Kristin Chenoweth, WHAT WILL I DO WITH MY LOVE TODAY?
[0:01]Hi, this is Vivi Owens, and you're listening to the award-winning podcast.
[0:05]Moms don't have time to read books.
[0:07]And speaking of books, I have two of my own books coming out this spring and summer.
[0:12]Princess Charming is a picture book, which debuts on April 19th, and bookends, a memoir
[0:18]of love, loss, and literature.
[0:20]Comes out on July 1st, and it is truly a labor of love.
[0:24]I hope you'll pre-order, order, and join me on tour as I go across the country.
[0:28]You can find out more at ziviowens.com or bookendsmemoir.com, and you can follow me
[0:35]on Instagram at ziviowens, because I always post about everything.
[0:38]Enjoy the show!
[0:41]Hey everyone, I need your help.
[0:43]If you love this podcast, you will love my children's book.
[0:47]It's called Princess Charming, and I am really trying to drum up pre-order sales.
[0:51]You might not know this, but before a book comes out is actually a really important time
[0:55]for the whole book's trajectory.
[0:57]So please pre-order Princess Charming, which comes out April 19th today.
[1:03]Just stop what you're doing and go do that, please.
[1:05]When it arrives on April 19th, you can give it to a loved one in your life, a niece,
[1:11]a grandchild, a child, a student, a kid walking by on the street, anybody.
[1:17]But if you could do this, here is my offer.
[1:20]If you email me your receipt showing me that you bought the book online somewhere and
[1:25]pre-ordered it, email info at ziviowens.com, that's info at ziviowens.com, and I will
[1:33]pick 10 people to do a special giveaway project award to from my new bonfire merch store,
[1:41]which you should also check out, which is the Ziviowens Media Bonfire store, where you can
[1:46]get all sorts of cool t-shirts and tote bags and author sayings and all sorts of great
[1:51]stuff.
[1:52]Or dice a 10 of you are going to get a special care package of your choice from the bonfire
[1:58]store.
[1:59]And I will pick at random from all of you who pre-ordered the book.
[2:02]So if that wasn't clear, go pre-order Princess Charming.
[2:06]Again, it's called Princess Charming.
[2:08]It's my debut picture book.
[2:10]It's really cute and great and it's illustrated by Holly Hadam.
[2:14]And then after you get the receipt, screenshot it or for it to me at info at ziviowens.com,
[2:21]you will be entered to win one of 10 exciting care packages.
[2:26]So go off in order.
[2:28]Thank you so much.
[2:29]Bye.
[2:30]I had the best time interviewing Kristin Chenoweth, who I've been a fan of for a long time.
[2:35]But our conversation, I mean, this is why I do this, the conversations like this where
[2:40]we strip away all the chitchat and just go deep and talk and connect.
[2:45]And I feel so honored to have just gotten a chance to get to know her and talk to her
[2:51]and heard to know me.
[2:52]I don't know.
[2:53]It was just amazing.
[2:54]So anyway.
[2:55]Okay.
[2:56]Kristin Chenoweth is the author of what will I do with my love today, a children's
[3:01]book, Emmy and Tony award winning actress and singer, Kristin Chenoweth's career spans
[3:06]film, television, voiceover, and stage.
[3:09]She received an Emmy award for best supporting actress in a comedy series for her role
[3:13]in pushing daisies, won a Tony award for your a good man Charlie Brown and received a Tony
[3:18]award nomination for her original role of Glinda the Good Witch and the Broadway Smash
[3:23]Hit Wicked, which we talked about in this conversation.
[3:27]Chenoweth has released multiple albums, including the art of elegance and for the girls,
[3:31]and has performed to sold out audiences around the world.
[3:35]Kristin stars in the Apple TV plus musical comedy, Shmigadoon.
[3:39]She also starred in the Netflix comedy, holiday, voice the character Daisy in the HBO
[3:43]Max film The Witches, and host to the Food Network series Candy Land.
[3:47]Kristin remains a passionate supporter of charities, including the Broken Arrow Performing
[3:51]Art Center Foundation in her home state of Oklahoma, where she launched an annual Broadway
[3:56]bootcamp, providing young Broadway hopefuls with the opportunity to learn from mentors in
[4:00]the field.
[4:01]Enjoy our episode.
[4:03]Welcome, Kristin.
[4:04]Thank you so much for coming on mom's.
[4:06]Don't have time to read books to discuss your amazing new children's book.
[4:10]What will I do with my love today, illustrated by Mayn Diaz?
[4:13]Thank you.
[4:14]Thank you for having me.
[4:15]I'm super excited to be able to talk to everybody, especially the moms that don't have
[4:20]time to read a book.
[4:21]Yes, I have four kids.
[4:24]I had no time, and I thought, you know, this would be a good way to help people hear
[4:28]about books that they might not otherwise and, you know, get the backstory.
[4:32]That's so cool.
[4:33]That's so cool of you.
[4:34]Thank you.
[4:35]Thank you.
[4:36]Okay.
[4:37]Well, let's just start with you talking about this amazing book, and then I want to come back
[4:40]to our pre-chat, because that was so interesting.
[4:43]Why did you write this book?
[4:44]Why is this important to you?
[4:46]One of the things that happened on how you felt when the pandemic first hit, I went from
[4:51]180 to zero, and I didn't want to do it with myself, and I thought, what will I do
[4:56]with myself today was what's originally the thought, the question.
[5:00]And my boyfriend now fiance said, just take a beat, maybe you can hear what you're supposed
[5:07]to do.
[5:08]Just take a beat.
[5:09]And I'm one of our walks with fender, my dog.
[5:12]She just, I was feeling pretty low, and she just kind of looked up at me, like all of
[5:15]our pets do, the people who love pets, I understand why me, they come look at you sometimes
[5:20]at your lowest, and I've had a lot of loss this past couple of years, and she just
[5:26]looked at me and just just like, it's going to be okay.
[5:29]And I thought, oh, how can I show you how much I love you?
[5:33]And then the question evolved into, what will I do with this love?
[5:37]What will I do with my love today?
[5:38]I just wanted to share with everybody how the title became, because that's how the book
[5:42]became.
[5:43]I thought it might be a song, but it's in the middle of the night, I have a tendency to
[5:50]a lot of writers of this way.
[5:52]I'm no Shakespeare, but I write in the thoughts down the middle of the night, and then
[5:56]I get up in the morning and go, oh right, that's what I was thinking.
[5:59]So that's how this book was born, and thank goodness it was born, because I have heard
[6:05]from so many people that they have the same relationship with their pet.
[6:11]And also what am I going to do with myself now?
[6:14]How does life look differently?
[6:16]What's going to be important to me now?
[6:19]Mm-hmm.
[6:20]You know, this pandemic has given us time to not just find solutions, but ask the questions
[6:26]that we're scared to ask of ourselves.
[6:29]And that's why I wrote the book, if you want to be honest, it's pretty deep, but that's
[6:33]why I wrote the book.
[6:34]Right there is to not be afraid to ask yourself, ask all anybody, what will I do with
[6:41]myself today?
[6:42]How am I going to leave this world in a better place?
[6:44]Again, I'm scared, I'm a scared writer because I'm not you.
[6:48]I'm not her.
[6:49]I don't want to be great, except I want to get my message across.
[6:54]How can I do that in rhyme and with the way I want it to be heard?
[7:00]So that in conjunction with my lovely illustrator, Mayan Diaz, who I just loved, I thought
[7:08]she would just nail it.
[7:09]Like I picked up some people and I just went, thank you, I just went right there too
[7:14]were amazing.
[7:15]So that's how the book came and I'm so glad I did it and I'd love to do another one.
[7:20]I'd love it to be a sequel, you know?
[7:21]I love it to be like, I love it to keep going and and I have to tell you something.
[7:26]It's sort of happening naturally, so that's great.
[7:29]It's amazing.
[7:30]By the way, yes, I love the deep.
[7:32]Let's definitely, I mean, I've also had a lot of loss in my life and I feel like it
[7:37]deletes a lot of the need for the non-important stuff, right?
[7:42]And that's, I think that's why I also relate so well to this book, right?
[7:45]Because you do, we all have limited time, right?
[7:48]We don't have all the time in the world.
[7:50]There's no promise.
[7:51]There's no promise for tomorrow and what you just said is because the loss and pain and
[7:56]even where we are in our world today.
[7:59]Yeah.
[8:00]Easy to let that, you said it perfectly and if I may steal that from you, I'll give you
[8:03]credit.
[8:04]It's easy to delete, allow it to delete the good things, the good times, the blessings.
[8:10]Thank you for that.
[8:12]Thank you for that.
[8:13]Needed that today.
[8:14]No problem.
[8:16]And by the way, I don't know if you can see my dog on the floor.
[8:18]I don't lack, but anyway, I am also a huge dog lover.
[8:22]You leaned over and there was like, I was like, is that an animal?
[8:25]It is an animal.
[8:28]It's so funny, before COVID, I interviewed an author named Michelle Weinstein and her
[8:32]whole book was about someone who had a big loss in her life and the dog stepped forward
[8:37]as like the main comfort and that was like the source of our, and at that time, I didn't
[8:40]have a dog and I was like, oh, that's so amazing and her whole thing was done.
[8:44]So during the pandemic and not to, I will go back to you in one second, I want to talk
[8:49]about.
[8:50]I love it.
[8:51]During the pandemic, my husband's mom and grandmother both passed away and from COVID and
[8:56]my mother-in-law was only 63 and beautiful and in perfect health and it was horrific
[9:01]a six week drawn out awful process.
[9:04]So when she, when she died, we actually adopted her dog, which is who Nia is and from when
[9:09]I went down to Duke to the hospital, where they finally were allowed to see her just to
[9:13]say goodbye.
[9:14]Nia sat on the bed with me and while I sat there just waiting and since that moment,
[9:19]she has not left my side.
[9:21]Okay, this is, this is what we're talking about today.
[9:25]This is just a conduit to this conversation.
[9:28]You have a little piece of her with you and if, if I may and my God, what bigger blessing
[9:36]could there be you, you have that beautiful, but furry baby, that's where I call them.
[9:41]And you're, it's your mother-in-law, you're talking about right.
[9:43]Mm-hmm.
[9:44]It reminds you every day in the best possible way, what true love is and how it continues
[9:50]on.
[9:51]I'm glad for your loss and yet thank you for sharing that story.
[9:54]A lot of us need to hear it.
[9:56]No, it's fine, but when you said you have had a lot of loss.
[10:00]It's a special place in the world for people who have that fresh loss and who automatically
[10:06]can rethink and can connect to how important, like what's really important.
[10:13]What you really are important.
[10:15]Yeah.
[10:16]And that's what your book does so well, right?
[10:17]Because part of what's important is you realize love, that's really the most important
[10:22]thing of all is who you love, your relationships with them, right?
[10:26]Yes.
[10:27]And thank you so much for understanding because I look for ways, I'm lucky, and you
[10:34]are to it.
[10:35]Anybody that's artistic, we get to put it out that way, even if this want to be printed
[10:41]ever, I would still have gotten to do it and have it.
[10:45]As artists, particularly, we have a duty, it's almost an, it's almost a requirement
[10:52]to get it out.
[10:54]There, anything happens with it or not.
[10:57]And this whole time period, and I hate to say it, and we just keep rolling into new stuff,
[11:02]right?
[11:03]That's fine.
[11:04]It's a part to talk about the state of our world and to see so much hate in the world,
[11:11]to concentrate on the word love, it battles hate better than any other word I know.
[11:19]And that's why, and you're going to know, what's the, what is the, the exact term for
[11:23]a word sounding like what it is, like that's what I think love is, love sounds like
[11:28]what it is like on a Monopoea, or whatever, I don't want to be it, that's what the word
[11:33]love is to me.
[11:35]And I, anyway, yeah, yes, everything you said did oh, and times 10, like, you understand.
[11:46]It's like a, there's a problem and you said this like a club you don't want to be a part
[11:51]of or something like the bad, you know.
[11:53]I lost my best time this year, you know, right when it started, I'm so sorry.
[11:59]Thank you.
[12:00]And 50, no, 49, saying like you think so young, not ready, it wasn't time, but you
[12:08]know, this is why we, this is what we're talking about when, what will I do with my
[12:12]love today?
[12:13]That's all you can do is show love for yourself when you mess up.
[12:18]That's important too.
[12:19]Forgive yourself when you mess up and then move on.
[12:23]Yeah.
[12:24]But another piece of the story too in your book is about helping other people, right,
[12:30]helping, giving back, paying attention to everyone in the world, right, being aware that
[12:35]we're all so interconnected and the energy you kind of put out into the world is so important,
[12:41]right?
[12:42]Like you're saying like you have to put all this out there and I completely agree, like
[12:47]that's all you can do is sort of like, it's as if, you know, it's like an Instagram
[12:51]live with all the hearts.
[12:52]You're like pressing the heart, heart, heart, heart button and that they're just like
[12:54]flowing from you, right?
[12:56]Oh, it leads you.
[12:58]And also your mom, you understand I'm not a mom, but I'm a mother, if that makes sense.
[13:04]I have several kids I take care of and no, I'm not 24 seven mom.
[13:08]I don't have your job.
[13:09]I do not.
[13:10]And that's to me the most important job on this, on this planet for parents.
[13:17]I do have this dog and I do take her everywhere with me because I need her with me a lot.
[13:25]If there is something to the word rescue, see words, I'm not a word Smith, but I just love
[13:31]them.
[13:32]And as an adopted person myself getting to adopt a dog and having us sort of get each
[13:41]other in a way, we're both little rescues.
[13:46]And I wanted to help other people too, the adoption isn't really the theme, the book, well,
[13:51]it didn't start out that way.
[13:53]It's now become like, hey, this book is about adoption and rescue.
[13:56]I'm like, you know what it is.
[13:58]I didn't set out that to be that one.
[14:00]Anything you wanted to be.
[14:02]Yeah, it kind of is and it's also we're just people want to be loved by somebody
[14:11]that sees us.
[14:12]There's something I'm learning from the younger generation.
[14:14]They want to be seen.
[14:15]Okay.
[14:16]And I say this because I was the woman, you know, going rolling your eyes at 50, I want
[14:22]to be seen.
[14:23]I want to be heard.
[14:24]You know what?
[14:25]Stop that.
[14:26]Get out there and work your butt off.
[14:27]And then let's talk.
[14:28]No, no, no.
[14:29]Now I get it.
[14:30]I get it.
[14:31]The problems today are different than the problems that were 20, 30 years ago.
[14:36]There's instantaneous gratification or dissatisfaction with these things.
[14:41]I totally stand corrected.
[14:44]And they all of us, not just they, but especially they because there are next generation
[14:49]need to be seen.
[14:51]They need to be heard.
[14:53]They have lots to learn and we have lots to give, but they have lots to teach and we need
[14:59]to hear it.
[15:01]So all of this package into this tiny little, tiny little book that didn't even set
[15:08]out to say or be any of that just happened.
[15:13]That's why as a writer, when I write a song, for example, I think, oh, the song is going
[15:18]to be about this.
[15:19]I do this a lot.
[15:20]Whoa.
[15:21]The song's not about that.
[15:23]I am writing it.
[15:24]Like I was completely wrong.
[15:26]So especially to anybody listening out there who is an artist, a reminder, not, I'm not
[15:32]a teacher.
[15:33]I'm a reminder to not put yourself in a box, not to put yourself in a box.
[15:41]Because I set out to write a song and what came out was a children's book.
[15:45]So for whatever that's worth for your listenership, for whatever that's worth, I mean,
[15:51]it could still be a song.
[15:53]It might just be, I'm going to be reading this at a lot of very fancy places coming
[15:58]up.
[15:59]And my music director, the woman that goes on the tour with me and she's, her name is Mary
[16:04]Mitchell Campbell.
[16:05]She's Broadway royalty.
[16:08]She said, I feel like there's a song there and I went, okay, okay.
[16:11]And then you just said that.
[16:12]So I'm listening again to all the songs.
[16:15]Why can't there be?
[16:16]Yeah.
[16:17]Why can't there be?
[16:18]Yeah.
[16:19]Nice accompaniment.
[16:20]Yeah, great.
[16:21]Yeah, it would be great.
[16:22]I actually have a children's book coming out on April 19th.
[16:25]Yeah, it's called, it's called Princess Charming and it's about a girl who just can't
[16:29]find her thing and she keeps like messing up everything she tries and can't figure out
[16:33]what she's good at.
[16:34]And then she realizes what she's really the best at is not giving up at whatever she
[16:38]fits her mind to.
[16:39]Oh, and then there's like a funny twist at the end and yeah, I'm excited.
[16:44]So I'm particularly aware of.
[16:46]Oh, wait, I want to definitely, I probably love that book.
[16:51]Oh, I was asking for it.
[16:52]Yes.
[16:53]Yes.
[16:54]Yes.
[16:55]But because of that, like I can be, I'm so attuned to every decision that goes into
[17:00]the books, right?
[17:01]And what goes on the cover and like the little imagery and like how amazing your end
[17:06]papers are and just all the things that go into it and everything on every page.
[17:10]I mean, I didn't know you were adopted to be honest before, I mean, you know, I've
[17:15]been a fan from afar watching you on stage and, you know, wicked and oh my gosh.
[17:19]By the way, there's a song and wicked about losing a friend that I, when I lost my, not
[17:24]to keep talking.
[17:25]I also lost my best friend on 9-11 and during like soon after that, I went and saw wicked.
[17:29]I can't remember exactly when, but that was the song that I would play over and over again.
[17:33]Good.
[17:34]No one I'm talking about.
[17:35]Yes.
[17:36]It's called for good.
[17:37]Yes, for good.
[17:38]For good.
[17:39]But I don't know.
[17:40]Now that you're in the friendless thing, that happened to have been the song that was most
[17:42]powerful for me at that time.
[17:44]Well, it's not about friendship.
[17:46]It's all about love, forgiveness, it's all about what we look for and our relationship.
[17:50]So of course that, of course that stuck to you.
[17:53]Yeah.
[17:54]Yeah.
[17:55]But anyway, so I saw you from afar, but not, I didn't know about your adoption.
[17:57]So I found it particularly interesting to learn of that, but also that it was, I don't
[18:03]think you hit people over the head with it at all.
[18:06]It was subtle and like, you know, you just sort of, it was just introduced in passing and
[18:11]I don't know.
[18:12]I think because for me, I forget, first of all, thank you for bringing it up.
[18:15]I don't lead with that because I don't think about it because I'm me.
[18:20]Yeah.
[18:21]It's like me saying to you every day, I'm four for the leaven, I'm four for the leaven,
[18:24]I'm four for the leaven.
[18:25]Of course, I know it, people that around, you know, I'm little, but I don't think about
[18:29]it every day.
[18:30]Of course, I know I have a funny speaking voice, but I don't lead with that.
[18:33]I just, it's part of who I am.
[18:35]So the adoption, yeah, I didn't, like I said, I didn't mean to make it about that.
[18:42]But I think there's a lot of people in this life that need to hear it.
[18:45]And even people who feel lost, not just that I was adopted as a baby and the way it happened,
[18:53]which is another book, which is, which was a miracle, but that I have this dog who, again,
[19:00]I go back to thunder and thinking, oh, I'm that crazy dog lady now.
[19:06]Like I've seen people on the street and now I'm her and it's okay.
[19:11]But there is one passage in the book, for me, passage.
[19:15]I use poetry, quotations.
[19:18]I love this, this my favorite part of the whole book and one of the reasons I was so happy
[19:22]when I got it down in the way I wanted it to be heard.
[19:26]And you know what I'm talking about because the, the rhymes and the sequence.
[19:30]You see thunder families don't all look the same or talk like each other or have the
[19:34]same name, sometimes extra love in your heart and your home is waiting for somebody who's
[19:40]is all alone.
[19:41]No matter how life has brought us together, adoption means family and families forever.
[19:46]We've had lots of love in our family before, but with youth under pup, we can have even
[19:50]more.
[19:51]And I guess what I'm trying to say here is love breeds love, that's it, that's true.
[20:00]but it's so important.
[20:01]I mean, it's really, I mean, it's simple, but not
[20:05]because so many people still don't get it.
[20:08]I know, honey, I know.
[20:10]That's why we as artists, when I say we have a responsibility
[20:13]and I don't mean that with any sort of arrogance.
[20:17]I just mean there's no responsibility to say what's in your heart,
[20:21]especially put out good in the world.
[20:23]Whether it's through a song, a book, a painting,
[20:27]it's a responsibility.
[20:28]And I believe that's why God gave certain people,
[20:31]certain gifts.
[20:32]Notice I'm not in a math lab, I'm not a surgeon.
[20:35]You know, I'm not a very good driver.
[20:37]Me neither.
[20:38]Oh my God.
[20:39]Thank you, thank you.
[20:40]I speed way too much.
[20:42]So I'm doing what it is I'm supposed to be doing.
[20:45]You were supposed to be doing and thunder
[20:49]is doing her little job.
[20:51]And yeah, it's, I love getting deep,
[20:54]especially with something that seems so little.
[20:58]And so like nothing.
[21:02]This probably took me more time to ride than anything
[21:06]I've ever done because I didn't,
[21:08]I just wanted to say it in a way, in a certain rhyme.
[21:12]And actually I have a woman that helped me.
[21:16]And she just, she said,
[21:18]Joanie Rogers is her name, whatever I write,
[21:20]something I always want her to look over it
[21:22]because I'm trying to be respectful and well spoken.
[21:27]And she just said, there's really not a lot
[21:29]to change her Kristin or work on because I've got to get
[21:32]but it took me two years and two years.
[21:34]Oh my gosh.
[21:35]Well, it really, I mean, it's really good.
[21:38]It really works.
[21:39]It gives you the chills and XE smile and all the good things.
[21:43]All the feels.
[21:44]All the feels, yes, right.
[21:45]That's what I'm supposed to say.
[21:47]Wait, you spoke in the beginning
[21:48]that you've been going through some vertigo
[21:50]and stuff lately.
[21:51]What's that been like?
[21:52]Well, anybody out there that knows what many years
[21:54]disease and or vertigo or ringing in the ears,
[21:58]all of those things are sisters to each other
[22:00]or brothers, depending on how you look at it.
[22:02]It doesn't matter.
[22:03]I had that, I had many years.
[22:05]It is Virgo accompanied with ringing and balance issues.
[22:11]And when I've looked back upon my life
[22:13]about when it's really been bad as an adult
[22:16]is when it kind of in my 20s,
[22:18]it's accompanied with a migraine a lot of times,
[22:20]thank goodness for Botox, by the way,
[22:22]because that's, that is the truth.
[22:24]I mean, I have made the decision long ago
[22:26]when I found out that it worked.
[22:28]I was like, do you want to be able to move your face?
[22:30]Or do you want to be able to move at all?
[22:32]I'm like, I think I'll choose B.
[22:34]So Botox is really helped with,
[22:37]it's helped in a lot of places now that I want it to,
[22:39]but it's helped all over the head with migraine triggers.
[22:42]So all of this to say is flying.
[22:45]I don't drink a lot of alcohol anyway,
[22:47]but that's something to watch, low sodium,
[22:50]something to watch, but I'm having it right now.
[22:51]And sometimes here's the lesson, here's the thing.
[22:54]Sometimes you can do everything just right,
[22:57]just like you're supposed to, and it's still gonna happen.
[23:01]Sometimes you can do, you know you're walking at fine line,
[23:05]oh, I'm getting on another flight
[23:06]and I'm having this too much salt here, and you don't get it.
[23:10]So the lesson is do your best,
[23:13]give into it when it happens so that you can get over it.
[23:16]It's an interesting, of all things to have as an artist.
[23:20]I said to my mom not long ago,
[23:22]well, now it's been a couple of years,
[23:23]but I said if I could just cut off one of my fingers
[23:27]and more like this again.
[23:29]And she goes, who are you to say
[23:33]that you're not gonna have a certain something?
[23:35]Everybody has their crap.
[23:38]Here's just happens to be the inner ear.
[23:41]And she's right, she's right.
[23:45]I bet I wouldn't say that if I were a guitarist.
[23:47]She's just really, she's been such a great influence
[23:50]as far as injury, sickness, and healing.
[23:54]Like who are you to be so special to not have something?
[23:58]Everybody has something.
[24:00]I'm like, but nobody can see it.
[24:02]And it's not that I want to be ready,
[24:03]but it's inside my ear.
[24:05]She's like, co-porter.
[24:07]Let's look at all of my,
[24:09]she goes, look for everybody who's ever had this problem
[24:13]and then we kind of started talking.
[24:15]She goes, what do you think about Van Gogh?
[24:17]I mean, do you think he chopped off his ear?
[24:18]Because maybe he couldn't, the ringing,
[24:20]maybe he had, I mean, who knows?
[24:22]It's just an interesting question to ask of oneself,
[24:27]is why not me?
[24:30]Why not me?
[24:31]I'm no special or different than anybody else.
[24:35]Everybody's got their crap.
[24:36]Right, but on the other side,
[24:38]it is interfering with one of your God-given gifts, right?
[24:41]That's what it does.
[24:43]It does, it brings me to my knees.
[24:46]And for me, it's prayer, meditation,
[24:49]for other people's different things.
[24:51]But when I start to really focus in
[24:53]and just hone in on it and relax and calm down,
[24:57]be still all the things that we're supposed to do.
[25:00]Actually, when we pray or meditate,
[25:02]I can sometimes get over it.
[25:05]For example, I am flying tonight.
[25:08]And I'm in a very good spot right now.
[25:10]Being very careful with how I move.
[25:13]And I'm gonna be so in a prayerful mode
[25:16]when I get on that plane.
[25:18]Want anything to disrupt it or make it weird again?
[25:21]But it might, but it's worth it to me to try.
[25:24]Because again, I don't know how much
[25:26]not to get morbid.
[25:28]I don't know how long we are here.
[25:30]So I wanna keep continuing to live and try.
[25:34]If it were yesterday, I couldn't have been.
[25:37]So this is all, now at this point in my life,
[25:42]all these things that I'm receiving, like,
[25:44]why this and why that is now,
[25:47]why not calm down, relax your of a certain age,
[25:52]chill out, you've been blessed, you've worked your butt off,
[25:56]continue to do what you love.
[25:58]These are all things that keep coming in,
[25:59]like little zappers in my brain.
[26:02]You know what I mean?
[26:03]I know what you mean, but it still stinks, and I'm sorry.
[26:07]Thank you.
[26:08]So thank you.
[26:09]Very unfortunate.
[26:10]I had vertigo for, like, one week.
[26:12]And I was like, how do people live with this
[26:14]when I had COVID?
[26:15]Oh, God, please tell.
[26:17]Yeah, it's awful.
[26:18]It's awful.
[26:19]I literally was like, I can't believe it.
[26:20]And I thought back on all the books I'd read
[26:22]about people with chronic pain and chronic vertigo.
[26:24]And I was just like, oh my gosh.
[26:27]And so I can't believe it.
[26:29]Like, how disruptive it is.
[26:31]It's completely disruptive.
[26:34]That's the word.
[26:35]That is the word.
[26:36]And today, even, I want to look great for you and everything.
[26:41]And I want to, but I thought, you know what?
[26:43]Here I am.
[26:43]I've got a ring line around me.
[26:45]And I'm just happy to be on the call.
[26:48]And so this is it, people.
[26:50]This is it right here.
[26:52]And I think I said to you before the interview.
[26:55]It's OK if you don't want to video it.
[26:57]Not much will be shown.
[26:58]I said, you know what?
[26:59]It's OK.
[27:00]I want people to see the good, badly ugly.
[27:03]I show that what my hair and makeup team can do all the time.
[27:07]And that's the fact.
[27:08]Maybe that's maybe that's graduating a little bit.
[27:12]Maybe I feel like I've graduated and I'm like, eh,
[27:14]this is the real thing.
[27:16]And maybe it's not pretty or happy, but it's alive.
[27:20]First of all, I mean, you're a beautiful person,
[27:23]but it's mostly from the inside.
[27:26]And that sounds cheesy.
[27:27]But you know, I'm certainly not here for your hair
[27:29]and makeup right there.
[27:31]If I wanted to go see you in hair and makeup,
[27:33]I'd go to, I know where to find you, right?
[27:37]This is this podcast.
[27:38]This is about the inside.
[27:40]This is about what we think and feel,
[27:41]not what we look like.
[27:42]So thank you, and that's just her.
[27:45]So well, thank you so much, Kristen.
[27:47]This has been so nice.
[27:49]Thank you for being so open and real.
[27:51]And it's so personally refreshing
[27:54]to be able to just connect and find when people are
[27:57]on the same wavelength and really get it.
[28:00]Same girl, same, so very rare.
[28:03]And stay safe, take care of that dog,
[28:06]and all those kids.
[28:07]You too.
[28:08]Thank you so much.
[28:09]I'll be getting the book, Princess Charming.
[28:11]Yes.
[28:12]I'm actually already like, that's the song.
[28:16]Anyway, take it, write it.
[28:19]I like it.
[28:20]Make it, read it.
[28:21]Oh, you're so sweet.
[28:23]I can't wait.
[28:23]Okay.
[28:25]Thank you.
[28:25]Bye.
[28:26]Bye.
[28:27]Thanks for listening to this episode of Moms.
[28:29]Don't have time to read books.
[28:31]Don't forget to follow me on Instagram, at Zebioans,
[28:34]and at Moms, don't have time to read books.
[28:36]Also sign up for my newsletter at zebioans.com
[28:39]and sign up for my virtual book club
[28:40]and meet lots of authors on Zoom every other week.
[28:43]Thanks so much to Steve and Ryan,
[28:44]at Textures Sound, for the Sound Editing.
[28:47]And thank you to Morning Moon Productions
[28:49]for providing this fantastic intro and outro music.