SPFPP 394: Preaching What I Practice
These past few podcast episodes have been on some real philosophical and spiritual ish. While this is a short episode, it’s real insight to what doing “the work” can look like. Looking at my own shame, I’ve come to see that the only thing that makes me unhappy about how happy I generally am, but fearful of showing it. At this point in time, I can honestly say I am very happy. This happiness is no longer in the shrouds of fear in the same way people may fear rejection. Just know at any time we can release our attachment to that fear of rejection and free that emotional investment up to do some shit we want to do!
-
WEBVTT
1
00:00:03.660 --> 00:00:09.759
Courtney Brame: Hello, and welcome to Something Positive for Positive People. I'm Sydney Brainer.
2
00:00:10.490 --> 00:00:15.650
Courtney Brame: The Post for People is a nonprofit organization supporting people navigating herpes stigma.
3
00:00:15.870 --> 00:00:20.830
Courtney Brame: And I… Blessed.
4
00:00:21.040 --> 00:00:32.149
Courtney Brame: I'm blessed, I'm in a good place, and I recently had a couple of experiences where I had to speak out loud to some things that,
5
00:00:32.610 --> 00:00:37.319
Courtney Brame: I don't think that I was really aware of. I had two opportunities to share something that…
6
00:00:37.510 --> 00:00:44.959
Courtney Brame: I guess I never really had my attention diverted to. And somebody asked me something about shame.
7
00:00:45.110 --> 00:00:47.790
Courtney Brame: He asked, what's something you're ashamed of?
8
00:00:47.980 --> 00:00:50.170
Courtney Brame: And… when…
9
00:00:50.470 --> 00:00:57.079
Courtney Brame: They asked that I immediately thought about, and got chills, you know, in the thought of it, about how happy I am.
10
00:00:57.760 --> 00:01:01.519
Courtney Brame: And… In the time that we live in, where…
11
00:01:01.940 --> 00:01:07.290
Courtney Brame: A lot of people are unhappy. There's a lot of things going on in the world that we can look at that…
12
00:01:08.130 --> 00:01:12.799
Courtney Brame: We can point to as contributors to unhappiness.
13
00:01:15.780 --> 00:01:17.090
Courtney Brame: It's hard.
14
00:01:18.370 --> 00:01:28.280
Courtney Brame: It's hard to… Express that joy, express gratitude, and to be someone who is just having a good time.
15
00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:39.559
Courtney Brame: I'm at a stage in my life where I'm doing some of the hardest things that I've ever done voluntarily. I mean, I'm in yoga therapy school, I work a part-time job.
16
00:01:40.300 --> 00:01:55.020
Courtney Brame: I run a nonprofit organization, and daily, I think I talk to people who are not okay, who are not good, who… the last thing they want to hear is how good you are, right?
17
00:01:56.660 --> 00:01:57.919
Courtney Brame: Or so I thought.
18
00:01:59.190 --> 00:02:01.759
Courtney Brame: Very reasonable moment is.
19
00:02:02.930 --> 00:02:06.039
Courtney Brame: It was a gathering with this,
20
00:02:06.600 --> 00:02:11.399
Courtney Brame: I don't want to call it an app, it was an event called iFeel, or The Feels?
21
00:02:11.990 --> 00:02:19.460
Courtney Brame: And at the event, It was, very… it was a non-monogamy, but very intentional dating.
22
00:02:19.750 --> 00:02:22.589
Courtney Brame: Social event.
23
00:02:22.730 --> 00:02:33.549
Courtney Brame: And the demo was expensive, ultimately, but I got invited, I guess, because not a lot of people had signed up for it, and they just wanted me to share it. So, I did that, and when I went…
24
00:02:33.630 --> 00:02:43.420
Courtney Brame: They had a breakout in the pairs. Sometimes you'd be with someone of the same sex, or you'd be with someone of a different sex, it didn't really matter.
25
00:02:43.600 --> 00:02:51.669
Courtney Brame: Because it was really about the conversation. And so the conversation taught… talking points that they had
26
00:02:51.920 --> 00:02:56.870
Courtney Brame: For one of the parts of it was, what's something you're ashamed of, and how do you know?
27
00:02:57.110 --> 00:02:59.140
Courtney Brame: The… and how do you know?
28
00:02:59.390 --> 00:03:01.250
Courtney Brame: Brought something up for me.
29
00:03:02.740 --> 00:03:08.700
Courtney Brame: was… it's been poked at, but I think that it had been so deep that…
30
00:03:09.190 --> 00:03:12.009
Courtney Brame: I didn't really care to…
31
00:03:12.260 --> 00:03:30.700
Courtney Brame: You know, I didn't see it as valuable to investigate. And the exercise I've been doing lately is before I go to sleep, I check in with myself and just visualize talking to my subconscious, and I ask, hey, what's here that I'm not picking up on?
32
00:03:30.870 --> 00:03:35.339
Courtney Brame: Because… Things are going so well for me right now.
33
00:03:35.970 --> 00:03:43.020
Courtney Brame: I want to be able to clear up space and let go while I'm in this high vibrational frequency.
34
00:03:43.210 --> 00:03:44.190
Courtney Brame: And…
35
00:03:44.810 --> 00:03:54.199
Courtney Brame: in doing so, the release is so much easier to do. It's so much easier to release attachments from this place of joy, from this…
36
00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:57.970
Courtney Brame: I… vibrational place.
37
00:03:58.160 --> 00:04:08.009
Courtney Brame: If that's what you want to say, but, I mean, if we talk about high vibrations and vibes and shit, like, really all we're talking about is that I'm in this rhythm of life that…
38
00:04:08.270 --> 00:04:11.780
Courtney Brame: I've never been in before. I ain't never been in this rhythm before.
39
00:04:12.020 --> 00:04:17.380
Courtney Brame: Like I said, I'm doing things that challenge me.
40
00:04:17.540 --> 00:04:27.469
Courtney Brame: and learned how to dance, I went to this Afrobeats class, and on top of, you know, trying to learn this, Brazilian Zook, and let me tell you.
41
00:04:28.080 --> 00:04:35.030
Courtney Brame: I think I found, like, my things, because I am getting a lot more out of it, and
42
00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:37.939
Courtney Brame: I've been looking for…
43
00:04:39.050 --> 00:04:52.089
Courtney Brame: something. Something. I don't really know what, but I think I found it in this new way of connecting with people, making friends, and experiencing intimacy beyond the ways that I've familiarized myself with it.
44
00:04:52.400 --> 00:05:05.140
Courtney Brame: But, going back to the shame thing about being happy, being in this place, it is a lot easier to release things. And I didn't know that I was ashamed of how happy I am until…
45
00:05:05.970 --> 00:05:11.920
Courtney Brame: a few nudges, and it's never just one thing. One of my friends had said to me, she was like.
46
00:05:12.350 --> 00:05:17.519
Courtney Brame: why she asked me, I think I mentioned this a while back, she was like, why are you posting all this sad boy shit? Like…
47
00:05:17.760 --> 00:05:21.130
Courtney Brame: you're… that's… that's not you. And…
48
00:05:21.140 --> 00:05:31.769
Courtney Brame: when I talk about identity validation, especially after a herpes diagnosis and being able to be around people who know you outside of this thing that you've identified yourself with.
49
00:05:31.770 --> 00:05:44.420
Courtney Brame: Because I identify with my sadness, like, I identified as being a person that is suffering and struggling and going through everything that happened the first half of this year, and…
50
00:05:44.830 --> 00:05:53.230
Courtney Brame: didn't realize that these were attachments that were being released, and for so much of what I've invested emotionally into
51
00:05:54.490 --> 00:06:03.720
Courtney Brame: those attachments that got released, it did free me up. Like, the abundance of joy, I believe.
52
00:06:03.910 --> 00:06:07.809
Courtney Brame: comes from… Not having these attachments.
53
00:06:09.880 --> 00:06:18.820
Courtney Brame: And speaking to a recent experience, I had recently gotten rejected for the last grant that I've been waiting to hear back about.
54
00:06:18.920 --> 00:06:37.379
Courtney Brame: from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and I submitted an application to figure out how we can reach more men. I'd like to do a research study on what men need in terms of being able to be educated better about sexual health and pleasure outside of
55
00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:39.949
Courtney Brame: The context of,
56
00:06:40.050 --> 00:06:48.169
Courtney Brame: Having to learn from their women partners, or their partners in general, because a lot of the marketing
57
00:06:48.440 --> 00:06:52.330
Courtney Brame: Really only talks to… Queer men…
58
00:06:52.660 --> 00:07:03.269
Courtney Brame: And the idea was to get some money to just run that research project. I thought it was a very well-put-together proposal, but they said no.
59
00:07:03.270 --> 00:07:13.400
Courtney Brame: And after that one, I felt a sense of freedom, because I put so much into all of these grant applications, right? The money, energy, attention, time, that,
60
00:07:13.500 --> 00:07:18.240
Courtney Brame: Shout out to Coach Greg Robbins. Is that his name? Greg.
61
00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:19.310
Courtney Brame: Adams?
62
00:07:19.490 --> 00:07:28.830
Courtney Brame: I might have said his name wrong, but it's Greg, so I wanted to make sure to give my man credit. But, investing those things into these grant applications and…
63
00:07:29.100 --> 00:07:34.149
Courtney Brame: Like, finally being able to say, nope, I'm done. I released that shit, because…
64
00:07:34.270 --> 00:07:40.940
Courtney Brame: Not because of the rejections, but because I… It's not… There's no return.
65
00:07:40.970 --> 00:07:46.560
Courtney Brame: But just because there's no return, doesn't mean, like, you stop, you quit.
66
00:07:46.560 --> 00:08:06.990
Courtney Brame: And you just discard that energy. I think that what I did was release what cooked up in that, so all of the ingredients, the raw material that went into that… imagine making a soup, right? You cut up some vegetables, you got whatever your broth is, you put your meat in there, right? And I've put those 3 ingredients into the soup.
67
00:08:06.990 --> 00:08:11.040
Courtney Brame: And the soup was maybe…
68
00:08:11.460 --> 00:08:19.029
Courtney Brame: cooked into too high of a temperature, right? But I still got something out of that soup, so now, in releasing
69
00:08:19.250 --> 00:08:20.070
Courtney Brame: the…
70
00:08:20.180 --> 00:08:36.419
Courtney Brame: ingredients entirely from, you know, being used as a soup. Maybe this would be better as an ointment or some sort of a medicine, right? So this is just, like, an analogy, metaphorically, of what I put into that particular
71
00:08:36.419 --> 00:08:40.200
Courtney Brame: avenue of trying to get grants, trying to get money. Now.
72
00:08:40.340 --> 00:08:52.330
Courtney Brame: it can release and go into a different kind of a container, or make… take shape into a different kind of container that more so aligns with where I'm at. And where I'm at now is there's a lot more…
73
00:08:52.380 --> 00:09:01.339
Courtney Brame: direct communication that I have with people that reach out to me through something positive for positive people. A, from the,
74
00:09:01.510 --> 00:09:02.919
Courtney Brame: support groups.
75
00:09:03.830 --> 00:09:05.410
Courtney Brame: and B…
76
00:09:06.140 --> 00:09:23.970
Courtney Brame: be one-on-one support calls, and I've been seeing so much more visibility, because I spent, like, two… I spent maybe two to three weeks going back and making sure that I hit that button that allowed for everything to show up on Google. So for the last 5 years of me
77
00:09:24.260 --> 00:09:30.229
Courtney Brame: How long has it been? 8 years running the… oh my god, for the last 5 years that I've had the podcast.
78
00:09:30.350 --> 00:09:31.850
Courtney Brame: on the website.
79
00:09:32.120 --> 00:09:45.069
Courtney Brame: I had not been telling Google, hey, this should be here, because that's why nothing was ranking previously, and lately I've been focusing more on the website than social media, and it's been paying off.
80
00:09:45.210 --> 00:09:52.320
Courtney Brame: there's been times I've had up to 7 support calls a day, and I think that this is really starting to really…
81
00:09:52.400 --> 00:10:10.999
Courtney Brame: inform the direction of not just the support groups and something positive in general, but even what I talk about here on the podcast, because a lot of these conversations, like, I wish more people would be down to talk on the podcast about what y'all come to me about for the support groups, or support calls, because…
82
00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:13.349
Courtney Brame: These are useful conversations.
83
00:10:13.650 --> 00:10:34.229
Courtney Brame: And it's challenging for me to hold onto and remember, you know, what's being said about everybody, and I also want to maintain, you know, people's privacy, and it's their story. I want this to be a space that feels safe, at least, where people know that they can come to me, talk about the things that they talk about, and then, you know, go on about their business. And…
84
00:10:34.230 --> 00:10:42.360
Courtney Brame: I really appreciate being… The person that y'all trust to do that with, and…
85
00:10:42.650 --> 00:10:54.340
Courtney Brame: I just… yeah, I had this overwhelming sense of gratitude, and… since releasing my…
86
00:10:55.060 --> 00:10:59.159
Courtney Brame: attempts to… no, I ain't gonna say attempts… releasing
87
00:10:59.280 --> 00:11:14.459
Courtney Brame: the process of applying for grants. I'm not applying for grants anymore. Like, if somebody's like, oh my god, Courtney, this is a great grant you applied for. You apply for it. I'm done. I'm done with it. And releasing that?
88
00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:33.689
Courtney Brame: It's funny, because even just a couple of days after I made the decision, I made a post, I was like, here's the rejection, I'm done. I am so happy to be done, and I'm not applying for grants anymore. I got a text message that somebody asked me, hey, if you got a grant, what would you do with it? And I don't want to say too much about it.
89
00:11:33.690 --> 00:11:39.789
Courtney Brame: Until, you know, the wheels are in motion, because, you know, I'll have to, like, put it in the tax documents, but…
90
00:11:39.820 --> 00:11:49.130
Courtney Brame: a really powerful opportunity that aligns so much better had presented itself, and I'm really looking forward to it, so I'm…
91
00:11:49.160 --> 00:12:07.679
Courtney Brame: I got my fingers crossed that this thing that would kick off in, like, the beginning of spring happens, and if it does, you'll hear about it. You'll hear me talking all about it, but this is me, like, just speaking to practicing what I preach, like, what I talked about from the attached release.
92
00:12:08.200 --> 00:12:26.330
Courtney Brame: And then the, the raw material, damn it, the last couple episodes, I've been talking about this shit. So, if… if you're confused on what I'm talking about, just… just reach out to me. But, yeah, I am actively practicing what I preach, and…
93
00:12:27.280 --> 00:12:36.579
Courtney Brame: I know that people are looking, too, for a lot more dating and relationship advice and guidance, and…
94
00:12:37.740 --> 00:12:55.790
Courtney Brame: I'mma tell y'all the same way it's been for herpes and herpes stigma, like, a lot of the things that really help with relationships don't have anything to do with relationships. A lot of the things that help for herpes don't have anything to do with herpes. A lot of the things that help with stigma don't have anything to do with stigma.
95
00:12:56.020 --> 00:13:00.889
Courtney Brame: I think a lot of us have gone through an experience where it…
96
00:13:01.190 --> 00:13:25.410
Courtney Brame: didn't go well for us, but, like, we're on the other side of that. And if you can look at what you've gone through from that, and then just kind of write it out next to herpes and what your diagnosis, symbolizes, then you have sort of a blueprint of an experience of what you've done before, and how it can be applied
97
00:13:25.410 --> 00:13:28.290
Courtney Brame: To now, in order to work through it, and…
98
00:13:28.290 --> 00:13:40.819
Courtney Brame: Yeah, whenever people come in for a support call, I ask them this question, like, if there was one thing you want to make sure we get out of our time together, what would that one thing be? And a lot of times, we end up going back to…
99
00:13:40.830 --> 00:13:49.740
Courtney Brame: The diagnosis, and what was going on around the diagnosis, and we talked a little bit about that relationship, and almost every time.
100
00:13:49.770 --> 00:14:00.339
Courtney Brame: people say I knew that this was somebody I shouldn't have been with. This is the one time I went against, you know, my values and my boundaries and who I am, and I want to…
101
00:14:00.340 --> 00:14:03.279
Courtney Brame: Not be as vague as to say values and boundaries.
102
00:14:03.280 --> 00:14:23.839
Courtney Brame: Because these are the raw material, those intangible aspects of who we are and our identity. And when we go against these things, it's not even really going against them, right? Like, what is happening around us is a direct reflection of what's going on within us. So you know you shouldn't be messing with somebody, you know this person ain't right for you. That's out of alignment.
103
00:14:24.150 --> 00:14:34.490
Courtney Brame: And I speak a lot to the nervous system, and how, herpes is a nerve condition that presents itself on the skin, and…
104
00:14:34.590 --> 00:14:40.450
Courtney Brame: Given that… the nerves. I use this analogy of talking about
105
00:14:40.610 --> 00:14:44.520
Courtney Brame: The nerves and nervous system is like a spider web.
106
00:14:44.520 --> 00:14:49.050
Courtney Brame: So you have herpes that's lingering on a spider web, and every time there's a stressor.
107
00:14:49.050 --> 00:15:10.990
Courtney Brame: there's a flickering of somewhere on that web that disturbs the herpes virus. So let's say you got work stress, relationship stress, you got, sex with this person that stresses you out, and you've got, like, nutrition issues, right? That's four things. Let's say you're in college, or you're in school, or some, some class or something, or your job.
108
00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:18.819
Courtney Brame: Right? So you've got, like, these 7 disturbances that are constantly disrupting herpes' ability to rest.
109
00:15:18.820 --> 00:15:32.690
Courtney Brame: And so now it becomes uneasy, and it's frustrating. It's like, yo, I'm just trying to live here peacefully, and this is not a good place for me to live. Hey, take care of this. And it's telling you at a soft, gentle whisper, hey, take care of this, I need you to…
110
00:15:32.690 --> 00:15:51.360
Courtney Brame: handle these stressors in your life, because it keeps waking me up, and I just want to chill. And then when you don't do that, it's like, alright, well, fuck it, I'm outta here. Boom, you got an outbreak. And now, like, you're paying attention to that thing, which makes you look at those stresses. Because that's really all it is. It just wants to live, it just wants to hang out and chill.
111
00:15:52.130 --> 00:16:01.279
Courtney Brame: And I don't say this to, like, brag about myself, but, people are always shocked when I tell them I've had 3 outbreaks over the last…
112
00:16:01.540 --> 00:16:20.030
Courtney Brame: 8 years? 8 years? 12 years. I'm trailing 3 outbreaks over the last 12 years. 8 years is how long I've been living something positive for positive people. And, again, I had the first one when I had my first outbreak. I had my second one when I got fired from a job in a new city that I was living in.
113
00:16:20.060 --> 00:16:30.480
Courtney Brame: And then the third one was when I had a ton of sugar in a short period of time, which I later, you know, learned that had I not paid attention to that, I would have, become pre-diabetic.
114
00:16:30.930 --> 00:16:36.730
Courtney Brame: So, there's a lot of… you know…
115
00:16:36.830 --> 00:16:39.380
Courtney Brame: There's a lot to be learned here.
116
00:16:39.510 --> 00:16:42.770
Courtney Brame: And… I don't want to commit to
117
00:16:42.880 --> 00:16:54.650
Courtney Brame: taking a shift in approach. I don't want to attach myself to that, but I will say, I mean, if you've been listening to the last few episodes, especially the ones where it's just me, you'll hear that there is much more of, like, a…
118
00:16:55.470 --> 00:17:06.669
Courtney Brame: of peace, a calm, because for a while, I was struggling, y'all. That first half of this year, even, I mean, a lot of last year was difficult for me to…
119
00:17:06.900 --> 00:17:08.030
Courtney Brame: have,
120
00:17:08.650 --> 00:17:20.890
Courtney Brame: podcast episodes that I felt were good or useful, but I was just really shaken up, and I'm honestly surprised that I didn't have an outbreak even during these stresses, but I believe that there might have been
121
00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:29.830
Courtney Brame: a necessary stress, like, there was a need for the kind of stress that I experienced, at least for the first half of 2025.
122
00:17:30.210 --> 00:17:47.849
Courtney Brame: And that… that put me in my place, so to speak, right? Like, I was active, I was moving, there was no… there was no for me. Everything that I was doing was for, you know, someone else, or for the greater good of, a big picture goal.
123
00:17:47.890 --> 00:17:58.110
Courtney Brame: And I invested so much into that big picture goal that when that big picture goal, like, I was forced out of that. I was forced to shift it, I was forced to… and it couldn't take form.
124
00:17:58.110 --> 00:18:11.430
Courtney Brame: So, I think that tornado came, and it forced me to sit my ass down, be homeless, be humbled, and in that stillness, who I was allowed for the outside world around me
125
00:18:11.590 --> 00:18:16.649
Courtney Brame: to take… Accurate form, to take accurate shape. And…
126
00:18:17.210 --> 00:18:26.929
Courtney Brame: align itself to my orbit, like, allow it to orbit who I am. And I've been in this rhythm for probably since July.
127
00:18:27.300 --> 00:18:36.249
Courtney Brame: I've been in this rhythm, and I've seen it in my work, play, and rest. These are the three categories that I've given myself of…
128
00:18:36.380 --> 00:18:52.750
Courtney Brame: balancing my life. So, for 4 months out of the year, I'm in work mode. Like, right now, I'm in work mode through February, so there's a lot more… there's a lot less time for play, there's a lot less time for rest. There is still some of that, but work is a priority.
129
00:18:52.750 --> 00:19:09.050
Courtney Brame: And then, when we go into the spring, because that's when I was kind of forced to sit my ass down, I think that that's the season that I'm supposed to be resting. That transition from February to March, April, May, June, and then summer into fall, that's when I'm supposed to play.
130
00:19:09.130 --> 00:19:23.210
Courtney Brame: I think that that's the big place he is, and that's why I say yes to everything. I go for the trips, I go see my peoples, do all the traveling, and I think that that's what… that's been my calibration, and I'm sharing this, hopefully, because
131
00:19:23.780 --> 00:19:31.379
Courtney Brame: whenever I do this, like, somebody does reach out and they say, hey, that theme that you said in this episode resonates, and I've been scared to talk like this.
132
00:19:31.450 --> 00:19:38.929
Courtney Brame: I'm just scared to say, yeah, I'm ashamed of how fucking happy I am. I'm ashamed of how much joy I have, and I dumb that down.
133
00:19:38.940 --> 00:19:55.560
Courtney Brame: Like, I've been letting myself smile more, I've been letting myself start conversations with people, I've been, like, buoyant as fuck. And I'm watching One Piece, and the whole thing about him is I'm on episode 193 now. In two weeks, I'm finna finish this shit, but, like…
134
00:19:55.620 --> 00:19:57.969
Courtney Brame: I… I see…
135
00:19:58.360 --> 00:20:17.459
Courtney Brame: a lot of my repressed self in the main character, Luffy. Like, granted, he ain't… he ain't even really the big part of the story, right? Like, he is what he represents, and I can get into that when people, like, want to talk about anime or talk about One Piece, but yeah, I'm… I'm seeing that…
136
00:20:17.790 --> 00:20:27.470
Courtney Brame: Damn, dude, it's okay for you to be happy. And anybody who's uncomfortable with that happiness, like, I'm not in relationships with them anymore. I'm not at those jobs anymore.
137
00:20:27.730 --> 00:20:31.029
Courtney Brame: Not in social community with these people anymore.
138
00:20:31.520 --> 00:20:32.490
Courtney Brame: And…
139
00:20:32.950 --> 00:20:41.120
Courtney Brame: There's so much of myself that, again, needed to be let go, but, you know, who we are is reflected
140
00:20:42.330 --> 00:20:50.620
Courtney Brame: And… It's very much reflective, and good morning. Hey, good morning.
141
00:20:51.760 --> 00:20:53.899
Courtney Brame: Who we are is very much reflected.
142
00:20:54.040 --> 00:20:57.290
Courtney Brame: And The world around us.
143
00:20:57.500 --> 00:20:59.739
Courtney Brame: Some of the world around us will…
144
00:20:59.840 --> 00:21:17.880
Courtney Brame: inevitably show us who we are, where we are, how we are, in these… hey, her name, Courtney Brown, MDMS type. I'm looking at this little screen at this, college, so I'm at my part-time job. For those who don't know, yes, I also… I also work. I have a job. I'm also a yoga therapy training.
145
00:21:17.880 --> 00:21:28.960
Courtney Brame: And I also, you know, do all of the day-to-day functions for the nonprofit, I do the podcast, I do the support calls, I run the support groups, yes, including the women's support group, because
146
00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:41.380
Courtney Brame: I mean, that's essentially what they've all been since I started offering any kind of support, because a lot of times the men don't show up. I hate to say it, but those are my people.
147
00:21:41.420 --> 00:21:58.929
Courtney Brame: And I think that maybe I just need to do a little bit more of being open, putting myself out there, and sharing my experiences and stories in a way that men can align with, because I recognize that I've done a lot of, you know, being neutral and not really…
148
00:21:58.930 --> 00:22:20.380
Courtney Brame: you know, sharing what my experiences really are, especially as a man. I try and, like, leave the space for the people who come share their stories and, like, facilitate the space in that way. But I think that the more I just talk about me and my experiences, I think that the more men kind of gravitate towards that. And I don't want to, you know, be divisive in any way. I think it's important for us to
149
00:22:20.690 --> 00:22:23.259
Courtney Brame: Kind of an integrated overall view.
150
00:22:23.260 --> 00:22:42.799
Courtney Brame: of not just women's experiences, but men's experiences. Not just, you know, the experiences of queer people, but also the experiences of straight people. Not just non-monogamous, but also monogamous, which just kinky, but also vanilla. And, yeah, there's a place for all of these. The religious, the non-religious, the spiritual, the non-spiritual, the political.
151
00:22:42.800 --> 00:22:57.829
Courtney Brame: right, the political left, it's a place for all of that. And that's one of the things that I fundamentally love about something positive for positive people, is that this is a place where it don't matter who you are, it don't matter what your beliefs are, it don't matter what your values are, what you've done.
152
00:22:57.850 --> 00:23:00.300
Courtney Brame: We all are connected through this thing that…
153
00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:06.059
Courtney Brame: Does not discriminate, that just, you know, wants to live in a calm nervous system.
154
00:23:06.490 --> 00:23:07.640
Courtney Brame: And so…
155
00:23:08.100 --> 00:23:14.080
Courtney Brame: Being able to settle into that, and accept that the way it is, it's been something that's been deleted.
156
00:23:15.050 --> 00:23:17.350
Courtney Brame: helpful, I would say.
157
00:23:17.480 --> 00:23:22.820
Courtney Brame: I think it's been nice to just advance it up, so… Yeah, I'll leave it there.
158
00:23:23.040 --> 00:23:29.730
Courtney Brame: That concludes this episode of Something Positive for Positive People. Please like, rate, review, and share, subscribe, too.
159
00:23:29.910 --> 00:23:33.399
Courtney Brame: This podcast, and to the most signs of pleasant.
