Why Alana Miller Continues to Look Inward To See A Better Future
In today’s episode, we sit down with the lovely and compassionate Alana Miller. She’s a science and psychology nerd and a professional psychic who made her mark in the nonprofit management space.
Alana’s also a strong advocate for diversity, and shares all about the mission she is on to empower low-income at-risk youth and their families with the skills necessary to pursue higher education and create strong communities.
In this deep and vulnerable episode, we discuss the nuances of the foster care system, how to deconstruct the negative narrative in our minds, find our tribe, and embrace all parts of ourselves.
We also tap into Jason’s spiritual side as he receives his first ever tarot card reading.
Please hit the play button at the top of the page and thank you for tuning in to today’s mystifying episode.
In this Episode
[01:16] Jason begins today’s show by verifying what the “MG” in Alana’s name stands for. We also learn that she commuted from Calabasas, has a doctorate in psychology, and that she is going to give Jason his first tarot card reading.
[04:06] Alana shares about her time at LSU, dropping out for a bit to join an improv comedy troupe, and her nonprofit work in the complex foster care social work system. Jason also invites her to tell us her most memorable success story.
[11:24] Jason is curious if Alana stood up to bullies as a kid. Alana describes her bullying experiences and also reveals how an AP bio lesson at Agoura High changed her career interest from medicine to mental health.
[13:17] Alana and Jason discuss how mental health is addressed in our school systems and how open communication and therapy can help parents and children deconstruct negative labels that are given to them by their classmates.
[23:25] Jason brings up Alcoholics Anonymous and the idea of labeling oneself as an “alcoholic,” even after years of sobriety. Alana explains how different systems work for different people, and that it’s up to us to define ourselves.
[30:49] Jason discloses an unfortunate situation that involved his son and the parents of a girl he dated. As a result, his family did group therapy which helped greatly to bring them closer together. Alana praises his decision and encourages parents to talk to their pediatricians, other parents, and their schools to find more mental health resources.
[40:40] Jason recounts the time he and his wife met a clairvoyant and predicted the amount and sex of the children they were going to have. He says they were skeptical, but that eventually, her predictions all came true. Alana tells him that it’s all about patience.
[44:55] Before Alana begins Jason’s tarot card reading, she educates us and answers Jason’s questions regarding the cards. She runs down the different suits in the deck, the spreads, and how she was able to tune into Jason’s energy before coming on the show.
[52:23] Jason gets his first tarot reading as Alana draws stirring cards that reveal Jason’s transformative path. Alana also shares how we can contact her to get a reading and Jason recommends a book for her to read.
[01:01:43] We peek into Alana’s psyche during our signature segment of “Hennessey Heart-to-Heart” as she opens up about what kind of animal she’d be, the funniest thing she did as a kid, her journal entries, her views on fate, and much more.
[01:09:57] Jason and Alana close today’s show with Jason recommending listeners do an in-person tarot reading with our guest if you’re ever in the LA area. Alana mentions she’s open to trying Zoom readings.
Transcript
Jason Hennessey: Alana MG.
Alana Miller: Yes.
What does MG stand for?
Miller Goodearl.
See? Miller Goodearl. I didn’t want to mess that up.
Thank you for coming all the way down here to Hennessy Studios. I appreciate it.
Thank you so much for having me. It’s exciting to be here.
Good. Well, it’s an honor to have you here. You didn’t have too far of a drive. Where’d you come in from?
Calabasas. Okay. We were talking earlier and you said that you were an OG of Calabasas?
Yes, I was living in Calabasas before the Kardashians got there, when it was still an unincorporated part of LA County.
It wasn’t even its own city yet. We rode our horses to the market.
Do you still own horses?
No.
You don’t. Okay. Yeah. We were actually- When we were looking for homes, we were looking out in Calabasas.
I told you one of the things that I loved was the farmer’s market, and food, and the culture. We ended up going out to Santa Clarita though.
Yes.
Family community.
That’s right. Yep. You’ve lived many lives.
I’ve lived many lives, many hats. That’s part of my own personal development journey, is integrating all of that. I think we’re there. I think we’re almost there.
Yeah. I’m just going to go over a couple of these things. You did a lot of work in nonprofit.
Yes.
A doctoral student in psychology.
Correct.
Got it. Professional psychic.
Yes.
Which you have a bunch- What did you bring in with? What is that?
I brought toys. I brought tools for us. All sorts of esoteric fun stuff, representing different cultures and parts of the world.
I will share with you that these little guys are for protection to keep the evil spirits away.
Got it.
We have a little tribute to India, Pakistan, and those cultural elements. We’ve got Japan here. Some crystals, feathers, sage, chakras, and more crystals.
I love it.
Of course, most people are familiar with the tarot deck.
The tarot deck. Okay.
I brought that. We can play with that later.
Yes. Yeah. Make sure you tune in and stay listening, because boy, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a real reading before in my life.
Really?
I don’t think so. No. I got one in a bar once, which I’ll talk about, but-
Ooh, I want to hear about that.
Yeah, that was just interesting.
Sometimes those can be really interesting.
We will talk about that. Let’s see here. Former foster care social worker.
Correct.
Then you went off to New Orleans.
I did for a second.
Okay. LSU. Did some improv stuff. Man, we got so much to talk about here.
Where do we even start?
I don’t know. Where do you want to dive in? Going off to- I was at LSU and I dropped out for a second to join an improv comedy troupe. It was so wonderful. It was one of those best experiences.
At the time, I lived incredibly irresponsible in: what am I doing with my life? But now I get to look back and be like, “I am so glad that I did that. I’m so glad I listened to that.”
Yeah, no, that was my thing too. I did improv. I did some Second City stuff.
Oh, did you?
That was so much fun.
Oh, we can play a game.
Okay.
Let’s do improv games.
Okay.
Next time, we’ll do another show of just improv games.
That’d be fun. I love that. Let’s talk about- It sounds like you spent a lot of your time doing nonprofit stuff.
Yeah.
How did you become interested in that line of work?
I feel like it was a calling, if you will. Helping other people, I actually, and it kind of crosses over into my esoteric work because I had a conversation with spirit, source, universe.
Again, whatever language makes you or your listeners feel comfortable, of your own personal truth. What do I want to do with my life? Creating abundance, or making a living while serving community, serving others, humanity, seemed to be really aligned with my personal value system.
Okay.
So I moved into the nonprofit sector.
How many years did you spend in that sector?
Too long.
Yeah?
I would say the majority of my early career was working with nonprofit institutions, whether it was in mental health and foster care, or expanding into the arts.
I worked with a lot of symphonies and orchestras, and live performance institutions for a while. I received my masters, or my MBA, in nonprofit management. It was a really wonderful, valuable career.
I’m an excellent fundraiser. I can make any institution a lot of money, but like you mentioned, there’s a lot of different roles, a lot of different paths, and I’ve had that opportunity to explore, how do I bring it all together?
Sure, sure. I guess that was probably a very rewarding part of your life, right?
Yes.
I’m sure you have a lot of stories and memories of how you were able to, like you said, serve your community.
Yeah, definitely.
Then you also did some foster care work too?
Yes. I was a foster care social worker.
Okay.
I worked in primarily LA, but some Ventura County, in the nitty gritty with our most vulnerable populations.
Yeah. Tell me a little bit more about that.
Hard, hard work, if you can imagine. Hard work, complex system. The foster care system, the child welfare system, is a very complex system. Children come to that system from a variety of situations.
The way the public tends to think that it’s only through abuse, we’re saving children from really bad parents. Although that is absolutely the case, there’s also families who have just found themselves for one reason or another in really unimaginable situations. They require support and help to keep that family together, or keep that child safe while they try to put the pieces in place.
I think that’s been some of the most challenging stories that I have in my archive of really trying to keep a family stable and move them forward. There’s so many barriers to success when a family finds themselves in that situation.
All of them you can imagine, from social economic, to race relations, mental health, addiction, educational barriers, immigration barriers. All of the ‘-isms’ are definitely magnified within the foster care system.
I personally don’t have a lot of experience with that, but I could only imagine. A lot of these kids are born into situations that they can’t control. Right?
A hundred percent. They’re children.
They’re children.
They’re children.
Yeah. There’s so many variables that continue to come. You could be scarred for life, growing up that way. I’m sure you’ve probably seen it, but at the same time, it’s probably also very rewarding when you do have these success stories. Yeah.
The resiliency piece, I like to say, you truly can see the veiled fingerprint of God, or a higher energy within the foster care system, because as terrible and difficult and sad that experience is, there are these resiliency stories. There’s these miracle stories. These children have been through the worst, the worst and back, and they’ve moved on to such amazing, wonderful things.
Or, foster families who decide, “I’m going to open my door to a child going through so much, and I’m going to love the heck out of them, and then give them back.”
Oh, yeah.
It’s pretty bittersweet, the high highs and the low lows.
But tell me a little bit more about the positive side of the work that you’ve done in the foster care system. What are some of the success stories?
As I mentioned, it is amazing to see resiliency, that when a young person beats the odds. They’ve been-
I worked with a young man handed up on my caseload. I began working with him as a teenager. His father committed awful terrible crimes. Murdered the family. This young man survived. You can imagine the scars and the pain there of this young person.
He was steadfastly dedicated to making a difference, going into law enforcement because of the experience that he went through. He wanted to, instead of channeling that energy into something negative, he was like, “I want to channel it into something positive. I want to help shape the direction of our criminal justice system.”
More than just a passive participant, he really wanted to be an activist to help people. He ended up joining- There’s an academy that teenagers can join.
Okay.
He ended up joining the academy and eventually moving into the Sheriff’s department and doing it that way.
Families who’ve vowed they were only going to foster, and they create such a bond with the child. It comes to a point where they’re like, “Why are we not adopting this child? Why are we not becoming a family?”
The tragedy that brought them to this space never happened. Just healing through love, and through family, and joy.
Yeah. No, it’s-
The question I have, that I was thinking about, you’re doing all this great work, but as a kid, is this something that you thought? Were you always the kid that stood up for the kid that was being bullied?
It seems like you have this amazing heart.
Aww, thank you so much. I like to think so.
Yeah.
My brother has Down syndrome.
Okay.
I’m the eldest. I’ve had the fortunate experience of always seeing diversity, always seeing adversity a little bit. I always stood up for my brother and vowed to be next to him.
I think most people who meet me, they’ll walk away going, “She’s really passionate.” I think that passion’s translated into humanitarian causes, one way or the other.
Now, when you were a kid, though, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a medical doctor.
Is that right?
I really wanted to be a medical doctor.
Okay.
But that’s a fun story, because in high school I was in an AP biology class, which was a big stamp of honor at the time. The program I was in, it was actually over at Agoura High School at the time, there was a teacher who had a connection somehow to pick up cadavers.
Okay.
They brought out the cadaver. I couldn’t handle it. That ended any anticipation of a medical career.
I thought about becoming a vet, had the same aversion to blood and icky things, so I decided mental health might be the way.
Mental health.
Mental health, and nonprofit work, and community work, might be the way to go.
Yeah. Now, mental health, let’s talk about that for a second. Does the school system really teach us about mental health?
Oh, Jason, you want me to go into how I feel about the school system.
Yeah. You know what, because I think that’s-
Let’s buckle up, buttercup.
Yeah. That’s just- You know what I mean? We teach everything else. In some cases, it’s an antiquated school system.
We’re learning things that- We’re learning how to learn, and not so much what to learn, but I think mental health is where we really fall down. I want your thoughts on that.
A million percent, we don’t. The way the system is currently set up is archaic. It was, if you look into the history of education in the United States, it started with like, “Okay, young people should be educated, and we should be responsible for educating them.” We, being at the government level.
We set these parameters in place, but it has not been reviewed since the early 1900s, essentially. We’ve made some changes throughout the years, but it’s really focused on this industrial idea. Take these steps, go up this ladder, and then go into a factory.
It doesn’t focus on individual learning needs, different approaches, and then of course, the mental health piece. We do not foster that, at all, in the system.
There are changes now where more affluent schools are looking at what they’re calling the whole child approach, where they’re starting to bring counselors in, but those tend to be in more, again, affluent communities that have the resources to do that. That’s not the standard model.
If you look at the development of young people, that social-emotional piece, they are not learning that. They’re being asked to learn their times tables, but they’re not learning how to process their emotions.
“How do I deal when I’m angry with my friend?” Or, “I’m in kindergarten and I feel like throwing the block. What is the feeling that I’m feeling?” “Oh, that’s called anger.”
“Okay. What does anger feel like? What does it taste like? Now, what do I do with that anger? Do I throw? I still have that energy, but you’re telling me not to throw the block, but I still feel very angry.”
Are we taking the time to- All right, let’s be teachers and model how we process anger. How many adults do you know who may have an anger problem, or a depression problem, or an anxiety problem, because we haven’t learned how to…
Deal with it.
…deal with it, process it, put it someplace.
It’s everywhere. You look around LA, it’s pretty obvious. A lot of mental health issues leading up to why we have so many homeless people.
A hundred percent.
Now don’t get me wrong, there’s also vices and things like that, but that also leads into the mental health that probably could have been cured at an earlier age and we wouldn’t have had situations that we have now.
Definitely. You’re alluding to addiction. A lot of that is self-medicating. It’s, “I’m having this experience.”
We haven’t identified particular disorders, or disabilities, or quirks, just little parts of our personality as children, and so we haven’t learned how to cope with them as adults.
And then, because parents were never taught that way either, now you have parents that aren’t really educated and trained into coaching their own children with how to deal with those same issues that they faced when they were children.
I agree with that.
Yeah.
I definitely agree with that.
There’s such a stigma to it. “Oh, my child has ADD, or my child is experiencing depression, or my child has a learning disability, or my child’s bipolar, such a stigma.
It is.
Especially in a town like Los Angeles. Everybody’s like, “Oh, my kid is so-”
You label it.
We label it, yeah.
We easily label people.
Yeah.
Quickly label people.
Yes. Yes.
From there, then, in your mind as the individual that’s been labeled, now you start to associate and you start to believe what you’ve been labeled as, and then you start to manifest it that way. You start to act that way because that’s how you’ve been labeled.
You’re right on. That’s part of the spiritual work that I do. I work with people, is exactly what you’re talking about, is that we have taken on this role, this label, of who you are.
Whether it’s good or bad, it doesn’t matter. We’ve told a story to ourselves, “It’s good to be this,” or, “It’s bad to be that”, or, “I’m bad because of that.” Working to shed that, and separate that-
I’m doing that in myself right now. “I’m this. I’m that.” I’m just a human being, trying to figure it out just like the rest of us. I’m just in existence. I’m not this label that’s been placed on me. It’s so hard to break those early labels, to run from them.
The secret, because one of the things that I feel, is you start to lack confidence, because you’ve been labeled and you start to think, “I’m different,” or whatever else.
We talk about medication. Sometimes you get medicated, whatever, but now you don’t even have- You lack the confidence to really succeed in life.
Yes.
It’s all because of this imaginary world, that in some cases, we all believe and start to live in.
I call that “The committee.”
The Committee?
The voices in your head, the metaphorical voices in your head telling you that this could be a teacher. This could be a former partner. This could be your parents. This could be your friend next door.
Those are those voices that we continue to carry with us in our head. They’re the ones who are telling you, “You shouldn’t. You can’t. Why are you? You’re not good enough. Don’t try to do this.”
Yeah.
I try to fire my committee on a regular basis.
I like that. It’s a committee.
If there’s parents that are listening to this, right now, and maybe they have children that are being bullied in school because they are different, or they lack confidence. They lack self-esteem.
What could parents do? What are the first steps that they can take?
I think one of the best things parents could do with their children is establish a normative relationship of open communication. I think we’re always of-
There’s a tendency, as parents, to be afraid to be too open with our children. “Oh no. I’m going to expose them to so much scary stuff,” but if your child’s in a situation like bullying, that’s pretty scary too.
I feel like we, as parents, tend to underestimate how sharp our young people are, and how quick they can catch onto things. Sitting down and having a conversation, open conversation, with our children, builds emotional intelligence, not only in our children, but also us as parents. It really forms a connection between the parent and the child.
Let’s say your child comes home. They were teased for the clothes they were wearing and they come home in tears. They’re having a tantrum. Hold space for them. Be there. Let them have the tantrum.
My reaction, if my child’s upset, is I want to call the school. I want to call that other parent and have a conversation. We can get to all that advocacy part as a parent, that I’m sure you and your listeners will do a million times.
But be with your child for a minute. Allow them to process all of that, and reassure them that you’re going to walk with that journey.
Then, from there, help to deconstruct that narrative that they’ve just been taught by a peer. Again, let’s say, “Oh, Johnny was making fun of you because he didn’t-”
You have acne on your face.
You have acne on your face. Talk about acne. Talk about acne. It’s normal. It happens. It’s a clogged pore. That’s just all there is to it.
Normalize what this person has made a negative, and deconstruct that narrative. Like, “No, you’re not ugly, or gross, or yucky because you have a pimple. You have a pimple because you’re a teenager.”
Exactly. Yeah.
And then you can do all the stuff you would normally do as a parent, having those dialogues and conversations with other adults, but it needs to start with having a conversation with your young person.
Yeah. I think a lot of people who will be hearing this show, they meditate.
Yes.
I think when you meditate, as in life, in order to live, you have to breathe in and then you have to breathe out. Right?
Right.
I think the breathing outside is just being able to talk about it.
Excellent. Yes.
Right?
Yes.
Because all day long, you’re breathing it in. You’re not good enough. You’re not smart enough, but eventually you have to get it out.
Sometimes, when you get it out, the problem becomes over here and not so much in here.
You’ve got it. That’s it.
Right?
That’s it. It’s, why is therapy so valuable to so many people? Because you’re talking about it. You’re no longer internalizing it.
I’m a big advocate of however you have that therapeutic process, whether you’re journaling, talking to a friend, going to a professional, talking to a Sage, or a Shaman, doing a dance, whatever your thing is, you’ve got to let go of that energy, and let it transform, otherwise, it’s going to get bottled up inside of you and that’s when we have all our things.
Yeah. Yeah. Later on in life, if you don’t deal with it, it deals with you.
All of our shadow pieces, the parts of us that we know are there, or maybe we’re unaware are there, but they’re not presenting our best self.
We all have shadows. We all have those pieces that there’s opportunity for growth and improvement. When that shadow starts to take over your life, in one way or the other, all that is things that are not resolved. Those are just pieces that we haven’t compartmentalized and allowed to process out of our system.
You’re a hundred percent right.
Here’s a question, going off on a tangent here.
So, let’s say you have somebody that is addicted, or they’re an alcoholic, and they were an alcoholic for 10 years. They finally get the courage to save themself.
They go into Alcoholics Anonymous. They go into Alcoholics Anonymous, and they spend 5 years. They’re just doing amazing. Living life.
Now remember, they were labeled as an alcoholic. Now, they’re in Alcoholics Anonymous. They’ve been sober for 5 years. What is it, from a mental perspective, that you still continue to go to Alcoholics Anonymous?
Are you still labeling yourself an alcoholic?
That is a great, great question.
The piece here, is to look at, is, “I was drinking. Why was I drinking? Why was it problem-drinking?” There’s a next step. If you’re going to AA, you’ve got the 12 steps, but there’s another step there that I encourage people to explore, is that getting to the root of what’s going on.
Now, something like alcoholism, yes. There’s a gene associated with it. There could be a piece of like, “Hey, I had it. My father had it. My mother had it. I know that this is an allergy for me, and therefore I should step away from it, from that piece.”
Was there unresolved trauma? Were you an alcoholic, or was there unresolved trauma? Switching that narrative from the, “I’m the alcoholic. I am the alcoholic,” to, “This is I’m making wellness choices. I’m making choices that affirm this five year identity that I’ve discovered myself without the opportunity to drink.”
Sometimes labels like “alcoholic” are warning signs or ways to keep us on a path, but if you’re feeling- If you’re somebody who you’re like, “This label’s no longer fitting for me,” then put the label down.
If you’ve spent 5 years in a program, and you’re doing really well, and this label is still connected to you and it no longer fits, you have the permission to dispose of that label. You don’t have to carry it with you for the rest of your life.
If your label, if you will, your t-shirt fits and you like what it’s called, what it’s doing for you, keep it, but you have the- I give you permission to put these labels away when they no longer suit you.
I’m sure if there’s people that are listening that are part of the program, that have been part of the program for 20 years, there’s probably an argument on why they need to continue to go.
It might not so much be about them anymore, but it might be about saving other people. Maybe that’s the real reason why they continue to go, is continue to fight for those that are struggling and where they were. Maybe. I don’t know.
I’ve never been part of this program, but that’s always something that in the back of my mind, I always wondered. You’ve been sober for 10 years, but yet you continue to go and you have to show up and you say, “Hi, my name is Jason. I’m an alcoholic.”
I’ve never been to a meeting. I’ve never had this problem, but after 20 years, it’s just something that I always thought about.
There’s a community there, a support system there. That goes back to my earlier point. Find the system that works for you. If 12 steps is working for you, great. I know a lot of people who did not benefit from 12 step programs. I know people who still go to 12, like you, 20 years, still going to their group.
Find your tribe.
That’s it.
Find what’s working for you.
Yeah. That’s right. It becomes- They say you are the five people you associate yourself with. If you’re spending time with people that used to drink, that no longer drink, and they’re living good lives with their families and stuff like that.
Here’s something though. You have somebody that’s an alcoholic. They get saved 5 years and now they’re clean, but now they get addicted to pain pills. You have somebody that’s going to AA meetings, saying that “I’m clean, I’m sober.”
Great. You can live a life without drinking, but in the background, they have a different vice now.
What do you do?
That’s kind of what I was talking about earlier. Addiction and recovery is really difficult, and getting over that first hurdle of putting it down for a second, just stop drinking, stop doing the drugs.
We’ll step away for a minute. That’s really hard, but we’re talking 5 years down the road in this scenario that we’re talking about.
That’s what I mean by- Do the work. Really do the work. Congratulations for stopping the addiction. That’s great. That’s wonderful. I’m not taking that away from you. That should be celebrated all the time. You should celebrate that.
But take your recovery further. Ask yourself, why was I doing that? Because, sure I’m not drinking alcohol, but I’m pill popping, we’re still dealing with the exact same addiction piece.
There’s some of us who are more prone to addiction. They’re more prone to impulse behaviors. Our bodies just crave something more. Learn that about yourself.
If you’re someone who’s like, “I can’t. I know that everything has to be in moderation and I have to be conscious about it because I go out of control,” connect with yourself. Learn that part of your shadow. You don’t have to fear it. It’s not a bad part of you. It’s just who you-
It’s how you’re wired.
That’s just how you’re wired.
We like to tell stories about these parts of ourselves. We like to say, “Oh, I have an addictive personality, therefore, I’m bad,” or, “therefore I am an addict,” or, “therefore I’m this.”
Step back from that. You’re the one telling the story about it.
Yeah.
Step back from it. I just have an addictive personality. This is something I need to be aware of.
Or try to mentally change what you’re addicted to.
How can you change your perspective? Instead of being addicted to alcohol, or being addicted to pain medication, try to get addicted to taking your daughter to the park, and doing fun things.
A hundred percent. Yes.
Go 120% into that.
Yes.
It’s not a bad thing. It’s just what you choose as what you’re going to be doing.
Even for those who don’t have problematic drinking. Alcohol’s bad for you. Sure, we all enjoy it, but it’s bad for you. It crosses the blood brain barrier. We know how we feel in the morning.
I know as I’m getting older, I can’t. It’s like waking up in the morning, even with just a glass of wine, is like, “Oof.”
It’s okay to make other choices. It’s okay to be like, “I’m going to do things that are positive for me.” That’s a way to change the perspective, but reframe it. “I’m making choices that affirm me. I’m making choices that work better for me.”
If drinking doesn’t affirm you, or you’re waking up the next morning, or it’s causing problems, then make other choices. You can make a million other choices.
“I’m going with my daughter to the park.”
There you go.
I’m going to-
Spending time with them.
Yeah.
Exactly.
My son, who was 16 at the time, started dating a girl. They dated for about a year and a half, which is a long time when you’re 16 years old.
Later on, as most teenagers, you get into fights, this and that. Nothing physical, but you know, whatever. For whatever reason, the parents were trying to break the relationship up.
It was like the story of Romeo and Juliet. It really was. They just didn’t like them being around together, or spending too much time together, texting. They were abusing time, with being together.
It turned out that the parents were literally putting restrictions, saying, “Hey, listen. I want to get to know you better. The only way that you could see my daughter is you have to take judo classes with me.”
They literally put together a contract that my son had to sign.
That’s so interesting.
I’m not even lying. They had to put together a contract that my son had to sign. “You can only call her between the hours of 5 to 9. You got to take karate class with me one day a week.”
This whole contract that my son, because he liked this girl, had to sign. He just kind- It’s kind of a bizarre story.
Long story short, he wanted to be with her. She wanted to be with him. The parents just completely separated to the point where the parents actually won. They made the girl believe that he was just not the very person for him.
It really did this emotional thing to JJ.
I bet.
Yeah. Where he would text her and she wouldn’t respond.
Eventually, he ended up getting served with a restraining order because he was texting her. It was this whole thing.
Oh my goodness! Whoa!
I’m being vulnerable here, but…
Please be.
…that’s what- Make your mess your message. Here, why not? Because of those are families that learn from it. But this really hurt my son. Now he has this traumatic thing about this whole thing.
He wasn’t perfect either. You know what I mean? There’s always three sides of the story and I’m only telling JJ’s side of the story, but it was very traumatic for him. But he went to therapy. He did counseling. It really helped.
Because I went through my own stuff when I was a kid. I never was able to breathe out. For me, personally, I always breathe- I kept everything internally, but for him, and going through family therapy with him, and everything else in dealing with this, it works. This stuff works.
If you’re listening and you’ve got children that are going through issues, from somebody that was a nonbeliever in therapy, and keep all your problems to yourself, this really is radical.
It works. It really does work. The field’s only expanding and trying to increase accessibility.
You hear the few stories of, “Oh, it didn’t work for me,” or, “I didn’t like my therapist,” then find a new therapist. It goes back to find your tribe. Find what works for you.
But yeah. That’s why I love the field so much is because it works, because you got to exhale.
Yeah. Yeah. One of the things that I learned in family therapy, and I was like, “Wow, this is so powerful.” When you, because my wife and my one son at the time, we weren’t ready for this.
Anyway, the communication internally, and the house became toxic, and all kinds of other stuff, but one thing that a therapist, or I can’t remember, it was a woman. I think she was a doctor.
She’s like, “Yeah, you have,” she drew down on the board. She’s like, “You’ve got emotional response and rational responses.”
Oh yeah.
I’m like, that is so powerful, because my wife and my son, JJ, are two people that are emotionally responsive. When you have two people that are just emotionally responsive, it’s like, “Whoa, the world-” It’s like, crazy world.
Whereas me, I’m totally rational, but it’s not in anyways better, but the fact that we can actually put that on it and learn from it, and they can understand that, “Hey, what I’m about to say is an emotional response,” but going to step back and think about it.
Same from me too. Sometimes I want to emotionally talk, and it’s okay to do that, but just knowing the difference between emotional and rational responses, and communication. Powerful.
That is powerful. That’s huge. That’s huge.
Being able to say, “I’m really emotional right now, so either I need to calm down and do my work. I got to meditate. I got to take it a couple deep breaths, or if you want to continue this conversation, know it’s going to be on the passionate side,” and being able to articulate your needs.
The other thing that was really powerful about therapy too, is when you do it, you do group therapy.
I like group therapy.
Yeah. Group therapy, where you have a mother and a daughter, and a husband and a wife with their teenager, and you’ve got- Everybody’s just getting out their problems in this very public forum.
It’s so healthy, because when you think your whole world is changed, and my problems, and this. I could never live again. And then you start seeing other people and they’ve got similar problems.
In some cases, people are dealing with really traumatic things. Some of the stuff that you’ve probably seen in your world line of working foster care. It’s like, “Whoa.”
There’s an old saying. If you threw your problems into the center of the table, and everybody did the same, and you saw all the problems, you would pull yours right back. Right?
Right. Yeah. You’d pull it back.
You would. Yeah.
I also think that chips away at the isolation. When we engage in group settings, I think it chips away at that isolation piece.
“Oh my gosh. My life is terrible. Things are going wrong for me. I’m having a difficult time.” We internalize and we’re on this island.
Humans are social creatures by nature. Being able to see yourself, or a piece of yourself reflected in another person takes away that isolation. It gives us a sense of comfort, of like, “Oh, we’re all in this together one way or the other.”
Yeah. Now, do you have any- Again, what we’re talking about right now is very common. We all have problems.
Stuff.
Some people hide it. Some people live the “Facebook life” where everything’s perfect, but deep down inside, there’s always something going on in somebody’s world.
We all have stuff.
We all have it.
If somebody wanted to take action and become a little bit more educated on how to deal with this, is there a certain book? Is there videos?
What do you recommend to the parent that’s just completely stressed out and doesn’t know what to do? Where to turn.
If you’re a parent and is completely stressed out, I’d stop and exhale.
Got it.
Breathe. You’re okay. We’re going to get through this.
There’s the basic contact, your pediatrician. Don’t be afraid to say, “Hey, Johnny has a problem. Susie has a problem. Tommy has a problem. Where do I go?”
There’s a million books out there. I’ll gather a few so you can post them.
Put them on the site. There you go. Okay.
There’s so much. There’s so many different approaches, but talk to a pediatrician. Don’t be afraid to talk to your school and say, “Hey.” If you don’t want to even do that, call your insurance company and be like, “Hey, how do I get into behavioral health?”
Or even mental health.
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly. Right.
“What’s covered? How many sessions do I have?”
Talk to other parents. Promise you, your child’s not the only child who’s going through something. You’re not the only parent who’s having a hard time reaching your child. You’re not the only parent who is struggling at doing homework with the child. You’re not alone.
Don’t be afraid to talk to other parents, and don’t be afraid to say, “Hey, can you help me with this?” Or, “What did you do with your child?”, because when we normalize this, again, we get off that island. We create community. You know the saying, ‘It takes a village.’
It does. It doesn’t have to be when a child is dealing with a crisis. It could be when everything seems perfect. They’re getting good grades in school. They’re confident.
Sometimes there’s other things that are going on in their world that they might not be expressing to their parents. Maybe-
Is therapy good even when there’s no problems?
I’m all about tools. I’m all about grabbing on to whatever’s available. You may not need it in the moment, but knowing that resource is available.
If things are going well for your family, take a moment, check out what your insurance covers for mental health. Ask the school counselor, “Hey, what resources do you have available?” You may not need them.
But also, what’s a huge part of parenting and taking care of our children, is taking care of ourselves. Take some time to check in with you. Do I need my own? Do I need to go get my nails done? Do I need to go golf with the guys? Whatever your thing is, do I need to step away for a minute? If I did have to step away, who can step in for me?
All of those pieces, take some time, because if you’re not well, mind, body, spirit, if that’s not aligned in you, it’s not going to be aligned in your kids.
That’s right. Yeah. Now you’re getting into a whole ‘nother topic of marriages. Boy, life is hard!
Life is hard, and that’s okay.
Yeah. Life is hard.
Okay. Well, you brought some tools here. Let me tell my story about the bar thing. Well, it was at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas.
Nice.
If you know that area.
Great buffet.
We were up at the VooDoo Lounge.
Yes. Great buffet.
Great buffet. Funny story about the buffet. On my first date with my wife, when we met in 1999, I didn’t have a lot of money. I was in the Air Force. I wanted to take my wife, my girlfriend at the time. I’ve only known- I can’t even call her a girlfriend. I just met her.
I got her phone number and I was taking her on our first date. I got her. I picked her up in my Mustang GT. I had 300 bucks to my name. I wanted to take her out to dinner.
I loved the Rio buffet. I’m like, “Would you like to go to the Rio buffet?” She’s like, “Are you serious? You’re going to take me to the Rio buffet on our first date?”
Nice. Nice.
I’m like, “Well-” Anyway, we ended up going to The Cheesecake Factory, and The Forum Shops there, and we had a great time, but I love the Rio buffet.
Anyway, I’m at the VooDoo lounge, and a friend of mine comes up and he is like, “Hey, I want you to meet,” her name was Tatina. I even remember her name. He’s like, “Yeah, I want you to meet Tatina. She’s clairvoyant.”
I’m like, “Well, what is clairvoyant?” She can read things. I’m like, “Really?”He goes, “Yeah, check this out,” because he was a friend of mine that danced- Do you know Stevie B, “Party Your Body,” and “Springlove,” all those old songs from the ‘80s. He was a dancer for ‘em.
He’s like, “Yeah, man, she totally picked up on something, and she said that she sensed something with me, something related to Miami.” This is his story. It’s like, “Miami? I’m not going to Miami anytime soon.”
It’s weird, but then two months later, Gloria Estefan was doing auditions for Miami Sound Machine to be a dancer. The opportunity came to him and he actually got signed to do the dancing with Miami Sound Machine.
That was just one example of how she was able to predict it. Didn’t know what that association meant, but something Miami was coming to him.
With us, when we met with her, me and, I think we were married, my wife and I were married. She’s like, “Yeah, we didn’t have any children at all. My wife had just-”
Yeah, she was married because she was just pregnant and we didn’t tell anybody. She was just maybe, I don’t know, maybe two months pregnant or something.
She goes, “Oh, you’re pregnant. Huh?” I’m like, “How did you know that?” She’s like, “Oh yeah. No, you’re going to have a boy.” We’re like, “What?” She goes, “Yeah. You’re going to have two boys and a girl.” We’re like, “Okay.”
Anyway, we had JJ, and then 2 years later, we had another boy. It was always in the back of our mind. A girl? What is she talking about?
Many years later we moved to California. My boys at the time are 12 and 14 years old, and my wife gets pregnant again. Guess what?
It’s a girl.
It’s a girl.
It’s a girl! Yay!
Yeah, so she predicted two boys and a girl. We always thought in the background that maybe she really wasn’t clairvoyant. She said, “Two boys and a girl.” We don’t have our girl.
Yeah. That was my story.
That’s actually typical. When I do readings with people, and we dive into this whole unseen world together, at first, it doesn’t appear obvious. That happens frequently, because we’re not aware of it. It hasn’t happened yet. We’re talking about quote-unquote “predicting the future.”
We’re like, “What? That was wrong.” I’ve had so many people call me months later and they’re like, “Alana, oh my gosh! Now I know what you were talking about.”
It all makes sense now.
“It all makes sense now.” That’s not an unusual story.
We love it when those moments are ah-ha moments, and we’re wowed in the moment, but if you have a reading and you’re like, “Hmm, this doesn’t sit well,” just wait. Be patient. Let’s see what happens. Let’s see what happens.
This will be my first reading. Okay?
Oh my gosh.
First of all, the cards, what’s special about the cards? What does that tell you?
Okay. These are tarot cards.
Okay.
You can go to your local Barnes & Noble, or an Amazon to get some, but there are a bunch of independent esoteric bookshops, spiritual bookshops, in this city. I totally recommend supporting them.
Okay. Got it.
Run by really great people, hippie people, my kind of people got it. I would definitely recommend that.
Okay.
These cards are ancient. I probably should have prepped better. I knew exactly the date that we saw tarot cards pop up in human history, but they are cards.
Each card has an image. That image has a classic interpretation, but what’s interesting, and makes reading the cards a more spiritual, mystical practice, is where the cards sit. We’ll do something called a spread. Where the cards sit, and how they relate with one another, they are communicating a message.
That’s your psychic reading.
Interesting. Okay.
Just like our playing card decks, there are four suits. There is the pentacles, or coins. That’s this guy over here. Perfect timing. Where’s our camera?
There it is. Yep.
Wands, which look like sticks.
Okay.
Swords. I always pronounce that W. I have to consciously not say, “Swards.” I want to say swards.
Swards.
And cups, last but not least.
Okay.
Cups. The more you study the tarot, the suits, and all have different meanings. They can be connected to astrology. We can get deeper and deeper and deeper, but the basics of it is, that how the cards lay together communicate a message.
Got it. Typically, when you do a reading, how many cards do you use from the deck?
Great question. It depends on the spread. There’s lots of different spreads that people are accustomed to. If you’re going to put it in the shape of a star, that’s going to have five points.
Let me count. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. The very common spread is 10.
Ten. If anybody- Because you see psychic shops, there’s one in Toluca Lake. They’re all over.
Yeah.
Is this what happens inside when you go to-? Or, is there different ways to read people?
Everybody has spiritual gifts. Some of them are cool and impressive, like clairvoyance, but some of us are really talented in business.
We all have very mad spiritual gifts, but as far as the psychic stuff goes, there might be somebody who’s real strong with the cards. There might be somebody who channels using different modalities.
The reason why cards are so common is people like them. It’s really fun to see-
Interesting.
See the deck.
Okay.
For some people, it’s less reassuring when someone just sits there and channels energy.
Yeah. I see.
There’s different types of decks. This is the classic one. I intentionally brought the classic one.
I’m going to give you a deck reading, but before I do that, I want to tell you this. Your team approached me to do the show. I intentionally made an active choice that I wasn’t going to watch, or listen to any of the podcast. I wasn’t going to dive into you much further than anything I already knew, intentionally.
Okay.
But it was so interesting, and I was going to wait for this moment. This was my moment that we were going to do everything. It was so interesting.
I was immediately channeling you a month ago. So much energy comes through from you without the cards, which I just thought was absolutely fascinating and wonderful.
Is that a good thing or bad thing?
It’s a beautiful thing. This is the message I received before you and I sat down today.
Okay.
Sometimes when these things happen, it’s less impressive, but you touched a little bit on it in our dialogue here, but one of the things is, that really came forward to me, is sometimes we call it an old soul. Someone who’s done this round before. Someone who has a little bit more wisdom, a little bit more energy with them.
That’s definitely you. This is not your first rodeo. There’s some past life stuff going on with you.
Okay.
That you’ve done this before a little bit.
In this life, you are really diving into compassion, and really practicing, what does that look like, in every day when we’re working with different people, with all aspects of your life, whether it’s business, family, partnerships, there’s this huge compassion piece.
What was really clear to me, and I’m so glad we talked about family today, is one of the things that, even driving over here came through, there was a huge piece about childhood, inner childhood stuff, that came forward.
Connected with that, there was a sense of sadness. A sense of pain, a sense of loss, within that inner child space.
What’s really interesting about it is a lot of times when we talk about pain, or loss, from our inner child, the things that happened in childhood, it usually, or frequently, indicates that there is pain that needs to be- You need to put it somewhere. We need to exhale it.
Yeah.
Right? It needs to be compartmentalized. What is so interesting about your spirit, and it was so exciting driving over here just thinking about it, is that you have already managed to channel that energy, to do that exhale, if you will, through compassion.
You’ve managed to translate this into compassion for every aspect of your life, within your family life, within your work life, within all these other pieces of yourself. It comes through so strongly, this almost care for community, care for humanity, care for those individual people in my life, so strongly.
Driving over here, I was just overwhelmed. This is really exciting.
Wow. Interesting.
How does that feel? Does that feel right for you?
The old soul totally feels right.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. I don’t know. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always had this thing with old people.
Yeah.
I don’t know. It’s the thing. I just relate well to seniors. Anyway, that’s just- Maybe because I grew up with my grandfather, really, mostly as my father figure.
I’ve got a lot of respect for seniors, but yeah, there’s definitely some things from my childhood that- I guess it wasn’t painful, per se, traumatic, but just-
Stuff.
Stuff. Right.
Stuff.
Yeah. I like to give positive energy. I’m very conscious of that. That’s a big part of my character and who I like to be, and how I show up on this earth is just energy, and being aware of negative and positive energy. That’s something that I try to practice. Yeah.
You’re definitely practicing it, because I felt it all the way in Calabasas a month ago.
Is there anything specific you want to know from the cards?
Yeah. Whatever message I’m…
All right. Let’s do it.
…meant to hear, I’m open to hearing.
I love that. I’m going to slide these over to you. I’m going to ask you to cut the deck.
That’s beautiful so far. That’s you.
That’s me. It’s a yellow card.
That’s you.
Okay.
That’s the magician.
There’s a, it looks like what is it? An angel wearing a red jacket or something.
Excellent. It’s the magician.
Okay.
This is magic.
This is magic.
This is magic. This is somebody who’s able to transform darkness into light.
Okay.
This is you. This card in this position is representing you.
This is somebody who’s able to take what’s happening around them, that energy you just spoke about, and transform it. That’s like the alchemist. That’s you. That is you.
Got it.
That’s so interesting.
Second card is a heart with three swords through it.
Yes. What do you think this card means, just from its image? This one’s a very clear one to practice with.
That I got my heart broken or something? I don’t know.
It’s kind of what it looks like. Right? There’s more to it, but this card in a relationship reading, bad card.
It’s a bad card.
Bad card. That’s a sad card.
Okay.
But, here’s the tricky part about tarot. They’re not always. They look bad, they look scary, it doesn’t always mean that.
Okay.
This is the piece that I think goes into what I was talking about earlier that I was sensing from you of transforming loss, transforming pain.
It doesn’t have to be this big tragedy, like, “Oh my God, terrible things happening.” But that energy processing that you were talking about is transforming that.
Got it.
Again, with this magician taking anything that’s negative, or on the downside, and being able to translate it, and to process it into something new.
This looks, just this card itself, might look like, “Oh my gosh. I’m about to go through a breakup, or a heartbreak,” but the fact that it’s sitting with the magician, which we know transforms things, that’s magical.
That actually just solidifies who you are, and your energy, and where you’re at, in a real transformative space.
Okay.
Yeah? Following?
Following.
All right. Let’s do this. These are really great cards for a teaching lesson. I love it. I love it.
Okay. This card looks also really scary.
It looks like a knight on a horse. It’s black and white, and there’s somebody that is yellow.
It says, “Death.”
It says, “Death.”
People who have never been introduced to this are like, “Oh my gosh, that’s terrible! How- It’s awful. How occult.”
Death is another example of a card that can look scary, but death is transformation. We just talked about transformation in these previous two cards. Here, it’s also talking about transformation.
You are transforming right now, in a transition period, going from one space to another, you’re in it. Because what’s death? Death is the end of one cycle, but it signifies the beginning of another cycle.
Death doesn’t mean someone’s going to die. It doesn’t necessarily mean things are terrible, but it’s talking about how things are, one cycle’s closing and the other one’s opening.
Again, there’s transition going on with you. You’re moving to a new plane, a new level, a new phase of the journey, which we are going to take a look at the prospects.
Okay.
Moving forward.
Now, she’s laying about three or four other cards into a square.
So many cards. If you go for a reading, what I’m doing is I’m placing cards down.
We’d be here all day if I went through every single one and how it plays with the other, so I’ve laid them all down so I can take the whole picture.
Wow. I’m starting to understand it now.
You’re starting? Yeah. Of seeing how it works.
I’ll just point out some pieces that are fun, and then I’ll give you, “What is the message?” in a minute.
Okay.
What’s really fun is you got the high priestess.
Okay.
Key position about- The fact that we- The high priestess is similar to the magician. This is again another spiritually enlightened presence, an energetic presence.
The fact that we have this on the spread, along with the magician, we’re looking at a balance of sacred masculine and divine feminine. That’s like your yin and yang energy. Don’t think of it as gender, but rather of-
We all have qualities that are “feminine and masculine” inside of us. There’s this balancing of the two. I see that energy transforming inside of you, of creating that balance in your own life. There’s a huge balance piece here.
One thing that’s interesting to me, put the camera up, is this 2 of Wands, which tends to mean new beginnings and travel opportunities, but it’s upside down.
Okay.
This is where it gets really fun with readings, because if it was right side up with our first three cards we discussed, and you’re going on vacation, and you’re moving. That would be a super clear message, but it’s upside down, so you’re not going on vacation and you’re not moving right now.
No.
So, because that card is there, along with this high priestess card I just talked about, and we’re talking about transition, we know that this is more of an internal transition in your life, in your movement.
I know it’s less likely to be a business transition, per se, because we’re not seeing coins or pentacles on the deck, because that suit tends to have business relations to it.
I see.
If we had the same spread and a bunch of pentacles were going on here- Pentacles are also called coins. Coins are connected to business. Then we would know, “Oh, Jason, what are you doing? What’s going on with business and stuff like that?”
But that’s not happening here either.
I see.
There’s growth and transition happening for you. Here’s the message. You have to let this happen.
Okay.
When this starts bubbling up inside of you, and as you start feeling it moving that balance around, you got to tell the committee to stop talking. You’ve got to fire them.
You have to exhale when you feel the feelings. For someone who bottles it up inside sometimes, talk about it. Allow that process to happen, because, otherwise, you’re going to be hitting adversity. You’re going to be making yourself crazy.
The message is to you, go through it, go with the flow, allow it to happen and you’re okay.
Go with the flow, allow it to happen, and I will be okay. Interesting.
Well, I really appreciate you educating me and my listeners on the whole process while giving me this reading. That was awesome. Yes.
It was fun.
Yes.
It was fun. It’s a really interesting reading. To do a reading for the first time in this capacity, and to have cards like death, and the three of swords, like I said-
That still scares me a little bit, but- [laughs]
It does sometimes. They look really scary.
Yeah.
It’s a scary card.
When I see death and I see a heart with three swords through it, should I go to sleep next to my wife tonight? What is happening here?
So, so fascinating. Well, thank you so much. We’ll give your information. Do you do readings for people, tarot?
I do do readings for people.
Okay.
I enjoy doing readings. It’s really interesting.
Right before the pandemic hit, there was a huge staunch message from source, universe, truth, that was like, “You need to be focusing your energy somewhere else right now, because some things are happening.”
We went through the pandemic. My family needed my attention. I’m at the point on my journey where if spirit tells me something, I just listen to it, because whenever I argue with that still small voice inside of me, signs and stuff, that’s when I get into trouble.
Huh.
But, I’m at a place where, yes, I’m open. Please. I’d love to do readings for you.
Okay. How do people get in touch with you?
I’m old fashioned.
Okay.
I’m old fashioned. I just took my website down to do some reworking things. You can find me on Instagram: @The_AlanaMG.
Okay.
I’m old, so I’m not really super active on my Insta.
That’s okay.
But you can reach me there. You can find me on Facebook: @AlanaMG. You’ll find me.
Okay.
Send me a message. I do parties.
You do? Okay.
I do parties. It’s really fun to get a group of girls together. Have some wine, have some cheese, do some yoga.
I might have you, maybe my wife can have a little get together and have you come and join in.
I would be honored.
That would be fun.
It would be my privilege.
That’s cool.
It’s really fun, once I put this website up. See, Jason, you and I need to talk offline because you’ve got to help me with my website, please.
I know a little thing about that. Yeah.
Well, you’re not done yet. We do have a session called “Hennessey Heart-to-Heart,” but one thing I wanted to mention, there’s an amazing book.
You talked about your committee, the voices in your head. If you really want to learn more about that, there’s an amazing book called The Untethered Soul. Have you heard of it?
I have heard of it.
Have you heard of it?
I haven’t read it.
Oh, it’s very powerful. Such a good book. If you really want to start to understand your voices in your head, read that book, The Untethered Soul.
There’s my tip to you.
Thank you. I receive. I receive with such an open heart. Thank you.
Yes. Hennessy Heart to Heart. This is where we wrap up all of our calls, or episodes rather.
I just basically ask a question that you have not been prepped, and then you just say whatever’s on your mind.
Sounds like a plan. Let’s do it.
If you were an animal, which one would it be?
Goodness. I don’t know, but what’s coming up is a giraffe. I don’t know why, but giraffe came to mind. I’m going to stick with giraffe.
Let’s go with that.
If you were to open a restaurant, what kind of food would you serve?
Oh, this one’s a fun question. I would do foody food, with all the gluten free, and vegan, and dairy free type of stuff, but good.
The good stuff.
But like, good.
I think that would do very well in Calabasas.
I think that would be fantastic in Calabasa. If you’d like to invest, please contact me.
There it is. What makes you feel most alive?
Oh my gosh, that’s a hard one. I’m most alive when I’m in the moment, when I fired my committee, when I’ve taken that deep breath, when I’ve stood in my own power and been in a place of acceptance. When I can really feel the pulse and energy of the world, I feel I’m alive.
I could sense that from you. What’s the funniest thing you ever did as a kid?
Oh, please. The show’s wrapping up. We don’t have enough time. This one comes to mind. I don’t know if it’s funny. It’s probably not funny.
Whatever came to mind.
It’s funny. I mentioned my brother had Down syndrome. He got himself caught in the tree house as a kid. I went up there to get him down.
Instead of going step by step down the ladder, I had put him on my back in a piggyback. I jumped off the tree house. Of course, when you’re 8 years old, that breaks your leg.
Ooh.
I don’t know why I think this is funny, but I thought I would get in trouble for helping my brother, so I said my brother pushed me.
Oh no.
For years- He didn’t get in trouble. He has Down syndrome, of course, but for years people thought my brother pushed me out of the tree house.
As an adult, I’m mortified, because that never happened. I’d like to set the record straight. That never happened.
You’ve heard it here.
I still think that’s so funny. That’s what I chose to lie about as a kid.
But you’re a kid. You didn’t know.
What’s something that people always misunderstand about you?
Everything.
Yeah. You’re- If you could pick one.
Pick one?
Yeah.
There’s lots of pieces to me. Actually, I misunderstand this about myself too. I’m really working on this. I just did a Facebook post about this. I had an ah-ha moment. I don’t have to commit one piece of me. I can be all of me.
I agree. That’s the thing too is, those who are listening, just because you have been doing something your whole life, it’s okay to change and be something different.
I’m doing that right now. For most of my life I’ve been known as a digital marketer. Now I’m doing podcasting, just because I want to do something different. I feel like I’ve got so much more to give.
So, here I am.
Love it.
Do you write in a journal?
I do.
You do?
I do.
How often do you do that?
All the time.
Yeah.
Can I give a tip? I’m going to. I’m just going to be assertive right now. I’m giving listeners a tip, your journals don’t have to be, “Dear diary, today this happened, or these are my feelings.” Write whatever comes to you, whatever you want.
If somebody picked up my journal, when I die and people go through my journals, they’re going to be like, “This woman was crazy,” because it might be mad rants and nonsense, and of calling everybody terrible names.
It could be poetry. It could be messages that I’ve received from beyond. Anything. Pictures. It’s your journal. You don’t have to show it to anybody.
I don’t journal, but do people go back and read their journals?
Some people do. You can burn it when you’re done.
Sometimes that’s your way of exhaling. Right?
Exactly.
Just journaling, huh?
Just get it out. Pour it onto the page. If you want to keep it, keep it. You want to do a bonfire, go do a bonfire.
Who’s your favorite historical figure?
Rank a lot of historical figures, but right now, I’m really into Gustav Fechner, who is an old nerdy guy from the history of psychology. He was the one who really helped to bring the practice of psychology into mainstream science.
The reason why I like him is that his entire career as a science scientist, he was struggling to understand the metaphysical, and the scientific world. It actually drove him crazy before he made such a huge scientific contribution to psychology.
I naturally like him because I kind of have a little bit of both worlds in me too.
Got it. Great answer. I want to go do some research and use Google to do that.
Excellent.
Do you know what your love language is?
I don’t think I have a love language.
No?
I’ve gone through it so many times. I don’t know. I still don’t know. That’s part of the journey. I still don’t know. I go back and forth.
I think I’m avoidant attachment of the other one, but the love language, I’m like, I don’t know.
Maybe I like to receive gifts.
That’s my wife’s.
I think I like to receive gifts, but they don’t have to be big gifts.
No. They could be little elephants.
I think mine might be acts of service. I want to do for you.
That’s a good one. Yeah. Mine’s words of affirmation.
You’re fantastic, Jason.
Thank you!
You’re doing good. I’m proud of you.
There’s your improv skill. It’s just coming right out.
The “Yes, and.”
See? What moment in history would you have liked to be part of?
Oh my gosh. That’s another hard one. What moment in history I’d like to be a part of?
Maybe going to the moon.
Going to the moon.
That would’ve been kind of cool. Right? That would’ve been fun.
I could see you in the summer of ’69.
Peace. Love. Happiness.
I could see you on a blanket, tie-dyed blanket with a guitar and just- I could just totally see that.
No, totally. Absolutely. Absolutely.
What occupation could you never do, and why?
What occupation could I never do, and why?
I could never be a DMV clerk. I couldn’t. I don’t-
That’s a good answer.
I don’t play well with authority and bureaucracy. That would just be- That would be bad. That would be bad. It’d be bad for the government, and be bad for you too.
What’s one thing that you will never do again?
One thing that I’ll never do again. ‘
Oh my gosh. I don’t think I can talk about it on the podcast. [laughs]
We can leave it like that. Suspense.
Yes.
Call her to get a reading and then she’ll talk about it.
There we go. There we go.
I like that. What is your favorite part about yourself?
Oh my God. I’m getting to love myself. Getting to know myself now at this next phase of my journey, but I think the favorite part about myself is I am weird, I am different. I don’t fit in.
That’s awesome.
I love it. Be true to yourself.
Be true to yourself.
What’s one thing on your bucket list still that you have not accomplished?
Right before the pandemic, we we’re going to go to Jamaica, my husband and I, and we were going to do the whole renew the vows thing, and that happened right as the pandemic was happening.
Jamaica’s back on the bucket list, guys.
Good. Okay.
Back on the bucket list.
Last question, do you believe in fate?
I am a psychic and I can predict your fate. So, yes.
So interesting how different people answer that question.
How do other people answer it?
We’ve had one guest that does not believe in fate.
Make your own destiny.
Yeah. Everybody’s got their own perspectives. I don’t think anybody’s wrong. That’s just your perspective.
I think that’s the beauty of it. What is your personal truth?
Yeah. Well, this is such a fun episode. I really appreciate you driving all the way. Is it down the hill, or up the hill? Down the hill.
It’s just a few exits on the 101.
Yes. To join me. I appreciate it.
Again, for those that listen to this episode that want a reading, I’m sure even if they’re in different states, you could probably even do Zoom reading?
I do Zoom. I’m sorry I’m not super set up, but seriously. Find me on Facebook. Find me on Instagram. The_AlanaMG, because I’m The Alana MG.
Send me a message. We’ll set up Zoom. We’ll do this.
If you’re in LA, do it in person.
Do it in person.
It makes it so much more valuable.
Let’s hang out. I’ll do parties. I’m so happy that we’re moving into this new phase because I miss doing parties.
Awesome. Well, thank you again.
Thank you so much.