January 23, 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
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Transcript
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.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
I'm Debbie Brown and this is the Deeply Well Podcast.
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 of self and creativity. 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
(02:18):
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 this incredibly special person
with you, who takes up space in the world literally
answering the call to everything that I just listed. In
(02:39):
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 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
(03:03):
print magazine. Evolving with time, 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
(03:26):
Urban emerged as a 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 for empowerment, guiding the world towards
(03:50):
self discovery and resilience under Willie's leadership as founder, writer,
and designer.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Willie's reaction posts for the post election were.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Some of the most viewed posts on Instagram with over
one hundred million impressions and engagement, and The New York
Times highlighted this following 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
(04:25):
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, affirmation card decks, journals, and
other self care products. We the Urban is on track
to cement itself as an innovative powerhouse in the self
care space, blending both digital and physical products to inspire
(04:47):
and uplift. Today, with over 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 and OK that Okay,
I mean Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
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 are when you are designed to be a lighthouse
for others, right, which is such a sacred post.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
It's such a sacred birthright. And we're all here.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
For various reasons, but not everybody is here to be
the lighthouse, right, And so when you do occupy that
space and bring so much freedom to people's hearts.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
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.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Practicality for the creator. But how is that.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Balance of really 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.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Up for Oh, thank you for pulling back these layers
because I have more to say here, but there's other
places that now I'm like.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
We have a path forward. We got to talk about
let's go, let's.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Go you know something something that we talked about, and
thank you for sharing your consent off camera with me to.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
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 these things.
(11:14):
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 out
(11:34):
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 negative thought spirals?
(11:59):
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 me since that
(12:19):
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 this is also right
(12:41):
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. And sometimes it's a
(13:02):
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 anyone with bipolar
(13:24):
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 like excessive partying and
(13:48):
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 told me, and at
(14:10):
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 I have the tools
(14:33):
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 to do what
(14:55):
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. Once I found
(15:18):
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, it does something to you when
(15:39):
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 like racing thoughts, and
(16:02):
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, 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.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
One I'm so 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
(16:56):
I think sometimes that can be so crushing. You know,
if you feel like you're going into a medical doctor
and you want to be seen and helped.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
There is this process of discovery.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
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 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. But to be able to have
the fortitude to sit.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
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 be
like such a good steward of myself. 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. This is about
like what is actually a gift about me. I just
need to find the right levels for it or the
way to support it in.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
The way it needs to be cared for. How is
that unfolded?
Speaker 5 (19:02):
For you. 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
(19:24):
was posting 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 of that. That's why we're
like doing super super human superhuman things. And SURET has
(20:09):
its pitfalls, 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 difficient 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 it with introspection and
(20:55):
a 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 2 (21:12):
To be alive right now and to understand that, like
none 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. But it's always in service. It's always
in service to the greater good. And I think I
(21:34):
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 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 Nisnan, Yeah, the
(23:13):
Maya Angelous. 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, or in the mind
or in the heart. And so it's yeah, it's just
it's really powerful for you to describe your journey, because
(23:34):
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 history,
(25:07):
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. I wasn't ready to do a history lesson.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
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.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
With the pendulum, right.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
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 so far and it turns out
we're only making.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Like or mental steps.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
And I feel that because we have, especially since kind
of the onset of the Me Too movement, we have
been making so many conscious strides as a species, like
in our evolution forward, right, like, we have been putting
under the microscope misogyny and the understanding of patriarchy and
(28:23):
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.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Being thrust into having global.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Eyes on systemic racism and how it permeates the world.
Then 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.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
LGBTQ plus, the LGBTQ plus community, the trans community.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
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 backwards, and
it's like, how do we hold space 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 and 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
like 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 doesn't feel like it, because if we all let
(30:48):
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 hyper
magnified because we were all stuck on screens for two
(31:11):
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
the DEI. We see how much that was just performative
(31:35):
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
to put my mind in a place that's productive, because
sitting around in a dark place forever is not going
(31:57):
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.
It's a soft landing. I think when your eyes land
on your page, like when they land on even the
pages of your book, even the diffusion and the colors,
I'm like, Oh, he's regulating my nervousness, and how kind
(33:40):
of you.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 5 (33:43):
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.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
That 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 that could exist in the
world you had created?
Speaker 5 (34:53):
Yeah, I realized well number one, you know, And if
people scroll 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
(35:15):
priority 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
(35:38):
always give you something productive at the end. And maybe
that's because I need it too. 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?
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Like?
Speaker 5 (36:29):
Where is my lane? And I think it's so cool
that I 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. It's really really helping people. So
I've learned just through experience and through the writing, and
(36:52):
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 thing about somebody? Who? Like who
is the one we're going to dog pile on today
because they made a human mistake?
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Right?
Speaker 5 (37:15):
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 their lives and
they need somewhere to just like get it off and
through all of that noise, there has to be something productive,
(37:36):
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 and share them with people.
So it's just it's too valuable of an angle to
(37:56):
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 it's.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
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.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
Was in the news.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
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 come through
through a lot of self reflection. It's like welcome, I'm
so glad you're here, Thank you, finally thank you for
(38:52):
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. Yeah, and it's interesting.
But I think no matter what in the sea of expression,
people will always find what their heart is meant to
(39:13):
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
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
(39:34):
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 got elected.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
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 set and
it was beautifully done.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
And and I go on YouTube.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
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,
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
(40:23):
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
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
(40:43):
you know, some of those great teachers of kindness. 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
(41:04):
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.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
Not just in what people are creating, but how people.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
Will let themselves receive the creations of others exactly.
Speaker 5 (41:31):
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 positive. Are you okay?
Speaker 1 (41:52):
But yeah, you're like, I'm helping you heal, You were welcome, You're.
Speaker 5 (41:56):
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 that
(42:18):
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. So if
(42:39):
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):
Totally Yeah, I would love to hear Willie about some
of your 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.
Speaker 2 (43:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (43:12):
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.
Speaker 2 (43:28):
Okay, all of that, all of that I just got
my little shot might be twelve.
Speaker 5 (43:33):
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've been 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 nudge 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 lay on my couch,
which is also productive sometimes, so I'm trying to figure
(45:10):
out 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,
(45:33):
it's like the one hundredth degree. So that can also
be a little you 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
(45:56):
we might be you get it, you get it creche.
Speaker 1 (45:59):
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 on
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 world. And so you know, around this time, a
lot of people experience seasonal depression and I've swinged all
(47:07):
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 have it,
and I think it's a great reminder to every artist
(47:30):
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, you know what,
I'm going to run this neck from a few years ago.
Speaker 2 (47:53):
Well, and two quotes mean different things, so us at
different points in our lives.
Speaker 1 (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.
Speaker 2 (48:16):
Those 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.
Speaker 2 (48:55):
Yeah, it's really 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. It's why we're here, and I
(49:19):
think so many of us are disregarding our humanity for these.
Speaker 1 (49:24):
Kind of sim.
Speaker 2 (49:25):
Realities of who we think we are in a post
or based on the perception of another person.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
And it's just so important.
Speaker 2 (49:35):
To keep both feet in your real life and world
is so important.
Speaker 5 (49:42):
Thank you for that word.
Speaker 1 (49:45):
Yes, I'm curious, Willie. And then I actually have.
Speaker 2 (49:49):
Some homework that I would like for you to give
the audience. At this point in your life, in this
moment 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
(50:12):
your life?
Speaker 1 (50:12):
How do those.
Speaker 2 (50:13):
Two essences of existence kind of show themselves in your world?
Speaker 5 (50:22):
Wow, I've never been asked this, and 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
(50:43):
I hardly 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
(51:07):
is really 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
(51:30):
I'm here differently, 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
(51:52):
faith and progress. And I also have built faith in
my confidence and ability 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 5 (52:18):
I love that, you know.
Speaker 1 (52:19):
That's how that 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.
Speaker 1 (52:47):
This ask of providing.
Speaker 2 (52:49):
Homework for the listening audience, something to help integrate everything
that was heard and felt from this conversation. And sometimes
that looks like a maybe an query or a journalinge
prompt or a breath or a quote, a thought starter,
a practice of some sort. But what can you share
(53:09):
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.
Speaker 2 (54:04):
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.
Speaker 1 (54:17):
Your book is in stores now.
Speaker 2 (54:19):
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.
Speaker 1 (54:30):
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,
I'm mist stay.
Speaker 2 (54:56):
The content presented on Deeply Well serves solely for 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. As always, it is advisable
to consult with your healthcare provider or health team for
(55:17):
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 and send this
episode to a friend. Deeply Well is a production of
(55:39):
iHeartRadio and The Black Effect Network. It's produced by Jacqueis 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.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
I'm Debbie Brown and this is the Deeply Well Podcast.
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 of self and creativity. 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
(02:18):
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 this incredibly special person
with you, who takes up space in the world literally
answering the call to everything that I just listed. In
(02:39):
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 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
(03:03):
print magazine. Evolving with time, 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
(03:26):
Urban emerged as a 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 for empowerment, guiding the world towards
(03:50):
self discovery and resilience under Willie's leadership as founder, writer,
and designer.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Willie's reaction posts for the post election were.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Some of the most viewed posts on Instagram with over
one hundred million impressions and engagement, and The New York
Times highlighted this following 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
(04:25):
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, affirmation card decks, journals, and
other self care products. We the Urban is on track
to cement itself as an innovative powerhouse in the self
care space, blending both digital and physical products to inspire
(04:47):
and uplift. Today, with over 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 and OK that Okay,
I mean Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
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 are when you are designed to be a lighthouse
for others, right, which is such a sacred post.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
It's such a sacred birthright. And we're all here.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
For various reasons, but not everybody is here to be
the lighthouse, right, And so when you do occupy that
space and bring so much freedom to people's hearts.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
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.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Practicality for the creator. But how is that.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Balance of really 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.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Up for Oh, thank you for pulling back these layers
because I have more to say here, but there's other
places that now I'm like.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
We have a path forward. We got to talk about
let's go, let's.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Go you know something something that we talked about, and
thank you for sharing your consent off camera with me to.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
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 these things.
(11:14):
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 out
(11:34):
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 negative thought spirals?
(11:59):
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 me since that
(12:19):
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 this is also right
(12:41):
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. And sometimes it's a
(13:02):
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 anyone with bipolar
(13:24):
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 like excessive partying and
(13:48):
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 told me, and at
(14:10):
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 I have the tools
(14:33):
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 to do what
(14:55):
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. Once I found
(15:18):
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, it does something to you when
(15:39):
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 like racing thoughts, and
(16:02):
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, 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.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
One I'm so 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
(16:56):
I think sometimes that can be so crushing. You know,
if you feel like you're going into a medical doctor
and you want to be seen and helped.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
There is this process of discovery.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
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 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. But to be able to have
the fortitude to sit.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
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 be
like such a good steward of myself. 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. This is about
like what is actually a gift about me. I just
need to find the right levels for it or the
way to support it in.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
The way it needs to be cared for. How is
that unfolded?
Speaker 5 (19:02):
For you. 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
(19:24):
was posting 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 of that. That's why we're
like doing super super human superhuman things. And SURET has
(20:09):
its pitfalls, 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 difficient 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 it with introspection and
(20:55):
a 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 2 (21:12):
To be alive right now and to understand that, like
none 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. But it's always in service. It's always
in service to the greater good. And I think I
(21:34):
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 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 Nisnan, Yeah, the
(23:13):
Maya Angelous. 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, or in the mind
or in the heart. And so it's yeah, it's just
it's really powerful for you to describe your journey, because
(23:34):
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 history,
(25:07):
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. I wasn't ready to do a history lesson.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
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.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
With the pendulum, right.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
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 so far and it turns out
we're only making.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Like or mental steps.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
And I feel that because we have, especially since kind
of the onset of the Me Too movement, we have
been making so many conscious strides as a species, like
in our evolution forward, right, like, we have been putting
under the microscope misogyny and the understanding of patriarchy and
(28:23):
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.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Being thrust into having global.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Eyes on systemic racism and how it permeates the world.
Then 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.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
LGBTQ plus, the LGBTQ plus community, the trans community.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
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 backwards, and
it's like, how do we hold space 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 and 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
like 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 doesn't feel like it, because if we all let
(30:48):
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 hyper
magnified because we were all stuck on screens for two
(31:11):
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
the DEI. We see how much that was just performative
(31:35):
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
to put my mind in a place that's productive, because
sitting around in a dark place forever is not going
(31:57):
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.
It's a soft landing. I think when your eyes land
on your page, like when they land on even the
pages of your book, even the diffusion and the colors,
I'm like, Oh, he's regulating my nervousness, and how kind
(33:40):
of you.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 5 (33:43):
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.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
That 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 that could exist in the
world you had created?
Speaker 5 (34:53):
Yeah, I realized well number one, you know, And if
people scroll 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
(35:15):
priority 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
(35:38):
always give you something productive at the end. And maybe
that's because I need it too. 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?
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Like?
Speaker 5 (36:29):
Where is my lane? And I think it's so cool
that I 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. It's really really helping people. So
I've learned just through experience and through the writing, and
(36:52):
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 thing about somebody? Who? Like who
is the one we're going to dog pile on today
because they made a human mistake?
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Right?
Speaker 5 (37:15):
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 their lives and
they need somewhere to just like get it off and
through all of that noise, there has to be something productive,
(37:36):
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 and share them with people.
So it's just it's too valuable of an angle to
(37:56):
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 it's.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
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.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
Was in the news.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
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 come through
through a lot of self reflection. It's like welcome, I'm
so glad you're here, Thank you, finally thank you for
(38:52):
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. Yeah, and it's interesting.
But I think no matter what in the sea of expression,
people will always find what their heart is meant to
(39:13):
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
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
(39:34):
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 got elected.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
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 set and
it was beautifully done.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
And and I go on YouTube.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
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,
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
(40:23):
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
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
(40:43):
you know, some of those great teachers of kindness. 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
(41:04):
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.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
Not just in what people are creating, but how people.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
Will let themselves receive the creations of others exactly.
Speaker 5 (41:31):
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 positive. Are you okay?
Speaker 1 (41:52):
But yeah, you're like, I'm helping you heal, You were welcome, You're.
Speaker 5 (41:56):
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 that
(42:18):
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. So if
(42:39):
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):
Totally Yeah, I would love to hear Willie about some
of your 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.
Speaker 2 (43:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (43:12):
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.
Speaker 2 (43:28):
Okay, all of that, all of that I just got
my little shot might be twelve.
Speaker 5 (43:33):
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've been 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 nudge 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 lay on my couch,
which is also productive sometimes, so I'm trying to figure
(45:10):
out 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,
(45:33):
it's like the one hundredth degree. So that can also
be a little you 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
(45:56):
we might be you get it, you get it creche.
Speaker 1 (45:59):
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 on
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 world. And so you know, around this time, a
lot of people experience seasonal depression and I've swinged all
(47:07):
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 have it,
and I think it's a great reminder to every artist
(47:30):
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, you know what,
I'm going to run this neck from a few years ago.
Speaker 2 (47:53):
Well, and two quotes mean different things, so us at
different points in our lives.
Speaker 1 (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.
Speaker 2 (48:16):
Those 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.
Speaker 2 (48:55):
Yeah, it's really 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. It's why we're here, and I
(49:19):
think so many of us are disregarding our humanity for these.
Speaker 1 (49:24):
Kind of sim.
Speaker 2 (49:25):
Realities of who we think we are in a post
or based on the perception of another person.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
And it's just so important.
Speaker 2 (49:35):
To keep both feet in your real life and world
is so important.
Speaker 5 (49:42):
Thank you for that word.
Speaker 1 (49:45):
Yes, I'm curious, Willie. And then I actually have.
Speaker 2 (49:49):
Some homework that I would like for you to give
the audience. At this point in your life, in this
moment 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
(50:12):
your life?
Speaker 1 (50:12):
How do those.
Speaker 2 (50:13):
Two essences of existence kind of show themselves in your world?
Speaker 5 (50:22):
Wow, I've never been asked this, and 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
(50:43):
I hardly 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
(51:07):
is really 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
(51:30):
I'm here differently, 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
(51:52):
faith and progress. And I also have built faith in
my confidence and ability 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 5 (52:18):
I love that, you know.
Speaker 1 (52:19):
That's how that 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.
Speaker 1 (52:47):
This ask of providing.
Speaker 2 (52:49):
Homework for the listening audience, something to help integrate everything
that was heard and felt from this conversation. And sometimes
that looks like a maybe an query or a journalinge
prompt or a breath or a quote, a thought starter,
a practice of some sort. But what can you share
(53:09):
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.
Speaker 2 (54:04):
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.
Speaker 1 (54:17):
Your book is in stores now.
Speaker 2 (54:19):
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.
Speaker 1 (54:30):
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,
I'm mist stay.
Speaker 2 (54:56):
The content presented on Deeply Well serves solely for 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. As always, it is advisable
to consult with your healthcare provider or health team for
(55:17):
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 and send this
episode to a friend. Deeply Well is a production of
(55:39):
iHeartRadio and The Black Effect Network. It's produced by Jacqueis 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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