Gina Bell On Empowering Women to Identify With Their Colors & To Learn to Stop Trying to Fit into Spaces That Don't Serve Us

Sarah Metzger 0:03
Welcome back to What’s on Your Plate. I am here today with somebody very amazing. I’m here with someone who has had me in awe since I first met her. A couple years ago, this amazing human walked into my day and gifted me a true treasure, an enchantment of both word and art that at the time and continues today, actually, even this morning, and as I’m saying it to bring me to tears, as you can tell in this moment. Gina Bell, an empowerment guide, author, speaker, workshop host. She is the author of a woman’s empowerment picture book called Tears and Tulle. Gina uses art metaphors and rainbow tulle to help people all over the world remember their color. Her beautiful book is illustrated by Elena Mykolaitis, an artist and designer from Lithuania. Together these women have created the most beautiful work of arts that just inspires people every day. There she has it. Gina, welcome, welcome. And thank you for joining us today.

Gina Bell 1:26
Oh my gosh, thank you for having me that day in the bakery seems like such a long time ago. And I’m just so happy that our paths connected and I was able to meet you and connect through my story as well.

Sarah Metzger 1:38
same same, what an inspiring story. And when you handed that book off to me, I remember that day in the kitchen, it was a busy day, and I wasn’t really able to properly thank you or talk to you about it. And you know, I took it from you and set it aside. And then later when I had a second, I just couldn’t believe what you had handed me and I share it with anybody that will allow me to. It’s just it’s just such a beautiful work of art. Tell us more about what Tears and Tulle is, what the movement has done for you and other women. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Unknown Speaker 2:18
Yeah. I don’t think I’ve ever actually talked about this on an interview. But it’s coming to me right now so….. years ago, like 10 years ago, when my family moved here to Dyer. I was doing this journaling exercise called Morning pages by Julia Cameron where you get up in the morning and you write first thing. And about six months into doing that I was suddenly running around my house looking for crayons, like looking for anything to color with and I wasn’t connecting with my creativity at that point very much. And so I found a 64 count box of Crayola crayons in one of my kids bedrooms and my kids are all grown up now, but at the time, they were little. And I remember going to the table and opening the crayon box up and I had this piece of paper and I drew this tree. And gosh, this is all coming back to me right now…. the tree had these roots at the bottom of it. Like the bottom base of the tree was this color. And up the center of the tree was this black bark. And in the center of that black bark was a heart. And then the same colors that I was drawing at the bottom of the tree where the roots and everything were at. I imagined it going up through like, like the black bark. And that being the same color and the branches going out into the world. And to me what that meant in that moment was that I was reconnecting with like my birth colors, like the colors that I was born with before anyone told me what to do or who I should be. And the black bark represented all my struggles in my tears. And then there was a heart in the middle which represented me trying to open my heart in that space of color and darkness. And then the branches being the same color as the roots and the base of the tree represented how I could grow through my struggles and still move out into the world with my color. And so I drew that tree and then I started working with women and we were drawing trees all the time, these black bark trees, and then I was in Orlando, Florida for a photo shoot about four years ago. And someone had gifted me a giant rainbow tulle skirt because I always wore tulle skirts. But this one was like bigger than I was. And I was standing on this abandoned overpass in Orlando. And we had paired the rainbow skirt with this black tank top and I was about to do a photoshoot in it. And I looked down and I thought oh my gosh. This black tank top is like the black bark from the tree. It’s like my tears and my struggles and this skirt is like my color. And Sarah, things are not like going my way that week, I found out that my husband was going to have brain surgery when I came home, he’s doing great now fully recovered. But it was the week before the anniversary of my mom’s passing and things were were a little heavy. And I remember standing out there thinking, oh my gosh, I’m going to connect with this part of myself, even though things aren’t going my way. And so that black bark tree kind of morphed into this tears and tulle idea, the tulle being the color, and then the black, representing all my struggles. And then I just someone said, Gina, can you run in the skirt, and they were filming with a drone, and I fluffed the skirt up all around me. And it was like I was floating. I don’t know how the skirt didn’t pull on the concrete underneath, but it didn’t. And it was just like, in that moment I was running with, like my mom and every female ancestor who came before me who couldn’t fully go out with their color. And it was just it was a crazy, beautiful moment where I made space for myself with both the dark and the light; I would bring the skirt home, it took me like nine months to realize it was supposed to start traveling into the world. And then this project evolved where 52…. I say 52 of my closest female friends decided to wear it. And it just wrapped up house 52 this past winter, and women have worn it and to pair it with black to share their their tears in their tulle moments. And a book called Tears and Tulle was inspired by the women in that project and by my own experiences in life. And that’s how we ended up here with Tears & Tulle. So that was a long answer. But I forgot all about that tree.

Gina Bell 6:56
That was the most perfect answer I could have ever dreamed that you would share. That was so perfect. How do you…you’re talking about, you know, your colors, and the colors that you were born with before other people told you what your colors should be? I talk about that a lot in that, it what are you programmed to believe? And what do you believe because it’s part of who you are? Is that similar to what your colors are? Is that a same type of thought process?

Unknown Speaker 7:28
Yeah, I think so. I think that we’re all born with this, just this brilliant color, you know, this beautiful energy almost, and from the time are really small…. well meaning people, you know, like people who love us, they kind of get in that energy with us. They have fears and doubts, and they they try to help us I guess and we we start to kind of pull away from what feels natural and good about that color. And at least my experience is that. So yeah, I think it does for sure.

Gina Bell 8:06
When you’re talking about your color. And maybe this is because I’m not connected well with mine. How do you know what your colors are? How do you really identify with what that means to you as a human, as a woman?

Unknown Speaker 8:24
Yeah, I think that that’s something I still struggle with every single day, like every single day, I have to remember and one of the reasons that I wrote the book was because I needed something some visual. And if you read the book, you know that the girl skips and dances and swishes and twirls. And when I do events, we’re doing that, you know, we’re actually waking that magic up. But I think it’s so hard to see. It’s so hard to connect with. And I don’t want people to think like, oh, there’s Gina with the book and she’s connecting with her. You know, like, I want people to know that I struggled to like all the time. My friend Betsy, my assistant, my friend Betsy,

Sarah Metzger 9:12
I know Betsy!

Gina Bell 9:13
Yes, yes. She, her and I went out a book signing like most of 2021 we went around and signed books. And I kept coming home and journaling, writing down the reason that I wrote the book, okay? And they’re beautiful, colorful illustrations. It’s such a good book to keep coming back to to reconnect with that feeling inside of you. But I think often it’s just like a soft whisper that’s, you can barely hear it. And so I don’t know if you mind I was going to share something kind of heavy today.

Sarah Metzger 9:51
share whatever you are inspired and whatever’s on your heart.

Unknown Speaker 9:55
Okay. So, for weeks, I came home from those signings and I wish jotting things down. And I wrote something down, that was really hard for me to write. And I have to keep that saying with me, I haven’t memorized at this point. Because I think it’s so true. And so many other women have connected with those words, since then, but I wrote down, that I had become so tired. So the reason I wrote the book was really because I had become so tired of breaking my own bones to fit into spaces, I didn’t even like, I had become so tired of breaking my own bones to fit into some spaces, I didn’t even create, some, my mother didn’t even create. And some I had created myself for like a false sense of safe. And every time I made myself smaller, I forgot a part of me. And every time I made myself smaller, it became harder and harder to see. And every time I made myself smaller fitting into this tiny little box, it felt almost impossible to be free. And then this book came, and this message came, and I just had this thought that just sort of whispered, just be me, like from the chaos, and the mess and the laundry and the stress and like all of it, just be me. But it’s often just this whisper, you know, like, just this itty bitty little sound inside of me that says, Be yourself. And the book is a reminder of that whisper of that sound that I have inside of me that that reminds me that my quirkiness and my weirdness and the stuff that you know, getting on stage that for the first time in the rainbow tool skirt and connecting with women like that’s, that’s me, that’s my, what I want to embrace about myself, and how I want to connect with people. And so I don’t mean to say that I think we’re like, out there, like breaking our bones, what I mean is we just feel like something’s a little off. Like we’re meant to have a deeper connection with ourselves in the universe. And I think when we can go back to that kind of playful energy, those earlier colors, we can really connect with that part of ourselves, even if it’s just for a second a day. So I don’t know if we’ll have time later. But I have like a one sentence exercise I do with people to help them remember that.

Gina Bell 12:32
Oh, we’ll make time for that. Because that sounds like incredibly valuable for anybody that is choosing to listen to this conversation. So absolutely. Absolutely. That’s just an amazing analogy of how we try to fit into a world that is trying to change us and who we are at our roots day in and day out. How do we groom? Or ungroom, maybe is a better word? How do we guide little girls and little boys in the world today to not find themselves trapped in this type of box as they grow older?

Unknown Speaker 13:14
Yeah, I think that’s a great question. And, again, when I think I struggle with just trying to do my self, you know, to remember, and then I do have boys and I see so much about how the world’s, you know, tells them what they’re supposed to be. And, you know, the second book that will be coming out in a couple of years here is about a boy connecting with his vulnerability and his magic and making space for tears. And I think that’s so important. Just as important as it is, I think, for the boys to read The Girl book is The girl’s story of the boy. Yes. But yeah, I think it’s, well, maybe that’s a good time to mention the exercise, actually. I think coming back to that space, that color, repeatedly is like strengthening a muscle. You know, like, I know that you’re a runner. And like yesterday, you have to train and practice. And I think same thing with reconnecting with our color. It’s not like you get it. And then you’re like, oh, man, I got it. I read that book. And I skipped and danced and swished and twirled and remembered the spirit of that magical girl and now I got it, you know, it’s like, no, you have to keep coming back to it over and over again. And so in the tears and tulle community, we we have an exercise where we say our tears and tulle moment of the day. And just even if you can only do that once a week or once a month or once a season like it’s good to come back to this exercise because it helps you to remember that we’re all going through this together. And so I think that’s part of the challenge is that we kind of think we’re doing things alone a lot of the times and when other women are showing up and they’re saying, No, I had a really bad day, but I still know I’m a magical badass. Okay, like, that’s, I hope I can say badass on your podcast…lol.

Sarah Metzger 15:16
I’ve said much worse, I’m sure.

Unknown Speaker 15:18
I figured as it was coming out of my mouth, I’m like, Okay, it’s Sarah, like, that’s okay. But yeah, we do this exercise. And it’s called the Even When, Especially Then exercise, and it’s just one sentence. And what you do is you say, I am blank, even when blank. And then we always end as a group with especially then. So the first blank is a positive thing about yourself that you love, or something you’re trying to love about yourself, okay? Even if you’re not quite there yet, but you really want to love that part of yourself, you can put that in that line. And then the second line is a tears moment that you’re having. So you might say, like, I am kind, even when I lose my temper. I am brilliant. Even when I feel like the dumbest person in the room, I am empowered, even when I’m so tired, I can barely stay awake and didn’t get out of my sweatpants the whole weekend. And you know, something like that. And we always end with, especially then, because I think it’s in the moments that we struggle that we need to probably remember who we are most so coming back to that over and over again can really sort of strengthen that empowered, connecting with your color muscle I think that we probably need to work on, and I would love to know yours. If you wrote down that exercise like, Sarah, you are…. I am blank, even when blank. If you can think of one on the spot.

Sarah Metzger 16:58
Hmm.

Unknown Speaker 17:01
I usually give a cheat card that my daughter is great with, cheat cards with like 100 words on them. So I’ve had a lot of practice.

Sarah Metzger 17:08
Yeah, I mean, I guess the first thing that comes to mind in this moment is as it pertains to, I guess, this podcast and my fear of just stepping into something new and that I am brave, even if other people don’t understand. I am you know, brave even if other people judge me..

Especially then…

That’s the first thing that would come to mind, I suppose.

Unknown Speaker 17:40
Yes, especially then. So anyone listening to this and send Sarah love we say like, especially then because we’ve all been through similar feelings. Thank you so much for sharing that.

Sarah Metzger 17:52
I’m going to work on that exercise more. Because I think that’s a great self exploration of how we can just manifest the mindset needed every day to really step into who we are and embrace the colors that are within us. I think that that’s something that should be part of people’s daily practices. That’s a really great exercise that you shared. And I thank you for that. sharing that. Yeah, that was magical. I mean, it brings me back even set thoughts. We talked a little bit earlier about, well, intending people, even in childhood and the things that they may have said or done that they thought were going to serve us in a positive way as adults. And one of those things for me was I can remember my grandmother, she was always very concerned about what other people thought about her. So she really put it in my mind early on that I should be concerned about what other people thought of me as well. Right down to saying…. I can remember it like it was yesterday…. Don’t put so much butter on your bread, it’s going to make you have a big butt.

Gina Bell 19:02
Wow

Sarah Metzger 19:02
I was probably six or seven, when she said that. And those little things. For whatever reason, you know, we don’t choose our memories. But for whatever reason, our brains hold on to certain instances, situations, comments throughout our lives. And I can’t tell you the amount of times that I have thought about that phrase that my grandmother said to me as a little girl. And you know, it’s it’s been in my mind in ways that have made me look at myself in a negative light. And then it’s been in my mind that have made me look in my ways that a positive light too. So but it’s those types of things that I am, what you’re saying, you know, using that exercise to say whatever it is that feels heavy or that it’s weighing on you. I am this Even though that’s an especially when that’s thank you again for sharing that, because there are so many things that weigh on our, our minds and our hearts throughout life from those well intending people, you know, I’m sure in her mind, she thought she was doing some type of service to me, in not wanting me to be judged by society, as cruel as it is, and how it puts people in a box of what health or beauty should or should not look like. But in hindsight, that was damaging.

Gina Bell 20:38
Oh, yes, yes. And I think that, like, as a parent now, you realize, you see so many things to your kids, you know what I mean? And it’s like,

you know, you’re talking about your grandparent. And, like, a lot of the things I agonize over that I’ve said to people, they don’t even remember, you know, what I mean? So we carry these things inside of our hearts, like, I get how hard that would be to carry that with you from a young age until now, like, you know, we still think about those things. And I think what’s important for me to remember, especially, the people I was closest to in my life is that, they might not even remember, they said it to me, because they’re just trying to get through life the same way. And they’re not these perfect people. I think that growing up, I did look at the people I love the most like they were maybe not perfect, but that they knew a lot. And I mean, like in that I should really pay attention to what they were saying. And I think that as you have kids, and they grow up, and they go through different experiences, it’s like, Whoa, I hope I didn’t mess them up by that thing that I said, I wasn’t even sure of myself, you know. So yeah,

I’m so glad you shared that story. Because I think, you know, we all have, like, a butt butter story, you know, that that can be so damaging, but at the same time can teach us something about, you know, ourselves and the people that that we’ve grown up with? So I appreciate that, Sarah.

Yeah, absolutely. Sharing stories like that, and the one you shared about, you know, just the analogy of bones fitting awkwardly into a space they don’t belong in, are so important. And I think that being mindful of what we say, is just as important as not filtering what we say, you know, there really has to be a balance, because I know for one with my not even just my son, but just people in general, I try to speak in a way that is unoffensive, but also the truth. You know, so it’s that hard balance of not wanting to not be real, essentially.

Right. Yeah. And I…. Yes, it is, it is such a balance, I think. And, again, I think we’re all going through so many things, that people aren’t paying attention the way that we think they are…lol…. you know what I mean, I just I feel like I’ve had so many times in my life where I’ve just thought that people thought a certain way about me, or, you know, we get these ideas in our heads. And back to what you just said about, like, the bone breaking, like, the analogy of that is like, if we had a friend, or a neighbor, or a pet, or anyone that was breaking their own bones to fit into spaces that didn’t make sense to them, you know, we would do everything that we could to get them help to try and see what they needed. And, and I think that if we can extend that love and kindness that we give to others, to our own selves when we’re having those bone breaking moments. And for me, Sarah, I have I’ve been breaking my bones my whole life, like I’ve been fitting into spaces that absolutely didn’t serve me that a lot of them not even mine. So yeah, I feel like I’m going off the question here. But

all such good information, though. I mean, you know, would you be your own friend is the question, if you treated yourself, if you treated your friends the way you treat yourself, or if you talk to your friends, the way you talk to yourself, would you be your own friend? It’s a question that I’ve asked myself many times over the years and the answer is, more often than not, no, I wouldn’t be my friend, because we’re so self critical of ourselves, I can’t imagine talking to somebody close to me that I loved in the same way that I talked to myself most of the time.

Right. Right. I know. I know. And I think it’s such a, you know, it’s so many things, you know what I mean? Like that happened to us through our, our lifetimes. And I know, heartbreak is a big one for me not feeling good enough or not feeling loved or liked enough. And I was at a women’s circle a couple weeks ago. And we are all going around sharing. And I said that, that through my whole life, I’ve often felt like, the ugliest person in a room, like, and I would just walk into a room and just feel like the ugly no matter who’s there, no matter how many people are there. I just like I feel that way. And I know that’s a young part of myself. You know, that felt like she wasn’t good enough, somehow. And I think that the more we go out into the world, as little people, the more that we absorb things that might not be true. You know, like, we hear things from people who are also struggling. And so yeah, I’m trying to come back to that, like when I do feel like it doesn’t happen every time. But if I do walk into a room, I feel like the ugliest person, I think, like, I don’t think that’s true. You know, and just that one sentence lately. Like, I just don’t think that’s true. Gina, is that true? No, I don’t think that’s true. Like, it’s helping me a lot. But it’s a struggle. Like it’s something I think we all have moments like that different things that we think and I just feel like, I don’t want to waste time on that. You know, as I get older, I want to go out into the world more and know that other people are probably feeling a lot of the same way as I am.

I think that’s true. And I think it’s unfortunate that so many of us carry those thoughts with us. But I think it’s also in some ways good that you know, you’re not alone in those thoughts. And other people can certainly relate just like they can relate to your beautiful book that you created. How does the tulle help you step into the bravery of those situations.

So, so many women who have worn that, so it’s one skirt, it travels around the same skirt, and different women wear it. And again, they pair it with something black to represent the tears. But so many of them have said that the tulle fabric takes up space. So it takes it literally like takes up space around them. And something about that tulle taking up space. Like if you imagine yourself and like a big tulle skirt. It’s almost like the tulle is a reminder like that we can give ourselves permission to go out into the world and take up space. So the tool that I talked about, it isn’t the tulle that we grew up with. Yes, it’s pretty Yes, it’s fun. But it also like you don’t have to be a bride or a ballerina to wear it like everyone is everyone has their own tulle. And it’s way more empowering than that. It’s deeper than that. Like, it’s strong and durable and transparent. And that’s what makes it beautiful. Like that is paired with struggle. And yeah, so the tulle in the book, the tulle and the movement is an empowerment tulle I think that it’s just a great visual for the magic that we carry inside of ourselves. I know it sounds sounds kind of cliche, like the magic we carry. But man, we really do carry like untapped magic that we can we can you know, lies dormant. I think a lot of the times until we go go a little deeper. So yeah…..

Sarah Metzger 29:01
yeah, everyday, it’s knocking and we just have to open the door and let it in and let it out. That’s so inspiring for me, for you to say those words out loud. And the book and the tulle idea the thought of that. It’s for not just the ballerinas and the princesses of the world and those people that embrace that type of identity. It’s for people of all walks of life, women, people who identify as women, people, from athletes, to the princesses to everybody in between. Is that correct?

Gina Bell 29:45
Absolutely. Yes. And I love that you just said everyday it’s knocking because I say that even if our tulle is like in the closet or in you know, behind some door and it’s been squished up and put away and we’ve been kind of afraid to connect with it. Once that tulle comes out, like if it knocks and you open, the tulle comes out, it expands. And it’ll keep expanding if you keep paying attention to it. So yeah, I love that idea of the knocking Sarah,

I think everybody should have an actual tulle. Because if you get to wear it is almost embedded in your brain, the idea of it after it eventually does have to come off, right? We can’t be in it constantly, physically, but it embeds the idea of it to be there even as a thought or idea as you just walk through your day, every day. Yeah. Has that done that for you?

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I definitely. Especially that taking up space part. So I say that when the girl in the story skips, she’s so if everyone’s listening, imagine yourself in in your giant tulle skirt, all your favorite colors, and you fluff it up around you. And when you skip in it, you’re remembering something deep, okay. And the girl in the story, she’s remembering something deep, and she’s inviting us to remember. So when you read the story, hopefully you’re having that kind of connection. So when she skips she remembers when she dances, she’s having fun, simple as that. She’s just remembering to have fun. And when she swishes back and forth in the skirt, she is taking up space in the world and all of her empowerment and magic and and creativeness. And then when she twirls she’s taking everything she’s learned, and she’s bringing it out into the world for others to connect with their magic, too. And so yeah, skip dance, swish, twirl. And I think that if you come back to that, and you actually imagine yourself doing those moves, you could really connect with a part of yourself, one of those dormant places, I think.

Sarah Metzger 32:01
Yeah. So fantastic. Tell me a little bit more about the next book that is in the making. I’m so excited about this next journey that you’ve entered. Can you share with us about what’s forthcoming?

Gina Bell 32:17
Absolutely. So this book was Tears and Tulle, the first one and then Tears and Taffeta, taffeta being a different type of fabric that’s kind of like a satin. The new movement and book will be called Tears and Taffeta. And so right now there’s a traveling cape that’s taller than I am. So I’m five foot six. This cape is this huge, multicolored cape, and it’s traveling around the country right now. So my brother, Tony was the first guy to wear the cape and he paired it with something black. And just like the Tears and Tulle Movement, he shared his feelings and that darkness and that light. And men, men in different places in the country are also sharing their connectedness to the Cape. And so I wrote a book called Tears and Taffeta that follows a little boy throughout his life wearing a multicolored cape. And as he grows up, the cape grows alongside of him to remind him of his magic, even when life doesn’t go the way that he hopes and so there’s an actual traveling cape going around, and we’re collecting stories. I think it’s on stop seven right now. And yeah, the book will come out in a couple of years, but we want to make sure we have some good pictures to put at the end there. And yeah, it’s it’s just so cool because it mirrors Tears and Tulle. It’s a lot like Tears and Tulle in so many ways. And it’s just super cool to see men connecting with their vulnerability and making space for boys especially to know that that’s okay.

Sarah Metzger 33:50
Right? Yeah, we definitely live in a world where there is there’s a lot of space made for men but not in the same way as a tulle would create space and really stepping into your own and who you are and not just who you’re expected to be. I’m excited for that project you have forthcoming

Gina Bell 34:13
thanks. Do you want to hear a page in it? I’ll give a little…

Sarah Metzger 34:16
Yaaaas! How exciting!

Gina Bell 34:17
Lolol… the boy in the story will “gallop, fly, jump for joy! Remember the spirit of that magical boy”….. so those are the moves that he will do…. will be some flying in this.

What a gift thank you for sharing that. Gina I would love to hear your your exercise that you just asked me to think of that I am blank. Yeah, even when and especially what is that for you?

today? What’s today? Yeah. Oh I always have like, so yeah, like, what it’s supposed to be. And then what it actually is

Sarah Metzger 35:10
So say what it actually is.

Gina Bell 35:12
Yeah, let’s be real, right? I am, I am kind….. No, that’s not going to be it. I am brilliant. Even when some of the places I feel most comfortable in my life are when I’m having fun, sort of like a Saturday Night Live character.

That’s me at home. With my family. They have the videos to prove it. I feel like, in some way, I may have missed my calling as a Saturday Night Live actor/actress. So I don’t know I’m just brilliant and capable and smart. Even when I, you know. I’m afraid to show the world’s like, all of me, you know, are the parts of me I think are maybe not all of me, because I think we need boundaries. But like, some of the fun parts of me, like my sense of humor and my joking spirit that I think people don’t always see. So, especially then.

that’s awesome. Thank you so much. That was challenging for you. I can see.

It was. It’s funny because I do them all the time. And it’s you know, and we do have these cheat sheets now where we can look and pick a word and you know, and I’m glad you asked me on the spot because it made me really go deep into you know, my silliness, my quirkiness, my mom would would call it the zaniness, you know of your heart, your spirit. We embrace the zaniness in our family. Yes, yes.

Sarah Metzger 37:06
Gina, is there anything else that you want our listeners to know about you? Or the movement? Or the books? Or just the colors? Is there anything else that you want to put out today?

Gina Bell 37:19
Um, yeah, I, I think that there’s a place in this movement for everyone. I think that whatever your metaphor is for how you’re connecting with your color, whether it be the spirit or not, you know, coming out and connecting with these circles from within the movement, different communities we have on Facebook, you can find me at [email protected]. But just connecting, we have so many ways that people can get involved. And we have tears and tulle trailblazers, and tears and tulle tribes, which are people that are coming together and forming their own circles in different places in the world. We had one last year, I think as far as Africa. And so we’ve just had some cool circles come together. And I just like to invite everybody to know there’s support and these communities where you can kind of come and be yourself, whether it be a Saturday Night Live type character or not. But to just have a safe place to talk about your feelings and connect with that magic. So I would love for you to find us. If you Google Tears and Tulle, you will find out all kinds of information because there’s no other phrase like it. So it’s easy. You could just do that and just find communities that could support you.

Sarah Metzger 38:34
That’s fantastic. Do you have any upcoming events that you want to share about, you know, in the coming months that you’d like people to be aware of?

Gina Bell 38:44
Yeah, yeah. So we do private events for like corporations or nonprofits. So that’s always an option. But we have a moon circle. You know about this, the annual Moon circle where we go to this Arboretum in Valparaiso, Indiana, and we meet in a circle as women and we actually create a skirt, like on site of everyone’s shared experiences. So each time someone shares an event, when especially then we add a piece of tulle to the skirt. And by the end of the night, we have this tulle skirt that’s made up of everyone’s experiences in just that group for that night. So that’s September 10. Yeah, tickets are up for sale on Eventbrite. If you look up Moon circle, Valparaiso, Indiana, you can find more information there. And yeah, it’s one of my favorite events of the whole year because it’s just magical. It’s there’s a fire and it’s in the woods and it’s just super cool.

Sarah Metzger 39:41
It sounds super amazing. And I remember seeing that it was happening last year, and I wanted so badly to go and I can’t remember what it was that restricted me from doing that. But I’m certainly going to look into that this year. It sounds like such a magical and I don’t know if this is gonna be…. a poor or positive comparison, depending on who’s listening, I suppose. But, it reminds me of a beautiful circle of magical witchcraft in the most positive lights possible. When I say witchcraft, I mean, the most positive version of it, and the energy that comes forth from those souls, just putting everything they have into that moment with each other, and the beauty that it creates. That’s what I think about the power. That is no doubt in that events. And in that moment with all those beautiful people.

Gina Bell 40:44
Yes, and there is something to be said about, we always do it on a full moon night. And so well, the full moon really lasts for three days. So anytime in that three day period, I think ours actually falls on the full moon this year. And yeah, there’s something powerful to be said about women, sharing and releasing what’s no longer serving them and being under the actual full moon. With all the creatures stirring in the woods, you know, you hear the frogs, and yeah, last year, we had beautiful full moon that just came out, it was like we had extra light

Sarah Metzger 41:18
it’s so amazing that we live in a time where we can actually step into those types of situations and opportunities. You know, there’s times in our history, of course, where women would have been killed for doing something like that.

Gina Bell 41:36
Absolutely

Sarah Metzger 41:36
whether it was perceived as witchcraft, or just women empowerment. What a time to be living in to be able to be free to do that type of work, and to be part of those types of experiences. And I just think you are such a gem of a human to be creating those places for women to arrive to fully arrive not just physically but emotionally and mentally to just step into who they are….to create a new space.

Thank you. And I think you’re a gem of a human yourself …like this podcast I think is going to open things up and be super successful and I’m really excited to hear all your episodes and just so you know, there’s a little buzz, like Sarah has a podcast, Sarah has a podcast, so Sarah’s doing this. Did you see Sarah’s cupcakes, like, there’s just there’s so many things that we love about you. So this year, I’m trying to get better at receiving compliments, so hoping to receive them and give them and yeah, I just thank you so much for being you. It’s as simple as that.

And gosh, like that same energy goes right back to you. You were just putting so much good into this world. And so giving of yourself that I just can’t see I can’t wait to see what continues to be forthcoming for you and the tulle movement. And it’s all just so magical. And I thank you for your time today.

Gina Bell 43:13
Thank you and same, same thing you go out into the world with your stuff. Thank you.

Thank you, Gina, thank you so much. We will talk to you again soon. Bye everybody.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai