Something Positive for Positive People

Hailing all the way from Alabama, well, actually Florida, but Alabaman roots, our guest this week. Jade is the founder of Essentially Prepped, integrating essential oils and lifestyle coaching. For those looking for another option for herpes support, listen to this episode and see if she's someone who resonates with you. We talk about stigma in the south and some of how Jade's dating experiences have gone. We speak about the fluidity of sexuality as it relates in the south along with being publicly visible as people living with herpes and the pros and cons of this. You can connect with Jade on Instagram @essentiallyprepped and check out her stie here.

"I really didn't realize how ashamed I was about how happy I am". In this episode I reflect on just how much I've pushed down my happiness both publicly and even privately just to keep other people comfortable especially in a time where there's not much visibility of joy and happiness. Releasing my resistances to joy, happiness, pleasure, and receiving brought up many emotions, including the last of my rejections for applying for grants! I speak about growth, rejection, the nervous system, and how herpes helps with identifying the need to manage stress.

In this episode, I talk through what SPFPP support groups are, how they started, and what people can expect when they join. I share how these spaces are less about advice and more about being seen, and why presence matters more than performance. Whether you're new to herpes or just looking for community, this episode breaks down how the groups work and why they matter. Learn more about the herpes support group for men and women.

Jealousy, rejection, and other perceived negatives are broken down not as bad things, but as infinite potential. Take something that makes you jealous for instance, you can either be inspired by it to be better, or you can want to corrupt it and make it worse. The intensity of emotion that comes with the label of jealousy is what it is, but we assign a narrative to the label which can create an identity behind it. There's a practice of attaching and releasing that's the natural flow of rhythm that all beings adhere to, and the same way it applies to jealousy, it applies to fear, and applies to rejection. This'll make all the sense if you can make it through my rambling and sharing of personal experiences of jealousy and how I apply its lessons to self-rejection which is the only rejection that truly exists for us on this episode of Something Positive for Positive People.

Our guest is a therapist specializing in DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy), but when she was diagnosed with HSV-2, she found herself in unfamiliar territory, navigating a rare neurological complication, medical dismissal, and the emotional weight of a life-altering diagnosis. In this episode, she and I discuss what it means to be the helper who needs help. We unpack Ellsberg Syndrome, and how the medical field did NOT exercise trauma-informed communication, and the power of integrity, validation, and DBT as an option for people with herpes in their healing. This episode is a great example of how herpes stigma intersects with the mental health field, and why remembering who you are validates your identity and jump starts the healing process.

After a herpes diagnosis, dating can feel daunting, but community can change everything. In this episode, I sit down with Rachel to expand on her experience navigating self-stigma, dating, and disclosure after contracting genital HSV-1. We discuss how therapy, community, and self-reflection helped Rachel reconnect to her voice, reclaim her confidence, and find grounding after emotional turbulence. If you’ve ever felt like your diagnosis defined you or held you back from dating, this episode offers comfort for wherever you may be in your own diagnosis.

The excitement for this one right here is representative of what SPFPP is all about. I've been getting rejected left and right for grants and I THINK after this most recent one, I'm just not supposed to be doing that. The impact of SPFPP isn't contingent on how much money comes in. I've gotten real good at being resourceful and also somehow things just been working out to where we've been able to sustain, so I'm officially done submitting grant applications!!!My man Aaron from about 50 episodes ago rejoins us with his now GIRLFRIEND Dria who shot her shot with him after finding his bravery being a Black man sharing his story online attractive. Aaron hit me up and let me know how things were going so I thought it would be dope to have them on the podcast just to share how they met, and it was a pleasant Convo with both of them and it speaks volumes to identity outside what stigma tends to have us believe about ourselves. She saw my man beyond his diagnosis, and she tapped into something beyond her own. He was brave and she was bold!

Our guest this week shares insights about sharing her diagnosis with her therapist, which led her to SPFPP. This is one of those episodes I would call encouraging, but grounded. Perspective is a mofo. You'll hear the amount of effort someone effort someone can put in only for us to STILL potentially self-reject ourselves. Our guest shares an awesome date story that'll give ya hope or give ya the "nope" but the choice of interpretation is up to you! Listen to this episode of SPFPP for some uplifting guidance and perspective on dating with herpes.

Make sure you’re able to watch the video on this if you can. This isn’t an interview or experience episode, it’s a hard launch of the revised and easier to navigate herpes support and education platform, Something Positive for Positive People (SPFPP). I’ve not been very active with the website exactly and that’s because I just got spoiled with Instagram. Lately the visibility of my posts and education and information has been TRASH so I haven’t been getting visibility, guests, or many people finding the resource at all. This episode, I walk through navigating the site for anyone new to SPFPP in hopes of them getting to the information they need and are seeking a little faster.If you’re diagnosed with herpes and just need support for navigating the stigma, or if you are a health care professional looking to support a client or patient, this platform is for you. It’s a nonprofit organization so we run off donations. If you hire us for a training that helps tremendously too. All of our resources are free or donation-based so any “purchase” made is tax deductible and helps us with our efforts to continue offering support to people living with herpes, and educating the loved ones of them.

The title may have been a lil dramatic lol. I’m catching myself get repetitive with these podcasts and I notice guests haven’t been appearing lately. People tired, political state of the US is trash, life is lifing, the algorithm has discouraged me from putting effort into posting and getting engagement like I had before the pandemic, and it’s just a lot of shit presenting challenges to continued growth at the caliber we’ve had historically. Recapping the workshop I’ve done, I see an uptick in SPFPP’s reach through these avenues which makes sense because these organizations engage directly with people impacted by stigma directly. So what better way to increase impact than to do more of this? I share a lil’ bit of what Tara of the Youth Sexpert program presented to Project Safe in hopes of giving a lil’ inside look at what SPFPP brings to organizations. A lot of it is bringing recognition to stigmatizing language, phrasing, and messaging. If any of this appeals to you, listen in, and if you’re tired of the filler episodes, lemme know what you wanna hear or share your experience. We’d love to have ya!Check out the revised website www.spfpp.org