October 6, 2025 • 28 mins
In this episode of Joyously Free!, host Joanie Lindenmeyer interviews Donna, an actress who candidly shares her journey through personal challenges, resilience, and self-discovery. Donna discusses the importance of living in the present, embracing authenticity, and fostering self-belief despite past hardships, including a life-changing accident and overcoming stage fright. She emphasizes the healing power of […]
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(00:10):
Hi, and welcome, KCIW listeners at one hundred
point seven. Kciw.org
as
well. Brookings, Oregon.
And we are syndicated now. And so welcome
listeners at KZZH
ninety six point seven FM,
access humble Eureka, California.
Yes. This is joyously free with me. None
better than the best selling author, Joni Lindenmeyer.
(00:33):
I'm so glad you are tuning in. Well,
I've been a resident of Harbor, Oregon for
thirty four years. I'm a retired Del Norte
High School teacher and a twenty twenty five
Lambda nominated author who has published three books
in two years. Wow.
I love life, and I love being the
producer and host of this show. I'm so
glad you are here with us today. Well,
(00:53):
as every show, here we go with our
morning salutation.
I'll begin by saying it's a brand new
day, and your voluntary
expression and participation
is
never been lived before. So here we go.
It's a brand new day.
Never been lived before. There we go. Alright.
Congrats for saying that. So this radio, GADIO
(01:13):
Show, as Will and Viv named it, is
a show that talks about LGBTQ
stories, tips along with religion, church, faith, spirituality,
and most importantly,
joyously
free moments.
The purpose of the show is to share
and radiate and spread that abundant joy and
freedom. Hence, the title Joyously Free, which is
also the name of my second book that
(01:34):
I coauthored with Elizabeth Ann Atkins.
In this radio broadcast, just as in my
life in general, there's no hate speech,
there's no hate behaviors, and no bullying. It
will be blasted with the three c's, courage,
confidence, and collaboration. And wait till you hear
our guest today
loaded with courage and confidence.
Yes.
So be open minded and as an open
(01:55):
parachute.
Before we begin, as usual, let's start with
our quick little prayer. Let's open our hearts,
asking our creator to shine light on our
community and our world.
I excitedly believe in hope, in the power
of the divine,
and that Jesus, God, whatever name you put
on a higher being, is always with us.
(02:16):
So we don't need to be afraid or
troubled,
saddened or depressed.
Joy and peace are an internal expression of
love and harmony that is already within us,
and we only have to reach deep within
and let it out.
Now all is well with my soul, for
love is abundant and everlasting.
So let's center ourselves first. Let's take a
(02:37):
big deep breath in
with the good
and out with any doubt.
Breathe in through your nose with hope
and out from your mouth with fears.
Last one. Take a big deep breath in
(02:59):
with joy
and happiness
and out with worry or despair.
In the name of our mother Earth, our
God, our creator, Jesus, our redeemer, the winds
of the Holy Spirit,
we say good morning.
We read today from Luke.
It's a conversation that Jesus had with Simon,
(03:21):
and the quote is,
Do not be afraid.
From now on, you will be catching people.
I love that reading from the Bible.
Do not be afraid.
From now on, you will be catching people.
What that said to me when I read
that this morning was we all have a
way to touch other people,
(03:43):
and you don't know how that comes about.
It could be in your words.
It could be in your smile.
It could be in your eye contact.
It could be that you you draw them
a picture.
It could be you wave to them.
But we're all able to catch other people,
to touch other people.
Oh, I'm just so grateful for so many
(04:04):
quotes in the bible that lead me to
a a divine way of looking at things.
Sometimes our world needs more divinity
than it does humanity,
I guess. So anyway, those are my sweet
reflections for today's, and I hope that your
your prayer right now with our creator god
is providing guidance and healing
that we believe and we know that we're
(04:25):
here to do a bigger will than just
our own. And so it's with that that
I'm excited to introduce you to a friend,
a actor,
a
volunteer,
a beautiful woman, Donna. And Donna is sparkling
right now. Her eyes are just glistening. Beautiful
lipstick on. Has a beautiful necklace, and maybe
(04:46):
she'll talk about that. Beautiful red hair. I
wish everybody could see her right now, but
she just looks phenomenal. Phenomenal. So our show
today is called It's Showtime,
a boost of self esteem. And we're gonna
hear Donna's take on what that means. It's
showtime
and a boost to self esteem.
Donna, how are you doing today?
(05:08):
I'm doing very well. Thank you so much
for having me. Oh my gosh. My privilege
and my pleasure to have you here. So
tell me a little bit about you.
Well, I have actually lived in between Brookings
and Gold Beach all my life for twenty
six years now.
We
were born in Portland, came down here a
(05:28):
year later,
and we
have an older sister. We have a father
and a loving mother.
Mhmm. And just recently,
my father moved to Klamath Falls, California.
Oh. And he
is living his own life, and me and
mother are living ours.
And we are just focusing on the here
(05:49):
and now and moving forward from the past.
Right on. Right on. And can you remind
me, where did you and I meet, Donna?
You and I met at a wonderful
pride event down here at Azalea.
Yep. At Azalea Park. Was that this year
or was it last year? I'm trying to
remember. It was this year. It was this
year. So we're new friends. We're getting to
(06:10):
know each other, and it's been so fun.
Your mom is just precious. You're just mom
is just precious, precious. And so I'm I'm
so glad. And you're 26 years old. That
is just amazing with your whole life ahead
of you. So, you know, with your,
relationship with your mom and your family, where
would you say it is on the joyous
spectrum?
(06:32):
Well, right now, with my mother, it is
better than ever. I've never seen my mother
so mentally healthy in my entire life.
Awesome. And what do you think that came
about by?
Her quitting certain substances
and
me, myself, and I
as well. And, you know, learning to stop
living in the past and learn that
(06:53):
if we miss if we live in the
past, we miss out on our present. Therefore,
we affect our future.
Oh, very cool. That's why it's a brand
new day. Never been lived before. Exactly. Exactly.
Yes. For sure. And congratulations.
And it's a journey, isn't it? It is.
It really is. We are all on our
own different journey, and sometimes
what works for one doesn't work for another,
(07:14):
and it's
completely okay to have your own state of
mind. Absolutely.
Absolutely. For sure. And and how would you
say your mom would respond to that?
Here now. I'm here.
Let's move on. Let's move on. Yep. The
future's bright. Yes. Future's bright. So tell me,
(07:36):
what is bright about your future, Donna? Well,
you know, I've actually had a pretty rough
upbringing,
and the fact that I've had the chance
to be able to detach myself from
that past.
I'm very excited about my future for the
fact that I can go wherever I put
my mind to, and I can touch whoever
(07:58):
I wish Mhmm. Just by me being myself.
Oh, that's excellent. That's excellent. And so who
are you? Who are you, Donna?
I'm a mother. I'm a sister. I am
just a humble person living in this existence
with many other people. Right on. And your
(08:18):
talents. Talk to me about some of your
talents.
Because I know it's called showtime. It's showtime.
It is.
I love to write. I love to sing
and dance.
I love to do art and draw. I
also do a lot of sewing. I actually
made this dress. Oh, you did? It's gorgeous.
I love the blue, just like a royal
(08:39):
blue. Oh.
I
I just try and put all of my
love and my light into what I'm doing,
and that's different for every single day. It
was like you had said, this day has
never been lived before. Yes.
And I just
I love people. I love to connect with
them. And you're good at it. You can
(09:01):
talk to a stick.
I guess if you say so. Yes. I
guess it makes it true. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And
And you you get these eyebrows that just
go up that are so cute. They're so
cute. So so let's go back to Showtime.
You told me at one time that you
were doing some acting.
Yes. We were in a we were in
a lovely little number called Holy Cannoli and
(09:23):
Holy Stromboli. It was a comedy
shown up at Gold Beach Community Theater. Mhmm.
And we ended up playing Anthony,
John's gay best friend. Okay.
And
it was just an amazing experience to be
able to work with so many talented people
and be able to
(09:43):
show a piece of ourselves
on that stage that we don't get to
actually express in every single day life. Cool.
Cool. And and so,
how long did you practice your lines or
be involved with the cast?
Well, with the with the cast, I was
involved for nine months for both the first
(10:04):
show and the second show.
We did them back to back. Mhmm. We
did at least
four
three to four months of rehearsal
of reading through the lines and then one
month of acting it out, and then we
put it all together. Wow. You know? And
I've never been to the theater in Gold
Beach for a play. Oh, well, we usually
(10:24):
just really stop by sometimes. I need to
do this. Yes. So so describe it for
me. What's the theater like?
When I walk into the theater, I am
reminded of an opera house. Oh. There are
masks everywhere, beautiful drapes.
There's this lovely stand where you can get
your tickets, you know, get your food and
(10:45):
everything.
They have all types of antique
furniture in there. You get a glimpse of
the past brought into the present, things that
we don't really get to share anymore and
experience,
let alone with the art of acting Mhmm.
Which goes back for countless generations.
Yes. And when did you first start acting?
I first started acting when I was 15.
(11:06):
Okay.
And tell me more.
My very first thing I ended up doing
was I started doing makeup at 15 for
the shows. I wasn't in any other,
productions until I was 17.
I was in the singing number with my
older sister.
I never would have started singing if it
wasn't for her. Oh.
(11:26):
We were in a variety show, and we
were singing, hide and seek. It's a really
creepy little song. Uh-huh. And I did the
makeup of us being as cracked dolls.
Okay. And it was so fun, so freaking
scary.
Honestly, every single time I go out on
stage, it's I still have that fear. Mhmm.
(11:47):
Mhmm.
It was
a moment never to forget.
Mhmm. How do you conquer your fear?
I tell myself something that my mother has
always told me since I was a child,
this too shall pass.
And if I can hold out just long
enough,
something's gonna happen, and it's gonna be wonderful.
(12:07):
Oh, I love it. I love that's a
joyously free attitude.
Definitely. Definitely. For sure. So you talked about
singing with your sister.
I used to sing opera. Oh, are you
gonna built out a few things right now?
I'm afraid not. Okay. At least not opera
wise. You're gonna listeners out there, you're gonna
have to find Donna at a play that
she's in,
(12:28):
I guess. I don't really sing in the
plays I do now, but I, honestly, I
used to sing. I used to sing a
lot up till I was 22.
I suffered a propane accident. I was homeless
at the time living in a tent,
and my seven gallon propane tank was leaking
Oh. One night, and I had no clue.
I had already went to bed.
And so I woke up next morning, I
(12:50):
was sick to my stomach, and I thought
it was my nicotine levels low. So I
didn't bother opening up my door because I
didn't smell anything. I lost my sense of
smell Mhmm. From inhaling that propane, that those
fumes all night. Wow. And I flicked my
lighter, no big boom, just a small little
shh, and the gas was ignited. I ended
up scorching
eighty percent of my body in second and
(13:11):
third degree burns. I scorched my esophagus in
my left lung,
and I also scorched my vocal cords. Oh
my gosh. Oh my gosh. And so to
the hospital you went? I went up to
Emanuel Burn Center up in Portland, right next
door to where I was born.
Oh, that's sorta cute. Right. Oh my gosh.
Oh my gosh. And you must have had
(13:31):
a team of incredible doctors and and medical
people that I did. I
I wanted to give up on myself after
that. I all I could think of is
why me? Why?
And that is such a sad mindset to
be in.
I it took me a good two years
to learn how to sing again. I'm nowhere
near of what I used to be, but
(13:53):
that's okay because we're all constantly evolving. Mhmm.
We we can never be who we once
were even a year ago because that has
passed.
We can't change it. We can only change
the here and now. So I've had to
learn. Like I said, it's been a journey
to learn to get to renew myself and
all sides of myself.
Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Wow. I I I can't even
(14:14):
imagine that many burns. You said 80%?
Yes.
The tops of my hands Oh, look. Reason
why they're purple all the way down my
legs and this half of my face Oh
my gosh. The right side. Wow. And I
cannot even tell by looking at you, looking
at your face. I had an amazing team.
I accepted no surgeries, but I also have
always been into herbs my entire life. I
(14:35):
actually soaked my bandages
in chamomile tea.
Chamomile has very special enzymes in it that
reboost
the skin growth cells in the body. Mhmm.
And, also, a lot of raw white onions
are really good for taking care of
healing scars.
Wow. Wow. And I tell you, you know,
(14:55):
everybody, if you could see Donna right now,
her face looks like she's a movie star.
It is just so soft and glistening right
now. It's just absolutely gorgeous.
Oh, jeez. So
you you are smart. You invent your own,
treatments, I guess. Yes. I, I do a
rosemary
wash for my hair. Keeps it curling, keeps
(15:17):
it light and oil free.
I use a lot of lavender
rose hips
and rose water,
and I just soak my face in that
for a good fifteen minutes,
wipe it off with a rag.
I do sugar scrubs, body oils,
body butters,
my which I had inherited and learned making
(15:39):
those things from my mother when we lived
on our farm. Okay. And she would make
our soap, our shampoo, our laundry soap. She
would make everything from scratch then. Wow. Wow.
And so all those natural products add to
your beauty add to your beauty. Yes. As
you inhale those beautiful scents,
all the the lavender and the, I'm trying
(16:00):
to remember all the names you mentioned now.
Yeah. Rose hips. But you you inhale that,
and it affects your energy, doesn't it? Yes.
Actually, you know, what we put into our
body
really does have
the key ingredient of what we put out.
While healing in the burn hospital, I only
would eat
one thing,
(16:21):
organic fruits and vegetables.
If you ingest life,
life flows from you. But if you eat
death,
meat,
cheese,
That's all you're gonna get. Mhmm. So I
chose to eat live foods and healthy
healthy foods. Mhmm.
(16:41):
Beautiful. That's wonderful. What a great tip for
everybody listening today.
Changing how you eat can change who you
are. What you ingest
will always come out. What goes into your
eyes goes into your heart and comes back
out your mouth.
That's something my mother has always told me,
and it's so true. Yeah. You have a
wise mother, Donna. You have a wise mother.
(17:02):
Yes. So let's go back to some of
this the, the stage things. You've, you've conquered
the fear.
This too will pass.
What are the joys about being on stage?
Oh, you you quite actually
well put it in the beginning. It was
being able in that reading earlier, which is
being able to reach other people. Mhmm. Being
(17:24):
able to connect with them, being able to
relate with them on so many different levels.
I mean, just like you had said, a
smile can encourage
someone to hang on for another day.
People have no clue what their words, their
actions,
how they really do affect the world around
them and the people. It's like a ripple
effect. Mhmm. Mhmm. And you are always so
(17:45):
kind. You always say thank you and please,
which I so admire that about you. But
back to stage. When you're on stage, Donna,
do you actually see the people's eyes in
the audience?
No.
I always
space out. Uh-huh.
I don't focus on the audience. I focus
on
what I'm showing off, what I am presenting.
(18:09):
The side of me I'm sharing.
Mhmm. Because if I look at the audience
in their eyes, I'm breaking the illusion
of the fact that
this is supposed to look natural. It's supposed
to be authentic. But if I'm looking at
someone directly in the eyes saying my lines
Right. I break that whole barrier that we
work so hard to create. Mhmm. Mhmm.
(18:31):
Yep. Yep. You know? And and this is
all wrapped around self esteem, isn't it?
Yes. And, you know, I have gotten to
work with many amazing first time actors, and
it is always the biggest blessing is being
able to
see where they first started and see how
they use what they learn and the beautiful
bud they blossom into. Mhmm. It's a gift
(18:54):
Mhmm. Not many are able to witness. So
what would you say to to young teenagers
that want to act but maybe have fears?
May I don't know what might be going
through them. You know? What would you recommend
to them?
That's a good question. You know?
Because you're such a role model. Does not
matter what other people think of you. To
(19:16):
be quite honest, it's none of your business
what others think of you. What matters is
what you think of yourself.
So if you wanna do it, the only
one stopping you is you.
Oh, that's powerful. That's powerful.
Yes. And or not stopping you
is what can it produce for you? What
can you can get it started and only
(19:36):
you can stand in your own way. Mhmm.
It's all the mindset. Mhmm. If you believe
in yourself, you'll be able to do things
you never thought possible.
Even if you are the only one believing
in yourself and all those around you think
you cannot do it. Mhmm. As long as
you believe, you make it real and you
make it so.
So what are some tips
(19:56):
that you have used to help you to
believe that about yourself,
which might help somebody else? What are some
tips of how you've done that?
In order to learn facial expressions, I
having autism,
I have Asperger's autism.
I have a very hard time recognizing what
facial expressions mean. So growing up, I used
(20:16):
to have a mirror
with me at all times. So I could
feel the feeling, I could see the facial
expression I was making,
and I could relate with my own facial
expressions because it was quite
it was quite a very lonely
childhood when I had no ability to communicate
(20:37):
through speech. I didn't start speaking until I
was 10 years old. Oh, wow.
And so I learned to write. I learned
to draw. I learned to dance and and
use my body language,
but I had to first get to know
myself
in order to express that.
And that is a journey most all of
us actually
(20:58):
are all on is getting to know ourself,
which is the actually, the most important relationship
you are ever gonna have in this life.
It's with yourself.
Mhmm. Mhmm.
So true. So true. It's so interesting as
you said that because just the other day,
I I normally love to go on to
the beach and go on my cardio walks,
you know, really pumping it up and doing
great for my exercise. And I got out
(21:19):
there, and it was so still. I thought,
I just wanna stroll today. I just wanna
be with my best friend,
myself.
Can you relate to that? Yes. I go
down to the beach every other night. Actually,
I do it at night.
And because, you know, the world is quiet,
I can actually hear my own thoughts.
Mhmm. And I'll just sit for hours,
(21:40):
and I'll sing. Mhmm. Mhmm. To yourself and
to the world.
I'll sing about what I'm feeling.
I'll sing to the mermaids,
whoever listens.
And speaking of mermaid, what are you wearing
around your neck?
A beautiful mermaid pendant. I was able to
acquire
from
(22:01):
Wildwood,
which is a little shop here right across
the the street from Subway, an amazing little
shop. It has so many beautiful things in
it. Home decor,
art,
beauty products.
Like, if you can think of it, it's
in there. Uh-huh. And it's such a beautiful
chic boutique.
I love it. Yes. And and your necklace
(22:22):
is just glowing right now. It's just shimmering
in the light here in the studio. It's
just beautiful. It's just beautiful.
Oh my gosh. You have hit on so
many points, and I I know we still
have some time. I guess one of my
questions would be is,
where do you see your life going from
here?
You know, I honestly want
to try and go back to school.
(22:45):
I was the very first
child or person in both sides of my
family to actually,
graduate high school. Everyone on my father's side
and everyone on my mother's side dropped out.
They never graduated.
And that was actually my first dream was
to be the first one to go to
high school and complete.
And due to being homeschooled, I didn't have
(23:07):
enough credits to get the diploma, but I
had enough to get basically a GED. Mhmm.
But I still walked down that graduation aisle,
and I didn't give up. Mhmm.
And to be quite honest, being a woman
in a man's body,
I faced a lot
that
probably isn't even appropriate to share on here,
but I faced a lot, and I learned
(23:28):
a lot.
And that's where I really learned that it
doesn't matter what other people think of me
because it's none of my business. What matters
is how I think and see of myself.
Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. And so where are you
gonna go from here? You talked about school.
I want to What does that look like?
Hopefully become a drug and alcohol counselor.
Oh.
I was homeless from the day I graduated,
(23:50):
19 years old, 02/2019.
Actually, ending in 02/2019,
around the pandemic twenty twenty. Mhmm. I was
living in a car with my mother who
had substance abuse. Mhmm.
And I
I lived a
very, rough life then for a good six
(24:10):
years.
I ended up learning firsthand about human trafficking.
Me and my mother were,
sold.
You know, it's easy to pick off the
homeless because who
who thinks of the homeless? Who cares when
someone goes missing? You know, they're all people,
(24:32):
and they're all hurting. That's why they use
what they use, and they do what they
do
because the world has given up on them,
and so they give up on their self.
Yeah.
I,
I wouldn't be where I am or who
I am today
if I haven't have gone through the trials
and tribulations I have gone through.
(24:53):
What I think
I'm most proud of is the mindset I've
carried throughout all tribulations.
That way, when I look back,
I can see how far and how strong
I really am,
because
it really is it all starts in the
mind.
If I didn't have a certain mindset,
if I would have stayed in woe is
me or poor me, it's all about me.
(25:15):
I would never have escaped
such things.
Mhmm. And I know that, you know, in
this town,
a lot of things
go on, and people are too scared to
talk about it. And yet when someone talks
about it, what is the easiest way to
shut someone down? You blame the victim, and
so they're therefore scared to speak their truth,
(25:37):
what they lift.
You know, that was me for a long
time.
I was scared to admit that I had
lived through human trafficking,
that I had seen
men do brutal things
to other humans, things that I should never
have witnessed,
and
(25:57):
it was so sad.
That's when I really learned that
it all starts with me.
What I choose to do from here on
out
will affect not only myself but those around
me, and I wish to shed light on
many dark things just by sharing my experience.
I used to have substance abuse only after
(26:18):
I survived the mountain.
That was the
time where I had chosen to become comfortably
numb, and I went through and I went
for some hard hitting stuff
for a good three years,
the same stuff my mother was on.
And,
again, it had to start with me and
so I chose to quit.
(26:39):
Yep. And a year later, my mother found
the courage to quit.
My father though, however, has not quit and
he wanted to keep us on it because
we were more compliable to it. Yeah.
But I've learned firsthand through my own experience
that
it is always darkest before at the dawn.
(26:59):
Perfect. Perfect.
And is it okay if we end with
that? Would you repeat that one more time?
It is always darkest before the dawn, but
if you can hang on, this too shall
pass.
Absolutely.
You are so wise. I so appreciate you
being here, being on a live radio in
our community and down in Humboldt.
Listeners, has this been incredible? I wanna thank
(27:21):
everybody on the Oregon Coast and the Northern
California Coast for being with us today on
joyously free. We hope that you have been
inspired,
challenged, and enjoyed the stories, tips, hopes, and
the abundant love that Donna has shared today.
You can order any of my books, which
also bring about confidence and courage as well.
But most importantly, we wanna thank KCIW,
(27:43):
Mike Gorse on the sound, Tom, Candice, and
Rose for always making this happen. We also
wanna thank the KZZH
people in Humboldt County.
Remember, you can share this. You can relisten
to it. Donna had a zillion high points
today. Mic drops as I think we'd call
them in the stage world, and her self
esteem is phenomenal.
So I look forward to everybody
(28:04):
having a beautiful day. And as we always
say, smile big and wear bright colors, even
a bright blue dress like Donna. Thank you,
Donna, for being here. You're the best. Thank
you.
Hi, and welcome, KCIW listeners at one hundred
point seven. Kciw.org
as
well. Brookings, Oregon.
And we are syndicated now. And so welcome
listeners at KZZH
ninety six point seven FM,
access humble Eureka, California.
Yes. This is joyously free with me. None
better than the best selling author, Joni Lindenmeyer.
(00:33):
I'm so glad you are tuning in. Well,
I've been a resident of Harbor, Oregon for
thirty four years. I'm a retired Del Norte
High School teacher and a twenty twenty five
Lambda nominated author who has published three books
in two years. Wow.
I love life, and I love being the
producer and host of this show. I'm so
glad you are here with us today. Well,
(00:53):
as every show, here we go with our
morning salutation.
I'll begin by saying it's a brand new
day, and your voluntary
expression and participation
is
never been lived before. So here we go.
It's a brand new day.
Never been lived before. There we go. Alright.
Congrats for saying that. So this radio, GADIO
(01:13):
Show, as Will and Viv named it, is
a show that talks about LGBTQ
stories, tips along with religion, church, faith, spirituality,
and most importantly,
joyously
free moments.
The purpose of the show is to share
and radiate and spread that abundant joy and
freedom. Hence, the title Joyously Free, which is
also the name of my second book that
(01:34):
I coauthored with Elizabeth Ann Atkins.
In this radio broadcast, just as in my
life in general, there's no hate speech,
there's no hate behaviors, and no bullying. It
will be blasted with the three c's, courage,
confidence, and collaboration. And wait till you hear
our guest today
loaded with courage and confidence.
Yes.
So be open minded and as an open
(01:55):
parachute.
Before we begin, as usual, let's start with
our quick little prayer. Let's open our hearts,
asking our creator to shine light on our
community and our world.
I excitedly believe in hope, in the power
of the divine,
and that Jesus, God, whatever name you put
on a higher being, is always with us.
(02:16):
So we don't need to be afraid or
troubled,
saddened or depressed.
Joy and peace are an internal expression of
love and harmony that is already within us,
and we only have to reach deep within
and let it out.
Now all is well with my soul, for
love is abundant and everlasting.
So let's center ourselves first. Let's take a
(02:37):
big deep breath in
with the good
and out with any doubt.
Breathe in through your nose with hope
and out from your mouth with fears.
Last one. Take a big deep breath in
(02:59):
with joy
and happiness
and out with worry or despair.
In the name of our mother Earth, our
God, our creator, Jesus, our redeemer, the winds
of the Holy Spirit,
we say good morning.
We read today from Luke.
It's a conversation that Jesus had with Simon,
(03:21):
and the quote is,
Do not be afraid.
From now on, you will be catching people.
I love that reading from the Bible.
Do not be afraid.
From now on, you will be catching people.
What that said to me when I read
that this morning was we all have a
way to touch other people,
(03:43):
and you don't know how that comes about.
It could be in your words.
It could be in your smile.
It could be in your eye contact.
It could be that you you draw them
a picture.
It could be you wave to them.
But we're all able to catch other people,
to touch other people.
Oh, I'm just so grateful for so many
(04:04):
quotes in the bible that lead me to
a a divine way of looking at things.
Sometimes our world needs more divinity
than it does humanity,
I guess. So anyway, those are my sweet
reflections for today's, and I hope that your
your prayer right now with our creator god
is providing guidance and healing
that we believe and we know that we're
(04:25):
here to do a bigger will than just
our own. And so it's with that that
I'm excited to introduce you to a friend,
a actor,
a
volunteer,
a beautiful woman, Donna. And Donna is sparkling
right now. Her eyes are just glistening. Beautiful
lipstick on. Has a beautiful necklace, and maybe
(04:46):
she'll talk about that. Beautiful red hair. I
wish everybody could see her right now, but
she just looks phenomenal. Phenomenal. So our show
today is called It's Showtime,
a boost of self esteem. And we're gonna
hear Donna's take on what that means. It's
showtime
and a boost to self esteem.
Donna, how are you doing today?
(05:08):
I'm doing very well. Thank you so much
for having me. Oh my gosh. My privilege
and my pleasure to have you here. So
tell me a little bit about you.
Well, I have actually lived in between Brookings
and Gold Beach all my life for twenty
six years now.
We
were born in Portland, came down here a
(05:28):
year later,
and we
have an older sister. We have a father
and a loving mother.
Mhmm. And just recently,
my father moved to Klamath Falls, California.
Oh. And he
is living his own life, and me and
mother are living ours.
And we are just focusing on the here
(05:49):
and now and moving forward from the past.
Right on. Right on. And can you remind
me, where did you and I meet, Donna?
You and I met at a wonderful
pride event down here at Azalea.
Yep. At Azalea Park. Was that this year
or was it last year? I'm trying to
remember. It was this year. It was this
year. So we're new friends. We're getting to
(06:10):
know each other, and it's been so fun.
Your mom is just precious. You're just mom
is just precious, precious. And so I'm I'm
so glad. And you're 26 years old. That
is just amazing with your whole life ahead
of you. So, you know, with your,
relationship with your mom and your family, where
would you say it is on the joyous
spectrum?
(06:32):
Well, right now, with my mother, it is
better than ever. I've never seen my mother
so mentally healthy in my entire life.
Awesome. And what do you think that came
about by?
Her quitting certain substances
and
me, myself, and I
as well. And, you know, learning to stop
living in the past and learn that
(06:53):
if we miss if we live in the
past, we miss out on our present. Therefore,
we affect our future.
Oh, very cool. That's why it's a brand
new day. Never been lived before. Exactly. Exactly.
Yes. For sure. And congratulations.
And it's a journey, isn't it? It is.
It really is. We are all on our
own different journey, and sometimes
what works for one doesn't work for another,
(07:14):
and it's
completely okay to have your own state of
mind. Absolutely.
Absolutely. For sure. And and how would you
say your mom would respond to that?
Here now. I'm here.
Let's move on. Let's move on. Yep. The
future's bright. Yes. Future's bright. So tell me,
(07:36):
what is bright about your future, Donna? Well,
you know, I've actually had a pretty rough
upbringing,
and the fact that I've had the chance
to be able to detach myself from
that past.
I'm very excited about my future for the
fact that I can go wherever I put
my mind to, and I can touch whoever
(07:58):
I wish Mhmm. Just by me being myself.
Oh, that's excellent. That's excellent. And so who
are you? Who are you, Donna?
I'm a mother. I'm a sister. I am
just a humble person living in this existence
with many other people. Right on. And your
(08:18):
talents. Talk to me about some of your
talents.
Because I know it's called showtime. It's showtime.
It is.
I love to write. I love to sing
and dance.
I love to do art and draw. I
also do a lot of sewing. I actually
made this dress. Oh, you did? It's gorgeous.
I love the blue, just like a royal
(08:39):
blue. Oh.
I
I just try and put all of my
love and my light into what I'm doing,
and that's different for every single day. It
was like you had said, this day has
never been lived before. Yes.
And I just
I love people. I love to connect with
them. And you're good at it. You can
(09:01):
talk to a stick.
I guess if you say so. Yes. I
guess it makes it true. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And
And you you get these eyebrows that just
go up that are so cute. They're so
cute. So so let's go back to Showtime.
You told me at one time that you
were doing some acting.
Yes. We were in a we were in
a lovely little number called Holy Cannoli and
(09:23):
Holy Stromboli. It was a comedy
shown up at Gold Beach Community Theater. Mhmm.
And we ended up playing Anthony,
John's gay best friend. Okay.
And
it was just an amazing experience to be
able to work with so many talented people
and be able to
(09:43):
show a piece of ourselves
on that stage that we don't get to
actually express in every single day life. Cool.
Cool. And and so,
how long did you practice your lines or
be involved with the cast?
Well, with the with the cast, I was
involved for nine months for both the first
(10:04):
show and the second show.
We did them back to back. Mhmm. We
did at least
four
three to four months of rehearsal
of reading through the lines and then one
month of acting it out, and then we
put it all together. Wow. You know? And
I've never been to the theater in Gold
Beach for a play. Oh, well, we usually
(10:24):
just really stop by sometimes. I need to
do this. Yes. So so describe it for
me. What's the theater like?
When I walk into the theater, I am
reminded of an opera house. Oh. There are
masks everywhere, beautiful drapes.
There's this lovely stand where you can get
your tickets, you know, get your food and
(10:45):
everything.
They have all types of antique
furniture in there. You get a glimpse of
the past brought into the present, things that
we don't really get to share anymore and
experience,
let alone with the art of acting Mhmm.
Which goes back for countless generations.
Yes. And when did you first start acting?
I first started acting when I was 15.
(11:06):
Okay.
And tell me more.
My very first thing I ended up doing
was I started doing makeup at 15 for
the shows. I wasn't in any other,
productions until I was 17.
I was in the singing number with my
older sister.
I never would have started singing if it
wasn't for her. Oh.
(11:26):
We were in a variety show, and we
were singing, hide and seek. It's a really
creepy little song. Uh-huh. And I did the
makeup of us being as cracked dolls.
Okay. And it was so fun, so freaking
scary.
Honestly, every single time I go out on
stage, it's I still have that fear. Mhmm.
(11:47):
Mhmm.
It was
a moment never to forget.
Mhmm. How do you conquer your fear?
I tell myself something that my mother has
always told me since I was a child,
this too shall pass.
And if I can hold out just long
enough,
something's gonna happen, and it's gonna be wonderful.
(12:07):
Oh, I love it. I love that's a
joyously free attitude.
Definitely. Definitely. For sure. So you talked about
singing with your sister.
I used to sing opera. Oh, are you
gonna built out a few things right now?
I'm afraid not. Okay. At least not opera
wise. You're gonna listeners out there, you're gonna
have to find Donna at a play that
she's in,
(12:28):
I guess. I don't really sing in the
plays I do now, but I, honestly, I
used to sing. I used to sing a
lot up till I was 22.
I suffered a propane accident. I was homeless
at the time living in a tent,
and my seven gallon propane tank was leaking
Oh. One night, and I had no clue.
I had already went to bed.
And so I woke up next morning, I
(12:50):
was sick to my stomach, and I thought
it was my nicotine levels low. So I
didn't bother opening up my door because I
didn't smell anything. I lost my sense of
smell Mhmm. From inhaling that propane, that those
fumes all night. Wow. And I flicked my
lighter, no big boom, just a small little
shh, and the gas was ignited. I ended
up scorching
eighty percent of my body in second and
(13:11):
third degree burns. I scorched my esophagus in
my left lung,
and I also scorched my vocal cords. Oh
my gosh. Oh my gosh. And so to
the hospital you went? I went up to
Emanuel Burn Center up in Portland, right next
door to where I was born.
Oh, that's sorta cute. Right. Oh my gosh.
Oh my gosh. And you must have had
(13:31):
a team of incredible doctors and and medical
people that I did. I
I wanted to give up on myself after
that. I all I could think of is
why me? Why?
And that is such a sad mindset to
be in.
I it took me a good two years
to learn how to sing again. I'm nowhere
near of what I used to be, but
(13:53):
that's okay because we're all constantly evolving. Mhmm.
We we can never be who we once
were even a year ago because that has
passed.
We can't change it. We can only change
the here and now. So I've had to
learn. Like I said, it's been a journey
to learn to get to renew myself and
all sides of myself.
Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Wow. I I I can't even
(14:14):
imagine that many burns. You said 80%?
Yes.
The tops of my hands Oh, look. Reason
why they're purple all the way down my
legs and this half of my face Oh
my gosh. The right side. Wow. And I
cannot even tell by looking at you, looking
at your face. I had an amazing team.
I accepted no surgeries, but I also have
always been into herbs my entire life. I
(14:35):
actually soaked my bandages
in chamomile tea.
Chamomile has very special enzymes in it that
reboost
the skin growth cells in the body. Mhmm.
And, also, a lot of raw white onions
are really good for taking care of
healing scars.
Wow. Wow. And I tell you, you know,
(14:55):
everybody, if you could see Donna right now,
her face looks like she's a movie star.
It is just so soft and glistening right
now. It's just absolutely gorgeous.
Oh, jeez. So
you you are smart. You invent your own,
treatments, I guess. Yes. I, I do a
rosemary
wash for my hair. Keeps it curling, keeps
(15:17):
it light and oil free.
I use a lot of lavender
rose hips
and rose water,
and I just soak my face in that
for a good fifteen minutes,
wipe it off with a rag.
I do sugar scrubs, body oils,
body butters,
my which I had inherited and learned making
(15:39):
those things from my mother when we lived
on our farm. Okay. And she would make
our soap, our shampoo, our laundry soap. She
would make everything from scratch then. Wow. Wow.
And so all those natural products add to
your beauty add to your beauty. Yes. As
you inhale those beautiful scents,
all the the lavender and the, I'm trying
(16:00):
to remember all the names you mentioned now.
Yeah. Rose hips. But you you inhale that,
and it affects your energy, doesn't it? Yes.
Actually, you know, what we put into our
body
really does have
the key ingredient of what we put out.
While healing in the burn hospital, I only
would eat
one thing,
(16:21):
organic fruits and vegetables.
If you ingest life,
life flows from you. But if you eat
death,
meat,
cheese,
That's all you're gonna get. Mhmm. So I
chose to eat live foods and healthy
healthy foods. Mhmm.
(16:41):
Beautiful. That's wonderful. What a great tip for
everybody listening today.
Changing how you eat can change who you
are. What you ingest
will always come out. What goes into your
eyes goes into your heart and comes back
out your mouth.
That's something my mother has always told me,
and it's so true. Yeah. You have a
wise mother, Donna. You have a wise mother.
(17:02):
Yes. So let's go back to some of
this the, the stage things. You've, you've conquered
the fear.
This too will pass.
What are the joys about being on stage?
Oh, you you quite actually
well put it in the beginning. It was
being able in that reading earlier, which is
being able to reach other people. Mhmm. Being
(17:24):
able to connect with them, being able to
relate with them on so many different levels.
I mean, just like you had said, a
smile can encourage
someone to hang on for another day.
People have no clue what their words, their
actions,
how they really do affect the world around
them and the people. It's like a ripple
effect. Mhmm. Mhmm. And you are always so
(17:45):
kind. You always say thank you and please,
which I so admire that about you. But
back to stage. When you're on stage, Donna,
do you actually see the people's eyes in
the audience?
No.
I always
space out. Uh-huh.
I don't focus on the audience. I focus
on
what I'm showing off, what I am presenting.
(18:09):
The side of me I'm sharing.
Mhmm. Because if I look at the audience
in their eyes, I'm breaking the illusion
of the fact that
this is supposed to look natural. It's supposed
to be authentic. But if I'm looking at
someone directly in the eyes saying my lines
Right. I break that whole barrier that we
work so hard to create. Mhmm. Mhmm.
(18:31):
Yep. Yep. You know? And and this is
all wrapped around self esteem, isn't it?
Yes. And, you know, I have gotten to
work with many amazing first time actors, and
it is always the biggest blessing is being
able to
see where they first started and see how
they use what they learn and the beautiful
bud they blossom into. Mhmm. It's a gift
(18:54):
Mhmm. Not many are able to witness. So
what would you say to to young teenagers
that want to act but maybe have fears?
May I don't know what might be going
through them. You know? What would you recommend
to them?
That's a good question. You know?
Because you're such a role model. Does not
matter what other people think of you. To
(19:16):
be quite honest, it's none of your business
what others think of you. What matters is
what you think of yourself.
So if you wanna do it, the only
one stopping you is you.
Oh, that's powerful. That's powerful.
Yes. And or not stopping you
is what can it produce for you? What
can you can get it started and only
(19:36):
you can stand in your own way. Mhmm.
It's all the mindset. Mhmm. If you believe
in yourself, you'll be able to do things
you never thought possible.
Even if you are the only one believing
in yourself and all those around you think
you cannot do it. Mhmm. As long as
you believe, you make it real and you
make it so.
So what are some tips
(19:56):
that you have used to help you to
believe that about yourself,
which might help somebody else? What are some
tips of how you've done that?
In order to learn facial expressions, I
having autism,
I have Asperger's autism.
I have a very hard time recognizing what
facial expressions mean. So growing up, I used
(20:16):
to have a mirror
with me at all times. So I could
feel the feeling, I could see the facial
expression I was making,
and I could relate with my own facial
expressions because it was quite
it was quite a very lonely
childhood when I had no ability to communicate
(20:37):
through speech. I didn't start speaking until I
was 10 years old. Oh, wow.
And so I learned to write. I learned
to draw. I learned to dance and and
use my body language,
but I had to first get to know
myself
in order to express that.
And that is a journey most all of
us actually
(20:58):
are all on is getting to know ourself,
which is the actually, the most important relationship
you are ever gonna have in this life.
It's with yourself.
Mhmm. Mhmm.
So true. So true. It's so interesting as
you said that because just the other day,
I I normally love to go on to
the beach and go on my cardio walks,
you know, really pumping it up and doing
great for my exercise. And I got out
(21:19):
there, and it was so still. I thought,
I just wanna stroll today. I just wanna
be with my best friend,
myself.
Can you relate to that? Yes. I go
down to the beach every other night. Actually,
I do it at night.
And because, you know, the world is quiet,
I can actually hear my own thoughts.
Mhmm. And I'll just sit for hours,
(21:40):
and I'll sing. Mhmm. Mhmm. To yourself and
to the world.
I'll sing about what I'm feeling.
I'll sing to the mermaids,
whoever listens.
And speaking of mermaid, what are you wearing
around your neck?
A beautiful mermaid pendant. I was able to
acquire
from
(22:01):
Wildwood,
which is a little shop here right across
the the street from Subway, an amazing little
shop. It has so many beautiful things in
it. Home decor,
art,
beauty products.
Like, if you can think of it, it's
in there. Uh-huh. And it's such a beautiful
chic boutique.
I love it. Yes. And and your necklace
(22:22):
is just glowing right now. It's just shimmering
in the light here in the studio. It's
just beautiful. It's just beautiful.
Oh my gosh. You have hit on so
many points, and I I know we still
have some time. I guess one of my
questions would be is,
where do you see your life going from
here?
You know, I honestly want
to try and go back to school.
(22:45):
I was the very first
child or person in both sides of my
family to actually,
graduate high school. Everyone on my father's side
and everyone on my mother's side dropped out.
They never graduated.
And that was actually my first dream was
to be the first one to go to
high school and complete.
And due to being homeschooled, I didn't have
(23:07):
enough credits to get the diploma, but I
had enough to get basically a GED. Mhmm.
But I still walked down that graduation aisle,
and I didn't give up. Mhmm.
And to be quite honest, being a woman
in a man's body,
I faced a lot
that
probably isn't even appropriate to share on here,
but I faced a lot, and I learned
(23:28):
a lot.
And that's where I really learned that it
doesn't matter what other people think of me
because it's none of my business. What matters
is how I think and see of myself.
Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm. And so where are you
gonna go from here? You talked about school.
I want to What does that look like?
Hopefully become a drug and alcohol counselor.
Oh.
I was homeless from the day I graduated,
(23:50):
19 years old, 02/2019.
Actually, ending in 02/2019,
around the pandemic twenty twenty. Mhmm. I was
living in a car with my mother who
had substance abuse. Mhmm.
And I
I lived a
very, rough life then for a good six
(24:10):
years.
I ended up learning firsthand about human trafficking.
Me and my mother were,
sold.
You know, it's easy to pick off the
homeless because who
who thinks of the homeless? Who cares when
someone goes missing? You know, they're all people,
(24:32):
and they're all hurting. That's why they use
what they use, and they do what they
do
because the world has given up on them,
and so they give up on their self.
Yeah.
I,
I wouldn't be where I am or who
I am today
if I haven't have gone through the trials
and tribulations I have gone through.
(24:53):
What I think
I'm most proud of is the mindset I've
carried throughout all tribulations.
That way, when I look back,
I can see how far and how strong
I really am,
because
it really is it all starts in the
mind.
If I didn't have a certain mindset,
if I would have stayed in woe is
me or poor me, it's all about me.
(25:15):
I would never have escaped
such things.
Mhmm. And I know that, you know, in
this town,
a lot of things
go on, and people are too scared to
talk about it. And yet when someone talks
about it, what is the easiest way to
shut someone down? You blame the victim, and
so they're therefore scared to speak their truth,
(25:37):
what they lift.
You know, that was me for a long
time.
I was scared to admit that I had
lived through human trafficking,
that I had seen
men do brutal things
to other humans, things that I should never
have witnessed,
and
(25:57):
it was so sad.
That's when I really learned that
it all starts with me.
What I choose to do from here on
out
will affect not only myself but those around
me, and I wish to shed light on
many dark things just by sharing my experience.
I used to have substance abuse only after
(26:18):
I survived the mountain.
That was the
time where I had chosen to become comfortably
numb, and I went through and I went
for some hard hitting stuff
for a good three years,
the same stuff my mother was on.
And,
again, it had to start with me and
so I chose to quit.
(26:39):
Yep. And a year later, my mother found
the courage to quit.
My father though, however, has not quit and
he wanted to keep us on it because
we were more compliable to it. Yeah.
But I've learned firsthand through my own experience
that
it is always darkest before at the dawn.
(26:59):
Perfect. Perfect.
And is it okay if we end with
that? Would you repeat that one more time?
It is always darkest before the dawn, but
if you can hang on, this too shall
pass.
Absolutely.
You are so wise. I so appreciate you
being here, being on a live radio in
our community and down in Humboldt.
Listeners, has this been incredible? I wanna thank
(27:21):
everybody on the Oregon Coast and the Northern
California Coast for being with us today on
joyously free. We hope that you have been
inspired,
challenged, and enjoyed the stories, tips, hopes, and
the abundant love that Donna has shared today.
You can order any of my books, which
also bring about confidence and courage as well.
But most importantly, we wanna thank KCIW,
(27:43):
Mike Gorse on the sound, Tom, Candice, and
Rose for always making this happen. We also
wanna thank the KZZH
people in Humboldt County.
Remember, you can share this. You can relisten
to it. Donna had a zillion high points
today. Mic drops as I think we'd call
them in the stage world, and her self
esteem is phenomenal.
So I look forward to everybody
(28:04):
having a beautiful day. And as we always
say, smile big and wear bright colors, even
a bright blue dress like Donna. Thank you,
Donna, for being here. You're the best. Thank
you.
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It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.