Being a Beacon of Authenticity – Just Breathe: Parenting Your LGBTQ Teen Episode 65

Welcome to Just Breathe. I am so glad you are here today. I am really, really excited to introduce today's guest, and I'm sure as you have noticed now, we are doing for the month of Pride. I am just thrilled to be able to do an episode a week for you. And Lisa is one of the reasons I am doing that, because I really wanted this episode and, and for you all to hear her story during this awesome month. Um, so just a little bit about Lisa before I officially introduce her. She is a mom, a parenting author, a nationally syndicated humor columnist, and a podcast host creating content that helps empower parents, especially moms, by giving them permission to embrace their perfectly imperfectness. She's also a survivor of suicide loss, losing her father at age 10, and a member and ally of the LGBTQIA+ community. Lisa writes the syndicated opinion column It Is What It Is and is the author of How to Raise Perfectly Imperfect Kids and Be Okay with It, Untying Parent Anxiety, Life, It Is What It Is, and a fourth book that she is writing right now that we will be talking about today. And these are all available on Amazon, all of your booksellers that I will definitely link for you later in the show notes. So Lisa is also the co-host of the podcast Life Unfiltered, which right now is on a little bit of a pause, but definitely look for older episodes because she is just Absolutely. As you will see in a few minutes, fascinating, funny, interesting, so smart. So take a look if you're looking for a new podcast to listen to. This is a great one. She is also a regular contrib— contributor on Healthline Parenthood, Grown and Flown, Today Parents, Thrive Global, Care.com, Little Things, and more content now. So Lisa lives with her husband and two daughters just north of Boston, and I am so excited to have this conversation with Lisa today because we have so many things in common, and she is just living the life that I'm like, "Oh yes, this is what we should all be doing." So Lisa, thank you so much for being here.

Oh my God. It's my, this is my pleasure. And that last line that you just said, um, about, you know, kind of living life that way just like made my heart explode because that's the point. That's the whole idea. And I've just embraced that in every possible way lately, especially the last year or two. And it, it, it's just leveled up my whole life. It's just sent me to a totally new place and inspired me and, um, um, just kind of lit a fire that I, I'm not sure I can ever stomp out or want to.

Right. Well, why would you want to, right?

No, I wouldn't. I don't.

Now, what do you think, um, kind of lit that fire? Like, what other than kind of the obvious answer of COVID um, was there anything else that kind of simultaneously was occurring for you that you were like, you know what, I'm gonna live my best life, and I'm going to kind of order up from the universe all these amazing things and just approach life in a different way.

You know, I appreciate that question a lot because it's easy for me to answer. And there are two things I would say if I had to point to two things, it would be— and they're, they're really kind of in order of when they happened, one immediately right after the other, and also kind of simultaneously. So Um, you mentioned that I lost my dad to suicide, which I did back in 1978 when I was 10 years old. And the, the story that I was told at that time, I was an only child and my dad was my person. The story that I was told was that my dad had had a heart attack, which I had no reason in the world to ever question. And it wasn't until I was in my mid-forties that I learned that my dad had actually taken his life and my mom had done something just so beautiful and so courageous in my opinion, and really kind of took the hit for me with that. She knew it and made that decision in that moment that I didn't need to know that because she knew what our relationship was and she knew how close we were and, and how much it would have shattered me beyond the shattering that had already happened if I had known that that was his decision. So, um, that was one event. Um, when I learned the truth, it took me a lot. It took me years. I mean, as we're talking now in my mid-forties, I, when I found out and now I'm in my early fifties, so it's been like 6 or 7, 8 years since that point. And there's been just this whole massive arc of regrieving my dad's death for the second time. Through a different lens, really having a complete reversal on certain aspects of mental illness, like, like suicide and the selfishness of it that I used to believe that I no longer believe anymore. So all of this, all of this life experience was just kind of raining down on me. And it really caused a complete shift, a seismic shift in, in my belief system, And I guess in, in how I felt about mental illness and how important I have grown to believe it is that we share the stories that we have, because every single one of us, like, we don't have to have a dramatic story. I mean, mine is, I think, you know, when you're talking about someone taking their life, it's a bit more dramatic. Doesn't matter if it's a death, or if it's a suicide, or if it's an abuse problem, or if it's like whatever your thing is, everybody's got a thing. Mm-hmm. And it's when we start talking about those things, which I didn't do in the very beginning while I was processing everything and grieving through everything. And I reached this point, and I'm not even sure when I reached a point where I just stopped telling people what the old narrative was. 'Cause a lot of people always ask me how my father died, which is so interesting to me. My whole life people have always asked when they find out I lost my dad, well, how did your dad die? Which I find to be so fascinating because it's not something I would ever do. I don't think I would always let someone take you through that. Um, that is odd. But yeah. Yeah. It's just, it's just an interesting little kind of sidebar. But I, I, for the longest time in the very beginning, even though I knew the truth, I didn't say the truth. I didn't speak about it. And that was, you know, by design, a lot of reasons. I was protecting myself. I don't necessarily know if it was a shame issue outright. There might have been, but I don't, I don't really think that was a big part of any of it. It was really just, I wasn't ready to share that yet. And then all of a sudden, and like I said, I don't know when, why, all of a sudden, it was like, it just, it exploded inside me in this way that it had to come out. It had to come out and it had to come out often. And whenever the opportunity was there and someone asked the question, I was as honest as I could possibly be. So that whole thing, my, my dad's suicide was one huge pivotal, like watershed moment for me. And the other one was, so our daughter, our oldest, who will be 25 in a couple of weeks, she came out as bisexual when she was in her junior, going into her junior year. At Boston University. This is a handful of years ago, about 4 or 5 years ago, and she came out. And of course, you know, we just embraced every bit of that with everything we had because it was just, just a beautiful thing. And we were proud and thrilled and supportive and allies in every possible way. But that— her coming out created a chain reaction and helped me to come out. So I came out as pansexual like not even exactly a year ago. It was during Pride Month, like toward the very, very end of Pride Month last year in 2021, after so many millions of conversations with my daughter Riley about just the nuances of the LGBTQIA+ community. And like, there's all this new vocabulary and there are all of these new definitions, and every It seems like every, every other day I'm learning that there's a new term. Yes. New definition, new classification, or however we should, we should call it. And it was just one day we were just talking about, she was trying to explain to me like the differences between bisexuality and pansexuality. And I, and I never really understood. I hadn't really heard much about pansexuality. This goes back a couple of years.

Right.

And I— she explained it to me as best she understood it. And we were just the two of us having breakfast. And I looked at her and I just said, Riley, I think I'm pansexual. It just like came out of my mouth because I had always known that I wasn't straight. I had always known that I wasn't straight. I— but I also— I've been in love with and attracted to my husband for— we've been together for 37 years. Married for almost 30, and I say it every time, T is my person, always has been, always will be. Yeah. But it's not, it, it has nothing to do with him. It was me.

Right.

It was, it was me and who I was on the inside. And I just got to this point in my life where my kids were grown and all we had ever done was try to encourage our kids to celebrate who they were and embrace who they were and be who they were and have the strength and the power to just launch into the world exactly as they are. And I've always tried to be authentic in that way in my own life, and I felt like I have been, except in that way, except in that one little place. And in that moment, when she was explaining it to me, I just— it all kind of hit me like, what are you doing? Wow. Yeah.

Yeah.

I was like, what are you doing? You're Dwight. You, how can you, how can you not see yourself as a hypocrite right now? Like, how can you, like, you can be happily married in like a, a, you know, what a, a, you know, hetero-presenting relationship and straight-presenting relationship because you are in a straight-presenting relationship and I'm a cisgendered woman, but I am also pansexual. Doesn't mean I want to run off and go leave my husband or be with someone else, or that's not it at all. It's all about something that I carried with me in my pocket that I'm choosing now to just put out in the sunlight.

So I love that so much. I think that is such a great way of saying that. Um, and it's just so real, because I think sometimes we are all afraid to take those— we all have things that we keep in our pockets, right? And, you know, and kind of to your specific realization, you didn't know what you didn't know before that moment. But I love that as you learned that, you were like, Oh my gosh, this is what that is that I wasn't able to articulate or connect with totally. That's what it is. That is what it is. And instead of like trying to like cover it up and be like, okay, well, I'm going to keep it here because it doesn't fit necessarily, right? In like a conventional sense, you just took it out and put it on.

I did. But keep in mind, I mean, this happened last year, so I was not even 53 years old. I did carry it as a, as a ball in the very bottom of my pocket for a very long time, and I felt it every single day. I knew it was there every single day. And yet I, I knew that it wasn't something that was that was taking me away from where I was now going to change who I was with or how I was living my life, because I, I didn't, I didn't feel that way. I mean, if for whatever reason I had been in a different kind of a situation where it was about, oh well, I have found an attraction with someone else, like, that would have presented a whole different situation. And, and I guess would've hoped that I would've had the strength to, to deal with that situation in all the right ways. But that wasn't the case. It wasn't like a, oh, I figured this out, so I have to go do this now. It was, no, I figured this out. And I've always raised our kids, Dave and I both together have raised our kids to believe that they should celebrate who they are. And I needed to do that for myself fully. And, and also the other thing, Heather, is that And you know this as well as anybody, like, the LGBTQIA+ community needs representation everywhere it can get it because that's how we destigmatize being queer. That's how we normalize our, you know, the, the different choices that people make in how they live their lives and how, you know, who they're attracted to and how they you know, how they identify. So I wanted to— I didn't want to be an ally anymore. I mean, I did, I do, but I, I wanted to be a different kind of an ally. I wanted to be the kind that is like, here I am, I'm, I'm also part of this community. I'm acting in that dual role. And I, I, you know, I want you to know that when I say you, I mean anyone. I want anyone listening to know that I like I wanted to, you know, to do this for myself for no other reason than, than to, to show my support and to be authentic and to say it is 1000% okay to be whoever the hell you are on the inside, on the outside, put it out there. And if for whatever reason someone does not respond to that, well, I guess they're not your people.

Right.

Simple as that.

And I think that is one of the most important ways that we can show up, right? I mean, that is such an important thing that you are doing and, and voice that you have to really, like you said, get rid of the stigma, to normalize, to say, however you want to show up, whoever you are on the inside. And the outside. Just be, and don't let all of that stuff, all of the, you know, the hate or the just ugliness out there deter you from being who you are, who you authentically are. And, um, and I would love if you could actually, because I think this is a really important thing, I mean, if people, you know, understand LGBT, right? There, people are pretty solid on, on those. But as we get into, you know, other nuances, it gets a little trickier. And I know a couple weeks ago I was having this conversation with two really close friends of mine, and they were just peppering me with questions, you know, what's the difference to your, you know, kind of to this, between pansexual and bisexual? What's the difference? What does non-binary mean? What does you know, how do you use the word queer? And, you know, all of these things where people just don't know, right? And it's, and it's all— I, in this, you know, in this sense and in that sense, it was because they really want to be respectful. So I would love if you could really talk about, you know, what pansexual is and kind of what the differences between pansexuality and bisexuality, um, just because I think it's good information for people to, to understand.

Yeah, no, I'm more than happy to do that. And, you know, I'll preface it all by saying that, um, you know, there's a joke in my house, especially with my daughter and a lot of our friends who are in the queer community, you know, I'm someone who is of the age that I should be considered like an elder, you know what I mean? Like in the LGBTQ community, but I'm actually like a queer baby because I was just born into all this like a year ago. So I'm, my learning curve, like I'm on the super, super beginning end of the learning curve. And even though I've learned so, so much because of my daughter and she's had a head start here and I've had the benefit of everything that she's learned and I've, you know, we've taken it all in. In every way that we can. Um, I'm still learning and I'm sure that I will continue to learn indefinitely because, you know, we're all that work in progress and it's, things are always just fluid and they're always changing. But so my understanding of, you know, bisexuality is, and I just had this conversation with someone else yesterday and I, I clarified something for them that they didn't know. They thought that bisexuality was you are attracted to either a man or a woman, and it's actually not the case. I mean, if you kind of look at the root word, bi means two, so bisexuality just means you're attracted to more than one gender, right? It could be trans, it could be women, it could be a man, it could be— so it's, it's, you know, one or the other, but it doesn't— it's not exclusive to being a man or a woman.

Right.

So, right. So non-binary, anyone. So that's kind of the, the, the quick and dirty definition for bisexual and, and pansexuality. And again, if you had like 50 people who identify as pansexual and I was one of them, you would probably hear 50 slightly different, you know, explanations of what that is to someone.

Sure.

So What it is to me, I mean, the word itself, pan means all, that's the root origin of the word. So it really just in simplest terms just means that I have the capacity, I know that I have the capacity to have a sexual attraction to anyone regardless of their sexual orientation, their gender identity. Could be a man, could be a woman, could be someone who's non-binary, could be someone who's trans. So for me, I, I know that it's not like, for lack of a better way to say it, like a body part thing. Like, do you know what I'm saying?

Right.

It's not like the fit, the physicalness of a person, their, their, um, their body parts or the, the way that they look. Sure. Like there are people that you're attracted to visually. You don't know them. You've seen pictures, you meet them on the street, you don't know who they are. You don't have any way of knowing what's on the inside. So there is that like attraction piece, but that for me is the least of all of it. It's the, it's what's on the inside. It's, um, you know, someone's essence, someone's personality, the way they, the way they move about the world, um, the way they communicate, all these different things, um, that are really like internal factors are the things that really that really connect me to someone in that way. It doesn't mean that I'm literally like standing on the street waiting for an Uber and I'm attracted to every single human being that walks by me, because that is absolutely not what that means, right, at all. It's just like, you know, a straight— you know, a straight man has some women that he'll meet in his life that he's attracted to and, you know, would love to get with, and others that he won't, and vice versa for a woman. And that's the same way for me. So it's That is my interpretation of like, kind of my own pansexuality.

Thank you. I'm so, I'm so appreciative that you shared that because that is, was basically my understanding too, again, through, through my kids. And that's how I have explained it as well. And so I'm so— I just think it's something that we can't explain enough, right? And share enough because I do— everybody's curious to a certain degree. And, and I do, you know, believe that there are more people than, um, who want to know and to be allies than don't, right? They just don't know how to.

So, yeah. I think that people are fundamentally curious on one hand, and on the other hand, I think, you know, people have a lot of insecurities about asking questions because they just don't wanna put their foot in their mouth. They don't wanna sound dumb or, or look insensitive or, you know, and people that like have genuine wholesome curiosity, but they're scared to death to verbalize it because, you know, we're living in a world right now where people really have to be incredibly aware of how they say things, right? And what they say. And I think everyone is so acutely aware of that, that people are just like, oh, hell no. Like, I'm not gonna ask the question. I'm not gonna say anything because I don't wanna put my foot in my mouth. I don't wanna piss someone off. I don't wanna be labeled as a hater. I, so, you know, and it's, it's hard, but I feel like, in my own opinion, like, I love that you asked me that question. I, I love it. I appreciate it. Thank you a million. And I, I, I feel like as long as you lead with, hey, I, I'm asking from a genuine place of curiosity and I really care about this and I really wanna honor someone or respect someone and, and, you know, be appropriate. Can you clarify something for me? Like, there's always the right way and the wrong way to ask. And I think if you lead with something like that, like, hey, I just, I want to understand and I wanna do it in a respectful way. Then someone will, I think, be more than willing to have the conversation. I know that I— it's so funny, I— there's literally nothing I won't talk about at this point in my life, and it's just the most amazing feeling. And it's hard to describe, but it's— that's the best way I can say it. It's that, um, It's pretty incredible to walk around being that both that vulnerable and that comfortable at the same time. Very liberating.

I— yes, I can imagine. I mean, that's one of the reasons why I started this all out with I aspire to be you, because I, I love that. And I think that, you know, that's that as you've just explained and shared, it takes work and it takes awareness and it takes a lot of just kind of picking through things and, you know, leaving to the side what is not— just doesn't benefit you anymore, does not work for you anymore, and embracing the things that do. And, and, and realizing that, you know, if somebody else has an issue That's theirs. It's not yours.

Yep.

And I think that is one of the most important things that any of us can learn. Mm-hmm. So I just love, you're like a beacon of light, of authenticity.

I, I appreciate that. That's like honestly the highest compliment I could, I could ever get. And it's, it's funny that you just chose to use the word beacon. Because I've been doing a lot of writing, um, especially, you know, since it's Pride Month, um, been doing a lot of writing out there about my own experience and, um, writing about, you know, how to support our LGBTQ+ youth. And that's a word that I've been using quite often lately because, and I use it in the context of We have these stories or these identities or these experiences that in, in a lot of ways we're afraid to share because there are ego issues and pride issues and judgment issues and all those things that, that freak us out and make us not want to share. But when we do that, when we put our stuff out there, it acts as a beacon. Whether it's me talking about my father taking his life or me talking about coming out as queer or whoever, or the, or the person who has been struggling with alcohol addict, you know, or drug addiction or, you know, right. Whatever your thing is, once we put it out into the world in any capacity whatsoever, that flips a switch and it creates that beacon that then kind of radiates out there into the world and attracts the people. It's like the bug light, in a good way. It attracts the people who need to be attracted and, you know, who are either curious or questioning or, you know, or allies or whatever, whatever it is. But it helps to start conversations. It identifies the places that are safe to have those conversations. And then that's how you build community. And you flip on that beacon and then the community, um, grows. And so that's become, I think, my, my sole motivation for, for, you know, being open and being honest. And I, I can't do it enough. I really, I, at this point, um, it's all I wanna do.

Mm-hmm. Well, I definitely understand that. I mean, it is a passion and a purpose, right? Mm-hmm.

Definitely.

That we are— I mean, I feel similarly in a very different way, but similarly in that this is why I'm here, and it is consuming in a good way, in a very good way. Yeah. So I love— that's so funny. We— you and I have talked about this so many times since we— since we just met, but in our conversations that we've had, just how, you know, either words come up or thoughts come up or things happen in a way that you could never have planned, right?

Yeah.

And it's just— it is always extraordinary to me every time it happens. So I love that. That's that is because it is such a specific word. So the fact that that's what fell out of my mouth is pretty cool.

Yeah, and I don't think you and I actually, when we talked before, I don't think that that word came up. We didn't have this little conversation, so that I think that's, that's pretty serendipitous that it came out today.

Yes, it was, it was placed right.

You're right.

Oh my goodness, I love that. So I'm trying to Decide. There are a couple different ways. Well, let's go into— because we've touched on it just a little bit with your writing, and you do have this book that you are working on right now that is kind of your, your reason for shifting some things around and really making space to get this book out into the world. So could you share a little bit about this book? Give a little teaser so people know what's coming?

Sure. No, sure, I'd love to. Um, it's, it's been in process now in, in one way or another, um, whether it's been researching or free writing or organizing for probably the last year or so. I think I've been dedicating time to working on it. Um, what it really is, is the, the, the story, my, my father's suicide and kind of the narrative that I had when I was young versus the truth that I learned when I was older. Um, kind of a replay of those two scenarios because they're very, very different. It's the same experience, but it's through two distinctly different filters. Yeah. Um, so it was, you know, grieving one loss twice in two very, very different ways. So I'm using the story of his suicide as best as I, as I know it, because there are lots of gaps, you know, the, the why, the why is still very abstract for me. You know, there, there are some things that I know to be true, like my father's family had tremendous amount of mental illness. My father was under a tremendous amount of stress. He had a full-time job, um, working in Boston, and he also had another full-time job running the family business, which was, um, real estate in the Boston area. When my grandfather passed away, my dad took over. So he had two incredibly big cumbersome careers and a family and, you know, at home and a new child. And unfortunately, my father's family was, um, they're a very thankless bunch of people and they had, um, had put a tremendous amount of pressure on my dad. Nothing was ever good enough. Um, I've started talking about the fact that Um, my dad had a nickname growing up. My grandmother gave him a nickname and it was her unwanted. That was the name. Oh yeah, I just, just recently within the past several weeks actually said that out loud in a conversation for the very first time. Um, yeah, so that was that, and I've known that all my life. But it, you know, now putting it in, in context, right, in terms of what he went through, doing everything he possibly could for the benefit of his family and, you know, his, his parents and their family business and, and above and beyond and never a complaint. And, and it, nothing was ever good enough. And, you know, his sister was bipolar, his brother had, you know, severe anger issues and God knows what else. And You know, so there were definitely contributing factors and we knew that whatever, you know, whatever chemical imbalances, whatever, you know, whatever mental illness my father had on his own that wasn't necessarily environmental because of the family he grew up in, it was just genetic, right? That we don't know. That we don't know. So, you know, why was it August 1st, 1978? I don't know. My mother doesn't know. It just, you know, there was no event that we were aware of. Nothing. There wasn't a thing. Um, but there almost always isn't. Now, when someone takes their life, it seems like there might be, like there can be big events that can ultimately look like, oh, well, they did that because of that. It's usually not the case. It's usually a, a slow burn.

Mm-hmm.

And that was the case with my dad. So, um, You know, I wanted to take the story as best I knew it and tell it, um, tell kind of both versions of that story. Yeah. As a way of encouraging other people to share their own stories and as a way of providing resources. I'm still, you know, working hard to, to, you know, kind of decide what the best structure is for the book. It's going to be something very different than I've written before. I do want to include an awful lot of reporting materials that can help people, you know, a lot of resources that can hopefully, you know, be things that people can access if they're, you know, either dealing with the loss of someone or, you know, they're, they're worrying about someone's well-being, emotional well-being. So I definitely want to add some tools in there as well. But this— my story is really just a vehicle to help other people feel comfortable sharing their own. Find your, you know, find your people and talk to them about what you're going through, because inevitably when you connect with the people who are sharing the same kinds of things, um, that's where healing is. That's where the healing can really begin. So, um, that's kind of the, the genesis of the book and the essence of the book and the very super loose format of the book at this, at this moment.

I love that. I love that the, the knowing that you're not alone and in whatever it is that you're going through and, you know, in this particular case, a suicide, um, is, is huge. It's so huge. Oh my goodness. I actually have a really cool resource, and I'll just share it quickly right now. But as you were saying that, I was thinking, oh my goodness, I interviewed a few months back a lady who founded— and I hope I don't get this wrong because it's a lot of words— the Teen Suicide Prevention Society. I believe that's the wording of it. But what she does is what I think is really cool. And so they— she founded this after finding out, probably 25 years after her daughter attempted multiple times and thankfully was never successful, but she had no idea was ever going on. So it was this whole like, holy cow, this happened. And thank God she's still here. So how do we prevent this? You know, what do we need? She did all of this background research and on the brain and neural pathways in the brain. And so her whole thing is, it's called The Talks That Save Lives, and it's essentially like having the talk— like the biggest thing is, what are 3 reasons that you love being here on this earth, right? And, and whatever the answer is, like, that starts to build a new neural pathway in the brain so that when a when a person, you know, the theory is when a person gets to that state of just such extraordinary hopelessness and depression and, you know, it's so perplexing and so complicated, but that at least provides a pause. So I can share, you know, I can share it with you offline just so you can look at it more, but I think it's an interesting— It's just, it was something I'd never heard of before, and I was like, wow, that's really, that's different. It's a really cool way to look at this, and it's a great way to, you know, have these conversations not only with your kids but just every person on this planet that you love, right? So anyway, but I was just I was loving as you were talking about all of this, wanting to ask about The Trevor Project because we have talked about this and, you know, everyone knows how much I love The Trevor Project and it's one of my go-to resources for so many different things. And you have just finished your final training to be a counselor, a crisis counselor, right?

That is correct.

So can you talk about your whole experience of finding Trevor Project and what, um, you know, why you decided to do this and all of these good, wonderful things?

I, I would talk all day long about Trevor Project. Um, it has become such an important community to me for so many different reasons. Um, for those who, who may be listening who maybe have not yet heard of The Trevor Project, it is a nonprofit organization. It's actually the largest LGBTQIA+ crisis support network for at-risk youth to help prevent suicide. There are a few different components. There is a texting platform. There is the Trevor Lifeline, which is, is what I have have been working to become certified to be a part of, which is, you know, the old-fashioned kind of, you know, pick up the telephone and call and have a counselor there to talk to you. And then there is also— they, they also manage the largest safe chat room space called Trevor Space that is actually the largest LGBTQ+ chat space anywhere, anywhere in the world, as far as we know. So Trevor Project has been around for, I believe, over 20 years now. And it started as a short film. It was, it was, it was a short film about a boy named Trevor who had come out. And it was during, I believe, the '70s. And Trevor was ridiculed and harassed and bullied and made some attempts on his life. And, you know, parents tried conversion therapy and all, you know, the upshot was that he did not take his life. And he ended up connecting with someone who was gay, who became a lifeline to him. And it was actually during the Academy Awards, it won for short film, the year that it was, that it was launched. And the Academy organizers decided that when they aired this, you know, information about this short film, they wanted to combine it with something that would actually, um, be a resource for at-risk youth, but nothing existed. So they were like, we are going to— the night of the Academy Awards, we're going to flip a switch and we're going to have trained counselors there on hand to help at-risk LGBTQ youth because there is nothing here in the world for that. And it has been around ever since. And it's 24/7, 365. There are thousands of counselors out there in different capacities working to help at-risk youth. And, um, they've been on my radar now for a while, and I've been, you know, following them. And I've wanted to become involved as a crisis counselor for quite some time, and I had been looking into different agencies. And I really was, was drawn to The Trevor Project because there's like so much intersectionality for me as a human being. Like, I have a daughter who's part of the queer community. I am newly identifying as part of the queer community as pansexual. My father took his life. Um, you know, I, so there are lots of moving parts of the Trevor Project that are so near and dear to me. And, um, you know, I have two, I have two young daughters and like I said, one of them is part of the queer community. And I think as a mom, I would always pray that there were resources out there if my children were ever in a place where they didn't have me or they didn't have Dave or they didn't have a supportive network. And, you know, there are so many kids who are living on the street, who are being abused, who are, you know, drug and alcohol addiction and, and all within the queer community. And those who are suicidal, and they don't have anyone. And having one single human being there to talk to you, to listen to you, can reduce the suicide attempt percentage by 40% in a person. And that's pretty staggering as far as I'm concerned. So, um, I got involved. I looked into what it would take to become a counselor. It's a pretty cumbersome program. I have not had to use my actual thinking brain like this in a really long time. My girls are like, what's for dinner? I'm like, I don't know, I don't have time to cook, I'm studying, you know, ask your dad. So I, like, I have been head down, yeah, doing this now for the last several months. Um, it's been pretty all-consuming but in incredible ways. And I did actually have my last official, um, live— they do something called a live role play where you take kind of all the content that you've learned and you were put in a situation with, um, a kind of a mock, um, caller. Um, and you have to talk to them in the way that you would talk to them if they were, you know, a real at-risk youth. And, um, you know, it's pretty intense and, um, pretty powerful. And so, um, Crossing my fingers for anyone who's not watching this video. I'm crossing my fingers because, um, I'm just very hopeful that I will eventually, um, be able to end up, um, on the line helping some people. Yes. In the very near future.

Oh my goodness. Well, my fingers are crossed and everyone out there, cross your fingers because you are, I mean, I want everyone just to think about it for a second. If your child were in crisis, and you weren't aware, or your child's friend, or just a child. Just imagine the thousands of kids who are being kicked out of their homes, who are homeless, who are, who don't feel, you know, they don't have anyone to talk to. If they could pick up the phone or text on their phone and get you, how cool would that be? Like, you have like the most soothing voice. You have the life experience. I just, yes, I'm putting it out in the universe. You're, you're gonna be on there.

Well, I, uh, like I said, fingers and toes are crossed. Um, I'm really, I'm hopeful. I've definitely been, um, I've worked harder at this than I think I have almost anything else that I can think of. And it, you know, it doesn't matter, like at this point, um, you know, obviously my, my goal is to, you know, to become a counselor and, and be on their system. But like, I just think of what I've learned during this process. Um, you know, I mean, I, I just, because I'm an empathic person by nature, I tend to hold a lot of space for a lot of people. Mm-hmm. And this has taught me a very, very different way of doing that. And I feel like Regardless, there's the takeaways. It's just win-win-win-win for me because of the amount that I've learned. Um, you know, I thought I knew a pretty decent amount about the LGBTQ community or, you know, about interventions or about, you know, just all, all the different, um, types of issues that could be presented. And I'm like, I didn't even know, like I hadn't even scratched the surface in terms of what I've learned. And wow, it's just going to make me a better mom. It's gonna make me a better friend. It's, I think, hopefully a better writer, a better human. So, um, yeah, it's been an unbelievable experience. And, um, it's so funny because they're literally partnering with everybody. Like everybody wants to be partnering with Trevor Project because of the incredible work that they're doing. There's, they're saving thousands of lives. Every single day. And it's, um, I've just never been more excited about anything.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's extraordinary.

Yeah, there are some incredible, incredible people out there, and the people that I've been fortunate enough so far to become connected to through this, the counselors who have helped me and the supervisors and, you know, the others who are kind of training along with me, we do a lot of, um, you know, Zoom workshops and, um, the, just the, the, the people who are a part of this organization are just like some of the, the most beautiful people that I've been able to meet. And, and they're just doing such incredible, powerful work that, um, you know, it's pretty humbling to, to even be going through this with them. So, um, it's good stuff. It's really good stuff.

It is. That, that just makes me so happy. So thank you for sharing that with me and with, with all of my listeners, because I think it's always great to get a little, a little peek and a little bit more understanding of what, what specifically Trevor Project does. But, you know, there are other great organizations out there too, but just knowing is huge. Huge. So thank you, thank you. So we are running up on an hour. Oh my goodness. So I, I know, so fast. It's always fast. I'm wondering if there's anything that you would like to kind of— final thoughts, anything that you would like to end with, that you would like to share? Words of wisdom, um, advice to parents. I'll let the, the floor is yours.

Um, I appreciate that a lot. Um, there's so many different things that come to mind, but I think, you know, if we're, if, if I'm talking as a mom and as someone who has, you know, been creating content in the parenting space now for a really, really long time, in lots of different ways. I think the thing I would want to, to kind of leave hanging in the air as, as we wind up is meet your kids exactly where they are right now, because they are fluid, we are fluid, life is fluid, and we can't bog ourselves down, I don't think, with expectations, because I feel like expectations has a very negative connotation. It means that you're planning something, you're predicting something, you're expecting something. Um, I think the real joy in life comes when you just meet the people who mean the most to you exactly where they are and you embrace them for where they are and you're willing to take the trip with them to see wherever it is that you're going to go and they're going to go. Um, I think, I think that's the best advice I would give anybody.

I love that. Well, and it's so much more enjoyable that way too, isn't it?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, just be, you know, recognize, respect, and appreciate, embrace the fact that we are all a work in progress and we are all supposed to be a work in progress. You know, so much of what I've talked about all these years has to do with kind of embracing your perfectly imperfectness. And that could mean anything. That could mean being a parent, that could mean as your child, that could mean with decisions that you or your family make. It could mean your work life. But when you do that, when you embrace that for what it is, you don't try to make it into something it's not. That's where the growth happens. That's where the, the, the, the juiciest nuggets are. And, and I don't know about you, but those are the nuggets that I want to take in. Those are the ones I want.

Oh my goodness. Every single day, every single day. That is, that's funny. I use a similar phrase, um, embrace the beauty and the messiness, which is right. And it is, I mean, that's where it is like all of that stuff. Oh my goodness. I would take that every day over the alternative.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, the, the, the, the wins, um, and the happy moments and the things that, you know, that we predict that come to pass, those are great. Those are all great. But I don't know, there's something about this, this, the struggle. There's something about the climb, you know? Mm-hmm. What is, is it Miley that says it's all about the climb? And it's true because that's what creates resilience. That's what creates growth, um, and, and makes the space for all of that. And it makes it that much sweeter when you've gone through the muck and the crap, um, and the stuff that didn't go right and you've wound up in a better place in spite of that. That's, you know, That's, that's the, the end game as far as I'm concerned.

Right. Right. Well, and I think too, when you have that, that becomes your mindset, then you can sit through those moments of being really uncomfortable or, you know, when things do just blow up or fall apart or whatever, um, when there's struggle and know, okay, This is impermanent, right? This is— there's a reason. And so just being able to kind of, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go and keep, keep moving forward. And it doesn't feel nearly as— this is like the end of everything.

Yeah.

So awesome. Well, thank you so, so much for being here today. Thank you for reaching out to me. We didn't even talk about our, our serendipitous meeting. But I'm so delighted that we connected and, um, we're just able to make this happen. And I'm just so thrilled, thrilled for you in so many different ways. So there's lots of things we'll have to check in on and see, see where you are.

So, yeah, I would, I would absolutely love that. And, um, this has just been so much fun for me. Um, the couple of times you and I have talked, it's like we've always done this twice a week for 10 years, you know, just, it was just so easy and comfortable and real. And those are the conversations that I love to have the most. So like, thank you. Oh, I appreciate being here. Wow.

It is my great pleasure and I totally agree with you. So this is, this is what makes this so much fun and, and why I continue, continue on, right?

All right.