February 20, 2024 • 15 mins
As I sat amid the laughter and warmth of my sister's birthday celebration, a realization washed over me: it's within these moments of connection that our spirits truly flourish. On our latest podcast, I, Jenelle Yarbrough, share the insights and emotions from the conversation that has recharged my creative energy and brought into focus the undeniable power of community. Our discussion turns inward as well, touching on the personal sermon I received from another podcast, one that struck a chord about the necessity of removing distractions.
We wade into the strength we garner from our personal "tribes," those networks of support and accountability that make the impossible seem within reach. There's an invitation extended your way—to not just listen, but to become part of our growing community. Join the conversation!
Don't forget to connect with us across social platforms and our website!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jenelle (00:03):
Hey y'all.
I'm Jenelle Yarbrough andwelcome to Blockers and Friends.
This is your podcast fordiscussions around relevant
topics and experiences thatresonate with the culture.
For those of you who roll withme, you know we talk a lot about
embracing the possibility ofchange.
We'll continue to touch on thatand lots more Sound, good Work.
(00:24):
Get into it, hey.
Hey y'all, so glad to be herewith you today.
Friend check, how are y'alldoing?
Hopefully the answer is well.
If not, so much, then hopefullythis episode will bring you a
(00:45):
smile or two.
You know what comes next.
I want to shout out some of thelocations where our listeners
are tuning in, from Shout out toRichmond, virginia, norwood,
north Carolina, kelso,washington, pittsburgh,
california, newton, idaho,kingston, jamaica, clifton, new
(01:06):
Jersey and Riverdale, georgia.
To all of our listeners, newand returning, thank you for
choosing to be here with ustoday.
As usual, I am grateful.
Y'all aren't new to this.
Well, maybe some are.
You know what to do and ifyou're new, follow suit.
(01:26):
We're growing this littlecommunity of ours.
So first be sure to subscribeto the podcast so that you know
when new episodes are released.
Then go on ahead and download,listen, comment and share with
your people Text post forwardall of the things.
You never know.
This just might be the podcastthey didn't know they needed.
(01:49):
So a few weeks have come andgone since we've been together.
Friends, I know, I know I knowthe plan has been to schedule
more consistent recordingsession.
But, baby, the way life be outhere.
Life being child, I come to itas my spirit allows.
(02:15):
Folks with a full plate, raiseyour hands if you feel me.
I can have the best intentions,but then when I get off work or
the weekend rolls around, he me, I just want to breathe and
sometimes do mindless things, orsometimes I just want to sit in
(02:36):
peace and silence and connectwith myself.
I have told a few folks latelythat there are times when I
don't even turn my television on, sometimes days, sometimes
weeks, aside from the fact thatI don't have little people in
the house anymore that haveshows they want to watch, I just
don't want to hear peopletalking about a whole bunch of
(02:59):
nothing or see foolishness.
I like silence.
I do.
Give me a good woodwit candleand a glass of wine to curl up
with and come down from the day.
Yeah, buddy, that's it rightthere, but I have definitely
missed you all.
(03:19):
Hey, big head and I have hadthe space to process a few
thoughts and ta-da, here we are.
I think this is an episode whenI'm telling on myself Uh-oh, no
, nothing bad, but we are acommunity, right Show is.
(03:42):
And in this community webelieve in accountability right,
and do so.
I have to tell on myself sothat I can be accountable to you
all and open up the space for adeeper community connection
here.
Y'all trying to get into thiswith me, where, with you?
Word no-transcript.
(04:02):
Two things happened for me thisweekend, and the connection of
these two things is what has metelling on myself today.
This weekend was my sister'sbirthday and you know we never
miss an opportunity to gettogether.
Give us a reason.
I was around people I love, andso you already know that means
(04:24):
my heart and my cup are full.
I have not been Gettingtogether with folks as often as
I have in the past, and theconversations with those
beautiful hearts and minds arewhat sparks Deep thoughts for me
, brings about strong stancesand feelings, confirms steps,
provides perspective,strengthens my spirit,
(04:45):
challenges me as a human, awoman, a mother and as a leader,
and encourages me.
So being able to share thattime and space this weekend was
really what I needed really do.
I feel what I'm talking about.
It's like slipping on a pair ofyour favorite jeans, taking a
(05:06):
sip of your favorite coffee,smelling your favorite perfumer
cologne child.
It's gonna hit every singletime period.
Essentially, theseconversations and interactions
are what keeps me thinking andinspired, and I realized that
(05:26):
when I'm not having theseinteractions and creating space
to float or process my thoughtsand hear the wisdom and thoughts
of others, my cup it the run itto riot, my cup runs dry y'all.
It's so easy to isolate.
(05:47):
Now, without even realizing it,I am a whole social butterfly,
but we've been conditioned overthe last three to four years to
know how to be separate ofothers and lean on the devices
that give us the illusion ofConnection and access to one
another without actually beingaround one another.
Right, what I'm realizing hasHappened for me is that, in my
(06:13):
effort to preserve the last fewremaining drops of energy and
capacity in my cup, I Becameokay with not seeking those
moments for myself when theydidn't easily or organically
appear for me.
The other thing that happenedfor me this weekend is I
(06:33):
Stumbled across the Sundayservice y'all Not really, but
kind of I Made today my makeupself-care day.
Everyone who knows me, or evenif you've been following me or
listening to me on this podcastlong enough, you know that my
(06:53):
self-care day is usually Sunday,but this was a four-day weekend
for me, so I switched up alittle.
No, she's not rigid girl.
Hey, in Tihu, I was gettingready to wash my hair, so I
shuffled a few podcasts, pickingones that I hadn't listened to
before, and, when I tell you, Istumbled across one that had me
(07:18):
like listen, who have you beentalking to podcast lady?
You know, when you go to Sundayservice and you haven't been in
a while, and boy wanna seemlike the preacher saw you walk
in and started changing thesermon to talk to you directly.
Oh child, I can't tell you howmany times I've been in the pews
(07:41):
like who told them I was coming?
Ah, too funny, I'm telling youjust opening the floodgates of
tears and emotion.
Just me, girl.
I doubt it.
Let me tell you something.
She was talking about removingthe distractions, whether it's
(08:05):
people, whether it's things,whether it's thoughts, whether
it's circumstances.
Remove the distractions, as thedistractions can quickly become
excuses and barriers from youaccomplishing the things that
you desire to accomplish foryourself, the levels that you
hope to reach, the goals youhope to achieve.
Honey, when I tell you she waslike.
(08:27):
Scrolling is a distraction.
Overexposure to information isa distraction.
Perfectionism is a distraction.
Lack of faith is a distraction.
Planning ahead of God is adistraction, homegirl says.
Since when do we have theability to figure out life ahead
of God?
Ta Ha, ha, ha ha.
(08:51):
Right, the way that I stoodstill and not showered is if my
mama caught me in the middle ofwrongdoing and called me by my
full government name man, listen, I can do anything but receive.
I understood right in thatmoment that God was speaking to
me through that podcast.
(09:12):
I could have easily popped on a90s R&B playlist so that I
could have sung every word toevery song, which is really what
I intended to do.
But when I picked up my phoneto select a playlist, my fingers
just took me to these podcasts.
Okay, spirit guiding fingersLike who knew right.
(09:35):
Oh man, when I tell you thiswas what my weekend needed.
Hmm, as I came out of standingin somewhat of a lightweight
shock, I began processing.
I thought about theconversations that I had in the
days prior with my loved onesand I thought about what I was
(09:56):
hearing in the message of thepodcaster and I began to come
into the language for my ownthoughts.
One my desire for brainlessactivity after leaving work and
on the weekends is because I'moverwhelmed.
Girl.
We'll say that then.
(10:16):
Right, I think people thinkthat being overwhelmed looks a
certain way Like you're supposedto be stressed out and falling
out in a corner on the floor.
But I think black womenspecifically often tend to give
the illusion that we've got itand we do.
(10:37):
It may be a little tough, butwe got it, because if we don't,
who will?
I mean it's gotta get done,right.
I mean it's hard, but what isthe alternative option?
Laying down and dying?
No, so we burden it, I burdenit, and that has become a
distraction for me.
(10:57):
To my ability to connect withothers, to exchange energy and
partake in experiences withothers is what Inspires me
creatively.
Not having the capacity to dothat has become a distraction
for me.
Three, I have known since lastyear last March to be exact that
(11:23):
that there is an awesome shift,a big change that is ahead for
me.
I Haven't been able to explainit other than I have this deep
sense of knowing y'all whorolled with me or who have been
Rolling with me since last Marchor before last March.
Y'all heard me talk all aboutit, right, but what I realized
coming into that knowing did forme was caused me to try to jump
(11:48):
ahead, to figure out theendgame, you know, uncover what
this knowing is.
I felt so moved and connectedto that knowing that I racked my
brain, trying to control thesituation and plan ahead of him.
I Tried to decode God's planversus doing the things that I
currently feel brought to do andthat I enjoy doing, and see how
(12:12):
God uses me in those spaces andwhat doors open via those
spaces.
Planning ahead of God hasbecome a distraction for me.
So today I Am telling on myselfto you, to all of you, my
bloggers and friends, podcastcommunity, so that you can hold
(12:35):
me accountable to findingbalance, removing the
distractions, and to stayingfocused on the things that I
know allow me to create, build,elevate and make space in my
life for the people, experiencesand opportunities that nurture
my creativity, to be patientwith God's timing and Faithful
(12:58):
in my knowing, and to show up inthe spaces that bring me joy.
Yeah, so that's it, y'all.
I'm not gonna hold you.
One of the things that I loveabout this community that we
have here is that I get to bemyself.
I get to be silly, imperfect,encouraging, vulnerable and
(13:18):
human.
This is what bonds and connectsus all here in this episode and
every other episode the abilityto see ourselves in one another
.
Maybe today's episode wasrelatable to you, or Maybe it
made you think of someone youknow.
That's the beauty.
In a landscape where there arehundreds and thousands of voices
(13:39):
floating in the sea, I amreminded that there is only one
of me.
There is only one of you, andour journey in this world is
unique, powerful and meaningful,and I believe that I have been
brought to do this podcast toshow our Interwoven experiences
and in order to evolve in thiswork, I must remove the
(14:04):
distractions.
There it is.
We all have moments where weneed to tell on ourselves in
order to activate ouraccountability systems.
What are you working on in liferight now that may require you
to turn on the Hold meaccountable light to signal to
your community that you needthem?
Shoot me a DM on IG, atbloggers and friends podcast,
(14:27):
and let me know in fact, let meknow what you think of this
episode.
Can you relate?
Have you had moments like thisin your life.
Y'all know I love to hear fromy'all.
One thing I do know is that witha strong tribe honey, there is
nothing that you can't do.
Go on ahead and tell onyourself.
Let your tribe get you all theway together.
(14:48):
Be well, y'all.
If you like this episode, besure to subscribe so that you
are notified when a new episodeis posted.
You can stay connected betweenpodcasts by following us on
Instagram at fear dot not dotthe dot Journey.
You can also join our page onFacebook at fear not the journey
(15:08):
, or you can subscribe to ourwebsite and blog by visiting
wwwfearnotthedjourneycom.
Thank you for joining us forthis episode and until next time
, be well.
Hey y'all.
I'm Jenelle Yarbrough andwelcome to Blockers and Friends.
This is your podcast fordiscussions around relevant
topics and experiences thatresonate with the culture.
For those of you who roll withme, you know we talk a lot about
embracing the possibility ofchange.
We'll continue to touch on thatand lots more Sound, good Work.
(00:24):
Get into it, hey.
Hey y'all, so glad to be herewith you today.
Friend check, how are y'alldoing?
Hopefully the answer is well.
If not, so much, then hopefullythis episode will bring you a
(00:45):
smile or two.
You know what comes next.
I want to shout out some of thelocations where our listeners
are tuning in, from Shout out toRichmond, virginia, norwood,
north Carolina, kelso,washington, pittsburgh,
california, newton, idaho,kingston, jamaica, clifton, new
(01:06):
Jersey and Riverdale, georgia.
To all of our listeners, newand returning, thank you for
choosing to be here with ustoday.
As usual, I am grateful.
Y'all aren't new to this.
Well, maybe some are.
You know what to do and ifyou're new, follow suit.
(01:26):
We're growing this littlecommunity of ours.
So first be sure to subscribeto the podcast so that you know
when new episodes are released.
Then go on ahead and download,listen, comment and share with
your people Text post forwardall of the things.
You never know.
This just might be the podcastthey didn't know they needed.
(01:49):
So a few weeks have come andgone since we've been together.
Friends, I know, I know I knowthe plan has been to schedule
more consistent recordingsession.
But, baby, the way life be outhere.
Life being child, I come to itas my spirit allows.
(02:15):
Folks with a full plate, raiseyour hands if you feel me.
I can have the best intentions,but then when I get off work or
the weekend rolls around, he me, I just want to breathe and
sometimes do mindless things, orsometimes I just want to sit in
(02:36):
peace and silence and connectwith myself.
I have told a few folks latelythat there are times when I
don't even turn my television on, sometimes days, sometimes
weeks, aside from the fact thatI don't have little people in
the house anymore that haveshows they want to watch, I just
don't want to hear peopletalking about a whole bunch of
(02:59):
nothing or see foolishness.
I like silence.
I do.
Give me a good woodwit candleand a glass of wine to curl up
with and come down from the day.
Yeah, buddy, that's it rightthere, but I have definitely
missed you all.
(03:19):
Hey, big head and I have hadthe space to process a few
thoughts and ta-da, here we are.
I think this is an episode whenI'm telling on myself Uh-oh, no
, nothing bad, but we are acommunity, right Show is.
(03:42):
And in this community webelieve in accountability right,
and do so.
I have to tell on myself sothat I can be accountable to you
all and open up the space for adeeper community connection
here.
Y'all trying to get into thiswith me, where, with you?
Word no-transcript.
(04:02):
Two things happened for me thisweekend, and the connection of
these two things is what has metelling on myself today.
This weekend was my sister'sbirthday and you know we never
miss an opportunity to gettogether.
Give us a reason.
I was around people I love, andso you already know that means
(04:24):
my heart and my cup are full.
I have not been Gettingtogether with folks as often as
I have in the past, and theconversations with those
beautiful hearts and minds arewhat sparks Deep thoughts for me
, brings about strong stancesand feelings, confirms steps,
provides perspective,strengthens my spirit,
(04:45):
challenges me as a human, awoman, a mother and as a leader,
and encourages me.
So being able to share thattime and space this weekend was
really what I needed really do.
I feel what I'm talking about.
It's like slipping on a pair ofyour favorite jeans, taking a
(05:06):
sip of your favorite coffee,smelling your favorite perfumer
cologne child.
It's gonna hit every singletime period.
Essentially, theseconversations and interactions
are what keeps me thinking andinspired, and I realized that
(05:26):
when I'm not having theseinteractions and creating space
to float or process my thoughtsand hear the wisdom and thoughts
of others, my cup it the run itto riot, my cup runs dry y'all.
It's so easy to isolate.
(05:47):
Now, without even realizing it,I am a whole social butterfly,
but we've been conditioned overthe last three to four years to
know how to be separate ofothers and lean on the devices
that give us the illusion ofConnection and access to one
another without actually beingaround one another.
Right, what I'm realizing hasHappened for me is that, in my
(06:13):
effort to preserve the last fewremaining drops of energy and
capacity in my cup, I Becameokay with not seeking those
moments for myself when theydidn't easily or organically
appear for me.
The other thing that happenedfor me this weekend is I
(06:33):
Stumbled across the Sundayservice y'all Not really, but
kind of I Made today my makeupself-care day.
Everyone who knows me, or evenif you've been following me or
listening to me on this podcastlong enough, you know that my
(06:53):
self-care day is usually Sunday,but this was a four-day weekend
for me, so I switched up alittle.
No, she's not rigid girl.
Hey, in Tihu, I was gettingready to wash my hair, so I
shuffled a few podcasts, pickingones that I hadn't listened to
before, and, when I tell you, Istumbled across one that had me
(07:18):
like listen, who have you beentalking to podcast lady?
You know, when you go to Sundayservice and you haven't been in
a while, and boy wanna seemlike the preacher saw you walk
in and started changing thesermon to talk to you directly.
Oh child, I can't tell you howmany times I've been in the pews
(07:41):
like who told them I was coming?
Ah, too funny, I'm telling youjust opening the floodgates of
tears and emotion.
Just me, girl.
I doubt it.
Let me tell you something.
She was talking about removingthe distractions, whether it's
(08:05):
people, whether it's things,whether it's thoughts, whether
it's circumstances.
Remove the distractions, as thedistractions can quickly become
excuses and barriers from youaccomplishing the things that
you desire to accomplish foryourself, the levels that you
hope to reach, the goals youhope to achieve.
Honey, when I tell you she waslike.
(08:27):
Scrolling is a distraction.
Overexposure to information isa distraction.
Perfectionism is a distraction.
Lack of faith is a distraction.
Planning ahead of God is adistraction, homegirl says.
Since when do we have theability to figure out life ahead
of God?
Ta Ha, ha, ha ha.
(08:51):
Right, the way that I stoodstill and not showered is if my
mama caught me in the middle ofwrongdoing and called me by my
full government name man, listen, I can do anything but receive.
I understood right in thatmoment that God was speaking to
me through that podcast.
(09:12):
I could have easily popped on a90s R&B playlist so that I
could have sung every word toevery song, which is really what
I intended to do.
But when I picked up my phoneto select a playlist, my fingers
just took me to these podcasts.
Okay, spirit guiding fingersLike who knew right.
(09:35):
Oh man, when I tell you thiswas what my weekend needed.
Hmm, as I came out of standingin somewhat of a lightweight
shock, I began processing.
I thought about theconversations that I had in the
days prior with my loved onesand I thought about what I was
(09:56):
hearing in the message of thepodcaster and I began to come
into the language for my ownthoughts.
One my desire for brainlessactivity after leaving work and
on the weekends is because I'moverwhelmed.
Girl.
We'll say that then.
(10:16):
Right, I think people thinkthat being overwhelmed looks a
certain way Like you're supposedto be stressed out and falling
out in a corner on the floor.
But I think black womenspecifically often tend to give
the illusion that we've got itand we do.
(10:37):
It may be a little tough, butwe got it, because if we don't,
who will?
I mean it's gotta get done,right.
I mean it's hard, but what isthe alternative option?
Laying down and dying?
No, so we burden it, I burdenit, and that has become a
distraction for me.
(10:57):
To my ability to connect withothers, to exchange energy and
partake in experiences withothers is what Inspires me
creatively.
Not having the capacity to dothat has become a distraction
for me.
Three, I have known since lastyear last March to be exact that
(11:23):
that there is an awesome shift,a big change that is ahead for
me.
I Haven't been able to explainit other than I have this deep
sense of knowing y'all whorolled with me or who have been
Rolling with me since last Marchor before last March.
Y'all heard me talk all aboutit, right, but what I realized
coming into that knowing did forme was caused me to try to jump
(11:48):
ahead, to figure out theendgame, you know, uncover what
this knowing is.
I felt so moved and connectedto that knowing that I racked my
brain, trying to control thesituation and plan ahead of him.
I Tried to decode God's planversus doing the things that I
currently feel brought to do andthat I enjoy doing, and see how
(12:12):
God uses me in those spaces andwhat doors open via those
spaces.
Planning ahead of God hasbecome a distraction for me.
So today I Am telling on myselfto you, to all of you, my
bloggers and friends, podcastcommunity, so that you can hold
(12:35):
me accountable to findingbalance, removing the
distractions, and to stayingfocused on the things that I
know allow me to create, build,elevate and make space in my
life for the people, experiencesand opportunities that nurture
my creativity, to be patientwith God's timing and Faithful
(12:58):
in my knowing, and to show up inthe spaces that bring me joy.
Yeah, so that's it, y'all.
I'm not gonna hold you.
One of the things that I loveabout this community that we
have here is that I get to bemyself.
I get to be silly, imperfect,encouraging, vulnerable and
(13:18):
human.
This is what bonds and connectsus all here in this episode and
every other episode the abilityto see ourselves in one another
.
Maybe today's episode wasrelatable to you, or Maybe it
made you think of someone youknow.
That's the beauty.
In a landscape where there arehundreds and thousands of voices
(13:39):
floating in the sea, I amreminded that there is only one
of me.
There is only one of you, andour journey in this world is
unique, powerful and meaningful,and I believe that I have been
brought to do this podcast toshow our Interwoven experiences
and in order to evolve in thiswork, I must remove the
(14:04):
distractions.
There it is.
We all have moments where weneed to tell on ourselves in
order to activate ouraccountability systems.
What are you working on in liferight now that may require you
to turn on the Hold meaccountable light to signal to
your community that you needthem?
Shoot me a DM on IG, atbloggers and friends podcast,
(14:27):
and let me know in fact, let meknow what you think of this
episode.
Can you relate?
Have you had moments like thisin your life.
Y'all know I love to hear fromy'all.
One thing I do know is that witha strong tribe honey, there is
nothing that you can't do.
Go on ahead and tell onyourself.
Let your tribe get you all theway together.
(14:48):
Be well, y'all.
If you like this episode, besure to subscribe so that you
are notified when a new episodeis posted.
You can stay connected betweenpodcasts by following us on
Instagram at fear dot not dotthe dot Journey.
You can also join our page onFacebook at fear not the journey
(15:08):
, or you can subscribe to ourwebsite and blog by visiting
wwwfearnotthedjourneycom.
Thank you for joining us forthis episode and until next time
, be well.
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