This week on Yes But Why, I talk to Katerina Chingoli, a writer and singer from Malawi in Africa.

I connected with Katerina after I saw a sponsored ad for the Facebook page she has promoting her blog, Kacey’s Corner. I was really impressed that she had marketed herself so well so I contacted her to see if she wanted to be on the show! And thankfully, she was delighted to do so!

During our chat, I learned so much more about Katerina! She has been writing songs since she was 12 years old and playing guitar since she was 15. She has a natural talent for music and she loves to sing but performing in front of large crowds is a little scary. Thankfully, the recording studio has just the right amount of people because now she has a song called “She,” that you can download for free immediately!

In our conversation, we talk about Katerina’s drive to write. We talk about where she finds inspiration and what drives her to create. Katerina regularly puts up poetry and short stories on her blog, Kacey’s Corner, and she says she tries to post at least 3 times a week. Now that’s dedication!

Katerina also wrote a book called The Vagina Diaries, which is a fictional story about one girl and her chat with her vagina. We talk about the book and how it all started as a reaction to the sexual abuse women endure.

I’m excited to share Katerina and her talents with you all! Support this amazing new artist!

Download her new empowering track, “She,” RIGHT NOW!

And BUY HER BOOK, The Vagina Diaries!

 

Yes But Why Podcast is a proud member of the HC Universal Network family of podcasts. Download the FREE HC Universal Network app for Android and iDevices or visit us at HCUniversalNetwork.com and join the fun! 

This episode of Yes But Why podcast is sponsored by audible – get your FREE audiobook download and your 30 day free trial at http://www.audibletrial.com/YESBUTWHY. 

This episode of Yes But Why is also sponsored by PodcastCadet.com. Swing on by PodcastCadet.com to get help for all your podcasting needs! Go to PodcastCadet.com and put in offer code YBY20 to get 20% off your first consultation!

Click to play OR right click to download

 

(production notes: recorded Zoom call with Rodecaster at the home studio on 7/13/2020)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRANSCRIPT by Otter.ai

HOST  00:00

Hello, Yes But Why listeners, this is your host, Amy Jordan.   Welcome to episode 226 – my interview with African writer / singer, Katerina Chingoli.   But first, let’s hear about our sponsors.   This episode of Yes But Why podcast is sponsored by audible. You can get your FREE audiobook download and your 30 day free trial at audibletrial.com/YESBUTWHY.   In my conversation with Katerina, we talk about the experience she had recording her song “She” in the studio. SO let’s look up “recording music” on Audible and see what we get.  Ok a couple biographies of different music scenes. Cool cool. A couple how to set up your at home recording studio books. And a BEVY of books about listening to these brainwave tracks and getting better at life. Hmm I got to look into that now!  Audible is available for your iPhone, Android, or Kindle. Download your free audiobook today at audibletrial.com/YESBUTWHY.  This episode of Yes But Why is also sponsored by PodcastCadet.com. Swing on by PodcastCadet.com to get help for all your podcasting needs!   And hey, you guys, Podcast Cadet is me and my husband and our connections within the podcasting production scene. We want to help you get started with your podcast and we want to connect you to resources to keep getting better with every new episode.   Go to PodcastCadet.com and put in offer code YBY20 to get 20% off your first consultation!  This week on Yes But Why, I talk to African writer / singer, Katerina Chingoli.  During our chat, we talk about how Katerina finds inspiration and what drives her to create. Katerina regularly puts up poetry and short stories on her blog, Kacey’s Corner and she recently wrote a book called the Vagina Diaries.   I’m excited to share Katerina and her talents with you all!   I now present to you – Yes But Why episode 226 – Katerina Chingoli empowers women with her poetry and music.

 

02:18

I’m Amy Jordan.

 

02:20

And this is Yes But Why Podcast

 

02:24

Yeah.

 

GUEST  02:38

I was around 12 years old. I had a certain interest in songwriting. And I read somebody so visually and always entertained with me every single day when we came together to chat as family. At the end, that’s the first time that I realized that I had this passion in me for it. Did

 

HOST  03:00

oh so did you write songs that your family sung?

 

GUEST  03:04

Well, they never sang them. I did the singing it was like I am the entertainer, you know performing for them.

 

03:11

Oh yeah. Nice.

 

GUEST  03:14

Yeah.

 

HOST  03:16

Did a little shows for them? Did they like

 

GUEST  03:18

Miley Cyrus Miley Cyrus was like Okay guys, I was slowing everybody watch me

 

HOST  03:26

awesome. A classic opening same same I definitely had every time my mom had dinner parties I would sneak out of my bedroom and be doing you know song and dance numbers for the people for the stay away from my mom. Oh yeah. That’s so funny. Good. Awesome. So you wrote little songs for them and, and and that’s how you got started. Do you still tell me do you continue? Did you continue to do music as you got older?

 

GUEST  03:55

Yes, I actually did. I’m actually working on a few songs. Right now in the studio. Awesome.

 

HOST  04:04

Awesome. So you really like, got into songwriting and you really work on it. That’s great. Awesome,

 

GUEST  04:11

huh?

 

HOST  04:12

What about it? Do you like

 

GUEST  04:14

the fact that I can write what I want? And I can use it in music, I can sing about it. I can express how I feel about things I can express how I feel about the world, and so many things. That’s what I love about it.

 

HOST  04:33

Do you think that songs are a better way to communicate what you’re trying to get out?

 

GUEST  04:38

With the poetry sometimes people get lazy to read and prefer maybe spoken word so that it’s more interesting and they can exactly hear the tone that I wrote it in? Well, the song, you know, the beat, the way I’m seeing it, the coordination will tell you exactly what my emotions like. You know, yeah.

 

HOST  05:02

Plus music is so, so much easier to like, soak up like you were saying people get lazy when they read, but like, but like you hear a song, you know, people hear the song they sing. They sing the same song over and over and over, right? It doesn’t matter that they could they’re not going to read the same book over and over and over, but they’ll certainly listen to the same song. Interesting. So did you study like instruments and stuff when you were a kid? Do you play instruments or is it you singing and you know, you got your brothers and sisters to be the band.

 

GUEST  05:41

I came on we played the guitar.

 

HOST  05:44

Hanging the guitar is pretty solid. I can’t play the guitar.

 

GUEST  05:50

Really, you can play any instruments no look like the type can play instruments.

 

HOST  05:57

It’s nice. I like that. I’m gonna put that on my website. She looks like the time to play instruments. I don’t know, I got the I use my mouth. And that is what I do to get people to laugh and enjoy themselves. And I don’t even say I just talk. So I don’t even have the beauty of singing and the talent of playing a guitar. No, no, I just, I just make weird faces and they’re like, kind of I shouldn’t she seems okay. But so just say you. You say you’re surprised that I don’t play guitar, but like, does everybody you know play guitar?

 

GUEST  06:41

No, they do.

 

HOST  06:43

Like, if you were like, yes, no,

 

GUEST  06:47

no,

 

HOST  06:49

1. So how’d you learn? Like Did you take classes with somebody or does your family teach you,

 

GUEST  06:55

um, actually took a class with the wordles The performance here world on performance. His name is Patrick Seymour qualia a very well known guitarist. So what happened is, I think he came over to the house. And we brought his guitar and I was about 15. And then I just took it and then I was just, you know, playing around with it. And we say, do you want to learn because you look like you would like to learn? And they said, Yeah, and I didn’t find it hard at all to play it. Like the moment he told me what to do. It just came naturally. And I was like, Oh, so there’s that.

 

HOST  07:33

That’s nice, man that’s smooth. I really enjoy it. I’ve definitely heard the opposite stories from people where they’re like, and then I worked six years to figure out how to play guitar. I love that it came naturally for you and it felt good. There’s something really nice about you know, connecting with music in that way, especially it being sort of a natural flow of you know what you can expect Press fan. So do you write your own music and everything to you like at home composing with your guitar, and writing your music and the lyrics as well.

 

GUEST  08:11

Um, when it comes to my music, I do use my guitar. I just use the harmony made the melody. And then I go to my producer friends and I say, Hey, I have this song that I’m writing it goes like this and then they just start to try to make a beat and then call some musical guys to put in some instruments and then we have a beat and we have a soul.

 

HOST  08:40

That’s so fun. What a fun community that you have. Are these just like friends of yours that you like, connected with to collaborate, or did they like hear you or see your writing and say like, hey, come work with us?

 

GUEST  08:54

Well, we were not friends. Though when we first met happened when I was with one of my friends who also sings and then they were like hey try like freestyle on this beat and then I did that and then there was okay to say whenever you need to use a studio whenever you need to be whenever you write a song just come to us and we’ll help you out.

 

HOST  09:19

Wow, that’s awesome. That’s so nice. Those dinners

 

GUEST  09:22

it’s very rare because this slide studio type is kind of pricey so

 

HOST  09:28

char sure absolutely. Wow, that’s so great that you’re able to make that connection and they probably saw some talent in you so they wanted to you know, help you out with that. Have you recorded a few things with them or you mostly just go over there and play?

 

GUEST  09:44

No, we actually recorded I’ve got a project coming up titled Love, love is evil. evil in this loves backwards, not evil, like evil, but love is evil as an evil spot. God’s love is love, you know?

 

10:01

Yeah.

 

HOST  10:03

It’s funny because when you said it, I totally, I totally saw the spelling. Like I got it. When you said it the first time in this like, you just like communicated it so awesome. You’re great. Oh, that’s great.

 

GUEST  10:18

What do you mean Love is not is a beautiful thing like, I haven’t even told you the rest yet.

 

HOST  10:24

You’re like, Wait, hold on, give me a second. It’s a visual situation. It’ll make for great t shirts. Plus, come on Love is a little a little evil, you know with eval. Mmm, that’s so great that you got connected to those producers. Now, have you been making your own even writing your own songs Previous to that or was it like, you know, you played with your family and it was sort of like an at home situation and then you happened upon this opportunity with your other friend.

 

GUEST  11:03

Um, it just used to be fun and games until I met them. Then I started to write again, that’s with the songs because already I was writing poetry and some stories, then the songwriting is just reset. You know?

 

HOST  11:18

That’s so great. Yeah. That’s so nice when you’re sort of in a, in one creative headspace to be opened up to something else, especially something that like, sounds like it was so natural for you to do when you were a kid. One of the things I like to say, you know, when I talk to people that are, you know, like blocked is think about what you did when you were a kid. Because as a kid, we don’t have any of the baggage that like adulthood puts on us, you know, we don’t have to pay bills or deal with the real world or anything. And so yeah, who that person is who you are. That’s the essence the like, baby. essence of you. So it’s so great that like this thing that you had fun doing when you were a kid with your friends and your and your family, you know is something that can come back right now?

 

GUEST  12:13

Yes.

 

HOST  12:15

How long have you been doing your blog? I’ve read through some of the poetry that you have on your blog. How long have you been putting that up?

 

GUEST  12:23

It’s been about a year and seven months now. Yeah, around that time.

 

HOST  12:29

How does that feel when you put stuff up? Like releasing it?

 

GUEST  12:32

Sometimes I’m scared like, Am I good enough? Am I going to touch them when they read? There’s like so many things. Then. I just tell myself, hey, you’ve done your best. Put it out there. People read people enjoy it. It doesn’t matter if it’s one person, three people. It’s out there. You’ve done your part, you know?

 

HOST  12:51

Yeah. So what, what inspires you to do your writing what keeps you going when you’re when you’re developing thing your poems, or do they just come to you every day?

 

GUEST  13:04

Sometimes they just come to me. Other times, it comes from the things that have been around me, like, my friends, my family, even just people in a community, like I could just be walking, and I’m going to see a homeless person sitting down and you know, they look so hungry, they look depressed, you know, they need help, but people are just passing by. nobody’s paying attention to him. And then like, wow, what if that was me? Like, what would I say to God? What would I think about myself? And then so Dr. Nick, okay. Motivation, inspiration. Yeah, stuff like that.

 

HOST  13:44

Plus, even just from your example, it’s a great motivator for compassion. You know, like you’re not just looking at this person and like judging them for whatever’s gone on in their life, like, oh, man, I can’t believe they got there. But you’re allowed Trying to imagine what would I do if I were put in that position? There’s something so much more empathic about artists when they’re able to, you know, look at the other people that way and see, like, Well, how do they feel? Yeah. What’s your writing process? Like?

 

GUEST  14:20

I usually use my laptop or my phone. So, okay. I make sure it’s quiet. Because unlike some people, I cannot work around noise. really quiet. And then I sometimes it’s crazy, but I have a bunch of papers around me, right? Yeah, so it could be one topic. But there could be different ways or styles I can write it so each paper will have its own little sentence. Maybe I’ll start a sentence with maybe 10 words in one image. be one with five words and then another just have a phrase and then go on like that. And then and then is it the end of it all? Yes mix it up together to form a piece. Hmm.

 

HOST  15:12

So a lot of times so it’s like it’s like you’re you’re making like a mixtape sorry, that is an old reference. I’m terribly sorry for that one. You’re like what’s a mixtape? It’s like a mix of something right where you’re, you’re picking the the phrases from around you. So do you have like a notebook that you just write phrases in when they occur to you and then you like put them together and in one piece? one long pole? Yeah.

 

GUEST  15:39

If I’m not, if I’m not on my phone, I do have enough to go around with Oh, always have it?

 

HOST  15:47

Yeah. Well, you mentioned the papers all around you. So I figured it was. I figured it was like you’re writing little bits in notebooks makes me think of when I was younger. I did stand up comedy. And had I have hundreds of books of little notebooks of just like ideas written down on every single page. So I really liked the idea that you use all your ideas. Thank you. Well, because there’s something to be said about, like, you know, when people say, you know, you’ll be working on something, and sometimes you write 1000 ideas, and you use one of those ideas. And they’re like, what about those other ideas that you didn’t use? And my argument is usually, like, they’re good, because they got you to where you need to go. Like, it’s not it’s not that you have to use them. It’s that they inspire you. You know, but I really enjoy the idea of this sort of like patchwork quilt of ideas that you have, that you put together into sort of like, this is what’s going on with me right now. This is what I’ve been thinking about. Reminds me of like a folk song. Like a long story song, like a long folk song or Like I did this, and then I did that. And then I learned this now like a song where it’s like, you know, a chorus and like some repetitive stuff. But just because it’s like, I imagine what you’ve written is like how you’ve been inspired over the course of like a week or something like that. And then you’re like, picking up the pieces, finding out what the puzzle is, how did you come to that style?

 

GUEST  17:22

Um, honestly, it just came like, I don’t have any explanation, I guess, charm, they found myself with a bunch of papers and I wasn’t sure which one or which style to use. So that’s what led me to have different ideas and different peoples. Then at the end of the day, mixed it up to form, you know, one key. Sure,

 

HOST  17:46

yeah, you get to find a way to make it work for sure. I do a lot of work in improv. And a lot of times improv is like, here’s a bunch of different ideas that don’t make sense together. Make sense? Have them together. You’re like okay, so so I get that I feel like that’s a really excellent skill to have for sure to be able to make it work if only just because not only just go ahead

 

GUEST  18:13

Oh, I was just gonna say that I found someone do dance because you know

 

HOST  18:18

not a lot of people in your life are understanding of your creative process.

 

GUEST  18:24

No, they just look at me like okay. Oh yeah.

 

HOST  18:30

Yeah Are their producers and your and your singer friend The only other creative people that you have in your life everybody else’s kind of living a non creative life. I mean, as it were.

 

GUEST  18:41

That’s the way to put it. Well, I love my sister’s things, but she doesn’t read songs but she can see. Sure.

 

HOST  18:52

So what about the your friends? Do you have like a community that you’re writing with? And I asked about that. style that you write in because I wondered perhaps if you had taken classes in writing did you learn creative writing in school or are you like the guitar like you know a few lessons and that comes naturally

 

GUEST  19:16

when it comes to religion I did not attend the specific school but I was part of the writers club since 2016 to 2018 is only stopped attending because I moved very far. But I think that’s where a good loser right

 

HOST  19:38

was the club have assignments and or was it kind of like you guys just sort of supported each other in the projects you wanted to work on?

 

GUEST  19:47

We actually had a topic every single week. Oh, so we every everybody had a turn every week a person will say Okay, guys, I would like to, I would like to, I would like us to write about this. Very interesting. That’s a very interesting topic. Do you know?

 

HOST  20:04

Yeah, plus I love a deadline.

 

GUEST  20:08

Yeah.

 

HOST  20:09

Nothing better than someone forcing me to do it right. Yeah. That’s what I’m dying from right now is a lack of a deadline. You know, nobody’s like, you got to write this. I’m like, I have a bunch of ideas that I’d like to write. And I will never get to them. You know? Do you have yourself on a schedule to do your poetry and your blog posts? Is that what keeps you accountable? Well,

 

GUEST  20:37

the problem is I like consistency. You know, I would love to do that. give myself a deadline or specific time where I do it. But sometimes I’ll just wake up and go, I have to post a blog. But the the one thing that I do maintain is every week I post at least three pieces of poetry or something like that.

 

HOST  21:00

So three posts a week on your blog. Wow, that’s impressive. Yeah. Wow, that’s a deadline though. I know like popular bloggers that that don’t prepare and they do and that hundreds of thousands of millions of people are reading their like, you know talking about their how they clean their house this week, but they didn’t prepare it, you know, don’t worry.

 

GUEST  21:25

Yeah.

 

HOST  21:26

The fact that you’re literally putting the effort into post it three times a week is awesome. Like that’s that’s an excellent deadline.

 

GUEST  21:37

Thank you didn’t see it as it did. Let’s just random minutes.

 

HOST  21:43

Well, I mean, if you don’t have specific days that it goes out Sure. Like I could get I get that it doesn’t feel like a deadline, but three different things like number one, you’re writing three finished pieces every week. Mind blown, right? I haven’t had I haven’t had a finished piece in like one Right. But like, I mean, I guess, I guess in to a certain extent writing the blurbs of the episodes is writing but doesn’t feel like it. You know? I do that I do that once a week for sure, but, but it’s like you’re putting out poetry and like creating something every week. That’s pretty impressive.

 

GUEST  22:23

Huh, thank you. What’s the last thing you wrote? If I may ask,

 

HOST  22:28

oh, what is the last thing I wrote? Um, I think the last thing I wrote was a sketch comedy. Like, I teach sketch comedy. So a lot of times I will do the assignment that I give to my students just to like, especially if I create a new assignment. And then the beginning of at the beginning of the COVID shut down. So I’m like in like, April and May, I did a couple of zoom online classes and, and wrote a little bit with them. So I did like week I did two, yeah, five week courses for people teaching sketch comedy, but I had never taught it on zoom before. So I didn’t know. I didn’t know if I was asking them to do something that was weird. So when I asked them to do stuff, I would do what I asked them to do. So that I saw that if it turned out that it was like really hard, or like, clunky to accomplish while we were online, I would adjust it for later classes or like, give them something else so that it was like, okay, you’re right, guys. That was weird. But But yeah, no, it was just a sketch, just to just sketch comedy. That’s usually what I write. They’re shorter, like three pages and all dialogue, which makes it a lot easier. I think, personally,

 

23:50

but I haven’t done one in a long time. It’s hard to get.

 

HOST  23:55

It’s hard to get inspired to do my own stuff. That’s kind of also why I like to do that. podcast, because I like talking to other people and hearing about their thing. Like your three posts a week on your blog is very inspiring to me.

 

GUEST  24:12

Well, it’s really saying, hey, as you didn’t say like, I’ve been doing it all this time, but it’s recent. They just told me so you’ve got a post, you get a no, constantly post, like, don’t believe the people post post post. It’s true.

 

HOST  24:27

It’s true. You’re right. It is how you doing? Yeah, the more content you put up on your website, the more likely you’re going to get like Google hits on it. So you might as well yeah. And you seem very talented. Very

 

GUEST  24:45

happy about that. very honored to be part of this.

 

HOST  24:50

Oh, absolutely. Well, like I said to you earlier before we started recording, like, I am very impressed by the fact that you know, you promoted yourself online, and that me hundreds of, you know, thousands of miles away saw this, right? Like I was like, Oh, look at this this cool girls, right? And some stuff. I read a few of your poems and I was like, I was like, oh rockin, like, let’s see, let’s get her on the podcast because I really think that, you know, there’s plenty of people out there that have like marketing teams or whatever that are promoting them. And that’s great. And I love them and please, marketing teams, send your people to me, but, you know, also, I really appreciate the people that are doing it for themselves that are like trying to get themselves out there. Right. And, you know, you gave yourself the three posts a week thing, maybe not for the whole year, but you’ve done it for a while. There’s a lot on your blog. That’s why I asked because I was like, there’s a ton on here. How long have you been doing this? But like three a week, that’s a great thing to give yourself. Like, I don’t know that I’m gonna make myself do three a week. Let’s just be honest here. I probably won’t, but Maybe one maybe one thing a week I can do maybe two. Who knows? Who knows? We’ll try. I’ll certainly be inspired to do that now. But but the even just the promotion of the Facebook page, I’m like, oh, man, I need to be promoting my Facebook page like that. It got me internationally and that’s really great. Like, the reach of that was you know, sort of hit the demographic. I guess I’m your demographic. I was like, Yeah. What’s this? I want to read it. You know, I’m just saying you’re marketing yourself. Well, you’re doing it. I you know, give yourself the credit of that at least. Thank you so much. Now, tell me more about your you know, like community Do you have you said, you’ve you’ve moved away from the writers club. So you don’t really have anybody you’re working on stuff with but you have your singer friend who brought you to the studio when she was recording. So you at least have a few people. Do you do like Do you go to open mics? is there is there somewhere else? Are you like hanging out at a friend’s house and everyone’s jamming guitars and you’re singing in like, how are you? What’s your creative community? Like?

 

GUEST  27:12

I actually have a trait so I can only sing around.

 

27:17

Oh, yeah. Stage fright.

 

GUEST  27:20

Yeah. Oh my god. I have no idea like, I don’t know I’ve tried to think was big before and I was shaking. Okay, I was shaking. It was interesting. I was safe.

 

HOST  27:35

Yeah, very safe.

 

GUEST  27:36

Safe. I did bunnies to see but I was shaking a lot. So that just made it Oh, four.

 

HOST  27:43

Oh, well, you know, I find that that happens. You know, the first couple of times you can get nervous and, and and start shaking but I mean, you’re you’re good at what you do. Right? And I mean enough that your friend and the producers that you work with now we’re lucky What’s up? Let’s work on projects together. Like, you know, I’m sure they wouldn’t be like, Oh, man, that girl sings off key no good. You know they like yeah, that’s that says something.

 

GUEST  28:11

Yeah, good.

 

HOST  28:15

So you’re not then going to open mics and singing songs and putting yourself out there. Are there things that you go to?

 

GUEST  28:26

Whoa. Especially with this pandemic? No, not at the moment.

 

HOST  28:37

Oh, really? I was hoping that part was good for you. Dang, I read an article that said that Africa handled it. So I felt like oh, maybe she’s cool. Everything’s fine for her. Not too much.

 

GUEST  28:49

No, actually. I feel like it’s getting worse every day because people don’t take it seriously. You know, everybody wears masks. People want to be forced to work. And it’s like well guys is like they just ignore this current thing is like, Hey, we were going through so what are you? Oh, man,

 

HOST  29:13

man Dang. Well, whoever’s in charge your prs said that everything was hunky dory in Africa so I was really hoping for the best for you. But it sounds like you have a similar thing. Texas is one of the bad US states that’s not taking it seriously and that’s where I am. And yeah, people are not wearing masks and they’re partying. They keep going out to large parties. I heard kids were having a covid party or they find somebody who has it and go hang out with them. I’m like, Guys, wow, hilarious. Please stop. But I had hoped that

 

GUEST  29:52

perhaps I had hoped perhaps it was okay for you. That’s a darn shame. Did the did the recording at the studio happened pre COVID them and it happened when it just you know started I was last about four weeks ago. We take all the you know, precautions were very we input but we try to you know is prevented wash your hands we have a mess on on them. They have to take my mask off because they have to see can see with my mask on, you know?

 

HOST  30:29

Yeah, totally. Plus I feel like studios could plausibly be cleaner than lots of other places. Just because like you only got so many pieces of equipment in the room so they can easily like wipe it down if they want or like, you know, throw an air purifier in there. And that should be fine. You know, I can’t imagine that’s too bad. And it’s not like it’s like, you know, super crazy busy like, oh, there’s 45 guys in here like no, no, it’s kind of a smaller crowd situ Those kinds of things tend to be a little bit better. And so crazy. Are you still working on writing songs and stuff even though you’re basically shut down at home?

 

GUEST  31:11

I’ve taken a few issues this bag on the songs so I’m focusing on the poetry right now. I have a blue book coming out. It’s titled The Vagina diaries. Yeah,

 

HOST  31:24

I saw the I saw the artwork on your blog. Did you make all that art? I didn’t make it. I found it on Pinterest. Oh,

 

GUEST  31:37

I would not take credit for this. I’m delighted to do Pinterest did that.

 

HOST  31:41

Oh, yes. Oh, interesting. Wow. I was gonna be like, some of that stuff was super intense, which I appreciate. But, um, but yeah, that’s so great. So this is a compilation of poems that you put together. Yeah. Tell me about him.

 

GUEST  31:57

Well, a lot of people ask a lot. vagina, you know? Sure. So the vagina dairy. That’s the title. Yeah. I talked about the vagina and living thing. And then I bring into life is able to communicate with the woman about its feelings, what he likes, what he doesn’t like what he feels, and how changes in the environment affected it sensitivity in what it would want to change the things that make it comfortable. The things that bring closure to it. We’re talking about listening and understanding China.

 

HOST  32:37

Did you come up with the topic because there’s a lot of there’s a lack of talk about it. So did you come up with the topic? Because people aren’t talking about it and you felt like you needed to talk about it.

 

GUEST  32:51

Actually, I brought it up because we have cases of sexual abuse, harassment, rape, and what causes all of this or The center of it all is the vagina. Men want to harass women because they want to have sex with the vagina is what they used to have sex with. But we know. Yeah, and so many other things that sometimes having a vagina can be a burden, because, you know, people just want to use you to get to it. So I’m going to write about all of that in the book.

 

HOST  33:22

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Plus, on the on the sort of flip side of it, it’s and I often think this is the case when you know, people are so like, crazed about something is that it’s kind of the most important thing like in a lot of ways like the life giving nature of it, the like it, its existence in even in the even in its, you know, monthly cycle and the way that the way that it renews itself, it creates this environment for nurturing and then it renews itself again, like, Okay, well I will change I will, I will adjust, you know, it’s like this example of, of some part of us that is able to not just be like, that’s what this is. But it’s like, it changes it adjusts it like, it can create life It can like, like, through it is literally the doorway for us to enter the earth. Like there’s something and we like, because I very recently had a child, I’ve reflected on this, and the like, insane idea of having a child is wild when you’re doing it. Like I remember the whole time just being like, I can’t believe this is happening inside of my body. Like, this is crazy. And I know that like millions, billions of women everywhere forever having babies, but I hadn’t experienced it, you know, and I on older mom, like we’ve established, I’m older than you, but I’m way older than you because I had the baby when I was 39. And that’s very older. People were like, are you okay? And I was okay. But that’s great. But it was so interesting because I did not expect to have that life experience. You know, I kind of thought, Oh, you know, it happens for some people, it doesn’t happen for other people, I’m cool with whatever my life has. And then all of a sudden, it was like, boom, guess what, you’re having this life experience. And so there’s just something so fascinating. And that’s another reason to why always blows my mind that like you said, women are, you know, being harassed for this, their their body in this way? And it’s like, we’re perfect. We are the self generating scenario here like we’re, we’re the top. Don’t let anyone else tell you that we’re the second in command here of the of the world. No, no women Number one, because, like, we can do the whole thing. We can make it, we can keep it, we can keep it all safe. You know, it adjusts regularly, it handles the times, even. Even the idea. I’m going down a weird rabbit vagina rabbit hole here, but it’s happening. Even the idea of, of like the pH balance, the way that literally the inside of it maintains, like a setup. Like, that’s amazing. Why can’t more of my body parts regulate themselves in that way? I know that a lot of them do. But you know what I mean? Like, it’s, yeah, it’s so fascinating. Like, it takes it to self cleaning oven like it takes care of itself. Right. Amazing. I don’t know. I think it’s an excellent topic. And I appreciate where you’re coming from with it. And it’s got a lot. You know, there’s a lot of fodder for lots of different poetry and creativity. from the, from the point of view of a vagina for sure. What did was it? Was it a reaction to the sexual abuse that you saw that you decided to start writing these poems? And is the effort of the book to educate people on what’s going on?

 

GUEST  37:23

I can say yes, because, um, there was somebody who asked me to write some about something they went through, they told me about it as major write about it in a creative manner. So I did that and I posted it on my blog as well. I shared it on Twitter, on Instagram and on Facebook as well. You might have seen it I titled it, not three, but first for some she was raped by her ex boyfriend and the two of his friends. So I think that was also a big part of the inspiration behind it because it just really got to me writing about it wasn’t enough. It just Do you know, I don’t do it by writing this book?

 

38:05

Yeah.

 

HOST  38:07

Are you connecting with foundations and charities that do work on of this kind? Because I feel like, you know, you really could, you really could put yourself out there like, you know, it’s like this book can be sold with this group that’s trying to help women, you know, and whatnot.

 

GUEST  38:28

I’m still working on that because most of the organizations they say, are a bit silent, they’re not moving around as much. Not many projects are running because of the pandemic. So they’ve just, you know, kind of shut down kind of the law, but I’m pretty sure they’re gonna be interested in the book because already, I’ve had people ask me about it, if they’ll buy it. I don’t even know if I’ll sell it because it’s literally my first book, you know? Sure. I don’t know.

 

HOST  39:00

Yeah, I mean tried to sell money why not? Maybe that’s maybe that’s just my American point of view but I’m like, No, no get money for

 

39:10

like I do. I do. I should do. Okay, hey.

 

39:17

Sure.

 

HOST  39:19

Sure you’re definitely is a tough crowd. It’s a tough crowd for buying books. And then it’s a tough crowd for going Hey, women are gray right now. Hmm, I guess you’re like looking for hair. That’s okay. You got an A you got a US audience now they’ll be buying it.

 

GUEST  39:36

Well, thank you so much.

 

HOST  39:41

Now, it sounds like me. It sounds like most of your creativity comes to you naturally that your ideas on how to write songs and you know, play guitar, even just writing are sort of like natural parts of your body. They’re like who you are. And this is just how you express who you are. Do you have any advice for you know, other people who want to be writing and, you know, communicating, you’re using this skill that you have of writing poetry to shed light on, you know, particular things that you want the world to look at. What advice you have for other people who are trying to do that, but maybe don’t know where to start.

 

GUEST  40:26

They should open that their imagination very wide. There’s a lot have been around these too much to read about all these emotions, you know, as somebody is crying somebody is, you know, rejoiced in like this. Emotions around this. We’re going through different things at different times. And I feel like that’s more than enough to give somebody some inspiration to write something. Yeah. And they shouldn’t even like try to make it perfect, even if it’s just writing about I woke up today fold like this. My day was like this and you know, just be creative about it. I think that’s enough. That’s a start.

 

HOST  41:08

Yeah, yeah, totally. Yeah, journaling, even just for yourself. Even if you don’t, you know, you don’t have to do three posts on your blog a week, everybody. Don’t worry. Not all of us can be as good as Catarina. Oh, goodness. But, time. But But yeah, I like that. I find that I feel similarly to you that there are just so many ideas everywhere all the time. Like, whenever I go out of the house, I just look at people and I like imagine their entire lives. You know what I mean? And it’s, it’s like, it’s, sometimes it’s kind of like what what to write about. I think that’s probably what I what my like, what’s holding me back. It’s like so many ideas. What do I choose? That’s like, just write something. You’re right. Just write it. put pen to paper finger somehow, as far as the way that you get stuff out there, or are you ever, you know, like teaching other people or leading other people you would seem to be sort of a good person to inspire other writers to get worked on?

 

GUEST  42:21

Well, I do talk to a lot of writers and we just share pose. And we appreciate and we talk about. So I wouldn’t say a peach, but I learned from others and they learn from me. That’s, that’s what I think I’d say about that.

 

HOST  42:38

Yeah. Are you connecting to online writing communities like on Facebook and stuff?

 

GUEST  42:44

I’m just in a few groups, I think. Just Writers Association or something, something like that. Yeah. Yeah,

 

HOST  42:54

absolutely. I’ll see if I can’t find any fun writers groups to connect you to. Could be good. Sometimes there’s something nice about, yeah. Something there’s something good about, you know, talking to other writers, if only just to be like, Oh, wait, I’m not the only one who’s got 47,000 ideas in her head and I can’t even like put one on a piece of paper. Yeah, I got a bunch of ideas. This page is empty.

 

43:24

All right.

 

HOST  43:25

So are there any other details of your journey that you’d want to share about what you how you found creativity or how you foster it in your own life,

 

GUEST  43:36

I have gone through some pretty intense things in my life. And I think they helped me with marriage and as well, because I was able to, to to exactly know how to use emotion because sometimes it’s just words, but when you can connect your words with emotion is even better, you know? So those experiences really shaped me into Be like that and doing all that awesome.

 

HOST  44:04

Man you really are an artist cuz you know not a lot of people would be able to soak up the life lessons and even the creative lessons from tough times. That’s pretty awesome that you know, you’re like reflecting on some terrible things that have happened in my life. I found a way to be creative, like, Oh, god, that’s great.

 

GUEST  44:27

Yeah, man, so

 

HOST  44:29

wild. Well, thank you so much for putting yourself out there and inspiring me to work harder as far as like writing goes and, you know, I hope that the COVID shutdown doesn’t hold you back too much more. from continuing to record music. I’d love to, I’m sure I’ll keep an eye on the blog. If you have anything you can release. You know, let me know. Congrats on working on that kind of stuff. And you know, thanks for chatting with me. I’m just so happy to have been able To talk to you and to you know hear how it’s going for you both as a creative and then you know sort of as a creative during COVID

 

GUEST  45:09

thank you so much for having me as well like I say you’re very talented and I’ve learnt a lot from you too because you you have a whole I’m telling you any three

 

HOST  45:31

thanks for listening to yes but why podcast check out all our episodes on yes but why podcasts calm or check out all the content on our network at Universal as HC Universal Network calm