think about you know, even so many of the
great profits of our time throughout history seem to have
(22:29):
suffered from nervous system disorders. When you read certain scriptures,
when you read certain passages or books or recordings of
you know, they speak to the nervous energy that was present,
or the anxiety that was present. And the more I've
been on my own path, I realized, well, of course
they were anxious. Of course their nervous systems were dysregulated.
(22:50):
They were bringing truth to the earth in a time
when people didn't necessarily want that truth right. And it's
like same thing with our great painters. You think of
how then Go was tortured right, and what it took
to get.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
That art out, and all of our great writers. When
you really look at what people have written, the James Baldwins,
Nikki Giovanni, the Maya an as Nan, Yeah, the Maya Angelous.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
There is the undercurrent of pain, there is the undercurrent
of exhaustion with humanity, and there's the undercurrent of exhaustion
in the physical body.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Or in the mind or in the heart.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
And so it's yeah, it's just it's really powerful for
you to describe your journey, because this is really the
journey of light, This is the journey of the creator.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
Thank you, thank you for saying that. I do the same.
I research a lot and I found the same that
a lot of our greatest minds, greatest inventors, people that
have changed society, they experienced a lot. I remember reading
about Maya Angelo for the first time, and she went
(24:01):
through a really traumatic experience as a child, and I
think no one believed her or she spoke out and
it led to someone's just a very sad situation, but
it made her mute herself for five years, and somewhere
in like somewhere in her and having that era of solitude,
(24:22):
she found her voice and that voice ended up changing.
That voice she muted ended up changing the world. And
I also think of Nina Simone, who also was one
of the first people, and her documentary on Netflix is amazing,
But I learned that she had bipolar as well, and
she was like the sound of the civil rights movement.
(24:45):
And then the more I think of these people, the
more I think of identity and being a black queer
creator and just even how I'm stepping out now is
just sort of rebelling against what's happened to me and
my community, and oftentimes we are. If we look at
(25:06):
history the most influential in many different ways. We think
of Francis Thomas or Thompson I believe it is her name,
a formerly enslaved black trans woman who was the first
trans woman to testify in Congress, I believe from Memphis,
and that testimony led to a bigger conversation around civil rights,
(25:28):
which eventually led to the Fourteenth Amendment situation, which literally
gave us protections and freedom that this race has never
seen before. We see Rustin who was like the brain
and the engine behind the MLK movement. We see Martha P.
Johnson who pride that is her that is because a
(25:51):
black trans woman, and there's been this erasure of them,
and I think it's a shame, and I I don't
want to be a part of that. There's something powerful
and all of these millions of people all over the
world knowing that they're ingesting meaning and getting inspired by
(26:14):
and reading life through the lens of a black queer person.
I now see the power and stepping out. So when
I do things like this, it's more it's not vanity.
It's I think of all the people like me that
are going to see this and be like, hey, actually
look at the possibilities. I could be there too. So totally,
(26:36):
I think there's so much in history we can learn from.
Its valuable. That was lot. I wasn't ready to do
a history lesson. No more.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
No, it's so good, and I just like something I'm
feeling grateful for this conversation is I think it is
so important. We're talking about this a little bit before
the show, where I struggle with this idea of having
to feed people thoughts and content all day because I
live in the nuance, like I just love settling into
(27:13):
the undercurrents right and everything that you're describing right now.
The reason that I know it's being felt so powerfully
by everyone listening is because it's such a layered view,
like you're giving the complexity and the nuance of how
all these understandings come together. And it's so many things
at once, you know, But yes, it's something I've been
(27:36):
I'm so curious your thoughts on this, really, you know,
It's like in human history, we are constantly swinging to
extreme ends with the pendulum, right. So it's like every
time we make advancements, it feels good and we think
things are changing, and then that thing will swing back
(27:57):
so far and it turns out we're only making like
or mental steps.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
And I feel that because we have, especially.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Since kind of the onset of the Me Too movement,
we have been making so many conscious strides as a species,
like in our.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Evolution forward, right, like, we have.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Been putting under the microscope misogyny and the understanding of
patriarchy and feminism and abuses and abuses of power. Then
after that we're like quickly moving through this curriculum as people,
right Like, then we're being thrust into having global eyes
on systemic racism and how it permeates the world. Then
(28:37):
we're finally having global eyes on the queer community on
the lbed.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Excuse me, I want to say this absolutely correctly, LGBTQ plus,
the LGBTQ plus community, the trans community. It is like
it's been.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
So powerful, and then it also to me feels like
all of a sudden, now things are swinging.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Backwards, and it's like, how do we hold space.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
For that right for the progress and then sometimes what
feels like a failing that begins to happen in our consciousness.
Speaker 5 (29:17):
Yeah, yeah, I feel that so much. And you know,
I know there's a full wide range of political spectrum
and beliefs in the world and in this country, but
I don't think that there's anything wrong about standing up
for people's humanity, like basic humanity, basic respect of their truth.
(29:42):
That's where I lie on the political spectrum, and I
think I've used my platform and been very vocal more
so in the past, and now I'm getting back into
it as I see the world is needing that kind
of reassurance and comfort and maybe just a nudge of
(30:03):
fortitude for them to keep going and to see things
in a different way, because there is an ebb and
a flow back and and forth, and it almost reminds
me of my own diagnosis up in the down nature
of it, And I know that there's a way to
exist through it and to find sanctuary in it. And
(30:24):
we have countless examples of this through history as well,
of nothing is permanent, and sometimes sometimes there really is
no reason to believe, and you've got to hold on
to blind faith and maybe a little bit of delusion
and just believing and better and more, even if it
(30:44):
doesn't feel like it, because if we all let go
of that, then you know what's next, how bad will
it get? Like someone has to still believe, and it
can be hard, especially for black people. You know, in
twenty twenty, the George Floyd situation and all of the
police brutality that was on the news and like hyper
(31:07):
magnified because we were all stuck on screens for two
three years and we saw this uprising of protests and
the Black squares and all these companies implementing DEI policies.
And it's years later now we see companies stripping all
(31:30):
the DEI. We see how much that was just performative
and not real, And it feels like a slap in
the face this many years later to see this and
to see the direction of our country, and the only
thing I know to do is to figure out how
(31:51):
to put my mind in a place that's productive, because
sitting around in a dark place forever is not going
to change anything. It's not going to belize anybody.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Yeah, it's so true and it's so deep, and I
think where I've landed with life is that I just
accept darkness as a part of it.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
You know, it's a part of being here.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
And I'm not saying we have to endure or be abused,
but that is part of what this human experience is.
And no one that has ever lived has ever got
it right, you know, truly, there has.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Never been peace on earth ever.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
So it's like not even looking to that as the ideal,
but looking at for me, it's like human dignity as
the ideal, you know, just decency, integrity as the ideal
to whatever extent you can muster it, whether you're in
darkness or light.
Speaker 5 (32:47):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. I feel that it's an ebb and
a flow and the yang of it all. And what's
beautiful is that we get to choose our perspective on it.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
We get to choose.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Yeah, you know, your work really focuses on enlightenment, inspiration,
and empowerment. When did these concepts of self care and
well being really start to come to your life, and
specifically to the.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
Tone of we.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
The urban is so incredibly direct, purposeful, yet deeply compassionate.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
It's a soft landing. I think when your eyes.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Land on your page, like when they land on even
the pages of your book, even the diffusion and the colors.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
I'm like, Oh, he's regulating my nervous system. How kind
of you.
Speaker 5 (33:40):
Thank you, Thank you for saying that.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (33:46):
Yeah, It's something that started really like in twenty twenty
when the world flipped upside down. It was the apocalypse
that I was living in Hollywood, which is already just
a very chaotic energy, and being stuck there, and then
I was in a wild living situation. So it got
(34:07):
to a point where I was like, all right, I
don't know what to do with all of these feelings,
so I'm just going to put them out there and
try to help people. And somewhere in all of this,
like mental health conversation, I realized like, oh, I need
to take care of myself. I can't show up for
others if I'm not making taking care of myself a priority.
(34:29):
I can't pour from an empty cup because I've done that,
and I know the consequences of that.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Well, especially coming from like a fashion background, coming from
like a really cultural orientated background, and coming into creating
things that are really about like emotional intelligence, Like how
did you decide that.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
That could exist in the world you had created?
Speaker 5 (34:53):
Yeah, I realized well number one, you know. And if
people'scrol back years, they'll see how the writing has improved
and the insight has gotten deeper as I've learned more
in my journey and been through therapy finally, and obviously
just continuing to keep taking care of myself a priority
(35:16):
and processing what I'm going through. But I have this
policy of always ending everything with productivity, something purposeful. So
it's like, yes, i might comment on the despair, I
might tell you a little bit about yourself, I may
honor the dark things that you're experiencing, but I'll always
(35:38):
give you something productive at the end. And maybe that's
because I need it too. I need I need a compass,
and I didn't have one, so I decided to make it.
And somewhere through like all of this consistent writing, that
whole process and intention just grew and grew, and I'm
(36:01):
always taking an information in my life and a lot
from therapy when I tell you there's some of the
best things I've ever written and have had the most engagement,
where like musings right after a therapy session. So and
I'm interested in I don't know why. I've always had
a big ambition, even since a little kid. I was
(36:23):
just like I want to do something. I want to
be big, I want to change the world. Am I
a singer? Am I a photographer? Like? Where is my lane?
And I think it's so cool that when I leaned
into the purest authentic expression of myself, I got there
and it's all like really dope, Like it's helping people.
(36:45):
It's really really helping people. So I've learned just through
experience and through the writing and also seeing how important
this topic and niche is on the internet because there's
so much. You know, there's like this culture on the
internet of like who can say the most funniest disrespectful
(37:07):
thing about somebody who, Like who is the one we're
going to dog pile on today because they made a
human mistake? Right, Like what negativity? Can I indulgence to
like not think about my own issues? And then it's
a lot on the internet is people projecting. There's a
lot of negativity because they're dealing with a lot in
(37:28):
their lives and they need somewhere to just like get
it off and through all of that noise, there has
to be something productive, something helping people's mental health. So
I think that's where I found purpose, and just hearing
people's stories about certain quotes, seeing how people live with
them day to day and prioritize them and their health
(37:51):
and share them with people. So it's just it's too
valuable of an angle to not lean into.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Deeply.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
Well, the Internet tries to forget things really fast. But
it's been interesting watching people who were kind of terrorizing
people online like find the Light right, and now.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
It's like people that I think used to be like.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Like read Culture one oh one, where you know, like
the content they made was about tearing down whoever was
in the news. I've been seeing so many people make
these shifts into like I want a soft life, where
like we need to treat each other better, and you know,
for I think for the people that that is their
real kind of genuine, authentic experience that they might have
(38:46):
come through through a lot of self reflection. It's like welcome,
I'm so glad you're here, thank finally, thank you for
coming to the light. And then there's others that you're like,
oh and and this is the pivot because that's no
longer on brand, right, like it's on brand to be
positive or it's on brand too.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
Yeah, and it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
But I think no matter what in the sea of expression,
people will always find what their heart is meant to
find or what resonates you know. Yeah, but it's it's
been really interesting. I think even just watching the digital
unfolding about the way the way that we hold space
for each other now, like the kind of comments that
(39:27):
are left now. I remember when I first put myself
on the internet. I'm older than you, so it was
you know, I was just a baby. But I remember
one of the first times I put like an interview
of mine on the internet.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
It was the night Barack Obama.
Speaker 2 (39:41):
Got elected, and it was YouTube and there was no
there was no Instagram at the time or anything like that.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
Twitter had just started. Yeah, it was like MySpace and YouTube.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
And I remember, like I was, I was so proud
of this interview as on some music video said and
it was beautifully done. And I go on YouTube and
one hundred percent of the comments were males telling me
that they wanted to like beat me in the face
with a rock and like put me in a trunk,
(40:12):
like literally that, and I remember, like that had such
an effect on me. Then I'm so sorry. That was
a very heavy description. I did not mean to throw
that out there, but I say it with such ease
and casualness because I'm safe, fine and happy. And this
was fifteen years ago, but I remember like the effect
that that had on me because at the time I
(40:32):
was on the radio, but I also ran the community show,
and I was trying to make broadcasting content that was
more like my idols, mister Rogers and LeVar Burton and
you know, some.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Of those great teachers of kindness.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
And then you're doing these things that you're proud of
and people are like wishing death on you in really
horrible ways. And that's just how so much of the
internet landscape looked back then. Like even if you saw
something beautiful, the responses and the comments with like invokes
sometimes the worst and the human spirit.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
So even being.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
Able to digitally watch our collective progression and how we
feel about ourselves and what we think is okay to
throw on to other people it's been interesting watching that
shift in consciousness too, you know, not just in what
people are creating, but how people will let themselves receive
(41:28):
the creations.
Speaker 5 (41:29):
Of others exactly. Well, first of all, I'm sorry you
experienced that. Thank you, And unfortunately I can relate. Yeah,
I just got a death threat like two days ago
in my email. I've heard people call for me to
be flogged and start like crazy things, and I'm just like,
all I do is put out positively. Are you okay?
Speaker 2 (41:52):
But yeah, you're like, I'm helping you heal, You are welcome.
Speaker 5 (41:56):
You're well, like what did I do? And Yeah, it's
something that has been something that's been really challenging because
especially when it comes to political things. I just did
a post that went viral on election day and it
had a very clear point of view, and there's obviously
(42:18):
that group that doesn't agree, and it is a lot
to read vile in those vile things you've ever seen
about yourself or towards you. And that is why I
am such a champion for seeing your digital space as
your home, your digital home and protecting it as such.
(42:38):
So if you were to see my blocklist, you could
scroll for hours. Block block block, follow unfollow.
Speaker 1 (42:47):
Yeah, you lose the right exactly.
Speaker 5 (42:50):
Yeah. So that's how I've found some sort of piece and.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
Really yeah, I would love to hear Willie about some
of your crew creative process and your self care. How
do you kind of nurture the gift?
Speaker 5 (43:07):
Yeah, I got to keep the vessel clear. Yeah. So
step one is like, are you getting enough water? What
kind of are you eating? Nutritious foods? Like, let's think
about your brain health. What supplements are you taking your
glutithio because you're getting a little older. Okay, all of that,
(43:30):
all of that.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
I just got my little shot.
Speaker 5 (43:32):
It might be twelve, okay today, you get it. You
get it. So it's like figuring out how to be
as clear as possible.
Speaker 2 (43:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (43:41):
I go on like this same three mile walk every
single day, well most days, and it's where I get
to just like and I don't take my phone, just
have my little Apple watch in my music, and it's
where I get to like get it all out and
think and process. People probably think people walking by I
probably think I'm in saying because I like talk to
myself out loud and I really just try to get
(44:04):
all of anything clogging the source in the vessel just away,
and then I'm someone that like, I don't know why,
I'm like a night owl person. Most of the things
I write are in real time, like the night before,
and I kind of wait sometimes until that feeling of oh,
(44:26):
I got to write, I have something to say. Just
honoring that creative nulge has been really helpful and enacting
discipline in it a certain level of work ethic, which
is interesting as an artist when you want to flow
and you want to honor your process. However that unfolds.
(44:47):
But when you're also trying to make something on a
commercial scale or turn your art into a lucrative business,
It's like this weird balance of all right, I have
fifty thousand email and deadlines and I got to write.
All I want to do is laym my couch, which
is also productive sometimes, so I'm trying to figure out
(45:11):
that balance. But I also do find reward and pushing through,
and I find reward and compartmentalization, which isn't always healthy,
but in some ways and in certain instances it is
because I also I feel everything. I feel everything intensely,
every kind of emotion, but anyone experiences I feel, it's
(45:33):
like the one hundredth degree. So that can also be
a little and can make like a really rocky foundation
in creating. But my process is really simple. I walk
around my house. I have music playing a lot of
Cleo soul and beautiful chorus affirmation really okay, because we
(45:56):
might be you get it, you get it.
Speaker 1 (45:59):
Crea che I will walk around my house and that's
what I listen to.
Speaker 5 (46:02):
Yeah, really I understand. Yeah, it's very helpful. It helps
me think. Because there's not too many complex lyrics or
drums or anything, I can really get inspired. And I
write everything on my notes app on my computer or
my phone. If something appears throughout the day, I'll make
(46:23):
sure to like write it down and refer to it later.
And sometimes I'm not gonna lie. I have a little
herbal refreshments or a gummy or something, yes, and I
just write exactly. And there's also this thing about being
in tune, like trying to be in tune with what
(46:46):
people like, what masses of people might be feeling. So
I'm looking at holidays, I'm looking at weather, I'm looking
at just political climate, socio political climate, things that are
happening in the world. And so you know, around this
time a lot of people experience seasonal depression and I've
(47:06):
swinged all the way down. So having that in mind,
I'm like, all right, I should talk about this thing
and I should uplift them in this way. Or you know,
a lot of people start thinking about their loved ones
that aren't here anymore during the holiday season. So that's
something else I know to lean into. And then there's
sometimes where I just don't have it, where I don't
(47:27):
have it, and I think it's a great reminder to
every artist who posts their stuff on the Internet that
it is okay to repost your work. We scroll by
so many things. Yes, we want to see it again,
and the way algorithms and everything work, most people that
follow you don't see it the first time anyway. So
that's helped me in my process as well of being like,
(47:49):
you know what, I'm going to run this neck from
a few years ago.
Speaker 2 (47:53):
Well, and quotes mean different things so us at different
points in our lives.
Speaker 5 (47:57):
You know.
Speaker 2 (47:57):
It's like, I think some of the quotes or something
that I've read that have meant something to me when
I see it again with new experiences that have happened,
or maybe different kind of deeper healing that has taken
place within me. I take it to mean something entirely
different when I set eyes on it again.
Speaker 1 (48:14):
So it's it's like, yeah, those.
Speaker 2 (48:16):
Those kind of universal truths, they can evolve with your
life in so many different seasons.
Speaker 5 (48:22):
Exactly. Yeah, it's and it's something I do as well,
like the fresh eyes is because when I do repost
old clothes, I'm usually jigging them up and adding some
sauce and the new insight and the more mature aspect,
and some of those things are the ones that people
share the most. So I think the Internet has this
(48:44):
confuse that we just have to produce, produce, produce, produce,
and that's something we created. Is just it loses its
value once people aren't engaging with it on the Internet. Yeah,
it's really.
Speaker 2 (48:56):
Important to be saying this out loud. I think it's
really really important to be saying this out loud because
people have also anyone listening. Can I just say directly
to you, you have a right to prioritize your real
human life like you have a right and honestly a
duty to actually prioritize your human experience above your digital experience.
(49:17):
It's why we're here and I think so many of
us are disregarding our humanity for these kind of sim
realities of who we think we are in a post
or based on the perception of another person. And it's
just so important to keep both feet in your real
(49:38):
life and world is so important.
Speaker 5 (49:42):
Thank you for that word.
Speaker 1 (49:45):
Yes, I'm curious, Willie.
Speaker 2 (49:48):
And then I actually have some homework that I would
like for you to give the audience.
Speaker 1 (49:53):
At this point in your life, in this moment.
Speaker 2 (49:56):
Where the level of integration that you're at where you've arrived,
especially in the kind of harmony and balance you've found
for your unique path, body, mind's heart. What kind of
space does faith and creativity take up in your life?
Speaker 1 (50:12):
How do those two.
Speaker 2 (50:16):
Essences of existence kind of show themselves in your world?
Speaker 5 (50:22):
Wow, I've never been asked this. I don't think I've
considered it, but thinking about it, I think, well, number one,
blind faith is what got me here. And like I
said earlier, sometimes there have been seasons in my life
where no one's believed in my vision, where I hardly
(50:44):
believed in my vision, but there is a piece of
me that was just like just hold on, like you
might be. It might be around the corner. You might
almost be there and not even know it. So hold
on to that faith. And faith is not it's not
always some pretty glossy divine experience. Sometimes it is really
(51:08):
messy and really scary, but always worth it. So having
the ability to keep that faith, and also my evolving
journey with religion and God and what I see as
source and sort of removing religion out of the equation
and seeing the world and my purpose why I'm here differently,
(51:32):
it's definitely helped me be more open and more creative
and access new parts of my brain that may have
been blocked before due to indoctrinated beliefs that weren't mine.
So I have faith. I have faith in myself. I
have faith in the future. I have faith and progress.
(51:55):
And I also have built faith in my confidence. And
to achieve greatness and bring a vision to greatness, you
have to have faith.
Speaker 1 (52:07):
Mm hmmm, mm hmmm.
Speaker 2 (52:11):
I feel like in my life, I always say for myself,
I got to keep like a little oven inside burning
for myself.
Speaker 1 (52:18):
I love that, you know, That's how it feels in
my body.
Speaker 2 (52:21):
It's like that little oven, And sometimes the kindling comes
down a little low, and then sometimes it is like
this raging flame, but tending that fire, feeding that flame.
Speaker 5 (52:32):
Yes, I feel that I'm gonna start thinking of it
as that too. It's a beautiful imagery.
Speaker 1 (52:39):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (52:40):
I would love to ask now, at the end of
every episode, I give our honored guests this ask of
providing homework for the listening audience, something to help integrate
everything that was heard and felt from this conversation.
Speaker 1 (52:56):
And sometimes that looks like a.
Speaker 2 (52:59):
Maybe an query or a journalinge prompt or a breath
or a quote, a thought starter, a practice.
Speaker 1 (53:06):
Of some sort.
Speaker 2 (53:08):
But what can you share with our audience that they
can use to spend time with after they hear this?
Speaker 5 (53:14):
Wow? Okay, Well, I want everyone to pull out their
journal or their notes, app or however they get their
writing out, and I want them to start with, in
this next season of my life, I'm going to improve.
(53:36):
And then I want you to write ten different things.
They can be affirmations, they could be things about your relationships,
your habits. Write out ten things that you need to
improve on and stick it on your fridge or make
it your wallpaper on your phone. Figure out a way
for it to be in your subconscious even if you're
not looking at it directly and see what happens, see
(54:00):
what happens after.
Speaker 1 (54:03):
I love that. I love that that's where your work is.
Speaker 5 (54:08):
Yes, get out of that pen.
Speaker 2 (54:12):
Willie Green, thank you so much for joining us on
this episode. Your book is in stores now. I know
everyone can see it right behind him. I'm not sure
who needs to hear this, but thank you for all
the work you do in the world. Thank you for
me the Urban, thank you for this book, and just
thank you for your existence.
Speaker 5 (54:32):
Thank you, thank you so much for sharing your platform.
And this is my favorite interview I've ever done period.
I love that we talked about real things. So I
appreciate you so.
Speaker 1 (54:45):
Greatful, my friend. We will be back next week, no mistayay.
Speaker 2 (54:56):
The content presented on Deeply Well serves solely f educational
and informational purposes. It should not be considered a replacement
for personalized medical or mental health guidance and does not
constitute a provider patient relationship.
Speaker 1 (55:11):
As always, it.
Speaker 2 (55:12):
Is advisable to consult with your healthcare provider or health
team for any specific concerns or questions that you may have.
Connect with me on social at Debbie Brown that's Twitter
and Instagram, or you can go to my website Debbie
Brown dot com and if you're listening to the show
on Apple Podcasts, don't forget, Please rate, review, and subscribe
(55:35):
and send this episode to a friend. Deeply Well is
a production of iHeartRadio and The Black Effect Network.
Speaker 1 (55:41):
It's produced by Jacqueesse.
Speaker 2 (55:43):
Thomas, Samantha Timmins, and me Debbie Brown. The Beautiful Soundbath
You heard That's by Jarrelen Glass from Crystal Cadence. For
more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
Host
Devi Brown
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