Hi everyone, It's Sophia. Welcome to work in progress. Hello friends, Welcome back to work in progress. I cannot believe it is the middle of January. Time doesn't exist, or I guess perhaps does, but feels melty and crazy and weird. It's been so nice to ease into the new year with all of you. I'm still really reeling in a good way from last week's incredible conversation with Ava Duvernet. I have loved getting your feedback and hearing about how you all felt so inspired by her. She really is just one in a million, and I have to say thank you. She said that the minute we shared about the movie and talked about Seat sixteen, which, for those of you who might have missed last week seeks Seat sixteen dot com is where you can log on and buy a ticket to Origin for a teenager, and it also comes with a free year of masterclass. Ava Duvernet is teaching a class on directing on Masterclass, and so it's really such an amazing way to pay it forward for a young person, especially because young people are the ones most affected by these crazy book bands happening around the country. And I really do believe, as she said, that we can't triumph unless we learn the truth of our history. And it's why Isabelle Wilkerson's book Cast is so important. It's why the film that Ava made about that book origin is so moving and special. And the thank you comes in because she said that when we shared about seat sixteen dot com on the podcast and on Instagram, that the orders for tickets for teenagers across the country came pouring in faster and in greater numbers than she had seen from so many other things. So I just have to thank you all. I always say that the folks who signed up to go on this advocacy journey with me on social media and joined me here on the podcast, y'all are like first responders to me. You're the people who show up, who always speak up, who are really encouraged to support one another in the world around you. So I just really want to say thanks. It's moving to me, it's moving to her, it's moving to the folks involved in the movie, and I just cannot wait to hear what y'all think. Since it's coming out this Friday. I can't believe it. It's so exciting, the nineteenth that's almost here, So please gather yourselves, gather your friends, take five people to the movie theaters with you, because what happens is movies like this that have limited theatrical releases around the country. When they have big first weekends, that's another week that these films stay in theaters. And I know you guys have heard me say this on repeat for the last week, but I really do think this is one of the most important movies ever made. So that's my gratitude, that's my PSA, that's my promos. Let's all take up the fact that we can kind of be the studio for this movie. We can. We can groundswell it and take our loved ones and our friends and our families to see this and hopefully do something really special for such a beautiful piece of art. Now this week, you've probably noticed that it's just me talking to you. There is nobody here with me, and that's because the really cool overlap of having this podcast and then doing Drama Queens with my One Tree Hill girlies is that we get a lot of feedback now on two shows, and a lot of you have said, hey, we really wish that Sophia would do Q and as on work in progress like the gals do on Drama Queens, and we thought, okay, let's give it a shot. So, as we are halfway through the first month of this new year, and I think we're all trying to figure out what twenty twenty four is going to look like, we thought it might be a nice time to check in. So with no further ado, let's jump into the questions that y'all sent. The first one that comes in on our list from c Rosenbauer, I actually think is perfect when we reference twenty twenty four. The question is how are you taking care of yourself during this election year when anxiety runs high? Ugh, that's hard. I gotta be honest. I find that I'm struggling to sleep well. I think seeing what's happening out there in the world, you know, seeing me, and I don't want to be all doom and gloom. To be clear, I'm going to interject on myself and say there will be some uplifting things shared today. But like Avias says, you really have to be honest about where you're coming from. If you want to triumph, we have to really pay attention, you know, and we got to take people at face value when they tell us who they are and what their plans are. We really do have to listen. And it is very scary to me that the GOP has a front runner who is echoing the language of Adolf Hitler, who is saying horrific things about immigrants. That runs down the line in that party. And you know, you've got the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, talking about how he'd be shooting immigrants if the federal government wouldn't prosecute him and his border agents for murder. I mean, this is like wild stuff we're talking about, you guys. You know, these are the moments I think when people in our generation and in all these you know, peer groups that we're all in, say like, well, how did everything happen in the nineteen thirties, you know, how did the Third Reich come into power? How did nobody say anything like this really does feel like our moment where we have to say things, where we have to get very clear on what's happening and what we're seeing, and it's up to us to say we won't tolerate that. You know, I think strong men and I don't mean that as a compliment, not like men who are strong. I mean strong men like dictators and terrible people. When they watch a lack of pushback to the sort of dangerous power that they try to grab, it emboldens them to go further. And I think the twenty sixteen election emboldened a lot of really horrible things in our country. And for me, the way I try to sort of stand in the face of these hard truths and also not be totally petrified is to remind myself that we can have differences of opinion, we can have different beliefs about how we can achieve certain policies and create pathways to opportunity for people to move forward. But what we cannot do is allow for options of harm and hate for other people to ever be on the table. And for me, I really think that if we can be together a little more, if we can have conversations like this, if we can ask each other good questions, will be reminded that we're a lot more similar than we are different, and that people who are indicted and who've been convicted of crimes, and who are doing really terrible things to try to grab power and use that power to hurt other people, they just need to not be options. And so I say that maybe that doesn't sound like the perfect utopia answer you want. I know it doesn't feel like that to me, But I believe if we're ever going to get to a point where we build a utopia, if we're ever going to get to a point where we actually see a country that meets its founding ideals for all of us, not just for some, I really believe we have to be a little pragmatic and look at what our options are and figure out how to build, you know, building that world we want to see. It's not like AI rendering a three D model of a house. It's like you got to build the legos. You have to use the pieces you have, and you have to artfully build them into something better. And so we have to figure out who our best options are, and we've got to make sure that the better option always gets elected, and then that we the people hold them to account. And I know maybe that's not the shiny answer everybody wants, but it is the way forward, I think, and certainly something I've had to learn in the last you know, twenty years of volunteering and working in these spaces and being on campaigns, whether they're you know, small local ones or big national ones really seeing that the system works if we work it. But that democracy is a verb. It's not just like a thing that someone's going to do for us out there in the ether. We really have to apply pressure and remind people that we're watching. But that makes me feel excited for us. That makes me feel inspired because it means that we have collective power. And that's why when I think about, like what does utopia look like? When I think about these big, beautiful terms like collective liberation, we have to exercise our power to get there. So I quell the anxiety by being honest about what's happening and reminding myself how powerful we are and committing to showing up to use that power. So I really do hope that you all, despite how overwhelming I know things can feel, sometimes are bolstered by the reminder that together, I think we've got this. Also, I will say, if you need a place to start, you can text the word voter voter to two six seven nine seven. It is the really simple text bot that we built for I am a voter. It will not overtext you, it will not give your number to anyone else. But what it will do is take a little bit of information from you, like your zip code, and make sure you have your up to date voter registration, you're polling locations, all of the things that you need to make sure are current so that you can exercise your voice and you can exercise your power. So that would be my step one. And yeah, knowing that I'm in this with all of you definitely makes it a little bit easier. Lindsay wants to know how do you balance productivity and rest? Okay, real talk. I think this is something that we all are struggling with. I do not know a single person that feels like they have nailed the productivity and rest kind of seesaw balance. There are so many things that beg for our attention, so many people that we care about and want to, you know, be in touch with and be in community with, and things going on in the world, and you know, we're still in a pandemic, and we are watching horrific things happen around the world, like from trying to do your own personal to do list to looking at what's happening out there. I think things just feel overwhelming. But one of the things that really has been kind of like a light bulb for me recently was hearing that rest is not a reward for productivity. Rest exists for rest, and I thought, oh boy, like I do need to kind of recalibrate the way I think about those terms in action, because if I'm constantly marching through my to do list and often not getting to the bottom, and by often I mean like not ever. If when I'm resting, I'm just thinking, Okay, well, once I'm recharged, I'll be able to be productive again, that's not really rest, is it. Like if I'm sitting there feeling guilty that I'm not doing all the things, but I'm not doing all the things because I'm exhausted. That doesn't feel great. So what I'm really trying to do instead of think about how to balance them, is how to let them be two separate things. Let rest be for rest and tap into the fact that I feel more easily productive when I am rested. I think having a pretty intense personal pandemic health scare last summer really clarified the need for a better relationship with, you know, rest in my own body for myself, and I know a lot of us have been there, you know, these last couple of years, especially, so I think that is sort of the beginning, at least for me, is not to rest as a reward for productivity, but really to look at them as two separate ingredients in my life, two separate you know, boxes, and maybe detach them from each other a little bit feels like a start. Lindsay, if you have an answer, please feel free to send it to us, or if anybody has an answer. Honestly, if you have good tips for how you all do this, we'd love to hear about it from you. Maybe we can talk about those at the top of our next Q. And A Georgia wants to know what is the best lesson you learned from twenty twenty three? Oh boy, well, that really relates to Lindsay's question. Health is the most important thing, you know, and that maybe that sounds cliche. Everybody talks about it, you know. You hear people go like health as wealth, but it really is true. If you are not healthy, nothing else really works. And I think your health can really indicate the sort of quality of so many other things in your life. And for me, having to get really still and take care of myself when I got so sick over the summer really also came you know now in hindsight, it's like everything is clear in hindsight, right, You can kind of understand the meaning of things that in real time you don't have the bandwidth or even perhaps capability to explore. But I think there was something sort of spiritual about a lot of things in my life coalescing around the same time and and really pointing me in the direction that you cannot continue to put yourself last on your list of importance, and you cannot just keep your head down and keep working and keep doing the work and keep showing up for other people and other things stop. You know, what do you need? How can you learn to better take care of yourself? How can you really listen to what your heart, mind, and body are trying to say to you? And that's a big lesson. And I think it's something that people work on their whole lives. I know it's certainly something that I feel like I've worked on for a long time. I feel like I've been you know, curious and honest and introspective and all those things. But really it really kind of cracked open in twenty twenty three, and I saw that for so many people in my life, and even people who I don't know, but that I know of, and I don't think that's an accident. I think there's something in the air right now where we're all really sort of coming home to ourselves. And maybe that's because we lost millions of people around the world, you know, to a disease over the last three years. Maybe it's because we're more connected than ever and really seeing what's going on in the world around us in new ways. I don't really know what the answer is, but I know that I had it happen to me, and I watched it happen to a lot of other people, and so I think I think really taking stock and really learning to care for myself was it was a big lesson this year. We'll be back in just a minute, but here's a word from our sponsors. This is a sweet question. Really wants to know would you ever consider writing book? And then said something very sweet. You have so much knowledge to pass on. That's very kind. I feel like I am always learning. I often feel like I go up a rung on the ladder of knowledge in my life and then realize maybe I didn't never know anything before. So I don't know. I don't know that I necessarily feel like I have a lot of knowledge to pass on. What I do think I have is a willingness to listen and to learn and to share. You know, sometimes I think we want to make everything look so clean and glossy on the Internet that we don't really dig underneath. And some of my favorite people and certainly favorite writers, really have used their lives to encourage conversation for all of us about our lives, for all of us, about the things that are universal, the things that we share. You know, I'm thinking about women like Maggie Smith and Glennon Doyle and Krista Tippett does that on her podcast on being. There's so many people who remind me of those sorts of depths. I got to I got to actually be the voice of an audiobook last year, a book about Mary Oliver, Wild and Precious, and it was so special to me because Mary Oliver is one of my favorite writers, and she reminds me, you know, to show up with my full self, and she reminds me to be really clear in my willingness to inspect and then to learn, and because I'm learning to change my mind, and yeah, maybe that's something, Maybe that's something I should write about soon. I guess we'll see. Elise asks what music have you been listening to lately? Oh? My, I went through a sort of classic jazz holiday phase. I really love dipping into Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra and all the kind of greats over the holiday season. There's just something about vintage holiday music that makes me so happy. So it's funny mid January to see that all my music listening apps are still trying to tell me to listen to old Christmas music like Eartha Kit Christmas. It's kind of great. But I have actually been listening to a lot of podcasts lately, and then at night, like if I have background music on, I've been doing a lot of Teddy Swims radio. I just think he's so wildly talented. He's one of those people who started posting amazing videos early endemic days. They kind of hit my radar and I went, who is this person? And yeah, he's on repeat in my house a lot lately. I want to know what you guys are listening to. If you're listening to this not in your car, and so you can safely pick up your phone and send us a message. Hit us up and let us know what you're listening to. Maybe we'll make a playlist. This is a great question from Claire. How often do you get out in nature? Are you a forest or ocean lover? Okay, I love to be out in nature. I don't get out in it as often as I would like. I'm actually trying to institute a better habit of walking in the mornings. My friend Libby has this incredible platform called This Morning Walk, and she really really inspires me, and so I made it out on a beautiful walk this morning. I am definitely I would say I am first a forest lover. I love the mountains and lakes and forests and you know, big incredible trees. One of my favorite things to do actually when I'm out in the woods is to just record the sound of the wind in the trees. I have so many random videos on my phone of just the sounds that leaves make in the wind. I'm obsessed. But I would say that the ocean is a close second for me. I just think there's something really healing about it. I also really like being reminded of how small we are. You know, there's something really cool to realize you're part of this really vast and kind of unknowable space. It's probably why I like space so much. I've been obsessed with all things you know, NASA and outer space since I was a little kid, and I cry watching like every single space movie that's ever been made. So I don't know, I don't know what that says necessarily, but I do know that I really appreciate being reminded about how sort of big and beautiful and incredible the natural world is. And it's definitely on my whether we call it a resolution or intentionless this year, to be out in it more and more and more. Marin asks, what are your new ventures for twenty twenty four. Well, besides doing Q and as with all of you here on work in progress, I'm really really looking forward to the twenty sixth of January a film I did called Junction, which was written and directed and starred in by my lovely friend Brian Greenberg, who many of you probably know as Jake Tagalski from One Tree Hill. Brian is such an incredible performer and creative and thinker, and he wrote this beautiful movie about the opioid crisis and family and addiction and love and how hard this all can be and it's really breathtaking, and I'm so excited to be in the movie, and I'm just so excited for you all to see it. So that feels really fun. And then there's a couple of things in the works that I'm not really allowed to talk about, but I can say I think you're all going to be so excited when I can. So twenty twenty four is definitely shaping up to be a very good year. Lindsay asks, what is something you are looking forward to? Oh, my goodness, I'm looking forward to a lot this year, and I think most immediately, I think most immediately, I'm really looking forward to my whole industry being able to get back to work. You know, it's hard going through these movements, in these milestone years of labor history and advocacy, Like it's really tough to watch a lot of people struggle and have to go through these you know, periods of job and security, and it's really exciting to start to think about all of us being able to get back on sets together and to be reunited with you know, our crews and our casts. That all just feels timely. And so after a season of you know, some hibernating and some restorative health work and those things I really feel motivated and excited to go back to. You know, I always joked like my day job work, and that feels nice. It feels really really good to be looking forward to getting back on a set. Tailor asks how did you get involved in politics? And what are important issues to you? You know, those things are really tied together. It's why I when I talk about you know, acting, producing, directing, those things like that that I talk about as my day job, because no matter what sort of politics and advocacy really feel like a full time calling for me. You know, it's the stuff I'm working on on my lunch breaks and on my days off. I think what the AHA moment was for me was realizing that my day job provides such an incredible megaphone to audiences of people. And you know, people show up to watch TV and see movies because they care about people's stories. And politics is just the policy that's made based on our stories, based on what we need, based on the human condition, and so to be able to activate an audience, sure on a TV show, but also around early childhood education, you know, access to resources for kids, clean air, and water these things that should be rights for all of us really feels like a no brainer. And for me, all of those issues also feel really tied together. And I've definitely had people say to me through my career, Oh, you have to pick a lane, Oh you have to pick an issue, But I don't agree with that. I think that some people do really well when they work on one thing and focus on one thing, and I think some of us are really meant to draw the parallels between groups of issues for people, especially if you have the privilege like I do of talking to large groups of humans. You know, if I get to talk to a couple million people every day online, I can't assume all of those people are going to care about one issue. But if I can highlight how a group of issues intersect and inspire people in that audience to each get involved in an issue, I feel like that's the coolest thing that I could be doing with my time that is not work, but is about calling. And so that was really it for me. Hallie asks, how do you handle interacting with people who have different views? Ooh, this is getting spicier and spicier, isn't it. But that comes back to this idea of advocacy as well. We are so much more alike than we think we are, And I think if I've learned anything over the years, it is to push back ferociously on elected officials who are making decisions with their views that hurt people, who are weaponizing their opinions to hurt people. But I think in terms of you and me, in terms of all of us out there in the world, the best way to interact with someone who has a different view is just to ask them about it, and if they've got a talking point that you might know to be untrue, say well, where'd you hear that? Or what made you think that? You know, to really begin to interact with someone, to have a conversation, but have it in a way that feels human, I think is how you can build a lot of bridges. And I think we also have to be really clear on who we ask to do those things. You know, we cannot put the most work in terms of bridge building on the people who are the most harmed or the most at risk in society. That's when a lot of the rest of us need to figure out how we can use our own privilege and our own power to to kind of stand up for other folks who maybe don't have as much. I think that's really important. But I always come to tell me about who you are, tell me about your family, tell me what you care about, and I bet I'll be able to point out that we actually believe a lot more of the same things than you might think. And I think that's a really good place to begin. And now a word from our sponsors who make this show possible. Ash asks what do you do when you feel stuck or unmotivated? Don't we all? I think that goes back to the question about rest. I've started to ask myself not just what should you be doing right now, but do you need to rest? Are you tired? Do you need ten minutes to sit and stare at the wall? Did you sleep well last night? You know, check in, check in on how you're actually doing. And then I think, you know, especially for someone like me who has a little bit of task paralysis, you know, really common ADHD thing, figuring out how to plug into my my more motivated side, the part of me that when I get started on something that I love, I could just do it all day. I think is really about taking the pressure off a little bit you know, rather than looking at a to do list and going I just have so much to do and I'm so exhausted, and I don't know how I'm going to get all this done, and I just don't even know where to start. Is saying well, what are three things I could do today? What are three things I could do in the next hour? Off this whole list, and I think just taking a little bit of the pressure off to get everything done while also trying to just get moving. Just get one foot in front of the other for a couple of steps, and suddenly, before you know it, you've got momentum that I think is a really good way to get unstuck. If there's anybody at home listening who happens to be, you know, on mental health worker or expert, and you have tips on getting unstock rounmotivated, also drop those in a little note to us. We would love to hear your studied tips and tricks. Let the work in progress people know. Well, this is a fun shift. Susan asks what is your favorite dish that you cook when you're hosting? Oh my goodness, I love to host. I love to have people over and gather folks around a table to break bread and talk and laugh. It's really one of my favorite things to do. And a couple months ago I started making this really bomb chicken and couscous dish that honestly is so good. People request it now and it's become something that I do probably every ten to fourteen days in my house, and so that at current is my favorite thing to serve, To cook and serve when I'm hosting. I love all the food and drink questions. You guys, you know me, You know that that is my love language. Caitlin asks, what is your go to coffee order? I either do an Americano just like you know, a classic pulled black coffee, or I do an almond milk latte. I just love. Yeah, I love a good latte. One of my friends recently got me on oat milk flat whites. But sometimes I just want like a bigger cup of coffee. I'm one of those people A'll nurse a cup of coffee for two hours. I just like to have it around, So I tend to go for a slightly larger option. And Cassie asks, what is your morning routine and what do you do for self care? Ugh? I dream of being a person with a morning routine. You guys, It's truly one of those things that I think is so grown up and so cool. I think because I went from you know, I was in high school, I was in college for three years, and then I went straight onto the set of One Trio, where every day, the hours are different every day, the call times are different every day, the sets are different every day, the dialogue you're doing is different. I've never been able to have a morning routine because I spent you know, a decade doing that for a show, and then jumped onto Partners and jumped onto PD. Everything has been, you know, this sort of whirlwind. I didn't get any slow down time until the pandemic hit and then starting in the fall of twenty twenty one, we were shooting up in Toronto. So I'm really coming to terms with the fact that because I'm so used to set hours and set timing and getting my call sheet at night and then figuring out what i have to do the next morning, I've never created a morning routine. And I just think it sounds so cool, like the idea that you could get up at the same time every day and have these things that you do for yourself. I realize the irony of being an adult woman who you know, pays a mortgage and like produces television, saying it sounds so grown up to me when people have morning routines, but it really does you guys. Maybe that's one of the things I should work on as an intention for the new year. This is sort of hitting me in this moment. Do you all have morning routines? And if so, what are they? Will you please DM them to us or put those Actually, I'm realizing this in real time. We should do that as a question box on our socials because I would love to know how you guys build your morning routines and also how do you stick to them, because let's be realistic, like the days that I don't have to get up, you know, and start on zooms at eight am, or jump onto early podcasts or be on set at four in the morning, like I'm snoozing. Someone just sent me a Mel Robbin's clip about why you're not supposed to snooze, and it blew my mind and I was like, we're at row I'm going to have to change that habit real quick. So I would actually love to know I'm going to I'm going to turn this podcast on all of you and tell you that I would really love to know how you build your morning routines and how do you actually stick to them. I think I'm also one of those overly ambitious people who when I say I'm going to do something like that, I make a list of thirty things I have to do in the morning, and that's just not realistic. So will y'all tell me what your routines are and how you've actually managed to make them doable. I would really love that. Oh, Jessica, you're sweet. Jessica asked, how is your health? I've been worried about you. Yeah, the end of the middle of last year into this fall was really hard. You guys, it's a wild thing when and it shouldn't seem so shocking, right. You know, we're in a global pandemic. We've lost millions of people, and we have millions more people who have been, you know, dramatically affected, and some of whom are are now disabled because of these illnesses. I'm incredibly lucky that my experience with post viral syndrome resolved itself. I mean I still check in regularly at the doctor, like I get monitored and I will, you know, for a full year just to be sure of that. But I truly, when I tell you, thank my lucky stars that after three really scary months, I kind of came out of the valley that I was in that I worried might be permanent. It's it's a really sobering experience. It's a really humbling experience to get sick like that. And you know, it was also overlapping with like a pretty gnarly time in my life. None of it was easy, But I will say, and maybe this is just because I have to figure out what things mean in order to sort of understand them. When I look back, I definitely think there was I definitely think there was a big lesson in all of that. And I think learning to slow down and learning to really listen to myself and my body my heart changed my life in a good way. And I think I've I've known that stuff, right, Like you can kind of point at your temple and be like I know this up here, but like do I know it in here? Do I know it in my chest? Do I know it in my body? You know? Have I carried what I intellectually know into my knowing into my bones. And this was a really big season of integrating knowledge into knowing for me, And so I really appreciate, you know, that people were concerned that people check in. I'm trying to figure out, you know how, and if I want to talk about that more. It's a weird thing to be a public health advocate and then to go through your own personal version of a public health crisis and be like, do I want to sort of like, for lack of a better term, violate my own like hip hop protections. Do I want to really talk about everything I experienced being sick? Does that feel personal and sacred? I don't totally have the answer yet. I feel like by now, you guys probably know that it takes me a while to really process things. And once I've figured them out and I feel like I understand them, almost like once I've written the whole chapter, then I can let other people read it that kind of energy. I'm still kind of writing it all down figuratively. But I do really appreciate that people were checking in, and I did. I did feel really blessed that I was. I like, we went from summer, we literally transitioned into the beginning of fall. It was early September and I got cleared to travel, and it was right before this family trip to Italy that we'd been working on for years and organizing this family reunion, and we had, you know, over fifty people, five generations of our family in one place. And the fact that I did not have to miss that, like, let me tell you what, people use that phrase, like you know, your angels were looking out for you, however you want to say it. I really really felt lucky that all of that kind of happened on the calendar in that way, and that I got to be there with my family and my parents. It was very special. So thank you so much for checking in and for your concern. And I'm okay, it sounds cheesy, but like I really do think everything happens for a reason, and so I will take it. I will take it. All of the lessons and all of the learning. Let's see, And this is actually kind of a great last question, Megan, What a simple but profound thing. Megan asks, how are you? I am? I am growing and grateful and learning a lot about patience, I think, and that's that's really good. I'm happy and thank God healthy, and I do not take any of that for granted, and I will say I wish that for all of you, you know, happiness and health, and I hope that if you're going through growing seasons that you can see that they're going to take you to even better places. I believe it, and I certainly think all of you who show up, you know, for this show about curiosity tells me you're all special and kind and curious humans, and those are my favorite kind of people. So thank you for being here, thank you for your great questions, and we will do more and more of these. I really I love getting to build this community in this podcast with all of you, So thanks for letting us know you wanted us to do this, and we'll keep it rolling. Have a great week, you guys,

Hi everyone, It's Sophia. Welcome to work in progress. Hello friends, Welcome back to work in progress. I cannot believe it is the middle of January. Time doesn't exist, or I guess perhaps does, but feels melty and crazy and weird. It's been so nice to ease into the new year with all of you. I'm still really reeling in a good way from last week's incredible conversation with Ava Duvernet. I have loved getting your feedback and hearing about how you all felt so inspired by her. She really is just one in a million, and I have to say thank you. She said that the minute we shared about the movie and talked about Seat sixteen, which, for those of you who might have missed last week seeks Seat sixteen dot com is where you can log on and buy a ticket to Origin for a teenager, and it also comes with a free year of masterclass. Ava Duvernet is teaching a class on directing on Masterclass, and so it's really such an amazing way to pay it forward for a young person, especially because young people are the ones most affected by these crazy book bands happening around the country. And I really do believe, as she said, that we can't triumph unless we learn the truth of our history. And it's why Isabelle Wilkerson's book Cast is so important. It's why the film that Ava made about that book origin is so moving and special. And the thank you comes in because she said that when we shared about seat sixteen dot com on the podcast and on Instagram, that the orders for tickets for teenagers across the country came pouring in faster and in greater numbers than she had seen from so many other things. So I just have to thank you all. I always say that the folks who signed up to go on this advocacy journey with me on social media and joined me here on the podcast, y'all are like first responders to me. You're the people who show up, who always speak up, who are really encouraged to support one another in the world around you. So I just really want to say thanks. It's moving to me, it's moving to her, it's moving to the folks involved in the movie, and I just cannot wait to hear what y'all think. Since it's coming out this Friday. I can't believe it. It's so exciting, the nineteenth that's almost here, So please gather yourselves, gather your friends, take five people to the movie theaters with you, because what happens is movies like this that have limited theatrical releases around the country. When they have big first weekends, that's another week that these films stay in theaters. And I know you guys have heard me say this on repeat for the last week, but I really do think this is one of the most important movies ever made. So that's my gratitude, that's my PSA, that's my promos. Let's all take up the fact that we can kind of be the studio for this movie. We can. We can groundswell it and take our loved ones and our friends and our families to see this and hopefully do something really special for such a beautiful piece of art. Now this week, you've probably noticed that it's just me talking to you. There is nobody here with me, and that's because the really cool overlap of having this podcast and then doing Drama Queens with my One Tree Hill girlies is that we get a lot of feedback now on two shows, and a lot of you have said, hey, we really wish that Sophia would do Q and as on work in progress like the gals do on Drama Queens, and we thought, okay, let's give it a shot. So, as we are halfway through the first month of this new year, and I think we're all trying to figure out what twenty twenty four is going to look like, we thought it might be a nice time to check in. So with no further ado, let's jump into the questions that y'all sent. The first one that comes in on our list from c Rosenbauer, I actually think is perfect when we reference twenty twenty four. The question is how are you taking care of yourself during this election year when anxiety runs high? Ugh, that's hard. I gotta be honest. I find that I'm struggling to sleep well. I think seeing what's happening out there in the world, you know, seeing me, and I don't want to be all doom and gloom. To be clear, I'm going to interject on myself and say there will be some uplifting things shared today. But like Avias says, you really have to be honest about where you're coming from. If you want to triumph, we have to really pay attention, you know, and we got to take people at face value when they tell us who they are and what their plans are. We really do have to listen. And it is very scary to me that the GOP has a front runner who is echoing the language of Adolf Hitler, who is saying horrific things about immigrants. That runs down the line in that party. And you know, you've got the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, talking about how he'd be shooting immigrants if the federal government wouldn't prosecute him and his border agents for murder. I mean, this is like wild stuff we're talking about, you guys. You know, these are the moments I think when people in our generation and in all these you know, peer groups that we're all in, say like, well, how did everything happen in the nineteen thirties, you know, how did the Third Reich come into power? How did nobody say anything like this really does feel like our moment where we have to say things, where we have to get very clear on what's happening and what we're seeing, and it's up to us to say we won't tolerate that. You know, I think strong men and I don't mean that as a compliment, not like men who are strong. I mean strong men like dictators and terrible people. When they watch a lack of pushback to the sort of dangerous power that they try to grab, it emboldens them to go further. And I think the twenty sixteen election emboldened a lot of really horrible things in our country. And for me, the way I try to sort of stand in the face of these hard truths and also not be totally petrified is to remind myself that we can have differences of opinion, we can have different beliefs about how we can achieve certain policies and create pathways to opportunity for people to move forward. But what we cannot do is allow for options of harm and hate for other people to ever be on the table. And for me, I really think that if we can be together a little more, if we can have conversations like this, if we can ask each other good questions, will be reminded that we're a lot more similar than we are different, and that people who are indicted and who've been convicted of crimes, and who are doing really terrible things to try to grab power and use that power to hurt other people, they just need to not be options. And so I say that maybe that doesn't sound like the perfect utopia answer you want. I know it doesn't feel like that to me, But I believe if we're ever going to get to a point where we build a utopia, if we're ever going to get to a point where we actually see a country that meets its founding ideals for all of us, not just for some, I really believe we have to be a little pragmatic and look at what our options are and figure out how to build, you know, building that world we want to see. It's not like AI rendering a three D model of a house. It's like you got to build the legos. You have to use the pieces you have, and you have to artfully build them into something better. And so we have to figure out who our best options are, and we've got to make sure that the better option always gets elected, and then that we the people hold them to account. And I know maybe that's not the shiny answer everybody wants, but it is the way forward, I think, and certainly something I've had to learn in the last you know, twenty years of volunteering and working in these spaces and being on campaigns, whether they're you know, small local ones or big national ones really seeing that the system works if we work it. But that democracy is a verb. It's not just like a thing that someone's going to do for us out there in the ether. We really have to apply pressure and remind people that we're watching. But that makes me feel excited for us. That makes me feel inspired because it means that we have collective power. And that's why when I think about, like what does utopia look like? When I think about these big, beautiful terms like collective liberation, we have to exercise our power to get there. So I quell the anxiety by being honest about what's happening and reminding myself how powerful we are and committing to showing up to use that power. So I really do hope that you all, despite how overwhelming I know things can feel, sometimes are bolstered by the reminder that together, I think we've got this. Also, I will say, if you need a place to start, you can text the word voter voter to two six seven nine seven. It is the really simple text bot that we built for I am a voter. It will not overtext you, it will not give your number to anyone else. But what it will do is take a little bit of information from you, like your zip code, and make sure you have your up to date voter registration, you're polling locations, all of the things that you need to make sure are current so that you can exercise your voice and you can exercise your power. So that would be my step one. And yeah, knowing that I'm in this with all of you definitely makes it a little bit easier. Lindsay wants to know how do you balance productivity and rest? Okay, real talk. I think this is something that we all are struggling with. I do not know a single person that feels like they have nailed the productivity and rest kind of seesaw balance. There are so many things that beg for our attention, so many people that we care about and want to, you know, be in touch with and be in community with, and things going on in the world, and you know, we're still in a pandemic, and we are watching horrific things happen around the world, like from trying to do your own personal to do list to looking at what's happening out there. I think things just feel overwhelming. But one of the things that really has been kind of like a light bulb for me recently was hearing that rest is not a reward for productivity. Rest exists for rest, and I thought, oh boy, like I do need to kind of recalibrate the way I think about those terms in action, because if I'm constantly marching through my to do list and often not getting to the bottom, and by often I mean like not ever. If when I'm resting, I'm just thinking, Okay, well, once I'm recharged, I'll be able to be productive again, that's not really rest, is it. Like if I'm sitting there feeling guilty that I'm not doing all the things, but I'm not doing all the things because I'm exhausted. That doesn't feel great. So what I'm really trying to do instead of think about how to balance them, is how to let them be two separate things. Let rest be for rest and tap into the fact that I feel more easily productive when I am rested. I think having a pretty intense personal pandemic health scare last summer really clarified the need for a better relationship with, you know, rest in my own body for myself, and I know a lot of us have been there, you know, these last couple of years, especially, so I think that is sort of the beginning, at least for me, is not to rest as a reward for productivity, but really to look at them as two separate ingredients in my life, two separate you know, boxes, and maybe detach them from each other a little bit feels like a start. Lindsay, if you have an answer, please feel free to send it to us, or if anybody has an answer. Honestly, if you have good tips for how you all do this, we'd love to hear about it from you. Maybe we can talk about those at the top of our next Q. And A Georgia wants to know what is the best lesson you learned from twenty twenty three? Oh boy, well, that really relates to Lindsay's question. Health is the most important thing, you know, and that maybe that sounds cliche. Everybody talks about it, you know. You hear people go like health as wealth, but it really is true. If you are not healthy, nothing else really works. And I think your health can really indicate the sort of quality of so many other things in your life. And for me, having to get really still and take care of myself when I got so sick over the summer really also came you know now in hindsight, it's like everything is clear in hindsight, right, You can kind of understand the meaning of things that in real time you don't have the bandwidth or even perhaps capability to explore. But I think there was something sort of spiritual about a lot of things in my life coalescing around the same time and and really pointing me in the direction that you cannot continue to put yourself last on your list of importance, and you cannot just keep your head down and keep working and keep doing the work and keep showing up for other people and other things stop. You know, what do you need? How can you learn to better take care of yourself? How can you really listen to what your heart, mind, and body are trying to say to you? And that's a big lesson. And I think it's something that people work on their whole lives. I know it's certainly something that I feel like I've worked on for a long time. I feel like I've been you know, curious and honest and introspective and all those things. But really it really kind of cracked open in twenty twenty three, and I saw that for so many people in my life, and even people who I don't know, but that I know of, and I don't think that's an accident. I think there's something in the air right now where we're all really sort of coming home to ourselves. And maybe that's because we lost millions of people around the world, you know, to a disease over the last three years. Maybe it's because we're more connected than ever and really seeing what's going on in the world around us in new ways. I don't really know what the answer is, but I know that I had it happen to me, and I watched it happen to a lot of other people, and so I think I think really taking stock and really learning to care for myself was it was a big lesson this year. We'll be back in just a minute, but here's a word from our sponsors. This is a sweet question. Really wants to know would you ever consider writing book? And then said something very sweet. You have so much knowledge to pass on. That's very kind. I feel like I am always learning. I often feel like I go up a rung on the ladder of knowledge in my life and then realize maybe I didn't never know anything before. So I don't know. I don't know that I necessarily feel like I have a lot of knowledge to pass on. What I do think I have is a willingness to listen and to learn and to share. You know, sometimes I think we want to make everything look so clean and glossy on the Internet that we don't really dig underneath. And some of my favorite people and certainly favorite writers, really have used their lives to encourage conversation for all of us about our lives, for all of us, about the things that are universal, the things that we share. You know, I'm thinking about women like Maggie Smith and Glennon Doyle and Krista Tippett does that on her podcast on being. There's so many people who remind me of those sorts of depths. I got to I got to actually be the voice of an audiobook last year, a book about Mary Oliver, Wild and Precious, and it was so special to me because Mary Oliver is one of my favorite writers, and she reminds me, you know, to show up with my full self, and she reminds me to be really clear in my willingness to inspect and then to learn, and because I'm learning to change my mind, and yeah, maybe that's something, Maybe that's something I should write about soon. I guess we'll see. Elise asks what music have you been listening to lately? Oh? My, I went through a sort of classic jazz holiday phase. I really love dipping into Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra and all the kind of greats over the holiday season. There's just something about vintage holiday music that makes me so happy. So it's funny mid January to see that all my music listening apps are still trying to tell me to listen to old Christmas music like Eartha Kit Christmas. It's kind of great. But I have actually been listening to a lot of podcasts lately, and then at night, like if I have background music on, I've been doing a lot of Teddy Swims radio. I just think he's so wildly talented. He's one of those people who started posting amazing videos early endemic days. They kind of hit my radar and I went, who is this person? And yeah, he's on repeat in my house a lot lately. I want to know what you guys are listening to. If you're listening to this not in your car, and so you can safely pick up your phone and send us a message. Hit us up and let us know what you're listening to. Maybe we'll make a playlist. This is a great question from Claire. How often do you get out in nature? Are you a forest or ocean lover? Okay, I love to be out in nature. I don't get out in it as often as I would like. I'm actually trying to institute a better habit of walking in the mornings. My friend Libby has this incredible platform called This Morning Walk, and she really really inspires me, and so I made it out on a beautiful walk this morning. I am definitely I would say I am first a forest lover. I love the mountains and lakes and forests and you know, big incredible trees. One of my favorite things to do actually when I'm out in the woods is to just record the sound of the wind in the trees. I have so many random videos on my phone of just the sounds that leaves make in the wind. I'm obsessed. But I would say that the ocean is a close second for me. I just think there's something really healing about it. I also really like being reminded of how small we are. You know, there's something really cool to realize you're part of this really vast and kind of unknowable space. It's probably why I like space so much. I've been obsessed with all things you know, NASA and outer space since I was a little kid, and I cry watching like every single space movie that's ever been made. So I don't know, I don't know what that says necessarily, but I do know that I really appreciate being reminded about how sort of big and beautiful and incredible the natural world is. And it's definitely on my whether we call it a resolution or intentionless this year, to be out in it more and more and more. Marin asks, what are your new ventures for twenty twenty four. Well, besides doing Q and as with all of you here on work in progress, I'm really really looking forward to the twenty sixth of January a film I did called Junction, which was written and directed and starred in by my lovely friend Brian Greenberg, who many of you probably know as Jake Tagalski from One Tree Hill. Brian is such an incredible performer and creative and thinker, and he wrote this beautiful movie about the opioid crisis and family and addiction and love and how hard this all can be and it's really breathtaking, and I'm so excited to be in the movie, and I'm just so excited for you all to see it. So that feels really fun. And then there's a couple of things in the works that I'm not really allowed to talk about, but I can say I think you're all going to be so excited when I can. So twenty twenty four is definitely shaping up to be a very good year. Lindsay asks, what is something you are looking forward to? Oh, my goodness, I'm looking forward to a lot this year, and I think most immediately, I think most immediately, I'm really looking forward to my whole industry being able to get back to work. You know, it's hard going through these movements, in these milestone years of labor history and advocacy, Like it's really tough to watch a lot of people struggle and have to go through these you know, periods of job and security, and it's really exciting to start to think about all of us being able to get back on sets together and to be reunited with you know, our crews and our casts. That all just feels timely. And so after a season of you know, some hibernating and some restorative health work and those things I really feel motivated and excited to go back to. You know, I always joked like my day job work, and that feels nice. It feels really really good to be looking forward to getting back on a set. Tailor asks how did you get involved in politics? And what are important issues to you? You know, those things are really tied together. It's why I when I talk about you know, acting, producing, directing, those things like that that I talk about as my day job, because no matter what sort of politics and advocacy really feel like a full time calling for me. You know, it's the stuff I'm working on on my lunch breaks and on my days off. I think what the AHA moment was for me was realizing that my day job provides such an incredible megaphone to audiences of people. And you know, people show up to watch TV and see movies because they care about people's stories. And politics is just the policy that's made based on our stories, based on what we need, based on the human condition, and so to be able to activate an audience, sure on a TV show, but also around early childhood education, you know, access to resources for kids, clean air, and water these things that should be rights for all of us really feels like a no brainer. And for me, all of those issues also feel really tied together. And I've definitely had people say to me through my career, Oh, you have to pick a lane, Oh you have to pick an issue, But I don't agree with that. I think that some people do really well when they work on one thing and focus on one thing, and I think some of us are really meant to draw the parallels between groups of issues for people, especially if you have the privilege like I do of talking to large groups of humans. You know, if I get to talk to a couple million people every day online, I can't assume all of those people are going to care about one issue. But if I can highlight how a group of issues intersect and inspire people in that audience to each get involved in an issue, I feel like that's the coolest thing that I could be doing with my time that is not work, but is about calling. And so that was really it for me. Hallie asks, how do you handle interacting with people who have different views? Ooh, this is getting spicier and spicier, isn't it. But that comes back to this idea of advocacy as well. We are so much more alike than we think we are, And I think if I've learned anything over the years, it is to push back ferociously on elected officials who are making decisions with their views that hurt people, who are weaponizing their opinions to hurt people. But I think in terms of you and me, in terms of all of us out there in the world, the best way to interact with someone who has a different view is just to ask them about it, and if they've got a talking point that you might know to be untrue, say well, where'd you hear that? Or what made you think that? You know, to really begin to interact with someone, to have a conversation, but have it in a way that feels human, I think is how you can build a lot of bridges. And I think we also have to be really clear on who we ask to do those things. You know, we cannot put the most work in terms of bridge building on the people who are the most harmed or the most at risk in society. That's when a lot of the rest of us need to figure out how we can use our own privilege and our own power to to kind of stand up for other folks who maybe don't have as much. I think that's really important. But I always come to tell me about who you are, tell me about your family, tell me what you care about, and I bet I'll be able to point out that we actually believe a lot more of the same things than you might think. And I think that's a really good place to begin. And now a word from our sponsors who make this show possible. Ash asks what do you do when you feel stuck or unmotivated? Don't we all? I think that goes back to the question about rest. I've started to ask myself not just what should you be doing right now, but do you need to rest? Are you tired? Do you need ten minutes to sit and stare at the wall? Did you sleep well last night? You know, check in, check in on how you're actually doing. And then I think, you know, especially for someone like me who has a little bit of task paralysis, you know, really common ADHD thing, figuring out how to plug into my my more motivated side, the part of me that when I get started on something that I love, I could just do it all day. I think is really about taking the pressure off a little bit you know, rather than looking at a to do list and going I just have so much to do and I'm so exhausted, and I don't know how I'm going to get all this done, and I just don't even know where to start. Is saying well, what are three things I could do today? What are three things I could do in the next hour? Off this whole list, and I think just taking a little bit of the pressure off to get everything done while also trying to just get moving. Just get one foot in front of the other for a couple of steps, and suddenly, before you know it, you've got momentum that I think is a really good way to get unstuck. If there's anybody at home listening who happens to be, you know, on mental health worker or expert, and you have tips on getting unstock rounmotivated, also drop those in a little note to us. We would love to hear your studied tips and tricks. Let the work in progress people know. Well, this is a fun shift. Susan asks what is your favorite dish that you cook when you're hosting? Oh my goodness, I love to host. I love to have people over and gather folks around a table to break bread and talk and laugh. It's really one of my favorite things to do. And a couple months ago I started making this really bomb chicken and couscous dish that honestly is so good. People request it now and it's become something that I do probably every ten to fourteen days in my house, and so that at current is my favorite thing to serve, To cook and serve when I'm hosting. I love all the food and drink questions. You guys, you know me, You know that that is my love language. Caitlin asks, what is your go to coffee order? I either do an Americano just like you know, a classic pulled black coffee, or I do an almond milk latte. I just love. Yeah, I love a good latte. One of my friends recently got me on oat milk flat whites. But sometimes I just want like a bigger cup of coffee. I'm one of those people A'll nurse a cup of coffee for two hours. I just like to have it around, So I tend to go for a slightly larger option. And Cassie asks, what is your morning routine and what do you do for self care? Ugh? I dream of being a person with a morning routine. You guys, It's truly one of those things that I think is so grown up and so cool. I think because I went from you know, I was in high school, I was in college for three years, and then I went straight onto the set of One Trio, where every day, the hours are different every day, the call times are different every day, the sets are different every day, the dialogue you're doing is different. I've never been able to have a morning routine because I spent you know, a decade doing that for a show, and then jumped onto Partners and jumped onto PD. Everything has been, you know, this sort of whirlwind. I didn't get any slow down time until the pandemic hit and then starting in the fall of twenty twenty one, we were shooting up in Toronto. So I'm really coming to terms with the fact that because I'm so used to set hours and set timing and getting my call sheet at night and then figuring out what i have to do the next morning, I've never created a morning routine. And I just think it sounds so cool, like the idea that you could get up at the same time every day and have these things that you do for yourself. I realize the irony of being an adult woman who you know, pays a mortgage and like produces television, saying it sounds so grown up to me when people have morning routines, but it really does you guys. Maybe that's one of the things I should work on as an intention for the new year. This is sort of hitting me in this moment. Do you all have morning routines? And if so, what are they? Will you please DM them to us or put those Actually, I'm realizing this in real time. We should do that as a question box on our socials because I would love to know how you guys build your morning routines and also how do you stick to them, because let's be realistic, like the days that I don't have to get up, you know, and start on zooms at eight am, or jump onto early podcasts or be on set at four in the morning, like I'm snoozing. Someone just sent me a Mel Robbin's clip about why you're not supposed to snooze, and it blew my mind and I was like, we're at row I'm going to have to change that habit real quick. So I would actually love to know I'm going to I'm going to turn this podcast on all of you and tell you that I would really love to know how you build your morning routines and how do you actually stick to them. I think I'm also one of those overly ambitious people who when I say I'm going to do something like that, I make a list of thirty things I have to do in the morning, and that's just not realistic. So will y'all tell me what your routines are and how you've actually managed to make them doable. I would really love that. Oh, Jessica, you're sweet. Jessica asked, how is your health? I've been worried about you. Yeah, the end of the middle of last year into this fall was really hard. You guys, it's a wild thing when and it shouldn't seem so shocking, right. You know, we're in a global pandemic. We've lost millions of people, and we have millions more people who have been, you know, dramatically affected, and some of whom are are now disabled because of these illnesses. I'm incredibly lucky that my experience with post viral syndrome resolved itself. I mean I still check in regularly at the doctor, like I get monitored and I will, you know, for a full year just to be sure of that. But I truly, when I tell you, thank my lucky stars that after three really scary months, I kind of came out of the valley that I was in that I worried might be permanent. It's it's a really sobering experience. It's a really humbling experience to get sick like that. And you know, it was also overlapping with like a pretty gnarly time in my life. None of it was easy, But I will say, and maybe this is just because I have to figure out what things mean in order to sort of understand them. When I look back, I definitely think there was I definitely think there was a big lesson in all of that. And I think learning to slow down and learning to really listen to myself and my body my heart changed my life in a good way. And I think I've I've known that stuff, right, Like you can kind of point at your temple and be like I know this up here, but like do I know it in here? Do I know it in my chest? Do I know it in my body? You know? Have I carried what I intellectually know into my knowing into my bones. And this was a really big season of integrating knowledge into knowing for me, And so I really appreciate, you know, that people were concerned that people check in. I'm trying to figure out, you know how, and if I want to talk about that more. It's a weird thing to be a public health advocate and then to go through your own personal version of a public health crisis and be like, do I want to sort of like, for lack of a better term, violate my own like hip hop protections. Do I want to really talk about everything I experienced being sick? Does that feel personal and sacred? I don't totally have the answer yet. I feel like by now, you guys probably know that it takes me a while to really process things. And once I've figured them out and I feel like I understand them, almost like once I've written the whole chapter, then I can let other people read it that kind of energy. I'm still kind of writing it all down figuratively. But I do really appreciate that people were checking in, and I did. I did feel really blessed that I was. I like, we went from summer, we literally transitioned into the beginning of fall. It was early September and I got cleared to travel, and it was right before this family trip to Italy that we'd been working on for years and organizing this family reunion, and we had, you know, over fifty people, five generations of our family in one place. And the fact that I did not have to miss that, like, let me tell you what, people use that phrase, like you know, your angels were looking out for you, however you want to say it. I really really felt lucky that all of that kind of happened on the calendar in that way, and that I got to be there with my family and my parents. It was very special. So thank you so much for checking in and for your concern. And I'm okay, it sounds cheesy, but like I really do think everything happens for a reason, and so I will take it. I will take it. All of the lessons and all of the learning. Let's see, And this is actually kind of a great last question, Megan, What a simple but profound thing. Megan asks, how are you? I am? I am growing and grateful and learning a lot about patience, I think, and that's that's really good. I'm happy and thank God healthy, and I do not take any of that for granted, and I will say I wish that for all of you, you know, happiness and health, and I hope that if you're going through growing seasons that you can see that they're going to take you to even better places. I believe it, and I certainly think all of you who show up, you know, for this show about curiosity tells me you're all special and kind and curious humans, and those are my favorite kind of people. So thank you for being here, thank you for your great questions, and we will do more and more of these. I really I love getting to build this community in this podcast with all of you, So thanks for letting us know you wanted us to do this, and we'll keep it rolling. Have a great week, you guys,