Shame Or Share?

Wow. 20 episodes just flew by. It's a shame, isn't it? Speaking of, you guessed it, shame is today's topic. Yep. We're gonna go out on a high note. And to help send it off, we have a guest here sitting in with us. He's a talented model, tattoo artist, fashion designer, and photographer. Welcome to the show. Scott Ervin!

Scott: Good to be here, man. Thanks.

Hey, Scott, thanks so much for joining us. How you feeling today?

Scott: Good. Well rested, man. I feel great.

Awesome. I'm glad to hear it. I hope we can keep that positive energy up, keep you in good spirits. Okay. Especially because last episode, it got kind of heavy as we spoke about healing and more specifically, how creativity and healing kind of coincide. And you being that creative force you are, I thought you might be able to lend an interesting perspective on what comes next.

Scott: Oh, okay. ****. What comes next?

So this week's topic is shame And I'm so glad we're taking the time to speak on it. And just because, you know, people are always either talking about it as this unspoken standard of decency or about how difficult it is to deal with along the healing journey, but no one really breaks it down to what it actually entails, you know, it's kind of taboo almost. Right?

Scott: Shame. Yeah, I can see that 100%, definitely.

I mean, it's understandable, you know, considering how personal it is. I mean, it is part of a very personal journey.

Scott: people wanna, like open up about their shame but Most people hide their shame.

You're right. But when it comes to feelings of shame, and, you know, this goes for mental health in general, I feel if more people were open to discussing it, you know, certain stigma behind it would be eliminated or at least lessened.

Scott: Yeah, that's. That's actually a dope way of putting that, man. Yeah. I feel like if people would open up more about the shame, things like that. Like, literally, like, if you, you know, saying if you heard something that you felt and never spoke on for that long, you finally hear somebody talk about it, you're gonna lose your ****. You'd be like, oh, my God, this person is speaking. What I've been thinking for so long, I didn't. Bonus to anybody who can talk about it.

I feel like that's exactly. There's a huge bonus in it.

And so before we really dive in here, I gotta ask, like, how comfortable would you say you are discussing moments of vulnerability or shame with others? Like, how do you release? Who do you open up to? Or do you do what so many of us do nowadays and keep it all inside?

Scott: So I feel like it depends on who I'm around. It's changed over time. I feel like I've always been. I usually was reserved, and then over time, as I became more confident and not, like, just not giving a **** in general, then all of a sudden it's like, okay, I can speak about things that I'm ashamed of and things like that because I feel like, hey, man, I've met a lot shameful ************* by now. I'm not that different from all y'all. So I feel like that's what it comes from, meeting up people and having them open up around that subject enough to where it's like, okay, this isn't that big of a deal. I can talk about this? Absolutely. I don't care. I'm totally open with it.

And I love that, you know, especially in your case, you know, as an artist, you need to really be vulnerable even more so, so people can really and truly connect with what you create.

Scott: I feel that. I think man As an artist, you're gonna be real. You got a real small niche to work, right? Can't just be one tone or just have one. I mean, that's the one else that's interesting about that is, like, social media now, because I understand exactly what a lot of people are able to do with social media in this way. Could connect so many people, for me, that's hard for me, that's hard to open up on social media about it. And it's not because of the fact of how it's gonna reach people. It's the fact that it's permanent. So it's like, I don't want you all to see my shame. Three years from now. No, I may know. Three years from now, I may be like, man, I should have held that back, you know? So I feel like being vulnerable in social media is even more, is even a higher grade to it because, you know, it's going to stick around as a stand for everyone to see forever. So you got to really, really be okay with that. Nowadays, I feel like it's different. Back when you just had, like, a painting or a poster, and then the only people who bought it and the people who sold it know really about the **** painting. But if your paintings on the Internet and it's you speaking on some shameful for the rest of your life, it'll be on the Internet. That's, you gotta be. You gotta be bold, you know, saying, you gotta really be bold to do that. And I feel like I'm not at that exact level yet. I can talk about it. I don't know if I can post about it.

You're right. It is literally forever. And Shane just has a way of kind of like, lingering and, you know, not to get all in your business here. And, I mean, you don't strike me as the type to hold anything back. I just had to ask because men in particular are typically, like, so afraid of vulnerability and everything that comes with it.

Scott: As they should be, though.

Exactly. It's that right there, y'all avoided like the plague or something. And I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but to y'all, it equates to, like, weakness, right?

Well, in ways it can. So I feel like it's a very difficult, complex thing, but it's like, to have the vulnerability is human. You know what I'm saying?

Scott: It doesn't make you. Everybody has vulnerable moments. Spots is whether you can put a light on or not. And then putting a light on it, allowing someone to put a light on it does take a respectable level of confidence in yourself to feel like you can walk away from that still unscathed. That's why I love Kanye so much. Anybody who's going to rip out their whole heart in front of you and say, **** you at the end, if you have anything to say about it, you stand it on what you standing on 1000% that's. I respect it.

It's true.

Scott: It's true. However, that can cost you $9 billion.

TUNE INTO S1 EP20 FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW!