Alyssa Milano, PROJECT CLASS PRESIDENT

2020-10-22  ·  31:28  ·  Alyssa Milano  ·  Podcast Audio

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[0:08]Hi, I'm Zibi Owens and you're listening to the award-winning podcast Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books.
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[0:53]Hi, everybody. So today the sponsor for my podcast is my other podcast.
[0:58]I am launching Moms Don't Have Time to Lose Weight.
[1:01]It launched Monday, October 12th, and hopefully it'll stick around for a long time.
[1:07]It features women talking to other women about their journeys of their bodies
[1:13]and getting tips and commiseration and all the things we need so that we don't feel alone
[1:18]in trying to make our bodies feel better tomorrow than they do today.
[1:22]So check out Moms Don't Have Time to Lose Weight.
[1:25]And it's also a community now on Instagram at Moms Don't Have Time to Lose Weight.
[1:29]So if you will fall into that category, like I do and so many of us come join us,
[1:34]the doors open. The next book in day four of my children's book blast is with Alyssa Milano.
[1:41]And I'm so excited about this. For those of you who aren't familiar with Alyssa Milano,
[1:46]she is an actor, producer, designer, philanthropist, humanitarian,
[1:50]and New York Times bestselling author. Alyssa will next be seen in the Fairly Brothers
[1:55]Company the now for the new mobile streamer, Quibi. She has also completed production on the indie
[2:01]film Who Are You People. She has signed on for a reboot of Who's the Boss alongside Tony Dansett,
[2:06]which is so exciting. She most recently started an insatiable for Netflix as quarterly,
[2:12]the social climbing wife, of a disgraced lawyer beauty pageant coach. Prior to that,
[2:16]she was seen in the hit series Wet Hot American Summer 10 years later, opposite Amy polar Elizabeth
[2:22]Banks and warm. Last year, she launched the podcast, Sorry Not Sorry, the weekly podcast,
[2:27]tackles social, political, and cultural issues from the perspective of unapologetic guests,
[2:32]while highlighting activists doing amazing things and grassroots efforts throughout the country.
[2:37]Guests have included Vice President Joe Biden, Francis Fisher, Aaron Brockovich,
[2:43]Mayor Eric Garcetti, and Representative Carolyn Maloney, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, among others.
[2:49]Alyssa Koha, the New York Times bestseller, Hope Project Middle School, and Hope Project Animal
[2:55]Rescue. And now, the recently released Hope Project class president, the book center on Hope,
[3:00]a spunky 11-year-old girl who seeks to create change in her community. She has another
[3:04]book coming in the series in 2021. As an activist, she shines a spotlight on causes that matter
[3:10]to her, for example, the Me Too movement, Times Up, and more. She is the ACLU's ambassador for
[3:16]reproductive rights. She's one of the founders of Nora, a coalition dedicated to combating the
[3:22]NRA Money and Political campaigns for gun reform. She has been a UNICEF national ambassador for
[3:27]15 years, and in 2016, she received their spirit of Compassion Award for her dedication to their
[3:33]mission. She's lobbied members of Congress for greater rights for immigrants, as well as education
[3:38]reform, and has been on the forefront of efforts to protect health coverage for all Americans.
[3:43]Most recently, she started hashtag 2020 fund partnering with movement voter project to raise
[3:48]money for local grassroots organizations to empower youth immigrants, women, people of color,
[3:53]and other communities to vote. She entered the world of graphic novels with activist, a fast-paced
[4:00]cyber thriller that follows the young founders of an innovative social media company who moonlight
[4:04]as a secret black hat hacker team. I'm still going, like, two more paragraphs. Alyssa
[4:10]starred on the hit series charmed for nine years. The show's international appeal has brought it
[4:14]to more than 100 territories around the world. She also starred on Melrose Place, began her
[4:19]career on ABC Who's the Boss, and starred in the ABC series' mistresses, as well as serving as
[4:24]the host and a judge on Lifetime's Project Run My All Stars, alongside judges Isaac Misrahi and
[4:30]Georgina Chapman. She has appeared in over 20 films. She also has her own Women's Sports
[4:35]License Clothing Line, called Touch by Alyssa Milano, and has been referred to as a trailblazer
[4:41]in the Women's Sports Licensing Industry. Touch enables women to look stylish while cheering on
[4:46]their favorite team. She has licenses with MLB, the NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA, Major League Soccer,
[4:52]Minor League Baseball, and NASCAR. What can't this woman do? Let's talk to her.
[4:57]Welcome, Alyssa. Thank you so much for coming on mom's ton of time to read books.
[5:01]I'm so excited to be with you and I totally agree. We don't have time to read books, right?
[5:07]I mean, it's like impossible. It really is. It makes me super sad because I love to read,
[5:13]but then again, something that looks forward to, right, once the kids are big and grown
[5:20]exactly. And that's why I do this podcast. So we can get glimpses of different books and hear
[5:25]more about it. And then people will be so convinced that they have to run out and buy the book in
[5:29]by and time anyway. So, well, I love it. Speaking of books, your middle grade novel about hope
[5:37]running for president is so timely given the upcoming election and everything else. But your series
[5:42]is fantastic. Tell me about starting the series in general and then this particular book in it.
[5:49]It's actually a pretty amazing story. I became friends with our illustrator,
[5:54]first, his name is Eric Hees and he's a brilliant illustrator, but he's also the character designer
[5:59]for the Simpsons. And so, I DMed him once because I was starting my Patreon, not partisan website,
[6:08]which is a website filled with all essays from both sides of the political spectrum. And I asked
[6:16]if he had any, you know, like political art that he wanted to share. And he had this character
[6:21]that he designed that was like this little girl. She's more like toddler age, you know, marching
[6:28]and with a bullhorn and doing really incredible things. And I said, oh my God, who is that? And what
[6:33]are you doing with her? And he said, nothing really you can, you know, do whatever. And I said, well,
[6:40]can we try to sell a children's book? He was in her. And he said, yes, let's do that. So I created
[6:47]this whole character. He's like, well, what would her name be? And I said, hope, obviously, her name
[6:53]is hope. And, you know, I had this whole story, you know, idea in my head. And we were able to
[7:01]sell the idea to Scholastic as a series. So this is the one that just came out is book three of
[7:08]four. And I just love this little character so, so much. So when she was originally,
[7:14]so she was originally a toddler. So I was like, are we going to do a picture book? And I kind of
[7:18]left it up to Scholastic to give me some kind of direction because there is no one better in the
[7:25]children's book, you know, genre and world as far as publishing. And they said something which I found
[7:32]was really interesting, which was that middle school is such a rough time and rough transition for
[7:38]kids. And it's really like this untapped market because not a lot of people are writing books
[7:45]specifically for that age range when there are such specific issues that that age range goes through.
[7:53]And I thought it was a perfect idea because to age her up a little bit because when you look at,
[8:02]you know, I have two kids, I have a nine-year-old and a six-year-old, a boy and a girl. And the thing that's
[8:07]I think been so interesting and raising them is that they innately have this sense of empathy
[8:15]and compassion and wanting to help and wanting to do good. And I was just always so curious about
[8:25]like, well, when does that go away? Because obviously the teenage year as it becomes a lot more
[8:31]self-consumed. And I think it goes away around middle school because their entire life
[8:39]changes. And it is such a rough time for kids. They're usually in a new school. They have to make new
[8:45]friends. They're going through puberty. Their bodies are changing. They're becoming more self-conscious
[8:52]and self-aware. And so the thought was like, how can I create this character that combines all
[9:02]the things that children go through in middle school personally, but still cultivates what they
[9:08]naturally have inside of them as far as wanting to be helpful and to do good and to change the world.
[9:17]So that's kind of how Hope was born. And I found this amazing co-writer who
[9:21]name is Debbie Rago, who's just been awesome and fearless and such an incredible partner to have.
[9:29]And you know, the way I describe her is she wants to change the world, but she has to go through
[9:33]middle school. And so the first book was about all about Hope finding her voice and using it. And
[9:41]that can sometimes be super uncomfortable, but a necessity. And then the second book, Hope Project
[9:47]Animal Shelter, is about who becoming a community organizer and raising money to keep her local
[9:54]animal shelter open. And it's really cute. The illustrations are missing.
[10:00]And this one's called Hope Project Class President.
[10:03]And it's basically, you know, we wanted to give kids
[10:07]a real sense of a civic class almost embedded
[10:12]in this fun story of hope running for class president.
[10:18]So kids will learn terminology like town halls
[10:22]and debates and canvassing and, you know,
[10:27]things that we are hearing a lot about now
[10:30]when you turn on the news at the election coming up.
[10:33]So it's been a really rewarding, rewarding experience
[10:37]when that I am super proud of.
[10:39]And just to have something that I'm able
[10:42]to give my kids and say, you know, this is for you
[10:45]and your friends has been really, really great.
[10:48]That's amazing.
[10:49]I have to say that all young kids are empathetic.
[10:53]So to have to have them all,
[10:55]I don't think they all, I've met some, really, you know.
[10:59]So I don't know.
[11:00]I mean, my kids just came out very concerned
[11:04]and empathetic.
[11:05]I mean, you know, it's like I think when I think about,
[11:10]you know, like what happens when one baby cries
[11:13]and then another baby cries.
[11:15]And to me, that's that's empathy, right?
[11:18]That's feeling a shift in the environment
[11:23]that causes some kind of emotion.
[11:26]And I think all kids sort of have that a little bit, right?
[11:30]And maybe I was just thinking of some of the meaner kids
[11:33]who we've crossed paths like, I think those are the kids
[11:37]that never had their compassion nurture at all
[11:43]and is probably lacking that in other areas
[11:46]of their lives, not just, you know,
[11:49]in taking care of other people
[11:51]but how people treat them.
[11:54]I totally agree, you're absolutely right.
[11:56]And I have four kids and my oldest kids are twins
[11:58]and they're 13.
[11:59]So we are in the middle school years as we speak.
[12:02]So I'm only like a couple of years ahead of you.
[12:04]But I have to say that at least in my case,
[12:08]I feel like empathy doesn't totally go away
[12:10]and nothing happens overnight.
[12:12]But it is so essential at this time to get books
[12:15]like yours and show leadership and kindness
[12:19]and how you happen.
[12:20]Just get out of your own sort of bubble of worries
[12:23]into the world, which frankly a lot of adults
[12:25]could use as well.
[12:28]Yes, isn't that the truth?
[12:29]Yes, for sure.
[12:31]But I really wanted to nurture the beauty that I saw
[12:35]in my kids and how so amazing that they always know
[12:40]how to reduce something that seems so complex
[12:45]to its like most basic emotional place.
[12:50]And that goes for political issues too.
[12:52]Like the way in which their minds think about the issues
[12:57]has nothing to do with part of the partisanship politics.
[13:00]It has to do with humanity and being a good person.
[13:05]And I think that it's very interesting
[13:07]to watch them process what's happening right now.
[13:11]And I think for a lot of parents,
[13:13]it's very interesting to try to figure out
[13:16]how much to tell their children about what's happening
[13:19]in what way to say it, right?
[13:24]It's all great.
[13:25]It's very hard.
[13:26]It is a very sort of loaded time to be a parent.
[13:29]And it really is.
[13:31]And you have a pandemic and it's not knowing what,
[13:36]I mean, it's hard enough being a parent
[13:37]and knowing that you're making the right decisions
[13:39]with your kids.
[13:40]You add the pandemic part on top of it.
[13:44]And it's like, I don't know,
[13:46]is this gonna affect them for the rest of their lives?
[13:48]Are they going to wanna wash down packages forever?
[13:52]Yeah.
[13:54]All right, I'm going to be neurotic or more neurotic
[13:58]or have worse anxiety than they would have normally had.
[14:01]So there's just so much to it.
[14:03]And is it bad that I'm keeping them home from school
[14:08]and homeschooling them,
[14:09]even though there are kids in their class,
[14:11]but is it worse if they get sick?
[14:13]I mean, it just feels really big.
[14:17]I don't all feel big before.
[14:19]You know, that is the similar real I have playing in my head.
[14:24]And I feel like the only thing I have turned to
[14:27]and you're probably the same way
[14:29]is you just have to listen deep down
[14:32]what you feel is right.
[14:33]And this isn't about like should my kid be on the soccer,
[14:36]travel soccer, right?
[14:38]Things that seem like big deals before now it's like,
[14:41]all right, well, this is what my comfort level is.
[14:43]And I just have to go with it
[14:45]because I've got nothing else to go on.
[14:47]Right.
[14:48]And also I always fall back to, you know,
[14:51]I did not have the easiest childhood
[14:53]being a working child at the age of seven.
[14:57]So I always fall back on like, I was okay.
[15:01]The only reason why I'm okay now
[15:03]is because I have parents who loved me
[15:06]and who it was so important for them
[15:10]to make me feel safe and loved.
[15:14]And I feel like that's the biggest part of this
[15:19]as long as we can continue to allow our children
[15:23]to feel safe and loved, they're gonna be okay no matter what.
[15:27]Now that you have kids of your own,
[15:28]do you look back on that period of time any differently
[15:31]than like when you were going through it,
[15:33]do you think like how was I able to do it?
[15:35]How could I pull it off or anywhere?
[15:37]Yeah.
[15:38]My son is nine, which was the, in one year
[15:44]from my son's age now is the age I,
[15:46]when I shot and used the boss pilot.
[15:49]And I look at him and I'm like, what in the world?
[15:53]I hope that I ever, I mean, it is really crazy.
[15:58]And that we expect kids to be able to perform for,
[16:04]I mean, I was on that show for eight years.
[16:06]And it was such a big part of my life.
[16:08]But it was hard.
[16:09]It was hard.
[16:10]I was working in going to school
[16:12]and trying to be a good daughter and friend
[16:16]and sibling and definitely a thing.
[16:20]Yeah, but my point is just that I think
[16:23]children are incredibly resilient
[16:25]as long as they feel loved and safe.
[16:27]Very true.
[16:28]And I love how you even give role models
[16:30]in the current hope book of how leadership can change institutions,
[16:35]right?
[16:36]Like hope, even something as simple
[16:37]is changing the entrance of a building, right?
[16:39]And giving people, making people feel special
[16:42]with a VIP, sixth grade, you know, walk away
[16:44]and like all these little things that she did
[16:47]and even helping her friend and saying, you know what?
[16:49]You have been my campaign manager
[16:50]and just all these things she does
[16:52]to bring everybody together.
[16:54]It's great to see it.
[16:55]It's great to see a girl doing that.
[16:57]Honestly, it's just, it's just nice
[16:59]to have such a great role model in a middle grade book.
[17:02]That's all.
[17:03]I think often we teach our young girls
[17:08]about leadership through historic women
[17:12]or celebrity women.
[17:14]And, you know, to be able to create a character
[17:17]who was, you know, a peer of young children
[17:22]who could show leadership qualities, you know,
[17:27]and not be those terms that we seem to use
[17:30]when girls show leadership qualities like bossy
[17:34]or, you know, snobby or self-centered, you know,
[17:38]but to really give her this warm, beautiful strength
[17:42]and to lead from a place of service,
[17:44]which is the thing that I think women do so incredibly well
[17:48]that we lead from a very different place.
[17:50]I feel like men lead often from a place
[17:54]wanting something, like power or notoriety or fame
[17:59]or money.
[18:01]And I think as women, when we're in, you know,
[18:03]at our best and our strongest,
[18:05]we're leading from a place of service.
[18:08]And what does that look like in middle school?
[18:11]Like, you know, creating an entrance,
[18:13]especially for the sixth graders.
[18:16]So yeah, it's been, it's been really rewarding
[18:19]working on that project.
[18:20]And to do everything,
[18:21]thank you, we're gonna write books for kids.
[18:23]Is that been a goal of yours or it just happened this way?
[18:27]I think once I had my own kids and I saw what was out there
[18:30]and how, you know, there are some beautiful children's books,
[18:34]but there's also some really silly children's books.
[18:37]And so I think for me, wanting to contribute
[18:41]to that place was important, especially since I had,
[18:45]you know, and you have kids all of a sudden,
[18:46]you're like, I'll do an animated movie and play, you know,
[18:50]squishy or whatever, because you just want, you know,
[18:54]you just want your kids to like what you're doing.
[18:57]So yeah, I'm really happy.
[18:59]Just the fact that I get to dedicate books
[19:02]to my children and my nieces and nephews is pretty cool.
[19:07]And tell me just a little about how all of your activism
[19:10]plays into this.
[19:11]I mean, you're doing so many different things.
[19:13]You're like saving the world here from time's up to UNICEF,
[19:17]to directing and acting and writing and your kids.
[19:21]And I mean, I know we're all busy,
[19:22]but like, that seems like a look.
[19:24]I think that seems like a particularly heavy load to bear.
[19:28]I realized that like that this idea of women
[19:32]having it all is kind of something that we are made
[19:36]to feel like we need to do.
[19:40]And once I put the pressure off of me for,
[19:45]that's when everything kind of fell into place.
[19:47]And I realized that there is no such thing as balance.
[19:51]It does not exist.
[19:53]The most important thing we can do as moms and women
[19:58]is do the things we love.
[20:00]the things that make us feel fulfilled and be really present and in the moment when we do those
[20:07]things. You know, when I'm with my children, I am concentrated on being the best mother I could
[20:13]possibly be when I'm writing whatever I'm concentrated in that moment, writing when I'm being
[20:20]interviewed, I concentrate on that moment. And I found that that is the best way to sort of manage
[20:26]the chaos of it all because it's a lot of chaos. It really is. And I think every mom feels it
[20:33]at some point where they just feel overwhelmed where they're like, you know, it's 6 p.m.
[20:38]they're like, I'm going to go lay down by myself, you know, because we just need that sort of
[20:44]decompression. But yeah, balance, I don't think it exists. I think you just have to
[20:49]manager time well and in a way where you are in the moment in every moment. That's great advice.
[20:57]Yeah, and I'm envying the moms who can take a nap at 6 o'clock. That's like not happening in my
[21:01]house. I don't know. Oh, that wouldn't be a nap. That would be going to sleep.
[21:06]Oh, going forward for the night. Okay. Yes. Right. For the entire night where I'm like, I've just
[21:12]you're dealing with dinner, honey, and I'm going to go do whatever I have to do. Whether that means
[21:18]beyond the treadmill and take a hot shower and get into bed early, whatever that means,
[21:23]I really try. I think it's so important that we all try to have those moments.
[21:28]I just started this new Instagram community in a second podcast called moms don't have time to
[21:32]lose weight because I felt like so many people, especially with the pandemic, it just felt like
[21:36]things have gotten a little out of control. Oh, yeah. So I feel like I hear all day now of like,
[21:41]just how hard it is to even get in like a walk or a workout or whatever, just to stay, you know,
[21:46]I bought one of those like little, like, incumbent bikes that I can put under my desk. And when
[21:52]I have like five minutes, I'll just, you know, do that or kick the soccer ball around with the kids
[21:59]or something that's, you know, we're jumping the trampoline and something that at least gets my heart
[22:03]read up. I try one today, but it's hard. Yeah, the trampoline is like a hidden gem. That's like the
[22:09]best. Yeah. And I don't know what it is about the pandemic. I mean, I was sick. So I had
[22:16]COVID in March or April, March and April. And I have a lot of the long haulers symptoms, but
[22:23]just tired all the time. And even my friends that haven't had or it didn't have COVID are just tired
[22:30]all the time. So I think that there's something about most like our bodies just go into like
[22:36]protection hibernation mode. Yes. Oh, when you're essentially off when an entire planet is like
[22:42]fearing for their lives, right? Something happens like a collective worry or a collective pain.
[22:48]Yeah. I'm sorry about your experience. I know I read about that. Are you okay now? Like what
[22:54]still have symptoms? I mean, I'll be totally fine some days. And I mean, I don't have an auto
[23:00]immune thing that I can compare this to. But it feels like, you know, how people talk about
[23:07]who have lupus or MS, they'll talk about flare-ups. And they'll be okay some days and then they'll
[23:13]have flare-ups. Well, that's what this is like. It's like I'm totally fine, feel strong, have energy
[23:21]on some days. And then other days I'm just shortness of breath, heart palpitations, joint
[23:29]aches and pains. And I don't know one person who has recovered from this that has been totally fine.
[23:36]I mean, I have one friend who felt good and then they found a blood clot in his leg. So, I mean,
[23:41]it seems like this is like nobody owned, you know, just gets the acute sickness and then it's
[23:47]is out of this. It just feels, and you know, the doctors don't know. I had this new symptom
[23:53]a little while ago this like like not burning palms, but kind of like a bubbly under my skin
[23:58]feeling. And I called my doctor and I was like, this can't still be like new thing. And he said,
[24:03]yeah, that's probably your small blood vessels leaking. What? I'm like, what? Does that go away?
[24:10]And he said, well, we'll see. Oh my gosh. We'll see. That's it. That's all I get. My mother-in-law was very,
[24:17]very ill with COVID and ended up passing away. But for six weeks, we were so powerful. But I was
[24:22]on the phone with doctors like all the time. And we would say things like, well, what comes next?
[24:26]Like, what do you think? And when the doctors are even like, we're not sure. What else can you do?
[24:32]We don't know. I mean, it's like my whole life, right? You're brought up that like, the doctors know
[24:37]most of the answers, right, that there's some things that they that are incurable. But for the most
[24:41]part, you've got an under control where that there's at least some article somewhere that they
[24:46]could go back and refer to that. Well, tell you how to deal with, you know, respiratory viral
[24:53]infection, but this was so, so new and so raw. And I'm so, I'm so sorry that you were affected that
[25:00]closely, but it's brutal. I'm sorry you were in so many other people. It's insane. It's like,
[25:06]everywhere you turn. But anyway, on behalf of your things. So, back to hope,
[25:12]are you expanding the series? Do you have other big projects in the works? You're doing more
[25:17]TV movie stuff? Like, what's on the next, like six months for you?
[25:21]Well, we just will be election is first and foremost. We just announced that who's the boss
[25:27]sequel. Oh, that's right. Yes, I feel that. I'm sorry. It's all being with Tony, which will be
[25:32]really, really, really fun and exciting. And we don't know anything about it yet, except that
[25:37]he's probably going to come visit Sam for a weekend and never leave. And then the chaos will
[25:44]ensue of him taking care of my kids. And then holidays will come up and then I'm not sure,
[25:53]really. I'm in the process of writing a book of essays right now. And I'm super excited about that.
[26:00]I'm hoping to take, you know, a little bit of a vacation and just rest for a little bit.
[26:06]I mean, my idea of resting is, you know, just not doing things back-to-back-to-back every day,
[26:11]but have like half a day where I get to paint or do something that, you know, that I'm not
[26:17]trying to crank out. And yeah, that's it. I mean, we're all just kind of playing it by year right now,
[26:22]right? I mean, I look at people, there's people on sets and they're all masked up. And with
[26:27]shields and like these little like dressing room pods. And it just does not look not only
[26:34]does it not look fun to go back to work on a set right now, but also it looks like it would
[26:41]totally make me anxious. You know, because there's a constant reminder that this thing is
[26:47]is in the air just by the way in which you have to function for 12 hours a day.
[26:51]You know, being home, we could sort of isolate ourselves and we're so adaptable that we cannot
[26:56]feel like at least shut off what's happening on the outside a little bit. But I feel like if you're
[27:03]like at a set on a set for 12 hours and seeing how everybody has to sanitize and put on protective
[27:10]gear and I think that would really mess with my anxiety. Yeah, sort of in your face.
[27:17]There's no ability right? I feel like even just to go to a doctor's office, I had to go to
[27:23]some building today and I'm in New York City and it's like first we walked in and then I had to go
[27:27]to a computer and then I had to get my temperature screened and then we had to wash our hands and
[27:30]we had to check it. I was just like, I kind of wasn't emotionally prepared for that. I thought it
[27:34]you know, it's like everything. Yeah, yeah, every day life. It's just you know, it's a bit crazy.
[27:39]So do you have any advice for aspiring authors or just aspiring creative people because it
[27:46]you're like an artist in a lot of different ways, right? From acting to... I mean, what advice
[27:52]would you have? Well, I think to nurture your creativity is important not only to keep it alive
[28:03]but also to spark other ways in which you can be creative. So you know, when it all kinds of
[28:09]feeds off each other, I feel like, you know, I just started during the quarantine doing watercolor
[28:16]painting and it's amazing how just sitting down for 20 minutes in the evening and really being
[28:22]mindful and doing something that is so fluid, so unforgiving, can spark ideas about like an essay
[28:32]I want to write or so I really think creativity kind of breeds more creativity and you don't have to
[28:39]do just that one thing that you think you're creative at that you can start, you know, something
[28:46]new and it will still feed the thing that you think that you're good at. So yeah, just keep doing it
[28:52]and keep forcing yourself to sit down and have that time to allow that part of your brain
[29:00]to work because I think at least for me, I know that, you know, different parts of my brain
[29:07]will supersede my creativity sometimes and I have to really sort of slow it down and like try
[29:15]to find that again and you know, sometimes that means listening to great music, sometimes it
[29:21]means watching movie that I love and I think also the idea that there is beauty and everything
[29:28]that idea of that there's kind of like this perfect system that's at work here and there's
[29:34]something about just that mindset that I think lends itself to more just creative thinking,
[29:40]you know, thinking outside of the box, thinking in new ways how to share part of yourself
[29:47]because ultimately that's what art should be as sharing who you are and you know, hopefully that
[29:54]resonates and it can resonate in different ways for different people. Very true. Well, thank you.
[30:00]Thanks for sharing this time with me and we're using this limited focus time here.
[30:06]Of course, thank you for allowing me a chance to be on your podcast.
[30:10]Of course, I hope you feel better and that I'll come in and go away and thank you so much.
[30:14]You keep loving your books. I think that's the coolest.
[30:17]Thank you. Thank you. Be well.
[30:20]Thanks so much for tuning in to day four of The Children's Book Last.
[30:23]I hope you'll come back tomorrow for our final day.
[30:25]Hey, I hope you enjoyed today's episode.
[30:29]I know I enjoyed recording it. Don't forget to check out my new podcast.
[30:34]Moms don't have time to lose weight pretty soon.
[30:36]Moms won't have time to listen to podcasts and check out the Instagram community
[30:41]that goes along with it and if you would like to join, please request to join.
[30:45]It's for anyone who wants to feel body better in their body tomorrow than they do today
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[30:55]Moms don't have time to lose weight.
[30:57]Thanks for listening to this episode of Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books.
[31:00]Don't forget to follow me on Instagram at zebiowans and at Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books.
[31:06]Also sign up for my newsletter at zebiowans.com and sign up for my virtual book club and
[31:10]meet lots of authors on Zoom every other week. Thanks so much to Steve and Ryan at Texture
[31:15]Sound for the Sound Editing and thank you to Morning Moon Productions for providing this
[31:19]fantastic intro and outro music.