10000 MINUTES

204: Mandisa on Loss, Mental Health and Being Intentional

Episode Summary

GRAMMY®, Dove and two-time K-LOVE Fan Award winner Mandisa shares her story with depression, the ways she’s coped with loss, and how our everyday decisions impact our mental health. Tangents included: Zumba and Chris’s new band name “McGehee”
 Practice: Be intentional with your everyday decisions.

Episode Notes

The 10000 MINUTES Podcast is a weekly deep dive into the adventures and struggles of living out our daily lives WITH Jesus, not for Him. Also, we like to laugh. A lot. Maybe too much.. Ok, maybe too much.

Episode Summary:
GRAMMY®, Dove and two-time K-LOVE Fan Award winner Mandisa shares her story with depression, the ways she’s coped with loss, and how our everyday decisions impact our mental health. Tangents included: Zumba and Chris’s new band name “McGehee”


Practice:  Be intentional with your everyday decisions.

If you’ve found this practice or another practice helpful, let us know at mail@10000minutes.com and we might include your story in a future episode!



Show Notes:
Mandisa IG: Instagram
“Out of the Dark” Memoir: Buy Now
“Out of the Dark” Album: Stream


988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support via phone or chat for people in distress, resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals . Includes information on finding your local crisis center .


Phone: (988) Website: http://suicidepreventionlifeline.org 

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Episode Transcription

You know, anytime that somebody pops into my mind out of nowhere, I kind of take that as an indication to reach out to that person. Mm-hmm. . Cuz I often think that is a little indication of, okay, something is not right. Or even if it's everything is fine, um, it doesn't hurt to just reach out to somebody and say, Hey, I'm thinking about you. I love you, miss you. Those people for me, are the reason why I didn't take my life.

I'm just gonna start out this podcast with this. Okay. I'm a parent of boys. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. And we we're pretty lax in this house. You know, we say certain words and we're like, you guys don't say these out loud because other families don't say these things. Cubie pants. Like we don't, other families don't say it. And my kids also, they just, my boys, they bourbon. It's like, you guys, you can't, that's, you can't be doing that. And my Grammy and Grampy, they're like totally cool with it, but everybody else in the world is not cool with it. So they're like, ra And so they just go for it. And then we're with other humans, like humans that don't do dumb things. And my boys just start burping and they, they can't help themselves.

.

Hey everybody, welcome to season two of the 10,000 minute podcast. And I'm a terrible parent.

We're all this

Big on this set. We're

All just we're.

Yes. Thank you. You're doing great, Tim.

Um, speaking of doing great. Um, and I'm not gonna burp on this podcast. Really? No,

I

Don't do that. I, that is inappropriate for me. But somehow my kids are like, you know what? I'm better than you dad. Yeah. Watch this.

Yeah. You've given them a world where they feel safe.

If they feel safe, safe enough to

Burp. That's right. Yeah.

Nice. And if that's the worst thing. Okay.

Opportunities you never had.

Oh, my name's Tim Timmons. Hey,

I'm Chris Cleveland

And I'm a Mok. Hi.

Donis.

.

Yes.

I like last names.

I like my last name.

Okay,

Sure. Um, speaking of last names, I don't think I know Mandy's last name. This,

She's just a one. Worder.

Well, but that's a choice, right? She wants to be known as Mandisa.

Yeah. I wish I was that cool just to have one name, but it wouldn't be Chris. Something else. ,

What would, what would your, yeah, what would your one name be on?

Think about it. . .

He's on a mission now to find the right one name. Okay. I

Like it. But, but Chris is gonna have to nail this. Yeah. Like, you can't just, I read this

Article, article about the world's largest tree and it had an awesome name. Thank you. Luke. Maybe it would be that one. I can't remember what it's called. . I'm gonna think about it. Please

Do love it. Googling. If you guys have thoughts for Chris on what his one name should be. I like just Koreas, but it's like, got a few

Silvers CORs. Uh, when I was like 14, I went to church camp and got this church camp girlfriend, you know, and she was from McGee, Arkansas, but they call it McGee. He Arkansas. And she can make Chris like six syllables. Yeah. I thought it was the best. Yeah. I did every 14 year old boy's dream. You

Could go with McGee. He

. I mean, that's not bad. That's pretty good actually,

For the 12 people that live there.

Yeah.

This is your shout out.

Yeah. So you guys, my name's Tim Timmons. I'm and Mcg Mcg.

Hey, you'd have a strong

Fan face. It's like person, McGoo , you

Know what I mean? It's not mcg who, it's McGee. Any who, who do have today.

This has been the best intro so far.

No one knows what we do. No,

That's true.

That we don't know what we

Do. No, not really.

Yeah. Okay. So you guys today we've got Mandisa one name Manisa. It's actually Mandisa Magi

Used to be. We dropped the

Last name. Yeah. No, it's not, it's not true. But, uh, we have Mandisa today and she's, I mean, a Grammy winning amazing, awesome artist. Talented, uh, she was on the American Idols

At least.

. At least that's gonna be my new response to everything. Would you like Chick-fil-A sauce with that? At least. At least.

That's good.

. Yeah. We're shocked at least. I mean, you're, you got ideas today

At least. Yeah. I mean, think about my salsa addiction. Oh, would you like the one scoop at

At least it's still positive. They're, they're like, don't know how much they give you. Way

More. Yeah, they're intrigued. Yeah.

They're like, apparently this is like a very minimal amount for him. He's gonna need more sauce than this.

Yeah. So everybody Sorry guys.

I'm sorry guys.

, here's our episode with Mandisa and you're gonna love it.

You will. Yeah.

Hey everyone, this is Moy. Each episode we're going to hear from listeners about the impact that practices like this one from season one have had in their life. Here's Terry's.

Hi guys. My name is Terry Whirl and I'm from Pennsylvania. Just want to just drop a quick video, let you guys know how very thankful I am for 10,000 Minutes community, the podcast and messages, the meetups on Fridays. I'm very thankful that this is a safe place out. We can come share this walk that we're on together. I haven't felt safe or able to talk or be myself in like a church setting in a long, long time, and I'm very thankful for that. I feel very safe and unjudged. Thank you guys. Want to let you know the impact you're having and can't wait for the upcoming podcast. You guys are doing a great job. Thanks again. I love you guys. Bye.

If you found this bit or any other practice helpful, let us know by emailing mail@tenthousandminutes.com and we might include your story in a future episode.

Hey everybody, uh, welcome to 10,000 Minute podcast. Uh, my name's Tim Timmons. We've got a MOIs. Hello. We've got Chris Cleveland. Yo and everybody, we have on the Zoom, again, it's a new thing that we're doing, but on the Zoom we've got Miss Mandisa. Woo.

Let's go on on the Zoom. Yeah. Yeah. Not just on Zoom. Just on the Zoom.

Okay. So I, I think that this just hit me right now, but you've done Zumba before, have you not? I feel like one of those Caleb Zoomba.

Wait, wait, wait. We're talking about different right now.

At some point we, like you did like a dance class or something and I just equate Zumba to you. Why do I do that?

Absolutely. Yeah. Didn't we do, didn't we do some Zumba together at some point?

I, I feel like we did, and I don't wanna brag about it, but I'm sure people were saved and it was,

That's a class I'd signed up for. It was a set up for I think so. Signed me up.

That's fine. Yes. Two different, Zumba and Zoom are two different things, but

Yes. I've

Doesn't have myself

In sto both

. Yeah. They went hand in hand in these last two years. Zoom and Zumba, right? Yeah.

It doesn't

Have to be a story about the pandemic .

Um, and everybody, you can't necessarily see Mandisa right now, but she's got a really cute pink, what do you even call that? Because you and Chris are are rocking the same thing. And I think you look much better than Christmas.

Well, I dunno,

It's just a, you know, it's a headband.

It's a hot head. Yeah. I don't do that because obvi for obvious reasons. Yeah.

Really? Well, I

Don't have much hair going on. That's

Okay. Okay. Do you sweat though? Yeah. Yeah. I feel like it's more like containment of all the elements. People are like dodge ball. Well, Hmm. Do you like dodge ball guys? I played

. I play Zumba. Okay.

Oh

Right, right. I play Zumba and

I use Zumba, isn't it? Sure.

Um, mania. So we met a few years back and I've wanted to get you on a podcast for a long time, just cuz I think you're just so intriguing as a human. Oh, thanks. Um, and you're beautiful and you're kind of, you just, you bring you and we've had some mm-hmm. , actually I had a few just random, like out of nowhere deep conversations about something where you would just open up about your life and I'm like, who is this human and your struggles? And I, yeah. I love it. So thank you for being that person. And just from the, so, so someone outside, I'm just saying you're awesome and you're beautiful. Thank you Sarah. Appreciate it. So thank you for being you Totally . Um, okay. So we want to jump into some things that matter today mm-hmm. , and I'm sure we're gonna laugh a little bit because that's something that we like to do. Mm-hmm. mm-hmm. . Um, but we, we wanna talk a little bit about your new book, but I wanna get a little history on your new book. Yeah. And like, where, where is this coming from?

So out of the Dark, I, I released an album in 2016 called Out of the Dark, where it, it really talks about that deep pit of depression that I was in that God brought me out of. And since I began, you know, talking about the subjects and a lot of the songs are really honest depictions of what I felt when I was in that pit. Um, as I started talking about mental health, depression, anxiety, uh, and, you know, my audience is mainly Christian. I was really surprised at how many people identified with it. And so that they're so thankful that finally be able to, you know, hear somebody talk honestly about this. Cuz I think there's a stigma surrounding mental health issues in the body of Christ mm-hmm. . And so Right. The book really goes deeper into some of the struggles, also, some of the victories. And hopefully I just, I wanna open discussions. I think the best way that we're gonna get rid of that stigma about mental health and as Christians is to talk about it. And so that's what I want more than anything is for people to talk about it.

Hmm. Talking about mental health.

Absolutely. Yeah.

Gi gimme more .

Well, um, so I considered taking my life at one point, it was two years into the deepest depression Wow. And had a handful of pills. And it was, um, it was my friends, it was my loved ones that kept reaching out to me. That's what I was thinking about when I opted not to take the handful of pills. Yeah. Yeah. And isolation. I think, you know, coming out of this pandemic where we've been so isolated from one another mm-hmm. , I think depression is on the rise, you know? Mm-hmm. , I, I don't know what the st the statistics are, but a lot of people are really struggling. And I think when you're a Christian, at least what I believe for so long was, well, my faith must not be strong enough and I must not be a good enough Christian. Mm-hmm. . And I just, I don't see that being how God would respond to somebody who is struggling with this. And I think a lot of people in the Bible probably struggle with it. And so I, I want us to talk about it because I think we've kept it hidden for so long. And so I think the best way to find healing is for us to actually talk about some issues that maybe we would wanna keep a secret. I

Love that. I remember probably around the same time you're talking about, I put a song out in the world called You Are Loved, and I started getting these messages from people on the Daily, and I'm sure you've gotten more than you could count, uh, with this same kind of platform that you have, um, of people who were saying, Hey, I've, you know, was at the edge. I was gonna take my life. Your song came on, you know, save my life in some form or another. And, um, and it struck me at the time, it, it almost, um, was shocking to me how many people, um, were sending me these messages. And, um, and I kind of had this realization kind of like you did, it's like, oh my gosh, that we were in a, a pandemic of sorts before the pandemic, right? Mm-hmm. . And, um, and it was so shocking to me that honestly, um, I started reaching out to friends and professionals in all of these things on, on a lot of different ways.

One, I was like, I might, there was a part of me that's like, am I liable? Mm-hmm. honestly for as, for as many messages as I'm getting. But also like, how can we help these people who are really trying to prey away? Um, yeah. These, these mental issues. And I think we have so many people that listen to our songs and see us and see the, see the happy and the good mm-hmm. and, and all those things that we put out, which is great. But, uh, I wanna commend you, I think, for putting this out there and starting this conversation because there's so many people, um, that need to know that, hey, it's not just me by myself. It's not just me trying to, trying to ask God to, to deliver me from this. And that's all the resources I have, but there's a community of people and believers, um, that we're in this together and we can connect those mental health professionals. So I would love to hear, um, some of those steps that you've seen, some of the progress that you've seen mm-hmm. and some of the stories that you've heard from people, um, that have, uh, heard your music or read your, uh, read your things or followed you and, and found, um, um, something brighter on the other side. Um,

Well, I think, I don't know why this is, but for some reason, just knowing that you're not the only one struggling with an issue mm-hmm. brings comfort, so, right. Mm-hmm. , that's probably the biggest thing that I heard is I'm so glad to know I'm not the only one. And, um, so I, I want people to know, you know, if you look up to a stage and you see somebody who is always telling you that you're an overcomer and this is gonna make you stronger, if you can hear that person say, I wrestle with depression and Right. Loneliness and grief and, you know, I turn to food for comfort, there's just something in knowing Okay. If she struggles with it, I guess I'm not the only, you know, dumb person out there that struggles with like, no, it's, you're not dumb. We all have struggles, we all have issues.

Paul had a thorn in his flesh. Nobody really knows what that is. But I think, so the first thing is knowing you're not alone. Mm-hmm. , the second thing I want people to know is just as if you have were to have a medical issue, you would go and see a doctor. Right. I'm a big fan of counseling. Mm-hmm. , like I mm-hmm. , I think these are professionals that help us to deal with issues and to get, you know, to the root of things that you maybe yourself cannot do it. And I do. I love church. I love community. Um, I do think there is something to be said about having a professional to help you walk through some of these issues. I don't, I don't want people to try to do it alone cuz we're just not called to do it

Alone. Okay. So, so what are some of the pe you know, obviously in, in the past people have said, and probably still today say, you shouldn't do that. You should just trust God for this stuff, which I know is part of your journey as well. And, and what triggered actually some of your depression with your friend that passed away. Well, will you just give us a little bit of even that story?

Yeah. So my friend Keisha, she's the one who inspired the song, overcome her, yeah. Mm-hmm. Um, cuz she was pregnant when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Yeah. Mm-hmm. So, long story short, I told a full story in the book, but yeah. Um, she did give birth to her son who's beautiful and perfect and healthy, but she had a year with him before she passed away mm-hmm. . And that, you know, that scripture hope deferred makes the heart sick. I felt like my, my heart just got sick. I was so upset and angry and I really felt like God was gonna heal her here. And I would hate it when people would say, well, he did heal her. I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's not really what I meant. . Yeah. Yeah. And I think just sweeping things under the rug and saying, well, yeah, she's healed and she's great.

Um, that did not do me any favors. It, it only, I only started to find, find healing when I actually said, God, why did you let this happen? Mm-hmm. . Wow. And I don't understand how this, you know, God who can do all things, why you didn't do this. And it was only when I started saying those things, which I never would've said before mm-hmm. , um, I started to find, it started to come into the light. It was when I was keeping it hidden that I was just suffering in silence. And so it's speaking out about these things.

Mm-hmm. Was that part of your great depression? Like what triggered a great depression for you? Yeah,

It was bad. It was Keisha passing and it's, you know, it's a slow fade. Like it wasn't just mm-hmm. bang on my hip, the bottom of it bit. Of course, yes. It was starting to question why God allows these things. Yeah. And there any question, does God even exist? Does he care if he does exist? And then just pushing away people and isolating and not wanting to be with people and then turning to food, which has always been a comfort and gaining weight. Mm-hmm. And feeling shame. Like all of it just started slowly descending into that place where I just did not wanna be here anymore.

Wow.

Hmm. I like it. Chris, you, you almost, you didn't say earlier, you didn't say you made you healthy. Like there was, it's, it's like such a process that you're, that you're continually in Absolutely. Mm-hmm. , you, you may turn to food, other turn to whatever else the thing is. Yeah. Mm-hmm. , we all turn to something. Right. But what, what was it that kind of started, uh, I, you said people and friends that started changing your idea, your mind.

Yeah. So it was, um, it was one day I went to the movie theater. It was one of the first times I had left my house in a long time, but I went to see the movie War Room because my song was in it. That's really the only reason I .

Right, right.

The last thing I wanted to do was to watch a Christian movie.

Right. Oh goodness.

Um, and so I remember after that movie, it kind of ended happily ever after. And that made me angry cuz I was like, that's not really reality. Right. So I remember I wanted to see another movie. So I was in that movie theater for like over four hours. And when I came out, my car had a bunch of sticky notes all over it. And a handful of my friends had been sitting out there waiting for me. And they had an intervention essentially where they had a counselor that they found for me, um, they were going to insist that I saw her no matter what, because they, they recognized, yeah, this was, this was happening for two years and I'm just, I'm was clearly struggling with something. And so they forced me in a sense to get counseling. Um, and that is really what began the ascent. It wasn't just, you know, overnight, everything was great. It was just, I finally started talking about these things and I finally started seeing people and maybe I would listen to some music that I wouldn't listen to, like any form of light. I didn't want any form of light into my life and I was pushing it out. Mm-hmm. . But once it started coming in, I slowly started to come out of it.

So how'd you move through the cliches then? Because you, you were, you were struggling with a lot of the cliches of going, oh, God's gonna handle it. All the stuff that said to us, you know, with Yeah. And we all have our thing that, that God have, that people have said this about God. Mm-hmm. that God's gonna do this, God's gonna do this. And you're like, well, he didn't, fyi. Yeah. And I'm still sitting here. So what, how do you, or how are you in the middle of those things of unpacking those things or For

Me, um, you know, my album out of the Dark, I put a lot of it into that music and I started singing it, you know, one of the songs I put on the album, it's not the typical, you know, encouraging, you know, positive, encouraging music that increased to hear from me. It's very much a but you could have healed her. You've done it before. Yeah. Um, that song was called Prove Me Wrong. And it doesn't end all nicely tied up with a bow where I can say, well, yeah, God answered my prayer and I'm great now. It was a, it was just a letting it out. It was in the secret place finally saying it to God, the things that I was keeping hidden and I don't have all the answers now. I still wish my friend were here. I still kind of think that the story would be better if she had lived and was a miracle and she could stand on a stage until everybody, how God healed her. Right. Um, how, however I I know that I'm just in the middle of my story. Like there is eternity to go and I'm only recognizing part of it here on Earth. Um, I really believe that when I do see God face-to-face, I'm gonna get some of the answers. I probably won't care at that point. But in the meantime I'm just kind of wrestling through it. I don't have all the answers, but I'm engaged in the conversation and I think that's enough for right now. Wow.

Hmm. So then I guess Chris asked the question earlier who are, you know, you've had a lot of fans and different people that have talked to you in the midst of this and people that have shared their story with you. What kind of things are you saying inviting them into?

So, um, one of the things that I love the most about the book, um, is at the end of each chapter there's a section called Getting Real, which has mm-hmm. discussion questions. And I, what I'm saying is talk to people about it. I think, yeah. You know, anytime that somebody pops into my mind out of nowhere, I kind of take that as an indication to reach out to that person. Cuz I often think that is a little indication of, okay, something is not right. Or even if it's everything is fine, um, it doesn't hurt to just reach out to somebody and say, Hey, I'm thinking about you. I love you, miss you. Those people for me are the reason why I didn't take my life. Um, and so I think being able to talk with people about those issues, about the things that you would wanna kept, keep hidden, um, I think that's where the healing is gonna come from. So in the book, the getting real discussion questions mm-hmm. , I just, I want people to get together with people that they trust that they can have open dialogue about some of these issues. Cuz I think when we try to do it ourselves, that's kind of the danger zone. Mm-hmm.

. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. I would love to just do a quick pivot because I think one of the things that we all deal with are the, uh, the presenting issue, the presenting issue to you for all these years has been a weight thing, right? It's like, because of this deeper issue you've gone to eating. And again, we all have our things that we go to. So it's like, join the human race . Um, so for you in this, how have you like, stepped back, taken like a higher view of what the power of eating has had on you? Um, does that still have the same power? What, like, what's that look like? So you've put an awful lot of hours just since I've known you into this, this struggle, which in and of itself actually isn't even the struggle. There's actually a deeper thing going on right. Than just eating. But you've probably made eating like, oh, that was the struggle. Which it's not. Absolutely.

Yeah.

Can you talk about around some of that, cuz a lot of what we wanna do with 10,000 minutes is we wanna talk about the 10,000 minutes of the week, not just the eighties, were are in the gathering, but in the 10,000 minutes, like when life hits us and we're all dealing with our own things, whether it's porn, whether it's food, whether it's buying or spending, whatever it is, um, this is when the stuff hits the fan. And so what's it look like for us to walk with Jesus in the midst of the deeper issues, but with the presenting issues? So just with your eating stuff and can you just talk a little bit about that and what you've learned and what you're learning? Yeah.

Well, I wish I could say that I have conquered it. There was no, no. Once upon a time I,

Yeah. Yeah. Let's, let's not, let's, let's throw that out , but it's why I'm, that I've stopped using the word I I've really am I'm trying to stop ever saying the word ed at the end of any word. I don't wanna say I've learned this cuz I have not.

I'm learning. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I'm,

Everything is an I N G. I'm trying to put that at the end of everything. Mm-hmm. That's good. What, what are you learning?

Well, I'm learning that food is what I have always turned to for comfort. You know, that they call it comfort food for a reason. Touche sha and from childhood that's, I I would feel good. I mean, food tastes good, let's be honest. Come on, come on. And I think the issue is not even a food. It's that that's, that's what I would turn to as my escape. That's where I could go to feel good momentarily. Eventually I would end up feeling horrible. Mm-hmm. . Um, and it's not even, you know, I have gained and lost hundreds of pounds in my lifetime. Right. Um, and I recognize now it's when I'm spending too much time alone, it's when I'm holding on to something like gre I not just celebration, but when I'm sad or when I'm angry or when something happens, that has always been the thing that I would turn to food and like television. Like Yeah. Escaping into movies and media. And so I am learning, um, to first talk to him about it . Um, and that is not something that I have always done. It's not something I'm doing currently. Like, I'm Well what's, what's even look like in a great place. I

Yes. Thank you for saying that. That's, see, this is why I love you. Well, I love you just regardless, but I just, I so appreciate you, um, even saying currently I'm not in a great place. So what's that action look like? I, we could, we could care less about Christian bull crap. It just does. Yeah. Does, does nobody any good. It actually only hurts people. So what's it look like in this moment today, Anna? Again, 10,000 minutes is all about putting the words in the heart of Jesus into practice. Mm-hmm. . So what, what does it look like to put this into practice today?

What would it look like?

You sure.

Okay. Um, okay. So let me give you an example. Yep. The other day, uh, people magazine put an excerpt of my book, um, on their website. And I, everybody was celebrating the fact that this is out there. And my immediate thought was, oh my gosh, that is so exposing. That's so vulnerable. Like, it's, it's one thing when not just the people in my life, but even the people in the Christian circles are reading this, this is out there for the world to see. Yes. And that felt so uncomfortable for me. Instead of ordering a box of crispy cream, donuts, . Yeah. Um, that is, or even instead of, um, I don't know, just trying to not think about it. For me, that would've been, God, this sucks. I don't want people just talking to him about it. Yeah. Opening up my mouth and having a discussion and then quieting my mouth to listen to what he says about it. I didn't do that. I, yeah. I turned on my television. I ordered some DoorDash Yes. And I tried to forget about it. Yes. And that, yeah. That's not healthy . That's, it's, it's those decisions like that every day decisions that will lead to health. But when you don't make those decisions and then the shame comes and it's just a vicious cycle. Mm-hmm. . So it's just stopping the shame and having a conversation with God about it. Okay.

So what's up?

A conversation with God and also a conversation with other people that God puts in my life. Like being able to talk to the people that I'm surrounded with, um, instead of just closing in and hiding away.

Which is hard to do because depression just wipes out your energy. I think one of like your most powerful tracks of out of the darkness is your voicemail track. Mm-hmm. . It's just endless voicemails of people saying, Hey, where you been? Check in on you. I'm knocking at your door. Can you open the door? That's, that was my life with depression. And sometimes there's a shame of like, I know I haven't been who I need to be for all of you. I know I've scared you, I've worried you, but I just don't have energy to actually talk. You know? Yeah. And so sometimes there's just like an actual, just like the sticky note situation there, there needs to be a community to help you speak. Cuz sometimes it feels like all the, if we really had the power within ourselves for ourselves, then we wouldn't need community. You know? And so sometimes it's like, you need to reach out and so's like, I don't know how to reach out. Yeah. You know?

Right. And what I want, I, I want people to know that those voicemails, the text messages, the people at my door, I didn't answer any of them in that moment. Mm-hmm. . And so from their point of view, wow. They were being ignored. But it was in that moment where I had the hand of pills that's, I thought about that. And so Right. Those, yeah. Those messages, the reaching out that matters because that's what I was thinking about and why I chose not to small, the handful of pills,

Man. Yeah. And, and that's, and that's probably the truth for a lot of those who are in depression. Yeah. Who are like, I just remembered the voice of my mother. Or you know, or someone called me at that moment. I think, um, Kelsey talked about that as well. Mm-hmm. , she was speaking to her father at a time that she was like at her lowest. Um, but I think the truth is sometimes you don't even have the energy to talk about it. And that's where community is so crucial. Yeah, absolutely. With, with any kind of healing, it's sharing it with people. Yeah. So I guess a question is how do we practice getting real with people? Cause I feel like that sounds like the practice you've carried throughout your journey is taking moments to get real before escaping or letting it paralyze you. So,

Or during or after. Yeah.

I think it's just, I mean, honestly it's just cultivating friendships and that can sound easy to say, but Totally. It really, it comes with time. It comes with hanging out with people. It doesn't always have to be deep, like watching a movie with people and grabbing coffee mm-hmm. . Um, and then, you know, when you start to feel comfortable letting them into some of these things, which I, I hope that this book will do. I, you know, there's, um, out of the dark, the book, it's not all gloom and doom. Like I talk about a lot of great stuff that has happened. And so, you know, if people are like a fan of my music, you know, each chapter is named after a song. Like I can imagine people getting together and reading it and having these discussions, but then some deep moments happen. And again, the getting real section, like having a book club where you talk about things like that, that's an example mm-hmm.

Where you can ask these questions and start these conversations that, you know, you don't, sometimes it's hard to approach these hard conversations out of nowhere. But I hope that this will be a tool for people to start having these discussions about mental health. And it doesn't even have to be with a lot of people. Like get you mm-hmm. one good friend that's really all that you need. One good friend that you can speak to these things about. You don't need, you know, 20 people that you really absolutely know. You just get one person that you can share your life with. And that's really all that you need in life.

And sometimes that's where counseling connects too. Absolutely. That's your one friend and that's self-care and that's, you going to see someone who has the margin to be that person to hear the part where you're getting real with.

Absolutely. I'm a big fan of counseling. I hope everybody is able to do that at some point in their life because Yeah. It's helped me to think about things that I would not by myself be thinking about. It's so important, I think

Mm-hmm. .

So why couldn't just God do that?

Well, God uses other people like God works through when Jesus Yeah. Came to the world and when he ascended, he said, you are now the body of Christ. And so he made us for one another. I mean, yes, he could speak with a loud booming voice out of heaven. More often than not he speaks through other people. So I think God does do it. He just uses us as the hand, the hands and the feet of Jesus.

Hmm. That's good. One of the things I love that I'm seeing kind of as a theme in this is that both the, the uphill climb and kind of the, the peak and on the other side of it, like they all happen in these small, um, choices in, in, in places. Mm-hmm. . So whether it's like diving into, uh, like a dark place or coming out of it, neither of those things are really happening like in big, um, moments. Mm-hmm. , they're happening in, in small decisions. And, but also, um, so like you're talking about, okay, I could have celebrated this people magazine issue or I could DoorDash and and chill and that's like, that's a small decision. Right. And then, but also a small decision for someone to pick up the phone and say, Hey, I'm thinking about you right now. Yeah. And, and gosh, I think it's really, um, incredible the power of our small decisions.

Hmm. Um, and, and those, those smallest things. So I think as I'm thinking about this, I'm kind of both encouraged and, and, and just placing more value on that, just thinking like, in my own life. Okay. It's not even though I've got a big hill to climb Hmm. It's not about the whole journey, but it's about the step I'm gonna take mm-hmm. today mm-hmm. . Yeah. And also when I'm thinking about those people around me, that even though my voice may, may sound be small or my, my part may be a small part, um, it could have eternal value for someone else to speak and, and be in there. Um, so that's really incredible. And I just wanna say as an aside, cuz um, this is the most I've, I've seen you like in other spaces and kind of seen you do your artist thing and I think you really carry Jesus with you so well mm-hmm.

Because, and, and I, and I wanna say this in, um, in a really honest way because I think you bring the joy of Christ with you and people see that on your face. That's why people love you. Mm-hmm. and, and it's so evident. Right. But I think Jesus also brought reality. Yeah. And, um, and I think that's what you're doing in this conversation and in this book mm-hmm. . Um, and to me that makes me so excited for, for what your ministry can bring and, and for what God is gonna do with you and your story. Um, because we all know that, that that's real life. Mm-hmm. , the people who are turning on the radio and listening to your music, that's the life that they're in. Um, it's not one or the other, but we're holding these things, uh, in tandem. It's good, Chris. And, and I think you're doing that beautifully.

Thank you. It's very encouraging. I appreciate

That. So now, um, we would like to, uh, pivot one more time. , um, no, we, we have this little 10,000 thoughts thing that we've got like four questions that you have to do. Quick answers too. Okay. Okay. You ready? Yeah. Cats versus dogs Go dogs. a ob

Obviously

A song you wish you wrote.

Um, I can only imagine. Hmm.

Big

Time. Got all. Yes. Totally. I mean, just, that's a financial thing. , uh, favorite Instagram account that you can share? Um,

Instagram. Can I do Twitter instead? I'm going

Yeah.

Yeah. It's called the Dodo. It shows all these pet, cute pet videos and I'm obsess

Now even, even if it's cats,

I'll even watch the cat ones cuz they're cute.

. Okay. Okay. Okay, last one. Pet peeve. I wanna know pet peeve. Slow

Drivers in the fast lane. Scoot over one lane, please. That gets on my nerves.

I'm on. Come on girl, please. Um, thank you so much, Mandisa. Yes. Thank you. So appreciate you. She's an incredible woman. I love her. Yeah. Uh, her vulnerability obviously is beautiful. And this is, you know, what I love is, this is not like a new issue for Mandy, right. This is not something that she's just struggling with for the first time and it's like, oh gosh, you're gonna get through this. I mean, this has been an ongoing thing and I love that she just keeps coming back, which is so beautiful.

Mm-hmm. . Right. And you know, she, she has an awareness with how much community helps her Right. Keep coming back. Right. And depression and those kind of struggles every day. They're kind of unpredictable. Mm-hmm. , you don't really know, um, how heavy or how quick they come. Yeah. And the beauty of a community almost understanding this is part of the deal and so we'll always be around is so important. Yeah. And just finding the people who can do that as well. Mm-hmm. . And I think she sh in her story, you can kind of hear her feel very comfortable with them knowing that part of her Yeah. Mm-hmm. that side of her and that's, that's super important, uh, because depression makes you feel alone and she wasn't. Yeah. And so that's a big part of her

Story. And who are those people that we could be doing that too in four?

Right.

So who are those people in your world? Mm-hmm. , who are the people that you could be doing that for? I've got some friends that would say, I have nobody that would do that for me. Mm. And I guess an encouragement for them might be say, who are you doing that for? Mm-hmm. is what, you know mm-hmm. , we complain about certain things, but it's like, Anne, we, what's my role in that? Mm-hmm. .

Right.

But I love

Bring our whole self, you know, and I think she did that in the interview, but she's had to do that in her relationships too. Right. You know, so she's had to be vulnerable in all of these places and that gives you opportunity then to be that and receive that from other people. Yeah.

Uh, I loved she talked, well we talked about grief, which is obviously something that we talk about a bunch,

Man. I think the more episodes we do, the more we realize people are somewhat grieving something at all times. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Yeah. And they just don't know it. Yeah. And so they respond in so many different ways. They cope in so many different ways because they can't pinpoint or validate that they're grieving or mourning something. Yeah. And so she talks about the way she copes with food and a bunch of other things and how she starts to restructure or rethink her view of comfort and what comfort might be. Maybe, um, a different choice of food, maybe reaching out to a friend instead of, um, you know, escaping. Uh, she did real, like, it was such a great conversation about not really making things bad, but checking motives of why we're going

Through these things. So good.

It was

Awesome. People think about that with us. Mm-hmm. , that motives thing. Uh, I love the small decisions make big impacts. Yes.

Chris highlighted it, he just wrapped it all up in a theme and I was like, that's what it is. Yeah.

Swish

At least . At

Least . You would wait for that. He

Said, when can

I come in with this? Uh, so the practice that we have for this week is, uh, when you start to reach for the thing that doesn't truly comfort is that, was that right? I'm

Ready. That right. You start to reach for things that don't comfort. Yeah. Yeah. Don't fill the void.

Comfort when

You start to start

And things that don't

Fulfill and then don't fulfill, uh, text a friend, go for a walk. Take a break from social media.

Ooh, let's go just

Rethink what exactly am I seeking? Am I seeking company? Mm-hmm. . Um, how can I, how can I look for that? Um, instead of that go-to thing that might almost put a bandaid over the thing that's, that's kind of haunting you or paralyzing you today. And that's hard. You know, be patient with yourself. But I think think outside the box. What could be so much more beneficial for me right now if I pause to think truly how I need Jesus right now. Yeah.

Okay. So do that. I was waiting for your line. Easy, easy,

Easy. What was your line again? At least? Yeah, I didn't feel like it worked there

And that didn't, didn't work there. Yeah. And uh, Tim Timmons here.

Hey

Tim. Hey. Maga Magaha.

Who knows

? Uh, I, we want to think if your name is Anne.

Any Anne Iyan or is it a

Specific Anne? It's Anne J

Oh, okay.

And it's a cool last name. We don't say last names, just, I don't know. I haven't said last names. It feels a little weird.

We're not docs people. Yeah.

That's the thing I just we're thankful for you

Probably find on Instagram if you kill

Me. Oh boy. You

Know,

You, you totally could find me. You love Instagram. Um, and j thank you for partnering with us financially. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Also Lynn a

Thanks Lynn.

Thank you Lynn.

A thank you. Truly. It's really a gift and we're totally honored that you'd partner with 10,000 minutes and help us keep doing this and all the other stuff that we are, um, excited about. So thank you. And if you'd like to like, subscribe and leave a comment,

10 outta 10 rates.

10 outta 10 rates. Nothing under that. Five

Outta five, but Sure. I think they changed it for season two. It's

Okay. I

Like it. I heard my requests. , you emailed. They heard us. Please. I sent a couple things into Apple.

Yeah. So 10 out 10, that thing you guys, if there's a five outta five fo show, no fours, no threes, no twos nos. If

You're not gonna rate us all the way, keep scrolling.

Yeah. Just keep, I mean, does, don't even waste your time. Why

Would you?

Yeah. I mean, you've gotten this far outta the podcast for sure.

. I mean, if you flung out this long, you're a five, I mean,

Yeah. Mm-hmm. . Okay. Actions speak louder than words. Well, Chris, I think you're a five out of 10.