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DIVYA C. - INTERVIEW #8
HOW TO ENGAGE: WATCH by clicking the video up top (or visit YouTube), LISTEN by clicking the audio link below.
THE BREAKDOWN:
0:10 - Mean Girls.
4:30 - Don’t box Divya in.
9:00 - Psychiatry and creativity.
16:00 - Early childhood development. Moving past the algorithm.
23:00 - Kids, memory, truth telling, and control.
30:00 - DEI and mental health. Two peas in a (human) pod.
36:00 - Starting conversations.
40:45 - Beyond surface level “content.”
48:00 - Developing a point of view and the power to question your world.
1:01:00 - Holding opposites, feeling your feelings, and not being afraid to go to painful places. (aka. The way forward)
DEBRIEF:
I have an overwhelming desire to see (hear?) Ezra Klein have an emotional breakdown. This statement explains a lot about me and my unquenchable desire to disturb popular personas. On the one hand, I very much respect and appreciate Klein and the journalism that he births into the world. And on the other hand, all I want is for him to fall apart and/or explode one day into a mess of incoherent laughter, shouting, and tears. I want to witness him getting tangled in his words and I want to hear his passion and moral indignation contaminate his ever so balanced point of view. I want him to openly choke on his feelings and I want them to derail the purity of his (read: The New York Times’) intellectual/ideological project. Just for like, one episode.
Divya is an exceptional human. Not because she plays the violin. Not because she is a psychiatric doctor who specializes in early childhood development, working predominantly with underserved communities. Not because she is a published writer. And not because she is a creator of kids content, always with an eye for integrating the intersecting realities of the world into her storytelling. That’s all fine. We live in a world that values productivity and Divya is productive, but that is not why she is exceptional.
She is exceptional because she cares and she gives herself the permission to be the full spectrum of who she is. Refusing to conform to any one particular box, she trusts her intuition to guide her from one learning experience to the next. That is the key to her power and her aliveness. She brings with her a (creative) psychological perspective, which allows her to not only see below the surface of what is going on around her, but to look at her own ingrained patterns and stories as well.
We, individually and as a society, are made up of internalized and institutionalized codes and operating systems that determine what and how a person should be. These systems begin to affect us in the womb, they operate privately and publicly (consciously and unconsciously) throughout our lives, and ultimately they dictate much of our potential (as a species). Whether we choose to acknowledge their existence does not change the fact that they exist, shaping our (shared) story whether we like it or not.
In the end, it is my unrelenting positivity (lol) that likes to believe that the book is not yet written (or I pray to fuck it isn’t). Ultimately, I just hope that we can each channel whatever courage we have inside of us to stop being so afraid and evolve our outdated (human) programming (whatever that looks like for you) in order to learn to accept and feel the hard feelings at the root of our messed up little ambivalent imperfect selves.
And what does Ezra Klein have to do with any of this? Well, at the moment, governing powers seem to pride themselves on actions and messaging that is overtly cruel and dehumanizing (ie. intentional movement towards authoritarianism). This is characterized in political and legal terms by unchecked greed/power and a constitutional crisis, but in psychological and human terms this feels to me like a CRISIS OF CARE. And this crisis did not start in January 2025. Klein, and really mainstream journalism as a whole, doesn’t tend to focus on this polemic. Most people don’t (cause it sounds too soft? too meaningless? too cringe?). It just strikes me as odd that we’d be surprised to end up here when the majority of our dominant institutions (/corporations) haven’t demonstrated genuine care for people in a long time (if ever?).
Truly caring about humanity is antithetical to accumulating as much personal wealth and power as possible (ie. The American Dream) - you simply cannot do both. Anyways, while we tenderly hold those opposites, let’s do like Divya and TRY (to live fully while attempting to expand the lives of others - not destroy them).
THOUGHTS & THINGS:
Banger episode of my favorite podcast: Loyalty to Self and the Death of Illusion - from This Jungian Life.
SMILING FRIENDS: Love it. Watch it. Need more seasons of it in my life.
THE GREY: This movie (2011) was put in front of me on a snowy evening and although I don’t tend to gravitate towards movies where men figure out how to survive in the wilderness, I really liked this movie. I like how Liam Neeson has reached a place in his career (and his masculinity) that he’s kinda like an apex queer person at this point (albeit one with severe depression and trauma, which checks). He’s really able to hold everything together in one fantasy character (the utmost care and compassion with the utmost physical stamina and dominance - what a guy!). I also like an old Dermot Mulroney - charming as ever. Also the wolves win (spoiler!) which is fun.
Some unsurprising reality.
Controversy: MEL ROBBINS appears to be…questionable. Oh how our personas are just that. What does it mean when a self help coach/therapist/podcast world dominator has built their brand on stealing from another person? Do they come clean and engage with an undesirable reality? Or is this just how it goes? It might be your only hope to LET THEM when you don’t have the money to SUE THEM.
**ULTIMATE LIFE HACK**: steal from people poorer than you.
CONCLUSIONS:
What does it mean for you to be alive?
Thank you for reading A LIFE BASED LOOSELY ON REALITY! Please like or comment on this post below and share it with a friend who you think would enjoy it. Right now all of my posts are free, but any and all financial support is deeply appreciated. Paid subscriptions will go towards helping to support my work and develop this project. More about me here.
Send interview inquiries to vanessameyer85@gmail.com.
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