Life Will Be the Death of Me with Chelsea Handler - Are You Coachable? with Kristen Bell
Episode Date: January 13, 2022Chelsea is joined by Kristen Bell to talk about shifting family dynamics, her partnership with Dax Shepard, and being allergic to inefficiency. Then: An actor struggles with self-promotion as she buil...ds her career. A wife wrestles with the best way to tell her husband he has terrible breath. And a mom wants to know how to end her headstrong 7-year-old’s reign of terror.*Executive Producer Nick StumpfProduced by Catherine LawEdited & Engineered by Brandon Dickert*****The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the Podcast author, or individuals participating in the Podcast, and do not represent the opinions of iHeartMedia or its employees. This Podcast should not be used as medical advice, mental health advice, mental health counseling or therapy, or as imparting any health care recommendations at all. Individuals are advised to seek independent medical, counseling advice and/or therapy from a competent health care professional with respect to any medical condition, mental health issues, health inquiry or matter, including matters discussed on this Podcast. Guests and listeners should not rely on matters discussed in the Podcast and shall not act or shall refrain from acting based on information contained in the Podcast without first seeking independent medical advice. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Did you hear the new episode of the Hey Jonas podcast?
We are at D23, so we'll see who stops by.
The cast of Frozen stopped by.
Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, and Idina Menzel.
I auditioned for Frozen.
What?
For Kristoff.
They said, okay, what are you going to be singing today?
I said, I don't know.
That must have been why you didn't get in.
Well, you probably won.
Plus, John Stamos, Hayden Christensen from Star Wars, and more.
And I guess I can share that, uh...
No way.
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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
On the new podcast, Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman.
I can wait four hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering me a ride on his motorcycle.
I chose option B.
I'm Julie Pinheiro and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first.
I'm on a mission to reclaim the word Solita, trading the pity for possibility.
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to say live, but that doesn't really make any sense. Live to tape from Whistler, which is where
I've hunkered down for the winter. And yes, I'm so Oh, God, it is just heaven. And I'm not going
to pretend it's not. I am skiing every single day. Well, not every single day because Joe Coy's with
me. So we have to take a couple days off here and there for his learning curve. You know what I
mean? Yeah, he had an injury a slight he had a big wipeout on one of the first couple days.
and I was like, and he started filming it.
I was like, put your camera away.
The last thing I need is for people to think
that I dragged you up to Whistler
and broke something on you.
So just shut it down.
You're going to be fine in about 24 hours.
And sure enough, he was.
Oh my gosh.
And he just took a tumble.
Is he okay?
I mean, it seems like he's okay.
Well, he does wipe out a lot because he's learning.
And he thought that he had been skiing before
because he skied in, I don't know,
Vegas, Mount Charleston or something.
I told him that was probably an indoor ski rink at Circus Circus because no one's ever heard of
that. But he thought he could hang. And I guess he didn't really understand the extreme skier
that I am. Yeah. I mean, looking at your socials, it's like it's very rocky. These are not bunny
hills like this. It's pretty intense. Yeah, it's pretty fun, though. I mean, it's just so beautiful
here. Like it is the views and the mountain is so big. It's just my family was here for a week.
Oh, nice. And then they left. And then, so I, and then my sister was here lingering for a little
bit and then she left. And now Joe and I are just like in domesticated bliss in my little ski
chalet. Oh, it's just heaven. I mean, I'm so glad that I put in the time and effort to become a
really good skier that I had the luxury to do that because it's so nice to get out there and
be able to like, to be capable at something, you know, I don't have a lot of hobbies.
Yeah. Have you skied all your life or is it sort of a newer thing for you?
I've skied since I was a little girl, but not seriously like, you know, the last seven,
eight years, I think since I've been coming to Whistler, I've been pretty serious about it.
But I talk about this in my stand up a lot. Like I don't have a ton of hobbies. I don't
like to cook or clean or, you know, I like to read. I like to smoke weed and I like to ski.
Yeah. So I have to do all three of those things really well.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Riddle me this. Are you like a speed reader or do you just happen to read
quickly because you like tear through books. Well, if I have an assignment, I take it seriously.
You know how professional I am, Catherine. Yes, I do. Actually, yes, I do.
So if I have a reading assignment, if we have a guest coming on the show, I mean,
there's nothing more annoying than being interviewed by someone who has not
been familiarized with your work. Yes. Well, luckily today, our guest does not have a book out.
So, you know, we'll be all right.
Oh, yes.
I'm excited about our guest today.
I love her.
Yes.
So speaking of skiing, one of our listeners had a ski – well, a lot of listeners have ski questions for you.
But this is one that I thought would be really fun to answer on the air.
She says, Dear Chelsea, I'm a 28-year-old teacher living in Vermont, and I learned to ski two years ago.
I took ski lessons with eight friends, four couples, that are fellow New England transplants.
I'm the only single skier of the crew, which has never been a problem until now,
as life changes have caused some to back out of season passes or opting out many weekends.
I love skiing, but I'm still learning, so I don't love the idea of skiing alone when I want to challenge myself.
When I want to ski, I definitely go.
I don't change my plans when I'm the only one going because solo runs are amazing.
However, it's starting to feel lonely.
How would you suggest branching out or meeting other people to ski with?
Thanks for your help and best of luck this ski season, Colleen.
Well, just join a ski group.
I mean, wherever you live, go and join an adult single ski group.
They have those everywhere.
Oh, actually, a friend of mine, that's how she met her husband like 20 years ago.
But yeah, they have ski groups everywhere.
So that's a great thing to do because then you're never alone.
And by the way, you shouldn't be skiing alone if you want to challenge yourself.
Like I don't even go in the trees if I'm alone because I know better.
Yeah. Well, maybe we'll find Colleen a group and a husband or a wife.
Yeah. First comes the ski group and then comes the husband.
Yeah. Yeah. Excellent. Well, that was easy.
Yeah. Problem solved. Oh, also I want to mention to everyone that we are rescheduling my Vancouver
dates. Those were canceled along with Calgary because of COVID and we are rescheduling them.
And so stay tuned for that because they will be rescheduled sooner than later. We're looking at
March or April. So I will announce those as soon as they become available. Also, we're adding a
second show at the Wiltern in Los Angeles, and we've added second shows in Portland, in Seattle,
Portland, Oregon is coming up the first weekend of February. So I'm doing Eugene, Oregon,
two shows in Portland, and then two shows in Seattle. And we added a show in Winnipeg and
we added a show in Toronto. So yeah, check chelseahandler.com. And yeah, we added a ton
a second show. So that's really exciting. And I'm looking forward to seeing everybody. It'll be a
month since I've been on stage, so I cannot wait to get back on stage. That's so exciting. Awesome.
Okay. So our special guest today is an actress. She's a philanthropist. She's a producer.
She is starring in the new Netflix show, The Woman in the House, which is a satirical thriller.
She has a baby brand with Dax, which is called Hello Bello. And they just opened up their first
facility in the United States, everybody. And they make their products with organic materials
and they provide diapers to so many people in need, to so many people who have children and
need help with diapers. And she just came out with a new hand cream for her CBD line,
which is called Happy Dance. They have a new hand cream available. And 1% of the proceeds
from Happy Dance go to women who are coming out of prison and helping them re-acclimate into
real life again. Hi, Kristen Bell. I love Kristen Bell. Don't we all love Kristen?
I love that review. As you know, I'm codependent and I like when people like me, but also I adore
you. So the fact that I have your stamp of approval, it just makes my heart sing.
Both of our hearts are swelling and my Pikachu, quite frankly. This is Catherine, my producer.
Catherine, meet Kristen. Hi. You guys probably haven't met before. So this is a nice initiation.
Kristen, I'm so excited to talk to you because I love you.
I just love the way you carry yourself.
And you know what?
To me, you always come across as somebody just who has their shit together.
Do you think that's a true, accurate assessment of yourself?
Not in the slightest, Chelsea.
Not in the slightest.
I mean, I think I try.
What you're reading, I think, is my desperation to have my shit together.
And also, I'm like not the world's best actress, but I'm a decent one.
so I appear as such but I will say maybe what you're reading is that I am very committed to
not to become a parenting book for a second but like a growth mindset I am constantly striving
for new information better data I'm on a learning curve at all times so I read a lot I talk to a lot
of people and I feel like I just I don't want to stay stagnant with any of my opinions or viewpoints
so perhaps that makes it feel like I have my shit together I don't know I mean I guess maybe
that's one of the things I'm attracted to you about because I too am always looking to have
my opinions changed. I don't want to be stuck or set because I've been around a lot of people
who are so strong-minded and so strong-willed that they're intransigent. Their opinions never
move and they think that they know the right way with regard to parenting or with regard to
the industry or with how to handle tumultuous times and friendships or confrontations.
And I always find that kind of mindset when you're so stuck to be really limiting and actually not that intelligent, because anyone who's really smart knows that your opinions and viewpoints change.
Yeah. And I think it's also the least attractive quality is to be stuck in your views, to not have the ability to have an open mind, to me, is the least attractive quality someone could have.
So let me ask you a question because, you know, you guys are always public.
You and Dax are always public about your ups and downs in your relationships, your honesty, your therapy.
All of our BS.
Right, exactly.
And I would imagine being married to Dax is a fucking handful.
I would definitely think that that is a big personality to juggle, especially when you have children.
So what are some of the things, why don't I ask you this?
What do you think some of your strengths are in your relationships?
in your relationship specifically with Dax, and then as a parent, what you've learned about
yourself and what has impressed you about yourself in the parenting mode?
Okay. Well, with Dax specifically, one of the reasons that we work, and again,
this is a compatibility issue that I think is sort of a fundamental part of each of our
personalities, which is certainly after the attraction level, why we synced up and kept going
is he has, well, he's addicted to everything, but one of the things he stays addicted to is
a growth mindset. He is constantly learning and morphing and adapting. And even though he is a
really strong personality, you can change his mind. He is open to other points of view. I am
a very flexible person by nature, though slightly strong-willed. So we work really well together in
that we're both striving to learn more and going like, well, but what is the best decision for the
group and a sort of like utilitarian outlook on our family. And usually he will throw the first
ball and say, I want to try this, whether it's, I want to try having dinner five nights a week
together with the kids, see if that changes our dynamic. Like I'll go, great, we'll try it.
Then we get the data. If it doesn't work, then I throw a ball. And so we kind of do that in every
area of our lives and I will say like he's a huge personality and he can be a lot but like at home
he's often not he saves those shades for the outside world like I'll tell you this like he
has a temper for sure and it has never shown itself inside the walls of this house ever not
to me, not to the children. He is very measured and patient when there's any sort of dissent or
argument. Now on the street, if someone jaywalks in front of his car, shit's going to hit the fan.
You know what I mean? If he sees something out in the world where he sees someone getting bullied
or he feels he's been slighted, he may have a temper, but it's never at home. So he's quite
a committed family man under all of those sort of gruff hillbilly layers. And I just like him a lot.
I'm just going to add that I fucking like him. As a parent, I think the thing that has shocked me
the most and sort of made me grow the most is after all of this information I took in from
the pediatricians and other moms and parenting books, because I am a person that likes advice.
I love getting advice because I have enough self-esteem to go, oh, but I don't have to
take it.
Like no one's watching me apply it.
I want to know how you made your marriage work.
I want to know how you did better auditions.
I want to know how you parented your kids and got them to sleep better.
And then I can choose what to use.
So beyond all of that, taking in all the data, when I really try to, in like a Buddhist place
almost. Look at my kids as little autonomous human beings that are experiencing life for the
first time. It really screws my head on straight when I have to deal with them because the pace of
life can make you treat them poorly and then you're laying in bed going like, fuck, I shouldn't
have yelled at them or I shouldn't have rushed everyone. I made one of them cry. But then you
got to realize I have a six-year-old. She's never been six before. It's the first time she's ever
been six years old. It's really hard to be six. You know, I think that framework of like, this is
the first time they're experiencing earth not only helps me deal with them, but helps me cut myself
a lot more slack because then I put that framework on me. Right. So going back to what you were
saying, like, okay, say you're going to try something like having dinner five nights a week
and seeing where that leads to. Have you guys done that stuff? Like how, how does that work
out in your family dynamic and how does it change the family dynamic? We've put it on the books,
Chelsea but we've never gotten there we've never what is your natural habit like depending on who's
working and whatever who's home has dinner with the kids is that how it works what's weird is
that neither of us actually have schedules that often that take us away around dinner time even
we could start work at four in the morning but we're both usually home by six or seven
and he's home so often now because he works out of the the attic but we attempt to connect in
the evening but it's more of a free-for-all type circus here it's like you eat when you're
hungry. We mostly just snack during dinner. Maybe, you know, three times a month we'll sit down for
dinner. But in my head, people have said, oh, connecting at a family dinner, like that's when
you hear about their day and all these different things. It doesn't work for us. And at some point,
you know, when we tried it and we got three days in and then everybody wanted to get up and run
around with the dogs or outside, we were like, why stress ourselves out to fit inside someone
else's box or idea of what will connect us. Let's go based on our own instincts. So the things that
connect us as a family, I know actually, laying in bed with the kids at night when we're tucking
them in, we do, which I believe is like a Jewish tradition, talking about your rosebud and thorn
of the day. Do you know this one? Yeah, yeah. You're high and low.
Yeah. Your best part about your day is your rose. Your thorn is, if you're little, it's your bad
part. If you're above six years old, it should be what could you have improved upon, your thorn,
Where did you have bad behavior that you wouldn't emulate the next day?
And then your bud is what you're looking forward to.
And somehow that always leads to much more in-depth connection in our family.
And the second thing is we always tell our children the why.
We always give them more of an explanation as opposed to because I said so.
Like for instance, when they were coming home from preschool, four years old, when they
were able to talk but didn't really want to talk to us about a ton of things, you say
to your kid, how was your day?
And they say, fine, and walk away.
And Dax grabbed the girls one day and he goes, hey, I just want you to know when I say how
was your day, I'm not necessarily looking for details.
What I'm looking for is to connect with you because I haven't seen you for the last nine
hours.
And I want to just look at your face and hear your voice and whatever details you want to
tell me, even if it's a make-believe story about your day.
The reason I ask you how was your day is because I really want to connect and plug back into
you.
and they got it. They were like, oh, so now I'm not under this pressure to tell my parents about
my day, which we all know is annoying. But now I realize why my dad is doing it. And now they
do tell us about their day. And where did he learn that? In therapy? I don't know. I think
he makes a lot of this stuff up. Yeah. He's very weirdly in touch with himself. I mean,
not weirdly. It's a great quality in a man, you know, and you've talked about this, how he's so
alpha but at the same time he's so sensitive and men having that in quality you know i'm with
someone now who's like that and it's really endearing it just makes you realize like oh god
i wish all men could be a little bit softer and a little bit more sensitive because it's so much
fucking hotter than the alternative oh my god it's crazy because he is all of the things at a 10
he's like the most he could be the most aggro at a 10 but he's also the most sensitive at a 10 and
he's the most patient to the 10. It's like, I just got a man who is a lot. And the good thing is I,
I like a lot. I'm a big personality. I gravitate towards a lot. So that's why it works. One of the
other great tips he gave me, he gives me all these tips. He loves giving me advice. He, but now
sometimes in our, in our pod, like in our friend group now, because so many people do a lot of
advice. We have to ask each other, are you coachable? Exactly. Cause sometimes you'd be
like, I'm not, I'm not coachable right now. Um, but one of the other things he said around that
time, like our kids were, I don't know, maybe one in three, he said, and I think he was drawing
upon his childhood here. He said, you know, I feel like kids witness arguments a lot and they
very rarely ever witness the makeup portion, the, the conflict resolution. So he said, even when we
come home, if we ever have tension or an argument, cause you know, they can feel it. They're, they're
way smarter than you give them credit for. Even if we solve it once we go to bed, let's make sure
that the next day we identify it and play the role of apology or like, hey, you know what, daddy,
I was really grumpy when I came home from work. I'm sorry I snapped at you. He'll go, oh, that's
okay, mommy, et cetera, et cetera. Just so the kids can have an idea of conflict resolution,
because something that I never realized is like, yeah, that happens all the time. Kids see
arguments everywhere, but making up and resolution is usually done in private. So how on earth are
we supposed to give these kids the conflict resolution skills if we never show it to them
well and also a lot of people have makeup in private because it's sexually related like makeup
is sex whereas you know that is it that's a very cyclical thing that a lot of couples get into where
they fight and then their makeup is sex and it's almost like you set up the fight in order to have
the makeup sex so and that's completely dysfunctional too on its own merit that's why we always have
sex in front of them that's what i was going to suggest i mean that just seems like the right
thing to do. And it's more family style anyway. What about your upbringing? I know you've talked
a little bit about it, but did you feel, do you feel like you took a lot from what your parents
modeled for you or what you learned in your household? Because you had older siblings,
right? I did. I had two older sisters. Right. And so you were the youngest of three.
Yeah. So what's weird is like, I want to have a great answer for you on this. My memory is such
that it doesn't exist. I try to struggle. I hear people saying, oh, when I was six years old,
I went on this bike ride with my brother and we caught a snake or whatever their memory is about
their childhood. I literally don't have that. I struggle so often. Sometimes when I look at
pictures, I can remember details, but I'm more of like a synthesizer. I remember feelings about
people, but I don't have specific memories. But I do think what I digested from my dad was
definitely hard work and subtlety. That's kind of a shocker coming out of my mouth. But my dad
is a very hard worker, but when he comes home, he's sort of just, you feel like he's a wallflower,
but he's not. He's very present, but he's like quiet and very sort of official, unless he's
had Chardonnay and then he gets giggly. But with the girls, he was always just sort of like this
stability, I guess is what I mean, like subtle stability. And he was very committed to his job
and he ran it like a family.
He's a news director.
And from my mom, I think she's very zany
and she was always committed to paying it forward
and helping people.
And I think I got this,
I do think I synthesized this melting pot of those things
because I would say the things I value the most
are like being good to people,
helping and being a hard worker
and attempting to be as consistent and stable as I can.
And do you think that being a hard worker,
the desire to be a hard worker,
because I've been thinking about this a lot,
You know how how hard women especially want to show up, you know, especially in this industry on a set.
You want to be the one that's not going to complain. That's going to be there the longest, going to be the best team player.
It's not very frequently that that behavior gets rewarded.
Don't you feel like women? We do that.
We have that in our genes where we think we have to overperform to earn our place at the table.
And that is from a long, long time. And I know a lot of female actresses who feel the same way.
They feel like, oh, we've got to be the girl that's not going to complain, that's going to be there the latest and be ready and willing to work the double or come in earlier or, you know, pick up the slack for someone else.
Yeah, it's interesting because I was with you until you said staying there late.
And that's not something I roll with at all.
I'm like, look, the minute I get to work, I want to leave.
And it's not because I don't like work.
It's because I am allergic to two things on this planet, penicillin and inefficiency.
And I just do not tolerate inefficiency.
see, well, it is the one time I will get irritable. It is the one time I will get frustrated with
people. Sincerely, I don't necessarily think that my outlook is for me to be working the hardest
or being the best. I think my job is to help other people around me work their hardest and
be their best. And sometimes that means that I'm on morale, that I've memorized my lines the night
before and rather than pretending to sit with the director and plan the shot, which he doesn't need
me to do, I'm going around to the grips and asking them how their family was last night and are you
going to be able to make it home for dinner and getting people excited about living a human life
because I find that people are not valuing being people anymore. Some cultures value being the work
and others value existing. And I think we've valued being the work for so long. And I'm a
little bit over that phase. Like I do work hard and I come prepared. That's not to say I don't
come prepared, but my goal is to help the people around me work better and harder and more
efficiently so that we can all get back to being ourselves at the end of the day and have a little
bit of quality of life. I like that. That's right. I mean, we live in a society that's all about work
and it's like, I'm, you know, I had that moment about 10 years ago where I'm like, I do not want
to work like this for the rest of my life. I just can't. I don't want to. I want to have a high
quality life. I want to be able to travel and impact and inspire, you know, and have people
live their lives vicariously through me. And it's like, why can't we all just live our lives
vicariously through ourselves? You know, not everybody has the freedom, the independence,
the lack of children in my, in my situation. Let me ask you about, do you care what people
think about you yeah like way too much you really like yeah and I work on it every single day but I
have a visceral stomach reaction when I feel like someone is not pleased with me and I think that
that comes maybe from childhood fights with my mom probably of when I felt like I was disappointing
someone, it somehow in my childhood, which wasn't particularly traumatic, became the worst feeling
that I could have. So I did spend a lot of my life ignoring my own instincts because that was
an easier path than thinking or feeling that someone was disappointed in me or didn't like me.
Wasn't like approving of me. And it's been like a struggle because I think weirdly the pandemic
has helped me with this because there were so many closed doors and I had to, you had to sort
of sit with yourself and you had to look at the person in the mirror and go, well, what do you
think? Cause actually you're the only person that matters. Like if you feel that your actions are
responsible and your side of the street is clean, that really is all that should matter. And I say
that out loud to myself all the time because I haven't fully digested it, but I'm attempting.
And Dax has all these amazing sayings from AA, like you should only compare yourself to the person you were yesterday, you know, when you're feeling way less than like, I didn't accomplish enough or someone wasn't pleased with me. Well, was I better than I was yesterday? But looking at myself in the mirror and really going, are you happy with yourself, for some reason has always been really difficult for me.
And do you find yourself to have a generally happy disposition?
Well, Chelsea, it depends on if I'm taking my medication.
Really?
yeah no seriously i mean i've been on an antidepressant forever and um since how old
20 1920 and it was because well first of all my mom had explained to me why she was on one at a
very young age she was a nurse so she also like and she's a really kooky so she when she became
a cardiologist nurse she would bring home open heart surgery like vhs's and we'd sit and eat
spaghetti and watch an open heart surgery or one time she bribed the guy at the morgue and brought
in three human hearts to my 10th grade science class. Like she's weird and I love it. But she
told me very early on as she is very open medically was she was like, Hey, so I, this is the reason I
take this antidepressant because my serotonin levels aren't what they should be. And if you
ever start to feel this way, and she gave me this list of symptoms, just know there's a variety of
things you can do. Like we could exercise more. You could go to therapy. You could talk to a
psychologist or a psychiatrist. Maybe there's a medication that's right for you. Maybe not like
not everybody gets treated with a medication, certainly. And then when I went to college,
like my second year of college, I just started to feel, the best way to describe it is I felt
really heavy and also simultaneously like I was floating, like I didn't have anything grounding
me. And like, I just was not myself. Like I was inside this big dark fog and this cage and I
couldn't get out. And my reactions weren't within my control. I was like irritable and stuff.
And I talked to my mom about it. And, you know, my journey was trying a bunch of things and then figuring out that maybe this medication was right. And it has been a godsend. And one thing my mom said that helped me forever reduce the stigma, and I am practically going to get it tattooed on my body so that people can see it, is if you're ever feeling like you are less than or ashamed to take a medication for your brain health, would you ask yourself this?
would you ever deny a diabetic their insulin? Would you ever say, no, no, no, no, no. Don't
take that insulin. Just process your sugar better. You should be able to do that. It's the same
thing. And this is not to get into the argument at all that things are overprescribed, which they
are. And then I needed this certain pill to help me balance my serotonin. And it has helped me
so much. Because there are some times when I'll go on a trip for five days and forget my
medication or something. And I just feel like shit. I just feel like I'm caged inside my body
and I can't control my reactions and things are happening to me as opposed to I'm experiencing
them. Yeah. Yeah. I think everybody needs to have the self-confidence to understand that it's up to
you to decide what's best for you, not to listen to other people decide diagnosing you, even though
actually we both consider ourselves to be medical professionals. I know that you do as well.
I consider myself to be a pharmacological intuit. I think I just know instinctively what people need
and when they need it. Although, I mean, I have to make the declaration that we are not medical
professionals. We don't have degrees, but we both fancy ourselves to be excelling in the medical
profession. What I like is that we're talking about it. Like there's, there's a couple different
types of people. There's no at all. Then there's the people who don't talk about it at all. And
everything is shameful. And then there's the people like us, which I think our category is
like, no, we talk about it and some things help some people. And I try to be, because I, for some
reason fell into the forefront of this issue of talking about mental health and awareness. I try
to be really responsible in saying like, I never say what medication I'm on for a very specific
reason, because I don't want any young girl saying that's the one Kristen Bell takes. I want to take
it because that may not be right for her body. There's a, there's a bunch of different ones for
a reason. Also, sometimes it's just, you need more exercise. Like we've gotten, we used to like
build our huts and stuff you know and we we don't get enough physical activity even just walking
during the day as these modernized technologically dependent human beings and so sometimes if you're
feeling down in the dumps it's that you just need to get up and move your butt a little bit and i'm
not saying you need to be a certain size but like you need to take a couple laps around the block
in the morning and at night and maybe that does the trick like endorphins are a real thing
and then there's also just talking to someone like talk therapy and i read this amazing book have you
you read The Body Keeps the Score? Yeah, yeah. The way he talks about treating PTSD patients,
particularly vets, and mandating that they also participate in a voluntary physical activity with
a group as part of their recovery. So he'll do talk therapy, but they have to either join a
drum circle, join a choir, join a yoga class, join a Tai Chi in the park, whatever. Anything
that's voluntarily interacting physically with another human being, no words, is like really
regulating for the brain. That's one thing I've been really into these days is just like kicking
a ball with my kids when they're frustrated, they're having a tantrum. Sometimes I'll be like,
let's just go play kickball and you can tell me all about it. And then they'll calm down like
almost instantly. And sometimes I have to trick them because they're in tantrum mode and we're
folding laundry together or whatever. And they're furious at me. And all of a sudden I'm the worst
mom ever. And I'll just pass them a hanger. And in the midst of their tantrum, they'll pass it back
and then I'll pass it to them again. And they're still crying. And after passing this hanger back
and forth, they have somehow regulated because our bodies are communicating.
Wow. I love that.
It's so interesting and it feels like voodoo and it might be, but it works. It's like a spell you
can cast on them. Great. Great. I love it. I love it, Kristen. Well, that's a great jumping
off point. Catherine, should we take some calls? Yes, let's definitely get to some callers. But
first, let's take a quick ad break. Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Crave, Netflix and Disney Plus
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When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and held captive for nine months. I survived and
And I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them.
I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are The Survivor Files.
I just remember this low, taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything.
Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable.
I knew if he woke up, without a doubt, he was going to hurt me.
I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed, and I just started screaming.
They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced.
But these aren't stories about what's taken from them.
They're stories about what it takes to make it out alive.
Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality,
welcome home. This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club,
part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks
Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo,
and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations
everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed.
From best-selling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table.
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Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place.
Listen to Pro Society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
See you between the pages.
Hey, this is Hayes Davenport.
And Sean Clements.
We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook on the Big Money Players Network.
Our show is extremely accessible to first-time listeners.
Each week, we talk to someone in show business, a.k.a. the biz,
and try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us.
Everyone has a good time, and no one gets mad at their publicist
for letting them do our show.
We've had a lot of great guests like Sarah Sherman.
Not that great.
Actually, can you help me shape this?
how about we flip it on its head
how about we flip the script
what if the surprise woman
who actually you think is the straight man
is actually the one who's acting
weird Adam Scott
this entire time
you've been expecting
Adam Sandler to come
to visit the show
I would never expect
I would never set
expectations for something like that to happen
if the universe allows for
something like that to happen
i am open to it i'm always going to accept you know danny mcbride fine yeah it's all this fragile
masculinity exuding i could smell it walking down the hallway to be honest with you i was like is
that weed nope it's fragile masculinity ben stiller no because a lot of times in out of context people
don't get it or even know what a circle is you know what i mean like they're like oh what's this
Everyone's so dumb except for you.
And fake.
Right, fake and also not interested or just like, oh, I've got my life.
I don't care about your life.
And a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us.
Oh, and by the way, Will Ferrell told us personally he loves the show
and he wants to be a guest on every episode, but he's just so busy.
Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
On the new podcast, Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman.
I can wait four hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering me a ride on his motorcycle.
I chose option B.
I'm Julie Pinheiro and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first.
I'm on a mission to reclaim the word solita, trading the pity for possibility.
Every time I tried to be alone, I kept meeting people and they were like,
you smiled at us. Not a lot of people smile around here.
It's when you're alone that you're most receptive to the world as it is
and not the lies you're sold about it.
It can be a time where you push your limits, change your mind,
or wake up to a new version of yourself.
So whether you're a solo travel veteran or you're too nervous to book your first trip,
I hope you listen to Solita on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
So we're going to give advice to people who call in for our expertise, Kristen.
We always have guest doctors on. You're our guest doctor today.
I love it.
And I mean, I don't know how you did this, but so much of what you both just talked about,
we are going to cover today. So this first question feels a little silly at first blush,
but it really is important to be able to talk to your partner about sensitive issues.
Our first question comes from AJ. The subject line is great sex, but terrible breath.
Dear Chelsea, my husband and I have been together for eight years and our sex life just gets better
and better the longer we're together. We both love spontaneous sex and try to do it as often
as possible. But with that spontaneity, there's a drawback. I'll go to make out with him and his
breath smells like cat shit. It's really gross and turns me off. I just have to hold my breath
until we change positions. I've tried addressing it with him in the past, but he gets so sensitive
about it. How do I address this with him without him getting so upset? AJ. Oh my God. That's so,
so annoying. Okay. Wait, I had this issue once I was hooking up with, I had a boyfriend that
lived in Spain and we would meet each other and yeah, in random countries in Europe, it was very
high. It sounds as high end as it was. It was very highfalutin international love story. It was
exactly what I was excited about becoming an adult for. So I could have different men in different
ports. Anyway, I, this guy was really sexy and really hot, but he had very strong morning breath.
It wasn't at night. It wasn't so bad, but in the morning it was, and it almost felt like it was
coming from his stomach because a lot of people's breath isn't really about what they've been eating
it's more what's going on with their gut right so I kind of met up with him for as long as I could
and then I just felt like I I would want someone to be honest with me and I know men can be very
sensitive to these issues so I understand I want to take that into account but I want to share
my story with you I did send him an email and I explained it to him in a very gentle way oh this
was after he sent me a book called perfume and I thought how ironic that this man is sending me a
book about scents when I can't stand the smell of him in the morning. But I did tell him, I said,
listen, I just want to be really honest with you because I would want somebody to be honest with
me. But, you know, you have really a really strong scent in the morning. And I don't know if it's
coming, if you should test for candida or if you have something internally going on. But, you know,
it's unpleasant and it's just a really strong odor. So I just want to let you know that. And,
you know, he was a little embarrassed at first, but then he did get it looked into. And it turns
out he did have candida so I am a doctor but he was appreciative and we're still friends and we
talk hopefully he's not listening to this podcast because he'll be embarrassed but I won't mention
his name there are so many Spanish lovers I have so it would be hard to narrow it down anyway
but his sensitivity like you can't ignore a problem because someone's sensitive you just
have to be as compassionate as as you can be when telling him about the fact that his breath is
really strong. And I also think strong is a good word to use instead of bad. Yeah. And I also think
so one time my old roommate, Katie, took this class called Understanding Men Celebrating Women.
And it was like one of the things she learned from it was like a self-help class to, you know,
get along. I mean, this is also my friend Katie is so amazing because she also she was having a lot
of early sex and wasn't dating long term. And she was like, I have to hang out with a guy for 24
24 hours before I can have sex with him. And I was like, Katie, that kind of sounds like your
old pattern. She was like, no, 24 hours. So if the first date is three hours, then I mark it.
Like we've spent three hours together. And I was like, that's kind of a baller way to figure out
how to get a little bit more long-term and not just, you know, spread them the minute you meet
one. Right. She had a little, a little chart, but in this class, it was like, one thing they taught
the women right away was like, you gotta know when to talk to the guy because guys are like,
not always online to talk about things with words and emotions there. They spend most of the day
offline. Most of them, let's be honest. And so like what I use this with Dax all the time too,
like I'm sort of like predator to prey monitoring when I can talk to him about who, which family
members will be coming in for Christmas or when I can sit him down to ask him about, you know,
the kids joining an afterschool program that he'll have to drive them to like all these little
things. I think finding a time when you both are in a really, really good mood and then saying,
I have something really vulnerable to say. And you start there. So you start by unzipping your chest.
And then I think the wordage is really important. Like you're saying, Chelsea, like the word strong
saying, I don't know that this is your problem, but I do know that it's ours. I might just have
a really sensitive nose. Cause here's the thing. Pheromones are like a very real thing. Remember
like they like got a bunch of guys sweaty in a bunch of t-shirts and had women smell them and
some were revolted by some and really turned on by others like it might not be that his breath is so
bad so much that her nose is really sensitive to that type of breath at that time so you have to
you have to take responsibility for like i'm really sensitive to this is there anything we
could do because i am so attracted to you i want to make the most of my experience with you if you
come at it from that angle it might be easier to get him to like keep some you know uh dentine in
his pocket or whatever or if all else fails and you're having spontaneous sex and you get a whiff
of the breath turn it around give him the butt don't go in full frontal you know what i mean
just sit on his face with just sit on his face with your assholes what kristin is saying
there you go. Maybe his breath will get better. There's plenty of ways to have sex. I've Dax and
I've only tried one and we only ever will, but I've heard there's a lot of different ways to
have sex. So if you feel like, oh yeah, morning, like you're saying, if you can isolate the time
morning is when it is, then just turn around and give him your rump.
Yeah, you could do that. But also, you know, tongue scrapers, these are all avenues. Like
sometimes it's such a simple fix when people have bad breath. And yeah, it's just about,
I think everything she said about creating the right vibe for the conversation, knowing when to
have the conversation, because that is actually somebody who's evolved. When you know you have
to have a difficult conversation and you just don't do it when you want to, you do it when it's
going to be right for the person you're approaching. Right. During sex is not the moment. That's not
the time. No. Yeah. I'm a very sensitive. I have a very sensitive nose too. So I understand that
because if a smell is too strong, it totally turns me off and I can get really grossed out
really easily. So I hear what you're saying, but I would definitely say it's worth bringing up
in all the ways that we just suggested. And there's no reason his breath should smell like
cat shit. That doesn't sound right. So either it's a diet thing or it's a tongue scraping thing,
or it's just a hygienic thing, but I'm sure that you're going to find a solution together
and also remind him just how hot the sex has been and how much you're loving having sex with him
now. I mean, that's really the bottom line of what all men care about hearing, you know,
is how great they are in bed. So underline that a couple times. You and I are making a great doctor
to like, I'm considering maybe we should start a practice because you're being practical and
you're like gastrointestinal doctor, tongue scraper. And I'm like, time of day, emotional
temperature, take responsibility. Anal, I think you suggest, oh no, just from behind, not specific.
I'm actually suggesting anal. Look, whether it's ATM or whether it's RTA, I don't care what it is,
but there's plenty of butt stuff that you can do. And you can even get into the V, you know,
round the back through the butt. There's a whole bunch of stuff that you can do, but I'm saying
like you're, you're being so practical and I'm being emotional. This is a really good practice.
We've, we've put together here. I hope we get more clients. I think we do. Keep us posted about
what happens with your husband's breath, okay? Let us know how you addressed it and what the
end result was when there is one. Thank you for calling or writing actually. Yeah. Well,
our next question comes from Kristen. She lives in LA. She's an actor and writer. She says,
Dear Chelsea, I'm in the entertainment field, an industry where there is increasing necessity to
be everything for yourself. Actor, director, manager, editor, producer, you name it. You
cannot just be one thing. I'm very capable and I know I'm talented, but God, being my own PR person
is exhausting and goes against so many of my instincts. Do you have any advice on advocating
for yourself in your field, really any field, while maintaining a sense of your own integrity
and authenticity? Kristen. And she's with us here on the phone as well. Okay, great. Let's see her.
hi Kristen hello hi hi hi hi nice to meet you nice to meet you too oh you spell it with an
ian so do I yeah I think there's like a vital personality difference between ian and ian
bingo that's how I feel about Chelsea's with a y at the end oh okay so Kristen tell us what's
going on so you're feeling overwhelmed with I I'm a person that likes wearing a lot of hats
because I do enjoy control. But I think there's a certain element of wanting to move yourself
forward that it like hits a point where you have to involve other people and you have to like
promote yourself. And I get that that's a thing you have to do, but it's hard, I think, to find
the balance of like putting yourself out there and like making connections, et cetera, et cetera,
while still feeling like a genuine human being.
Right, right.
Weirdly, I would say I'm a big fan of teams.
Like I have hired a bunch of my friends.
We have like four or five people that, you know,
are a part of the whole Bell Shepard empire,
whatever it is we do over here.
God only knows.
But most of them have been long-term friends
because I'm a person that likes to start with trust.
And I know that that can be tricky for some people,
like don't hire your friends.
But for me, I need to know, can I call you from midnight from a jail cell?
Will you bail me out?
Like, is there an ultimate trust factor?
Will you watch my kids for 20 minutes if I need to run somewhere?
Like that kind of a thing, more than just a business relationship.
But I will say once I finally installed a team that did different things, like having
a publicist and having this, I actually felt it was easier to be an authentic person because
then I wasn't responsible for all of it.
but it was incredibly hard for me to delegate in the beginning. So I would say, make sure you're
looking in the mirror and asking yourself, is this my hesitancy to delegate because I do like
the control? Because I identify with what you said in a major way. I wanted to be able to control it
and I like to micromanage and I like to know every little piece of the puzzle. But the moment I found
a trustworthy person that I handed that off to, you're going to be the one to tell everyone that
I'm awesome. I don't want to say it to anybody. I just want to walk in the room and be awesome.
I don't want to have to tell everybody, you noticed I was awesome, right? Once you pass
that off to someone, it shockingly gets easier and it's hard like the first month, but then you
breathe a lot easier knowing that you can rely on members of your team to do a specific task,
like when it's the publicist or when it's responsible for editing your stuff or whatever
it is. Okay. Yeah. Kristen, are you in a position where you can do that, where you have people that
can help you or um not quite I mean I have like friends that have some of those skills but I'm not
quite at a point where I like I can't hire anybody right because I what I was gonna say is the kind
of conflict of having to be self-promotional all the time and also feeling disingenuous about it
sometimes you know where it feels like you're selling yourself or self you know is promoting
yourself so much it is just a nature of this business that you kind of have to just get on
board with. So, you know, the more you resist anything, it becomes a bigger and bigger hill
to climb over instead of just accepting that this is part of the business, especially in these days,
you know, it's a multimedia, multi-platform promotional thing. Like you have to kind of
get on board with that because there are people that are willing to do that and they're going to
be doing it harder and better and stronger. So it is just one of those things that comes with the
nature of being in this industry. You know, you kind of have to wear a lot of hats a lot of the
time until you're in a position where you can delegate to more and more people. But the way
to get to that position is by really just, you know, putting your best foot forward and having
sometimes when you have a bad attitude about something, you know what I mean? It creates
such a barrier between you and the very thing that you have to do. That's how I felt about
Instagram in the beginning. I was like, I can't possibly be doing this. You know what I mean?
Posting pictures, like personal, how much more personal could I get? There was no secrets to
begin with. So, you know, but then I just, now I love it because I have fun with it and I have
embraced it in a way where I just understand that it's part of the business. And yes, it's a younger,
newer part of the business, but there's no point in me not jumping on board and just having the
right attitude about it. So I think all of those little things that are kind of seemed so cumbersome
or seem overwhelming, if you could really just work your way around it and to really just look,
even if it's with like affirmations in the morning or if it's with you telling yourself like this is
part of the process and it's it's a way to get to the next stage so that you do have an opportunity
to be in a position like Kristen or me where you have people taking care of all the things that
you don't necessarily want to be using all of your main time to focus on and also I'd say first
of all the fact that you are even hesitant about or you have reservations about feeling inauthentic
it speaks to the fact that you're probably a very good hang you know what i mean like people that
like love being self-promotional and have no qualms about it those are bad hangs you know
but you you seem like a very awesome person and just don't forget to frame what you're doing
all of it whether it's auditioning or directing or editing or whatever it is a writing don't
forget to frame it with the love and confidence that you started out with like you don't have
to think of it like a business at all times. And that's oddly what reads to people like that
effervescence of like, oh yeah, you're doing it because you love it. So if you go to a party and
somebody's talking about, let's say you wrote and started in a web series, someone's talking about
theirs. You bring yours up, not because you're trying to be self-promotional, but because you
have skin in this game because you loved what you created and you want to share it with people and
you're proud of it. And it was passionate for you. And I will say sharing on that level with
that framework, to me, always reads differently. Like, I can tell when someone's sharing something
because they love it and they're passionate about it, even if they're sort of using the same words
as someone who's trying to be self-promotional. Like, if you really love it, which you seem like
you do because you're very thoughtful about it, like, remember how passionate and confident you
are to have gotten to even this stage where you're hustling to do it. And leading with that kind of
framework might make it feel a little bit more fun, like what Chelsea was saying, going from
Instagram feeling like a headache to like, oh, no, I have fun with it.
Well, and something that a friend of mine did, this might be helpful to sort of distance yourself
from the fact that you have to say this stuff about yourself. A friend of mine, when he was
building his business, and this was just like a regular a regular business, not entertainment
industry thing, but he set himself up a Gmail. It was like a made up person, Shannon Jones at
gmail.com and he would get either himself he would write emails or he would get like an online
assistant like someone who's very low cost through elance or another one of those online companies
and he would just have that same email someone could send stuff through that same email so if
he had to switch assistants they could still be sending from that same email address and it helped
him to sort of like put himself out there in a way that was not him touting his own wares but
like seemed like he had a team when he couldn't afford to have a team so maybe that can help give
you a little distance from that well wow that was great do you feel like you got some good advice
today Kristen yes I do thank you oh well good well good yeah I think you're going to be just fine
okay great I'll report back yeah report back to us okay you can take a little bit of what we all
said we all gave you good stuff so yeah awesome thank you all right nice to meet you thanks
Kristen Kristen oh girls helping girls doesn't isn't that just heartwarming I love it yeah I
know it's if I had come into the business now and had to like hustle in this environment I don't
know it's too many so many balls in the air but you just have to take one ball at a time and just
be like okay I'm gonna do this this and this because otherwise everything is overwhelming
and staying in your lane that's another thing god I hate giving him so much credit but that
Dax taught me is like, you know, 10 years ago when I would just be like, man, Michelle Williams
got it again. I'm never going to get that part. He, he just looks at me and he goes, stay in your
lane. Like, stop trying to be this like indie actress, just because you think that that's cool
at the moment. Like you have a weird quirky vibe, be in movies that have a weird quirky vibe. If
they're commercial, they're commercial. If they win, they win. If they don't, they don't. But
like, I think that applies a lot to now when it's like, you know, right when you master Instagram,
all of a sudden TikTok comes out. What the fuck is TikTok? I don't know. I don't know how to do
that. So it's like, you have to do, you have to be good with writing because you have to be on
Twitter and promoting yourself and then you have to do Instagram and then you have to also audition.
And like she's saying, you have to be able to write your own stuff. And it's just like
too many hats. So pick two that you love or three that you love and just stay in those lanes.
Yeah. That's good advice for anybody who's comparing themselves to other people anyway,
because that's such a futile game and it comes up all the time on this podcast.
and it's, you know, and in this industry,
and it's hard not to compare yourself to other people,
but like, as long as you are, you're missing your mark.
You know, as long as you're looking around,
you are missing where you're standing.
And the only person that you should ever compare yourself to
is the person you were yesterday.
Is Dax.
Is Dax.
Well, our next question comes from Abigail.
She says, dear Chelsea, about two years ago,
my sister told me I needed to read Chelsea's book,
life will be the death of me because Chelsea reminded her a little bit too much of me.
I'm a black and white thinker, stubborn, I think I'm right all the time, and I hate being coddled.
As you can imagine, this makes it incredibly difficult to find a therapist or psychiatrist,
but I need one. But the idea of sitting in the room after paying to tell someone about my trauma
for an hour to see if we're a good fit really just sounds like the most exhausting version
of a first date. I'm curious how you found your therapist, Dan, and how you knew he was the one
for you. What did you look for in a psychiatrist? And do you have any tips to weed out the pool of
candidates? Abigail? Well, we can both speak to this because we both are very pro-therapy.
I'll go first because I think it's important. I met my guy because I was interviewing him on my
old talk show on Netflix. So that's not how you're going to meet yours unless you have a talk show
on Netflix and you can interview psychiatrists.
But the more important reason was because I knew, like you, that I needed to make a
change and that my anger was getting too unmanageable and that I needed some help to articulate
what was really underneath that anger, which is for everybody is different, but it's usually
an injury or deep hurt, something that you haven't been able to look at or accurately
articulate.
In my case, it was something that happened to me when I was very young, but you can't
look at therapy and go, I don't want to deal with that because that is what therapy is,
not wanting to deal with things. So, you know, I didn't take a lot of joy in going to my therapist
office week after week when I knew I'd break down and be vulnerable in front of a man,
which was my number one issue. Not being vulnerable in front of men was like my way
to protect myself against any hurt or any disappointment from any male. But it's a
process just like it is to go out and date. Like, yeah, nobody wants to go on a bunch of
eight first dates, but it's necessary if you're really serious about finding somebody that's
compatible to you. And that applies to therapists too. So you kind of, you know, the first step is
always the hardest step. And then once you take the first step, there's a domino effect that
happens just by you putting the energy towards healing yourself and trying to find the person
it, it, it comes to you more easily when you are open and willing instead of shutting down
and resisting it. So as long as you make, you know, go to a therapist, find somebody,
Get a reference from a friend or referral from a friend or go to BetterHelp online.
Go, you know, whatever, however casual or serious you want to make your encounter.
But that will give you a direction of what's going to work for you.
And if you go and you meet with somebody and it doesn't work, then that's no reason for you to give up.
That's more of an impetus for you to go to the next person and try it out again.
You don't have to tell people your life story to find out if it's a fit.
That's not what a first therapy session really is anyway.
I agree.
And I will even jump off of one thing you need to do before all that.
You need to sit down, open your calendar, and decide how many hours a week are you willing
to put into you.
And maybe that's one hour a week.
Maybe that's six.
But how badly do you want personal growth?
And how many hours a week are you willing to devote to that?
Maybe it's four.
That seems fairly reasonable.
If you're like, I really want personal growth, I'm going to give this four hours a week.
well maybe one hour is making a list of texting some friends do you guys go to a therapist do
you like him if so why or looking up someone online or going to better help and then the other
three are scheduled appointments so don't go in thinking that this is going to be your soulmate
like because not all therapists are the same everybody's got a different style i knew i was
in love with my therapist when the first time i went in i can you hear my husband clearing his
throw it in the background. He's so loud. I went into my therapist, Harry, and I started talking
and he said, just let me tell you one thing. I am so happy to take your $100 this hour and you can
talk for as long as you want. When you would like a solution, you just let me know. And no one had
ever spoken to me like that in my life. And I was like, what? It was so practical and it was so
attractive. And he was like, yeah, there will be an end to you complaining and there will be a
solution when you start the work. And everything works like that. If you want to get a really
rock and core and you want to be super strong, you don't do one sit-up. You go back to the gym
all the time or you do whatever activities you need to do. So you got to decide how much effort
you're willing to pour into yourself. And once you acknowledge that, then give those hours into
the trial and error that will be necessary to find the person that will help you with the most
personal growth. And that adjustment period is much quicker than we all think. We always think
it's such a hurdle and it's not. It is so easy to rehabituate your habits and to all of a sudden
get addicted to personal growth. Because once you get in with somebody that is giving you information
that you're able to digest and apply to your life, it becomes addictive. And then you realize,
oh, wow, I can change and I could become this better version of myself and I can apply all
of these things in real time. And that in and of itself becomes something so worthwhile. I mean,
nobody's ever gone to therapy and been like, wow, that was a mistake. You know, I mean,
there are some shitty therapists, but therapy overall, as an idea is always going to benefit
you. It's just like meditation. No one's like, fuck, I can't believe I meditated this morning
that ruined my day. And also remember, even if you go to one that gives you advice you don't
think is fitting for you, that's fine. Then you still have checked something off the list. I found
the type of advice I don't like. I found the type of advice I don't need right now. That's not going
to work for me. Either I'm not there yet to apply it or it genuinely isn't something I need to work
on. And this person sort of misread the situation or I didn't explain it accurately, whatever it is,
but be open. I mean, I will say like, I love getting advice from people. I love knowing how
people accomplished little things, whether it's cooking or raising kids or relationship or
whatever. You can take all of it in. You don't have to use any of it. But once you know what
works for you, that's when you're starting your ascension. Yeah. And I would even say to this
point of like shitty therapists, like you said, Chelsea, or somebody who's just not a right fit
for you is don't do what I did many years ago when I got someone who was legitimately a lemon,
Like, she did not know anything about me from week to week.
She would be like, oh, how's your boyfriend, Greg?
And I'd be like, my husband, Brad.
I love that shit.
Yeah.
I saw her just enough times for her to uncover a lot of, like, deep hurt that I had specifically around my father.
And, you know, I previously had had a good relationship with my father.
And after that, like, I quit going to her after having that stuff uncovered and being like, she doesn't know who I am.
Whatever.
This is fine.
I'm gonna not go anymore so I quit and I didn't immediately find another therapist and I went
through a year of just like being really angry at my dad because I had all this like stuff that
had gotten uncovered but then hadn't gotten dealt with so don't do what I did and if you get a lemon
or somebody who's just not a good fit go find somebody else but you see the value in that as
well though now you you can you can frame any situation even if it's negative with value of
like oh I walked out of that relationship that relationship with that therapist who was a lemon
was a value to you because now you know what you don't want. So you can sort of twist it into a
positive, not to be too sunshine and rainbows about it, but you really can't twist it into
a positive of going, well, now I know what I don't want. And that's more information I have.
Yeah. More information and a way for you to set the standard for the next time that you go.
Okay. So, well, I think that this was all great. First of all, Kristen, I knew you'd be good at
giving advice because you are, and I was right because my instincts are good. And we're going
to close this out, but I wanted to ask you one thing, Kristen, that I'm curious about,
because I know you have a lot of close friendships. You guys have a big friend group,
both you and Dax together. How do you handle conflict with your friendships?
You're not going to like this answer. It's not buried under the rug. We edited. I'm a big fan
of editing. The pandemic allowed us to create a social experiment that we never would have done,
which is, you know, those hundred people that are in your phone that you're always like,
hey, next month, let's grab a cup of Joe. And you don't, or you do, and it's miserable,
but you feel like you should or whatever. We picked, there's 10 adults, 10 kids in our pod.
We're always close with these people, but it was never like this group of people shut off the rest
of the world. But during the pandemic, we realized there's such a comfort level here that everyone is
not on the same page, but the compatibility level is there. Nobody wants conflict to be in this
group. And everybody kind of has a role and the dynamics are acceptable to everyone that we just
edited everybody else out. We don't really hang out with a ton of new people at all. We continually
receive new information because we're always reading books or talking about things. But
the reality is I don't experience much conflict with my friends because I don't tolerate
negativity. When I get that bad feeling in my stomach, I steer clear of it.
Well, that's good advice. And that's a good way for us to end this podcast today,
because I think that's a very important thing that people who really are interested in getting
themselves healthy do eventually reject negative vibes and negative people around them.
And that's a good lesson for everybody to have or learn.
Chelsea, I think we have to take a quick break before we wrap up with Kristen.
Okay.
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When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and held captive for nine months.
I survived, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them.
I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the Survivor Files.
I just remember this low, taunting voice next to my ear saying,
shut up, don't say anything.
Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable.
I knew if he woke up, without a doubt, he was going to hurt me.
I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed,
and I just started screaming.
They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced.
But these aren't stories about what's taken from them.
They're stories about what it takes to make it out alive.
Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality,
welcome home.
This is Prose Society,
the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters,
pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve
the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo, and every week we're connecting the dots between books,
the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having.
I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed.
From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments,
nothing is off the table it's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters
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conversations or a community of readers who love to think a little too much you're in the right
place listen to pro society on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts
See you between the pages.
Hey, this is Hayes Davenport.
And Sean Clements.
We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook on the Big Money Players Network.
Our show is extremely accessible to first-time listeners.
Each week, we talk to someone in show business, a.k.a. the biz,
and try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us.
Everyone has a good time, and no one gets mad at their publicist
for letting them do our show.
We've had a lot of great guests like Sarah Sherman.
Not that great.
Actually, can you help me shape this?
how about we flip it on its head
how about we flip the script
what if the surprise woman
who actually you think is the straight man
is actually the one who's acting
weird Adam Scott
this entire time
you've been expecting
Adam Sandler to come
to visit the show
I would never expect
I would never set
expectations for something like that to happen
if the universe allows for
something like that to happen
i am open to it i'm always going to accept you know danny mcbride fine yeah it's all this fragile
masculinity exuding i could smell it walking down the hallway to be honest with you i was like is
that weed nope it's fragile masculinity ben stiller no because a lot of times in out of context people
don't get it or even know what a circle is you know what i mean like you're like oh what's this
Everyone's so dumb except for you.
And fake.
Right, fake and also not interested or just like, oh, I've got my life.
I don't care about your life.
And a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us.
Oh, and by the way, Will Ferrell told us personally he loves the show
and he wants to be a guest on every episode, but he's just so busy.
Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
On the new podcast, Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman.
I can wait four hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering me a ride on his motorcycle.
I chose option B.
I'm Julie Pinheiro and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first.
I'm on a mission to reclaim the word solita, trading the pity for possibility.
Every time I tried to be alone, I kept meeting people and they were like,
you smiled at us. Not a lot of people smile around here.
It's when you're alone that you're most receptive to the world as it is
and not the lies you're sold about it.
It can be a time where you push your limits, change your mind,
or wake up to a new version of yourself.
So whether you're a solo travel veteran or you're too nervous to book your first trip,
I hope you listen to Solita on the iHeartRadio app,
apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts
chelsea i just want to ask you before we go do you you seem like a fairly tell me if i'm reading
this wrong not codependent person do you have any advice for me about how to whether it's a mantra
or a framework or a practice because I struggle with codependency so often to help me just be a
little less paralyzingly codependent. I am not codependent. You're right. I am very the opposite
of codependent, but that's, I think, because I don't have a lot of responsibilities that would
make me codependent. I'm in a relationship right now where my boyfriend is codependent. He wants
to be together every single minute and do everything together. And I allow that because
I have a pretty healthy relationship with myself and I understand when I need the time to myself
but as far as something suggesting something to you I would suggest something to you something
that really helps me understand who I am and to be alone with like I think it's so important to
sit with yourself for a certain period of time each day even if it's 12 or 15 minutes this
meditation I do is the Chopra app and it's called well-being challenges he's got tons of different
sections, but there's a wellbeing challenge that is all about you and living with yourself,
like in living in unity with yourself and the universe and living with love and living with
abundance and moving with love. And it's all just about your relationship with yourself and the
strength that you have within. And then that is unflappable, no matter what is happening around
you, that you are so anchored and centered. So that's a great, great practice that I can
recommend that has helped me immensely remind myself when I'm feeling like I'm being tugged or
that that vibe is coming in? Well-being challenges. Okay. I need to apply that because I will say I
just got back from, I did a movie in London. I got back about 10 days ago and I was there for
seven weeks and the family had come out to visit, but I will tell you the weeks that they weren't
there, the weekend days where I wasn't working, I woke up in the morning and I was like, I could
get out of bed, but why? What, what would be the point? Because I realized I actually don't have
many, if any goals or aspirations or desires when I'm not orbiting around or with someone else.
Like I was like, well, I could get out of this hotel room, but like, what would I even do?
Right. Right. But that's normal. That's normal to want to sit in bed all day. Like your family's
away. You're not working. Like, of course. And there I need to cut myself some slack,
But I did find it like interesting to go, oh, when I'm not orbiting around someone else, because I'm not codependent in the fact that I always want to be with someone.
I just want to be in the same vicinity.
Like I like to have the tribe in the house, but I don't need to be like in the same room or doing the same thing as you.
But I do need to know you're happy with me.
And it's like that ache of going, are you happy with me?
Did I do enough for you?
Did I like, I don't know.
Are you approving of my behavior?
supersedes all of my own instincts or desires. And I'm desperately working on going, no,
I don't need to actually worry about what you're processing, whether it's about me or someone else.
I need to worry about my side of the street. And yeah, maybe those wellbeing challenges will allow
me to get to know myself a little bit. Because it reminds you that you're enough. Everything
you're doing is enough. And it's just always grounding and centering to think about. There's
one where he talks about grounding yourself in like your lower abdomen. And I was like, what,
you know, and at first some of it just sounds so unreachable. And then I, then as I was going
on stage, whenever I was feeling like fluttery or butterflies or waiting for the audience to
respond before to indicate or dictate my show was, Oh, how was the audience experiencing this?
And it's like, I remember going, no, you ground yourself. And then the audience is going to
experience you being grounded. And then it doesn't matter what their, what their reaction is. You're
settled. You're strong. And change their whole reaction to your show by doing that. Cause that's
one thing I do fully believe in. Cause I absorb everyone's energy around me. Like if you come
into the room and you were just teary eyed, I will feel sad and I won't even know why. And I
hate that that happens, but I like absorb everyone's energy and, and, and sitting with my
own energy and letting that be on the front burner is really, really hard for me. But I know that
when people can do that, you can affect the room around you. Like I would bet that you might even
have a better show because not just because you've been grounded and maybe performed better,
but because you've influenced the audience to not, and you've not come on stage with like anxiety.
Yeah, absolutely. Not reacting to other people's reactions. It's you. The idea is to be,
remain steadfast and unflappable. So try that and report back, Kristen. I expect a full report back.
I'm going to write in, I'm going to call in.
Thank you for being with us today. I love and adore you. Please say hi to your lover for me,
to our lover, because he told me that I was one of his cheat sheets, potentially.
You know what? He's a lot, so go for it.
I know. Too much for me to handle. I couldn't handle that kind of codependency. I'd be like,
no! I already have one to deal with. But I love you. I hope you have a great day.
Thanks for being with us on the podcast.
Thank you. Love you too. Bye.
Bye-bye.
And if you'd like to get advice from Chelsea and one of her guests,
please write in to DearChelseaProject at gmail.com.
Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality,
welcome home.
Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who
thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse.
Each week, we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture with
your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinion.
Yeah, I'm obsessed.
I'm obsessed.
Listen to Pro Society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Did you hear the new episode of the Hey Jonas podcast?
We are at D23, so we'll see who stops by.
The cast of Frozen stopped by.
Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, and Idina Menzel.
I auditioned for Frozen.
What?
For Kristoff.
They said, okay, what are you going to be singing today?
I said, I don't know.
That must have been why you didn't get it.
Oh, you probably won.
Plus, John Stamos, Hayden Christensen from Star Wars, and more.
And I guess I can share that, uh, no way.
Listen to the latest episode of Hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
ride, Ben Stiller, and a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us.
Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your
podcasts. On the new podcast, Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman.
I can wait four hours for the next bus, or this random dude is offering me a ride on his
motorcycle. I chose option B. I'm Julie Pinheiro, and I travel by myself because it's a rare space
where I can say yes without asking anyone else first.
I'm on a mission to reclaim the word solita,
trading the pity for possibility.
Listen to Solita on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
This is an iHeart Podcast.
Guaranteed human.
