Getting Real with This is Us Star Chrissy Metz and Nashville Songwriter Bradley Collins on Their Importance of Identifying and Expressing Your Feelings 

Published Apr 14, 2025, 5:05 AM

I sat down with This Is Us star Chrissy Metz and Nashville songwriter Bradley Collins to talk about their new children’s book, When I Talk to God, I Talk About Feelings. We talked about the power of faith, the importance of self-love, and why helping kids express their emotions early on matters so much. Chrissy and Bradley shared how they had to learn to express themselves as adults because they weren’t taught how as kids—and how that inspired this book. Chrissy also reflected on her time on This Is Us and how being part of such an emotional, beloved show shaped her perspective on empathy, healing, and using your voice.

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Well, this is a treat to have Chrissy Metz and Bradley Collins joining me.

And I don't know if I remember this, but y'all had been on before and we talked.

We talked about your first book, which was when I talked to God and talk about you, with the album that a company that prayed for you prayed for this day. And I have to say, I have a five year old daughter and I played that album for her all the time, and we read the book, and that Lullaby album is so beautiful because it's just was like a It was a companion to the book.

And the book just is so thoughtful and.

Kind, and it brings God back into the center point and just lets people know that they're loved, and kids known that they're loved just for being themselves.

And you're back with another book.

When I talk to God, I talk about feelings and this book makes me cry because I've always had big feelings my whole entire life, Like even as an adult, I'm forty one years old and I'm still I mean, I literally have tears of mind because I was reading this book of life.

I don't think the generation above us knew how to express themselves like we do.

You know, do you agree with that?

Yeah? I mean my mom particularly, she would always say like she was taught that kids were seen and not heard.

Like literally she said she was taught that.

Yes, yeah, what does that even mean? Because I feel that yeah? Yeah, how would you break that down? As like growing up in that kind of mentality.

Right, well, you don't feel heard or seem unimportant. And then you're like, oh wait, so if I'm in a working relationship, platonic relationship, romantic relationship, how do I not communicate? Like if you can't communicate how you feel, you can't communicate your needs, how do you have how they relationships? So yeah, it's definitely a ripple effect, yeah, and it's unfortunate. So hopefully we're turning the tide you know where I feel like our generation is and I feel like that's our hope, you know.

So I feel that because I mean I shout out to my parents They're great. They did the best they could. They didn't even know what therapy was. It wasn't even like a term people use back then. And I feel like now for me, I have just been in therapy for as long as I can remember, trying to get a grasp with my feelings because I have identified that I'm a high functioning.

Codependent.

I have been in a turn people pleaseer my whole life, and I literally just talk about like not knowing my voice, being able to speak up, like even though and Bradley, I've known you a long time, like I've been out of about the music industry, be blopping around, you know, acting confident, living my best life.

But under meath it all, I literally had just huge, deep feelings.

That I was struggling as an adult identifying. And so the fact that you guys are starting writing these books and like teaching them to children, it is just so huge and I just see the progress that we were making and to have people like you guys who have a platform and who have like Bradly, you're so incredible at writing songs and Chrissy, you've used your talents with acting and music and these books, and it's like I just think it's so powerful that we're sending this message to our children, because I'm like, I have this five year old daughter, and literally I had a freaking life crisis when I turned thirty eight, was two years old, and I was like, if I don't get my shit together and like figure out what's going up and on in my head, like I cannot pass that on to her, you know, but you have to heal yourself first.

Yeah, absolutely, And you know, growing up in the music business like I did, you know, and like meeting you through music industry, it's you're You're taught to suppress your feelings, even as an adult. I remember when I was at b and my my old boss told me that I wore my emotions too much on my sleeve and that people knew too much about what I was thinking and what I was feeling. And I told them, I was like, I'm a creative. Music affects me very deeply. I very much feel songs, and if I didn't, then I'd be an accountant, you know, I'd be an accountant. I'd be doing anything else other than music. And then you're taught to not express yourself when bad things happen, just take it on the chin and move forward.

So and why we taught that because honestly, it doesn't go away, you know, like it just gets locked in your body, in that freezing feeling. Like I've been doing a lot of healing lately, where like I'm trying to push like go back and like remember feelings that maybe were traumatic that I had locked inside.

Because whenever we're told to suppress our feelings.

It doesn't.

They don't go away.

You just get stuck in that like in since pain, and then you just lock it up in your body and then you try to act like it didn't happen, but it doesn't process, you know.

Yeah, I'm just living with it, especially in the music industry where you're taught to be nice to everybody no matter what they say. Do you just keep just keep going. And that's not that's not healthy. You just keep pushing it down, pushing it down, pushing it down. And I see so many friends unfortunately that it comes back up a lot worse. And you know, lost a good friend a little while while ago because he didn't talk.

He didn't, I know, he didn't.

He didn't come out and say what was going on with him, even though everyone thought his life was perfect.

And he was the nicest, happiest guy.

Successful, success, everything else.

Yeah, yeah, literally because we talking about feelings, and literally it comes back to this, and it's talking about feelings is the scariest thing we can do.

I feel like.

It's vulnerable, that you're vulnerable to your core when you say what you're feeling and what you're struggling.

With, because what can happen?

You could tell someone that you feel like the feelings you'll talk about in this book are so great, the main feelings happy.

Even talking about that, I love how you paint a picture. There's a scenario.

There's like a little scene that's happening ahead of time, and like you read about it and it's like it puts this feeling up where it's like the happy one. The little animals are playing with each other by the creek and they're like you're dancing around and singing and you can just tell that they're just enjoy.

And it's like, oh, that's what happy is.

And then after it says, when I think about I'm not saying exactly right, but when I think about happy, this is what it's like.

Kind of, but you go.

Through the feelings where it's like happy, sad, frustrated, nervous, scared to brave, And it's because it's so, it's what are the consequences of not telling our feelings? We all know the consequences because we're adults now and we have lived with the consequences of not sharing our feelings, and we see it, like you're saying, Rale that we see it in our adult friends. And I think that that's why there's like this fire burning in us to like get our kids to know the consequences of not sharing your feelings and to be brave enough to like start learning how to do it at a young age. So it's not like this giant thing we have to tackle as an adult, you know. And like, like I said, I've known therapy for twenty years to try to figure this out.

So I just incredible.

You feelings aren't something to hide or to fix, you know, yourself. They're supposed to be talked about, talked about openly, and hopefully the payoff is that you know, kids feel a little more seen if they can talk about their feelings, and hopefully parents will use this book and feel a little better equipped to talk to children about feelings. And you know even how feelings affect them, So that's, you know, hopefully that's the payoff of this totally.

Yeah. I mean, I think when we suppress and stifle our feelings, that's creating disease in our body. And I think that's where a lot of disease comes from. And just on a cellular level, it's like we have to do it in order to stay healthy, like mentally, emotionally, and physically. It's all connected. And I feel like, you know, I taught preschool. I have a very big family and preschool yeah back in Florida.

Yeah, I guess you did.

Yeah, And you know, so much of any of the communication was always about like, this is how I'm feeling, this is this is what I'm going through. And even if they couldn't name the feeling, they were trying to express it. So we're trying to name the feeling, express it, and then feel honored and communicating that. And I think that that is so important in treating the soil in the way that kids will walk through the world as adults. So we can't like pre empt the really tragic events that happen when people are adults and have been suppressing their feelings of their lives. So it's you know, obviously a simplified, very big, complex issue, and we've simplified it into this really beautiful children's book picture book to like just sort of plant the seed in that soil and hopefully change sort of the way that children see themselves and see relationships and their feelings. So yeah, I'm really excited. I feel like now's the time. I think it's very timely in many ways. So yeah, I'm hoping that it makes an impact in what our intention was behind it is conveyed for sure, I think too.

Just teaching kids like at such a young age, just to even know how to talk about it, you know, like you were saying, be seen, not heard, Like I didn't even know how to have these kind of conversations. So what are you even to say, is how would you even know how to even bring this up?

You have to be guided into it, you know.

Well, yeah, you're like, I know, I hurt my knee because I fell, But do we talk about being embarrassed because you fell in front of your friends, you know, or whatever? So it's you always funnel down the feelings. But of course, if you don't know, if you don't know you don't know.

So Christy, you said the last book tour and releasing that album was super healing for you.

What was the healing? What? What did you heal with this specially like, what was that that went on inside?

Yeah? I mean as a child, like I was a middle child of five.

A middle child of five, Oh my gosh.

So you were really just like in the middle of it all, hanging on for dear life.

Like Chrissy, who like what That's how it felt. I'm not saying it was that was my perception, but my perceptions of my reality, and so it was difficult. I didn't really feel seen or heard. And that, of course obviously ushered into my adulthood and the way that I would walk through any room or an audition room or a relationship whatever. And I as we were writing the book and the music, and I was like, oh, like, I'm finally getting to say the things that I never got to say, either to my parent or to a loved one, or never heard from a loved one or a parent. And not to say our parents didn't do the best they could, because if they knew better, they would do better. But being able to hear that and then knowing I'm putting that energy into the universe was just very very cathartic for me. Even if I listen to the music now, I'm like, oh my gosh, Like, no matter what I think, it's my favorite song on that album.

I love that song.

And it was do you know that song randomly would just come on and start playing on my phone, like I am not kidding, Like I was on a walk with my daughter the other day and we were just like in the middle of a like a dried up river and it just started playing, and I was like.

God, God, are you talking to me?

Yes, yes, right now, Okay.

I believe that stuff too. Those messages and those things happen for a reason, and we need to be reminded that, like we are loved no matter what, no matter how much money we make, if we ever never become successful, if we don't continue to be successful, like just as we are, we are loved like no matter what. So yeah, yeah, always in my feelings.

About it is that and not to talk about this is us because I'm sure you're like, so everyone wants to talk about it. But that show was a big impact show, like you know, like it really hit everybody in the freaking corps. I remember the first time I saw it, I was like, WHOA. I did not expect to feel this way about a TV family. It made us all feel seen and hurt, which kind of goes back into the feelings is what is it like to be a part of something like that? And is it just like is that just like a little special spot in your heart forever or is it like hard to like move on to something else, because like that is like that's a once in a lifetime moment.

Once in a lifetime, absolutely.

Like all the people that came together, the magic of it. It's just like I justel like you can't like that's just it.

Yeah, yeah that. There was a woman who accosted me in the driveway and she was like, hey, like my daughter told me that you live here, and I couldn't believe it. But I just want to let you know that if you never book another job, like it doesn't matter, because it isn't. And I was like, you know what, You're actually.

Right, it doesn't matter. You have already done the holy Grail of life.

And it's like but it's not even like it's like this mountaintop and everything's down from here, it's.

Like, holy cow, you got it. You got the golden Egg. You know, like no one gets the Golden Egg.

Well, I mean we do, and we did, and that was what's so special. It's like, because it may, it meant and it was meant to make such an impact that it did, it will live with me forever, and of course it has a special place in my heart. Of course I've done multiple projects since and just finished a movie in Cape Town, But like it will always hold such a special place for so many reasons, and you know, provide cool opportunities, but also I still get to talk to random strangers about how they feel and what comes up for them when they watch the show.

And so yeah, it's like one of those shows like Friends or like Seinfeld or like you know that are just like it's just they just go into that catalog of it's like these are the greatest shows that have ever been made, and it's just so cool. What do you think You said that it holds a special spot for so many reasons.

What are some of the biggest reasons.

Well, not only the friendships that I mean, what I learned about myself, what I learned about acting, what I was taught by the other actors, the camaraderie that we have, like the confidence building, the understanding of who I am, and how how Kate informed me and I informed her, and then also just the way that impacted the world. You know, like people that I never thought I would have anything in common with and we end up talking and you know, just sharing stories and it's I mean literally, I'm in Cape townam in Nigeria and like people watch the show. I'm like, wait, what, Like you got to be kidding me? So yeah, in every single way and every single way was changed by it.

Do you feel I feel like this?

And this goes for YouTube, Bradley, because I mean you're around the magic of song all the time as well. It's like you can show up every day and you can go to an audition, or you can write a song, or you can even have like a freaking awesome situation where you're like, maybe you have two of the greatest, Maybe have an artist it's you, Bradley. Maybe you have like there's an artist right happening, or you know, or it feels like so promising, or you have such a promising audition, but it's like that's not the thing that happens, it's this other thing that comes in through the back door that like you could never have planned for, and then it gets this momentum and this magic behind it.

That you can't force.

And it's just like that is you just have to like show up and be there to receive it when it happens.

Like do you feel that way about this industry?

Like do you feel like a lot of things that happen you aren't the ones you're necessarily seeking out that it just you have to believe in magic with it.

Absolutely, it's just repetition. You have to write all the time as much as you can. You know, I never cancel rights show up because you never know what's going to happen or who else is going to walk in the room that day. And you know, I chase down the ideas I love, and I chase down the ideas that other people love, and hopefully we land on something that months from now will be released. Found out I'm getting a cut yesterday on an artist. Yeah, yeah, exciting, and it's something that I'd never thought that would be recorded.

Right, Yeah, it's the ones that you didn't even think anything ese.

It's the one that in the room and I was like, Okay, let's let's let's do this. This artist really wants to write this, let's do it. And then the other song that I thought was really great, he's not gonna record. So you just never know. You never know. So it's showing up and kind of talking about feelings, you know, curbing your feelings and a lot of your ego just to go in and say, hey, I'm here to write the best song I can today. No matter however it comes out, I know part of me is.

Going to be in there hopefully is good enough to get out.

You know, totally. Ego does play a big part. Why is ego important? And how do we listen to ego? And how do we.

Say ego with some top in the passenger seat like I appreciate you, but no you know.

Well, yeah, I feel like in writing, especially you, you put yourself second, you know, and you're you're there to write for me. I'm there to write for the artist that day, whatever it is they're wanting to say. One of the first questions I ask is what's next for you? What you working towards, what's the next thing for you? So that that doesn't you.

Know, I don't hold onto ideas and make them.

My precious little little babies. I just try to see what's best for the artists and move forward with what they want to say, because I don't. I don't have the desire to get out on a stage and perform.

But you do have a desire to speak your feelings because obviously you pour your truth into it.

Absolutely.

Yeah, you think.

That's why you became a songwriter, is to get your feelings out.

Yes, I have deep feelings.

I got referenced with my boss earlier who said that I was too emotional. You know, writing has helped out a lot.

Writing is the best therapy for me.

Did you express your kid your feelings as a kid?

I did?

I did my kind of similar to Chrissy's background. We were taught manners and to be nice and seen not heard, and that we'll talk about it when we get home, and didn't always happen.

We talked about it when we got home.

So a lot of this this book for me when I reference you know, feelings aren't somebody to hide or to fix yourself. I was to fix her myself. I hid them myself, and last few years I've been having to dig it up and see what was there and what I had suppressed and worked towards. You know, we talk a lot about like inner child work, you know, and that happened a lot on the first book and even more on this book, about you know, the little Bradley, the little Chrissy, the little Caroline, Like what do they need? What do they need to hear? And what did they not get as a child that they need? Now I know that that has really helped me out a lot, just kind of digging deep and feeling out what I didn't hear and what I needed.

What did you need and what didn't you hear?

I heard a lot.

I grew up in a home two wonderful parents who were not wonderful together. From the first time I spent the night at a friend's house and I saw their parents eating dinner together. I thought, Wow, that's weird. They're in the same room eating dinner together, They're sleeping in the same bedroom. What is going on here? And then I realized, Okay, my home is not bad, not bad by any means, but also it wasn't a place where you could really model for future relationships. And a lot of that work for me has come around, you know, what is it that is right and wrong?

And what is.

A good way to be there for somebody else?

Oh, because you're having to come up with your own meter, because you're saying, like what you said is your parents were great, but like it's like you had a model of like what's a healthy relationship per se necessarily it's not like you had a bad one.

But it's not like you had the one you want to follow.

No, No, it's the one that I would would have followed would not be a path to healthy relationship.

It's identifying that even I identifying that we have these patterns that are ingrained in us because we're just born into it.

If you don't examine it, you don't even know. You just repeat, you know, And I feel.

Like something of us do repeat because we don't looking into this.

Is hard work.

Oh it's not pretty.

It's not pretty.

It's not pretty, it's not fun. It's not something you really want to talk about with your friends. You talk about it with a therapist and whoever you are.

There's some shame involved with it.

Why is that?

But why are we embarrassed? Why are we embarrassed and ashamed of where we came from?

I was always embarrassed that when someone actually got to know me, they're going to see that there was nothing there, that there was like nothing special. And that's been like my biggest quest is like, and I don't know if I do think a lot of people feel this way, but I put it on a lot of fronts, and like we try to get a lot of facades going on here to make it appear that like there was I didn't want anyone to ever get too close to because I'm like, oh, if they get in there and they really get access, they're going to see like, oh, no, this is there's this is not good.

You know, we all we all come from some kind of background like that. It's not just you or me. Everybody comes from a background where we're trying to kind of hide what we're doing. And that suppression is what really gets us in trouble because I found that if you're vulnerable and you say where you're coming from and to kind of explain your behavior a little bit, it's a lot easier for someone to understand then you're distant or disinterested, you know, that's the that's the that's the hardest thing to do, just being fully there.

Yeah, well I think it really wells down to everything that we do is because we want to beanked, because we want to be loved, So we put up for sides. We act like we're different people. We aren't honest, because if we are and we confront that honesty and the person doesn't agree, then they're going to go running and they're not going to stick around. They're not going to choose you. They're not going to love you, and ultimately that's what we want. It's like, choose me as I am good than the ugly, and the people who are men to choose you will choose you good, bad and ugly, and the people who aren't don't belong in your life anyway. But it's like the fear that comes with if I really show you who I am, will you still love me?

Yeah?

We still love me.

That's a big, gnarly fear.

It's so scary.

It's so scary.

I think it's probably the scariest thing to authentically be yourself and put yourself out there and fingers crossed it like you'll be loved for it, and then not take it personally if the person doesn't, if it's like not the right thing. So yeah, it's definitely a process, and it's hard because we come with all of the conditioning from our.

Childhood, conditioning, our origin story.

That is not no fault of our own I mean it's like, yes, of course we play a part in it, but like who where were born? The circumstances were born to, the dynamics were born to, the you know, the traumas were born into. It's like all that, like it sets the tone for your life and you don't even realize that it's not you. You know, like because when you're young, you feel like you are your whole circumstance and it's all you, and it's like detaching from that as you get order, you're like, oh my god, yes this is what I was born into and these things happened to me, but that is not me. And that is just like that realization that we are not our circumstances or in our environments. That is such a big one to learn though, I mean that has taken me my entire lifetime to be able to grasp that.

You know.

Yeah, these like as children, we're told to be brave, be quiet, be strong, but this book hopefully tells children to be to be real, to be honest, to be themselves.

To be frustrated, to be sad.

You know, when we were younger, it's like if you started to cry and be like oh no, no, no, no, don't cry, But it's like cry cry you had.

A bad day, Like that is awful. That would hurt my feelings too.

And I've finally learned with my daughter, I don't have to make it better for her like she can have. And I just learned this because I've been high functioning codependent with her personal and because I don't want her to have a bad day.

I don't want her to doubt herself worth.

I don't want her to feel bad about herself, and so I'm trying so hard not to ever let her have these feelings. And I had on this podcast. I learned so much on this podcast. I had a child and like expert, come on here, and she's like, no.

If she has a bad day, if she got left out at school, it's like two girls are being mean to her.

Let her have it and don't fix it, you know, just be there with her and let her feel it.

Like you're talking on these books.

Like feel sad, feel left out, feel you know, insecure, But no, I'm here with you and it's not true, but you.

Feel that way. Okay, feel it all the way through because you're never gonna not feel these feelings. They're gonna come up your whole life.

Yeah, the point of the point is to just say I'm here for you, I love you, and tell me how you feel. And it really will both bolster the confidence to like communicate that effectively moving you know, and it's so important to be able to vocalize how you're feeling because when you do suppress those feelings, I mean, like like we've said since the beginning, like they will find a way out.

They will find a way out.

It might not be great, it might not be the way that you want them to, and it's it can be really unfortunate. And so just sort of imparting that with you know, faith and saying like you know what, like God's here to also hear you, and you can tell him anything. There's something too big, too small, no feeling that you know, Like that for me is like no matter what, Like I pray all day, every day, no.

Matter what, all day every day. Literally, I'm like, tell me your prayer schedule, tell me your schedule.

Literally, I'm like in the morning, like I will not get out of bed before I have like a gratitude prayer.

And what do you say?

Oh, I'm like, thank you God that I woke up. Thank you God for that I can see that I am able to walk, that I can go to the bathroom on my own, Things that we just take for granted in a way that like you know, we just get up and we were hustling, we're on with our day. I always find at least ten things to be grateful for.

So you start your day with gratitude, I have to.

Like I have to. If I if I don't, or if there's like you know, I'm rushed awake with a phone call or whatever, I'm like, I'm definitely discomboval for the day. Like, it doesn't. It doesn't bode well for me.

You're right, And it's like a it's like a it's a it's a chain of events. So if you start your day off without that gratitude to anchor you in.

Then immediately you're in the chaos without the anchor.

Yeah, and then you set up your day for what you want your day to look like. And so you know, if you're in gratitude, you're going to be grateful all day if you're like in despair, not to say you can't have the food those feelings about it, but if you're in despair, if you're disappointed, it's really hard to shake that. I mean, it's important to feel it, but it's hard to shake that. So gratitude for me is really helpful. But like, literally, before I do an interview, an audition, a phone call, I'm like, God, be with me, Like help me to be open hearted and open minded, and help me to remove my ego to listen to you know, like just be the conduit, Just be the person that you want me to be. Like, it's it's so hard. The ego is you know, obviously it was necessary when the saber tooth tiger is chasing us in the jungle.

You know.

Now it's a little hard to grapple with, but it's it's real and it is to protect you. But it's also it can be detrimental. So yeah, I mean for me, I'm just I'm such a work in progress that I'm like, if it's working, I'm not I'm gonna keep working it, you know. So that for prayer, for me, it's just that collective consciousness to my higher power to God that like you're with me, I'm with you, You're omnipresent, You're in everything always.

So did you start operating from gratitude like that? And how did everything change?

I think it was probably like I mean, like off and I'm growing up for sure, but probably after this is us.

And just.

Like knowing what I came through to get to where I was, I'm like, this has to be gone, Like what else could it be? And if I'm not honoring him and I'm not grateful to him, not only is it incredible that the more grateful you are, the more you receive.

That is so true, And people don't realize that if they're not in the practice.

Yeah, isn't it wild? Like yeah, it's almost like how can what are you kidding me?

Like magic can happen?

Yeah, it really really can. It really can. And yeah. So I've just I found it to be so advantageous that I was like, well, I can't stop now. So I think consistently for probably eight years now.

Wow.

Yeah, And you said something earlier and I just relate to this, and I think there's another piece to it that you.

Mentioned a lot.

Even your first book was about this the title your first book says this, which is this is me loving the person you are today, loving the person you are today, because we're saying we hope that people love us.

That's ultimately the goal. You know. All these things that we do are in hopes that people love us.

But the kicker that I have finally realized, it's like the Alchemists, the Journey of the Alchemists, and it's like, finally, finally you realize, Oh, I've gone on all of this journey and all of these trials and tribulations and all these highs and these lows and these experiences, and I've rewired my entire existence and I've been in search of this treasure, in pursuit of.

This goal that I thought I was after. But really the treasure.

Is now that I love myself and I see myself because we want to be seen in love. But that really doesn't happen until you see and love yourself. And I feel like you have that revelation, Chrissy, and like you read this book about it too, which is amazing.

Well it is also you know, it's not linear.

Healing is not no no, no, no no.

You can have a great day and then next day you're freaking back in the gutter and you're.

Like, wait a second, I thought it was like okay from that, And for me, like, yes, learning to love yourself for who you are like because if you don't, you can't get to the person that you want to be or you're destined to be. But also the craziest part is that like once you start to love yourself for truly who you are, good, bad and different, and you're like you don't even care what other people think anymore, right, right, And you're like, wait a second, I don't what all this for?

What?

And now? Well, yeah, it's just so.

Because you know you're valuable because and that's what I feel like it took me forever to realize, is like I'm valuable if I love me.

I don't care if you don't love me.

And like, because I know I'm showing up every day as the best version that I possibly can, I put in the work. I'm gonna mess up, but like I know I am bringing the best I can. And if I can look in the mirror and say like I love you and I'm proud of who you are and who you're becoming, then it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, and any opportunity that's missed or whatever, because it's like what you're saying earlier, if it's made for me, it.

Will come to me. I don't have to go hunt it down.

It will chase you down.

And it will You say that with such confidence. How do you know that?

Because it happens every single time I think I'm never going to get another job, I'm never here. I go what's going to happen now in my life? And an opportunity always arises and I just goes back to me like surrendering and trusting in God and his plan for me because I don't know. I don't know best. If I oh, gosh, I don't know best, I certainly don't. And that's surrender in trust, in knowing that, hey, what's gonna happen is gonna happen. And I'm of course stay ready, so you don't have to get ready, you know, but at the same time.

Being stay ready that's so key. Stay ready, just be ready for it. Stay ready.

Oh.

For me, personally, it's you know, whether I'm in an acting class, or I'm taking voice lessons, or I'm singing every day, or I'm being creative. I'm writing or developing a show or whatever it is that like okay, like I'm still honing those skills. It's like you expect to run a marathon, but you've never gone and put your shoes on. You're like, oh, probably not going to be the not gonna have a great time in this marathon.

Saving your knife sharpen.

Yeah exactly, absolutely so and whatever that looks like, because everybody's just different.

But yeah, just being like okay for the opportunity when it comes.

Yes, yeah, exactly, and.

Believing it's going to come because you're ready and because you know you have something to contribute and offer and you know that your soul is wanting to give in that way and.

From a place of humility. For me is always quintessential, Like it's not because I'm like I'm better than so and so are I know. In fact, it's like maybe people need to know that, like I don't ever figured it out, and maybe I don't have it all together and I'm just a regular girl, like just have a different kind of job and hopefully you can relate to that, you know, And also so many people's stories get to be told that way and need to be told. You know, the working mom who like doesn't doesn't ever feel like she's appreciated, you know, any of those things. That every story needs to be told and deserves to be told. So no matter what it.

Is agreed agreed, why is that? Why is it? Why? You too rightly like, why does every story need to be told? Why do we need to tell our stories?

Because it's who we are, where we came from.

You know.

I remember when I was working at BMI for forever, I'd want to know where somebody was coming from and what their what their motivation was to be a singer or a songwriter or an industry person.

Whatever it was, because you could really get.

To know somebody better that way, knowing what their what their passion is. And I realized the ones that I connected to were the ones that I saw myself and them the most. I could look at them and say, Okay, they have this fire inside of them that they want.

To do more than what they're doing right now. You know.

I remember one of my favorite artists that I worked with was an insurance adjuster and I was like, well, tell me about that, and he just didn't really say much. And then I talked about writing, and his passion for that was just so much more through the roof that I knew that this guy was going to do something. Now, I never knew if they what they were going to do, but I knew that they had something more in them than what they were currently pursuing.

So tell me they're going to get it. You knew they had the hunger to get it.

Yeah, And it's I worked with so many people that got to be a little obvious about who who had it and who who didn't, and who needed more help and who needed to be left alone.

You know.

Like I remember when I first met met Michael, I was like, this guy, he's he's got it. He's this is what he's going to do, no matter what happens. He's going to be your writer.

And guess what, Riley, we have done the no matter what happens, right, because we have seen it all.

We're like, we went the full deluxe pack package.

We experienced every possible scenario that can happen, the good in the bag, the ugly like you were talking about earlier, Christy, let's take that ride good.

Yeah, I mean and and and having a partner like yourself, I'm sure it just helps him and and you and advice versa. I'm such a fan of him too, you know. And it's it's it's not easy.

It's not your path, I mean.

No, and I look at it is, especially in any kind of creative industry. There's not one success, one way of success, and there's not one way to fail. Everyone's story is completely unique and different, no matter where they are or where.

They end up.

And that's something that I keep coming back to. It's just because it hasn't happened yet, it doesn't mean it's not going to happen.

All your circumstances and scenarios have to line up to make the perfect moment. And ultimately this is all about us learning our lessons, our life lessons anyway. And so it's like you can't get something before you're ready for it.

You know, no, because you're not going to appreciate it, or it's not going to have the lesson that you need to have. You know that might not actually be your lesson. I feel like we have so many lessons to learn that I'm learning something every day about what I need to work on and what I need to do to be a better person or better better friend or whatever to anyone else around me, because it's constantly changing, and I really look at the people that are closest to me and what they're going through and how I can either help or learn or improve myself. It's constantly constantly changing.

I kind of have an idea for y'all's third book, not that y'all don't already have one, but.

You're saying to do it.

Christy, when you're saying you're mantras that you start off and gratitude in your mantras, it's like, so y'all talk about how like the first one is when I talk to God, I talk about you, It's like, you know, that deep love. And then this one's about identifying feelings. The next one could be like putting in place, like some structure that helps you, you know, stay on track, like the mantras, like how you wake up in the morning, and like how you say your little mantras, like you know, because mantras are really important to like learn those. As a kid, I try to go through mantras with my daughter at night, like I am brave, I'm strong, I'm confident, you know, but like I just feel like I don't know.

Well, yeah, I mean we become I mean we're creatures of habits. So if you can create a good positive have it, it will it will only benefit you. And even if you like I don't see it happening, it's not gonna happen. And then one day you're in a particular situation and you're like, you know what, I am brave, Like I can do this, Yeah I can. I can't do this, and you do it, and you're like, I know, I know I was brave, you know, Like, so you put it into practice, and it's if we've been conditioned in a negative way, we can condition a positive way. So I believe mantras are wonderful, awesome. I mean, you hear people. I mean a mantra. You can say I love you, Like that's a mantra to someone, and you can say it to yourself, of course, but like it, you know, for somebody who didn't ever really feel loved, and you hear that, you're like, I don't know, I don't know if I believe you. And then people continue to show you and then you're like, okay, you do love me, and I am loved. Like that is a mantra, Like that is something that you then get to to live, you know, and it's not just words, you know.

And do you believe it?

So yeah, I'm all about the marts too.

For sure. So what is our hope with this book? When I talk to God, I talk about feelings. What do you hope that when kids are read this book or read this book?

What is your hope Bradly, you want me taking away?

Sure?

I mean the hope is that a child knows I believe I said this earlier, is you know that feelings aren't something to hide or fix themselves. It's something to be talked about, and that you know, this life is about lessons and sometimes what we go through a has.

A bigger meaning that we even know is going on with them.

So if a child feels a little more seen because they know that they can talk about, you know, being frustrated or being nervous, or parents can feel a little more equipped to have these conversations. Because you write a children's book for parents, you're right for parents to have a conversation with children. First book, it was a conversation with children about what prayer means. Because that really hit me. I didn't know if I was allowed to pray to this God that we go in church and pray to every single Sunday or not, because it felt so big to me, And hopefully that book answers some questions. And the feedback I had from even my friends talking to their children about prayer was incredible, and hopefully this book the same thing is being like you know you chi as a child, you have emotions, you have feelings, You have good days, bad days, sad days, happy days, but the ones that aren't so happy or sad or happy or fun are just as warranted to be talked about and just is as safe of a place to talk about. And hopefully that is a conversation starter between a parent and a child to start on this. It's like me, It's like I wish I started playing golf when I was, you know, six years old.

Didn't happen.

I was like twenty six when I started playing golf, and I don't play golf anymore. But if you start talking about your emotions as a child and be able to express yourself and say I feel sad because of this, or I feel frustrated, and even if you can't even put it like wrap it up and say exactly why, But if you talk about it and you express yourself. Getting that out is so helpful. That's just a habit forming, positive thing you can carry with you the rest of your life. And hopefully when I talk to God, I talk about feelings, does that and that that's the impact it has, That that's certainly how it was intended.

Pareful. Yeah.

I think being able to name the feeling will provide I hope, provide a safe space for kids to Even if you're talking to someone and they don't believe your feeling, they're like, I didn't do that. No, no, no, no, Like I'm not saying that how you're feeling. I'm telling you how I'm feeling, you know. And so many times, even and I was adult conversations, it's like wait, no, no, no, Like, I'm telling you how I feel and I'm valid in my feelings. And I get to hold this space for myself and my feeling and you're going to listen to it. And I think that that kind of confidence, and it's not from an ego place, but just like I'm worthy enough to to share with you how I feel. And I think so much, especially right now in our society with social media and all the ways that we can separate and we don't have the connectivity, and you know, it's hard. Parents are working their tails off to support their kids, but they're also not connecting with them. You know, they're like, oh, here's this tablet oh here, watch TikTok whatever, and what they're being informed with is not always positive. And so if even reading the book creates ten minutes of connectivity and like, oh, you know what, well, I felt this way today, I felt this way, and there's like a safe space like, oh, we both have feelings and we're both they're both important to talk, you know, to each other about. And the better we get about communicating, the more comfortable we feel, which means we break that generational trauma by you know, if you've never done something, you're uncomfortable about it. So the more you practice it, the better you get at it. And so I hope that it just sort of creates time for connectivity but also just sort of unawareness about them about the feelings. And like Bradley said, like the book is also written for the parents, you know, because a lot of us didn't know how to communicate those feelings or even think that we should, we could, we should. They're warranted they're necessary. It's like, ah, whatever, like keep it moving and not to say that like obviously we don't want to be little sacks of puddles or whatever, you know, like we also want to create thick skin, you know, we also want to be tough too.

But it's a beautiful symphony.

Yes, it's all the things, And so I just hope that it will create conversation, create a safe space, and bolster the confidence between the relationship with the reader and the audience that you know, I'm here for you, I love you and I'm listening to you, and like, also what can we do about it? You know, but you got to name the feeling first. So it goes and steps and.

It's such a simple book and it's so profound.

Well thanks, and it's also even if you can't land on the words, you know, I think we're always struggling to land on the words. The book are the illustrator, our illustrated, Lisa Fields is so unbelievably talented. She went through and gave each different feeling a color.

Yeah, you can feel actual color.

Yeah, like be brave. Okay, sure, be brave. What an open ended concept, right, but that's like yellow? And then Being frustrated is like a dark orange. Being nervous is a dark purple. You know, being embarrassed is a dark color. But all those emotions have feelings attached to them. And if you can say I'm feeling like this, I'm feeling that like this little fox that fell off the log in front of his friends and got mud all over his paws is embarrassed. Okay, that's fine, it happens. You don't have to tie it all together in a bow and say mom and dad, this is how I'm feeling. It's like, I just feel this, I don't know why, and it's this color, it's this feeling, it's whatever it is. So it's kind of multiple. It is multiple levels of stuff, multiple levels of communicating feelings and saying, yeah, this is is the color.

That I'm feeling. This is what I'm feeling right now.

Of course, you know, if you're frustrated, okay, what are you frustrated about? How does that make you feel?

What is it? Is it saying?

Do you discuss something has happened or hasn't happened. But yeah, again, at least a fields so talented really tied it all all altogether at the end.

Of the book.

Every single color through the book comes down on the animals in a rainbow, and it's around us all the time. And that's one hundred percent Lisa. So fortunate and proud to be working with her, and she wanted to do another book with us, which is great.

That's incredible. Okay, So I'm going to wrap up.

I wrap up, and then can I ask y'all just like after this, just to a quick little bonus episode where we answer a few rapid fire questions that y'all will love.

They're gonna be great questions and we'll be wrapped up with them. Are okay. I always lead with leave leave your Light, and it's open ended. What do you want people to know? Inspiration? Just dropping some inspiration.

Oh, that you're loved, that you're made from love, with love to love.

That's awesome.

I would say, you don't have to have it figured out. You know you're you're with children, especially with their parents or guardians or whoever their family looks, that there's a support system there. I just put out a song to support this book called When I Don't Know What to Say, and it's an instrumental piece about those times when you're sitting in your feelings and you're like contemplating what is it that I'm feeling? And it's so important I think to think before we speak and really get the words aligned. And it doesn't always happen quickly, but it does come together if you spend the time on it and really dig deep and say what is the honest me going to say and not have a knee jerk reaction to an emotion.

I love that.

I love that so much. Okay, when I talk to God, I talk about feelings. Where can everyone get this? Tell me all the details what everyone needs to know?

Wherever your favorite bookseller is, Amazon, Barnes, and Noble Parnassis here in town. You know it's it's it's going to be it's going to be all of those places, okay.

And it's coming out April eighth, April okay.

Or yeah, and you can just wait to our pupdate.

It'll be out when this by the time this air, so it'll just have come out. So that's so exciting.

Anything else people need to know about, any places they should be keeping up with you guys, or anything any other news we need to stay in touch with.

I mean, Christy Mets Music Dot com or my Instagram, any of those social places. It's pretty much all the info that you might want to know.

Same here Bradley Underscore Collins. I couldn't get Bradley Collins at Instagram but that and Bradleycollins music dot Com.

Hey amazing, Thank you guys so much, and we're gonna do a quick little tell me more a few questions as a bonus episode. So I know y'all love this so much, so tune in on Thursday and you'll get to hear the man citise amazing questions.

Thank y'all so much, This is incredible.

Bye

Get Real with Caroline Hobby

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