You Don't Have to Have All the Answers: Just Show Up

When do you use your voice, and when do you hold it back? In this soulful and deeply human episode of "It Begins Here," host Jillian Johnson explores one of life's most nuanced skills: discerning the right time to speak and the wisdom in remaining silent.

Drawing from her own journey—from morning silence with cacao and meditation to a moment of quiet processing when a friend unintentionally caused hurt—Jillian illustrates how both silence and speech are sacred tools. She challenges the idea that spirituality must look one way, rejecting rigid religious structures in favor of open, honest conversation about sexuality, politics, and the things that truly matter.

This episode is also an invitation. Jillian announces her weekly Open Spiritual Forums—in person Mondays at SOCO Art Labs in Fall River, MA, and virtually Wednesdays—spaces designed for questions, doubts, and shared experiences without judgment. Whether you're seeking community, clarity, or simply permission to be exactly where you are, this episode welcomes you. Your journey to authentic connection—in silence and in speech—begins here.

 Where love creates movement, and movement creates change. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

We all go through it in some form and of another. And that's why it's so important to talk about sexuality, talk about politics, talk about the things that are very concerning. It's how you do it. You come present, listening, not judging, not redirecting the path that you think is right. That's not what religion is about. Jesus had experiences and he was trying to share them. And we created something that this is the strict way of doing things, and it does not resonate with me. I am not going to apologize for that. It may resonate with others, and that's beautiful. If that creates a human that is willing to receive and give love. And what does love mean? An ear to listen. A smile that's genuine. A hug when it's accepted and open, right? You can't just go around hugging everybody. I wish I could, but I'm sure I'd get smacked, punched, and whatever else. Not everybody receives and gives love in the same way either. So love can be something as holding a door. Love can be something about you letting someone go in front of you in traffic. That's a little simple. I think that's love. Maybe you don't, and that's fine. But they're definitely acts of kindness, right? Love can be seeking someone out because you know they're going through a hard time. Love can be coloring with your favorite person. There's all these beautiful ways to show and receive love. So if you're a human that's trying to be just a good human and not harm and cause trauma and belittle and hurt. And maybe you did that in the past. Well, it's time to move forward, right? And so these are the open conversations that we have. We don't have all the answers. We're not here to cure you or diagnose. We're just here to listen.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Well, Dia, and welcome to It Begins Here. It Begins Here is a podcast about my journey and path to enlightenment, healing, awareness, realizations, and all the fun little stories in between. So I welcome you to It Begins Here, a podcast.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

There is a time and a place for when to speak and when to be silent. And um again, this is my experience, right? This is what we're doing here is talking about certain things. And you take it for however you need to. You can even shut off or change the podcast. I don't care. It is a requirement these days to start talking about areas that we we tend to just push under the rug, you know. And I'm really trying to challenge myself always and others when they're complaining about certain areas of this world, but they don't have a solution. And at least they're talking about it, right? But I there's a difference between talking about it and complaining about it too, like having open conversations about areas like spirituality. There are a lot of humans out there that have questions that are not getting answered because something they see doesn't resonate with them, or something someone tells them doesn't resonate with them. And they're different. They're every every human is different. Every human is different, but yeah, all connected. It's it's wild. Um we have to go through our journey and whether we need to be silent or speak. That are that's a lot of humans' journeys of when to speak and when to stay silent. Now, for me, I try to stay silent when I know there's no point in discussing because the other individual's not listening.

SPEAKER_02 5:16

And that is just the way of life. That's nothing we can do about that.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

But when I meet someone, I love to ask them tons of questions, I love to ask them what are their passions, do they know their purpose? And I did this at a conference, and some um I had two lawyers just scoff at me, like, oh, like the the meaning of life, and I'm like, well, no, not just that. You know, what what gets you all excited? I I know my things. What are what are they for you? And one of the the women um said something as simple as candy and time with our cat. Like, whatever it is, it's just a way of connecting, right?

SPEAKER_02 6:10

And there are times of when we need to speak. Things are happening to you, whatever they may be.

SPEAKER_01 6:24

You should talk about it when you're ready. I completely understand the processing, right? Sometimes when I'm in a difficult situation, especially with a close friend or family member, I'm now learning to just pause and not react and process like what they're saying, how they acted, how I'm interpreting it, why I'm interpreting it. That's a great pause. That's a great moment of silence. I mean, we I know we talk about meditation, which for me is life-changing, but meditation can be many different things to many different people. It can be their yoga practice, it can be just sitting down for five minutes and just clearing your mind. You don't have to close your eyes, you don't have to do any sort of breathing or mindset shifts, you're just closing, you're just sitting still. Some are writing, journaling, some are exercise.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

There's all different forms of meditation.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Silencing, calming, some say going inward, right? There's all we're all we're all connected because these are all just slightly different variations of the same thing. Whatever allows you, the silence you need for processing, for clearing, I think that's profound.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

And then there's the the time to speak. And if you're curious on whether your throat chakra, and we have several chakras, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:23

And there's more than what's commonly referred to, so I'm gonna leave that very open-ended. But I will say the throat chakra, that's the color light blue, the throat chakra is where you speak your truth when needed. You know when you're gonna need it. I mean, I've literally had conversations, I was at a spiritual um pre-retreat and with all the practitioners, including myself, we were gonna do a workshop, and one woman asked a beautiful question. She said, Do you think that spiritual practitioners should be certified? And I swear to you, it wasn't even me. I like said no, so affirmative, like so direct, clear. They all just stopped and looked at me, like, where did that come from? I couldn't help it. Like, that's the type of experiences I have. And why do I have them? We talk about these things in our spiritual open forum. We have one every Monday at Soko Labs, Soko Art Labs in Fall River, Massachusetts. Beautiful people are running that that establishment that I think many should meet. And that's from 6 to 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. That's on Mondays, every Monday, unless noted. Otherwise, we have a virtual every Wednesday from noon to one Eastern Standard Time. I did that because I know those beautiful Pacific folks. It's it's a reasonable hour for them, you know. It's a reasonable hour for most, it's lunchtime. And you you can sit there on video and eat. Like you're not gonna offend me. Um come with your questions. Your doubts, you know, your confusions, your frustrations. Um and we'll share with you our experiences in hopes that that kind of helps you. And it kind of will, can guarantee you, just the mere fact of discussing it opens you up to other ideas. That's what's so powerful about speaking. And as you can recognize, right, my voice is healing. I know this, it's soothing. There's a reason for that. I need to speak. I've been holding it back for far too long. To the point it was hurting me. So, understanding and learning. There is no right or wrong here. There is no literature that tells you the way. It doesn't. It does not. There are literatures that will literally give you ideas and interpretations and experiences. But there every human is at a different point, is at whatever experience they've had that they're carrying, past, present, that's the variation of it all. But we all go through it in some form and another. And that's why it's so important to talk about sexuality, talk about politics, talk about the things that are very concerning. It's how you do it. You come present, listening, not judging, not redirecting the path that you think is right. That's not what religion is about. Jesus had experiences and he was trying to share them. And we created something that this is the strict way of doing things, and it does not resonate with me. I'm not going to apologize for that. It may resonate with others, and that's beautiful. If that creates a human that is willing to receive and give love. And what does love mean? An ear to listen, a smile that's genuine, a hug when it's accepted and open, right? I can't just go around hugging everybody. I wish I could, but I'm sure I'd get smacked, punched, and whatever else. Not everybody receives and gives love in the same way either. So love can be something as holding a door. Love can be something about you letting someone go in front of you in traffic. That's a little simple. I think that's love. Maybe you don't, and that's fine. But they're definitely acts of kindness, right? Love can be seeking someone out because you know they're going through a hard time. Love can be coloring with your favorite person. There's all these beautiful ways to show and receive love. So if you're a human that's trying to be just a good human and not harm and cause trauma and belittle and hurt. And maybe you did that in the past. Well, it's time to move forward, right? And so these are the open conversations that we have. We don't have all the answers. We're not here to cure you or or diagnose. We're just here to listen. For us in our Monday evening conversations at 6 to 7 p.m., Eastern Standard, SOCO Art Labs in Fall River, S O C O, SOCO Art Labs, or Wednesdays virtually, it's a Teams meeting. Check out my profile at Jillian Johnson. We also have the hashtag SimplicheRocks, Pee Lee Wellness, P Y O I Wellness. I'm here to listen. I may not agree or have experienced what you have.

SPEAKER_02 15:11

But sometimes just talking about it is releasing.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

Right? You see a lot of people sharing their experiences, what they're advocating for. There's reason and purpose behind that. We're here to do something. I'm not building a a a world that is full of toxicity, mental toxicity and physical toxicity. I'm here to balance that. What I say is bring the light, right? I sit in darkness, I meditate in darkness. And that's what I talk about. My 40 plus years of experience. The last ten has been pretty folk profound for me, and I'll I can tell you why. Others will share their experiences. You're gonna share yours of whatever you're open to or comfortable with. There's no forcing. But you can choose to sit in silence and you can choose to speak. And I think that both are so valuable. And for us to learn when to do each of those things is I use the word profound, it really is. Like my silence time, I wake up, so I I'll I'll share with you some experiences of silence and and speaking. I mean, I'm doing speaking right now, right? But my silence is I wake up and I make what now is and might repulse some of you, but what now is, and it's actually quite delicious. Um, it's a cacao mushroom, cinnamon, chicory roux, all kinds of it's good. Um, it's really good, and I enjoy it with almond milk warm. And I sit in silence for the first 15 minutes after I make that. And just kind of process what's going through my brain. What did I dream of? What was my last experience? Maybe something left me uncomfortable and upset. Um and then I put on the headphones, I do some kitchen dancing to a lot of great music that I love that resonates for me, and man, my body loves it too. I do some yoga flowing um as well to music or silently and my meditation. I can meditate anywhere, anytime. I can just shut it down. Um and sometimes that's a n necessity, right? And your mind is just going out of control and getting you all frazzled and upset and nervous and worried. That's when you meditate. That's when you do whatever task that allows you to center, to calm, playing golf, writing, drawing a picture. It doesn't have to be you sitting on a soft, comfortable cushion, um looking up at the moon, meditating, right? It doesn't have to be like that. That's just me. Um, and I know others do meditate and can appreciate that. Um, but I do other forms of meditation, not just sitting on my cushion. Um and then speaking, I had some uh beautiful woman over for um my daughter's birthday. They're all her non-blood aunts, you know. My my dear friends that I've known forever, um, and new ones that I've known for what seems like forever. And one of them said something, it did something that really upset me.

SPEAKER_02 19:18

And I didn't react, just kept doing my thing.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

Um and I'm certain I could have done that to someone else. You know, it's the subtleties, but I was so proud of myself. I didn't react, I didn't like get angry and do my like look right in the eyes, death stare, you know? I could be intense. I get it, I know me. Um but I didn't do that, and have I done it in the past? Yeah, absolutely. But the point is, I didn't do it. I like processed it because I'm like, wait a minute. Is it just me? It wasn't just me.

SPEAKER_02 20:08

Um it was interesting, actually, and it gave me a different perspective of them, and it's all good. I still love them.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

We're all humans. I'm fallible, they're fallible, like we're all going through life as humans, and that is a whole nother level, right, to talk about. But that's what I'm talking about is silencing when not to use your voice. Eventually I will discuss it.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

But it'll be when they're ready too.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

And it's not something that's gonna harm me by carrying it, you know. But it's definitely something that stuck with me. Um and that's how silence can help. Just being like, and just excusing yourself, being like, excuse me, I just gotta walk away to process for a minute.

SPEAKER_02 21:15

It's okay. That's setting boundaries.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

So being silent knowing or choosing when to be silent and when to speak. Now, in circumstances of speaking, I told you, right? That question of why if whether practitioners should be certified, honestly, everyone has their gifts, and humans need to be held accountable for themselves on what they think is right. And I know that sounds like what to some, but it's true, and I'm not About having open art open heart surgery, like stop. I'm talking about, I mean, look at the coaches, which I don't really like that term. But coaches, a lot of them have great intentions. Some of them don't. And some of them project. I've been in coaching scenarios. And I'm blessed to know the difference, to be like, this isn't right. This doesn't seem right to me. I'm gonna listen. I'm gonna try and be open. I'm gonna process it. We have to start holding ourselves accountable for our own selves and what is good and bad for ourselves. That's where that's really what we need to focus on and start blaming people for selling you something that didn't do what you expect it to do. Why did you buy it in the first place? Did you stop and think and realize this is this something? And if you haven't figured out how to do that yet, start with meditation and silence. It'll show up there. It will keep coming back. People that avoid some things they have to face, I think that's where disease comes from.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

Just my thought. But who am I? Right?

SPEAKER_01 23:34

Who am I? I'm I'm I'm a pretty happy human. I'm an extremely happy human. Yes, I have cr I have times of sadness. Yes. I have times of difficulty. Of course. Talk about it when I need to, but I process it too, and I come to realize that every ending and every circumstance is for a reason. So I'm here to use my voice to explain to you what I believe in at the time, right? By the way, I have a right to change my mind at any point. I know. What? Who are you, right? Yep. Something might come to light and I shift and I go, oh subtleties. Subtle shifts. Thank you, dear friend Carrie. Subtle shifts, right? I'm learning too. I'm healing too. Why not do it as a collective? I think that's the purpose of organized religion, right? They're doing it as a collective. This is a little different of what I'm doing. It's open to all, but let's talk about it. Let's learn from each other. Let's heal together.

SPEAKER_02 25:02

I know seems to some like weird or profound. This is just another option.

SPEAKER_01 25:16

And my intention is never to force an opinion. But if I feel that there's something I need to say to you, and you're willing to receive it, even if it's quietly one-on-one, I'll say it. Um and it doesn't have to be for you either, right? You can take it however you wish. That's the accountability. Whether you receive it, whether it changes you, whether you act if necessary, I know it's hard to differentiate. Humans have significant challenges with differentiating between intuition and feelings and emotions. There's a difference. And if it's triggering you to go back to the past at this point, in my experience, seems like feelings and emotions. It is so difficult to approach a human and not bring your past. It is so hard to approach an experience and not bring your past with you. We have to try. We talk about that too. It's open. Um it's called open forum. Again, in person, Mondays, 6 to 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. We're in Fall River, Massachusetts at the SOCO Art Labs. Thank you, Nelson and Jen and Amalia. Um, and we're also virtually Wednesdays from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. It's a team's link. If that resonates with you, please join us. Um we're gonna be sitting there talking. It's gonna start as a very comfortable living room situation. And what it grows into, I have no idea. I just let things flow. I'm being called to do this, so here I am. I'm being called to do this podcast. So thank you for listening. And I hope that this helps.

SPEAKER_02 27:49

Love and light. It begins here.

SPEAKER_01 27:52

Thanks for listening. Love and light to all you beautiful human.