 Saphira, this is the Super Friends Latinx playwriting hour. I know I mixed that up just now, but I wanted to welcome you to this incredible Zoom hangout that we've been doing for the last six weeks now. And we're so excited to have you here. I haven't seen you in a while. I don't think I'm trying to remember the last time I saw you was in an LA or? Maybe it was LA, yeah, yeah. OK, cool. So feel free to, like, there are a few folks who are here. We have a broad spectrum of people who are new to playwriting, new to screenwriting. There's some people who have been either in another discipline, like directing or acting, and they're interested in pursuing writing. That's me. And then there are folks who have put away the pen or the laptop for a long time and are coming back to it while we're all quarantined together. So this is just a space for everyone to share and get insight from the very best, the folks who have the biggest hearts. And you immediately came to mind, and that's why I reached out to you. So welcome, Josefina. Well, thank you. Yeah. I love to teach. It's so weird because I haven't on phone and computer. All right. OK, whatever. That's totally fine. I'm going to let you get started and then we'll just go. We'll talk again in about half an hour during the Q&A. Yes. So I'm keeping track of time. But if I go, you say, hey, it's still 30. We've got to get to the question. And I'll be like, yes. OK. Well, thank you so much for those of you joining me. I love to teach writing. I've been writing since I was five years old. I've always known I was going to be a writer. So I'm very fortunate and lucky that I already had a writing career by the time I was 18 years old. And I'm already 51. So I tell people, I have a lot of wisdom that I want to share. It's a lot of, you know, everybody wants to be a writer until you really sit down and write. And it's a tortured existence to be a writer sometimes. And I tell people, look, I want to save you at least 10 years of torture by giving you some of the secrets that I have found out. I am a, you know, I have a master's degree in screenwriting. That doesn't mean anything really less. But I do have a lot of years of wisdom. And I'm also training to be a curandera and a shaman. I've also studied hypnotherapy. I've taken all these healing, therapy, spirituality. I basically have used writing as my healing. I really tell people, had I not taken up writing, I would commit a suicide. I tell people, I took, instead of taking a knife to my wrist, I took a pen to the page. And that saved my life. So sometimes people think, oh my god, you're just too passionate about it. And I said, you know what, writing saved my life. And I don't mean that. It's like, oh my god, writing saved my life. No, no, no. I tell people, writing saved my life. And I teach writing because I know that it has saved the lives of other people that I've trained. And I don't mean to say like, oh my god, I saved the lives. It's more like, no, no, no. I help them connect with something divine within them that took them to a different place. We all have different types of voices that speak to us. And I actually know what those voices are. But anyway, at Q&A, I'm happy to talk about a bunch of deep, profound stuff because I noticed that a lot of people teach writing, but they teach the surface of writing. And I tell people, look, anyone can do that, but I'm gonna teach you stuff that scares the hell out of people because nobody wants to go there unless you're really brave. And I think writers are really brave for that reason. Okay, so we're gonna do really quick writing exercises. And one of the ways that, and again, because I don't have a timer and my phone's being used for this anyway, is I normally tell people that, look, the way you overcome writer's block is by using a timer. You know, everybody wants to write until you sit down and you write. And the reason most people can't write is because as soon as you think about writing, you are not writing. Writing is an act of receiving information and not questioning it or challenging it, just receiving it. And editing is the act of then looking at the information, looking at the information that you've gotten and then editing it. So there are two different parts of your brain that do different things. I have attention deficit disorder. If you can't tell by my gestures, my eyes, like I'm a little too passionate. Even for Latina, I'm a little too passionate, you know? And one of the things about my ADV that's a gift is that I quickly, as soon as I think it, I feel it, I know it, I have very fast reflexes. And so a lot of stuff doesn't get censored the way it normally does with a person with a regular brain. And that's one of the advantages I have. That's why I'm so prolific. That's why I've written so much material. That's why I can write a play in like a day. Like I, anyway. So, okay, so jumping back in. So we cannot think about writing and we have to feel writing. We have to be with the chaos. Most people are uncomfortable being with chaos. And me, because I have attention deficit disorder, I am constantly in chaos. I am constantly having to, I take in way too much information and I constantly have to make peace with it and find the connections. My brain just operates differently. So, you know, I tell people, there's no such thing as writer's block, but there is writer's judgment because the part of you that's creative, that really creates is the part of you that's, I would say, you know, like people say, it's your right, right, right? It's this creative side of you. The part of you that thinks and edits is this other side of you, right? It's more analytical and we need both to be a writer, but we have to know when to use them, right? I tell people, look, if you say, if you can't write, if you think you can't write, sit down and in one minute, right? As fast as you can, all the reasons why you can't write and you're going to see that you can write and because you're going to write all the judgments you have about why you're writing sucks. And the thing is, nobody sets out to be a bad writer. Nobody says, no, let me write a really shitty play so I will be humiliated. Let me write something that people are going to laugh at me, right? And so you kind of need to give yourself permission to be really, really bad, to be really, really good. And most of us are like, no, no, no, I wanna be impressed people with my writing. As soon as you think about what the result is of your writing, you're gonna be like, you can't do it. So I use a timer and I make people write as fast as they can because the part of you that's conscious tries to keep up with the timer, so it's busy doing something while the unconscious part of you is just sending you information. It's almost like we open the door to the unconscious mind for one minute and we're allowed to receive information. And your unconscious mind is the part of you that most of us aren't really in tune with. Sometimes when we get triggered, when we get images, we get all sorts of things that we don't know where they come from. That's the unconscious mind trying to give you a message. And I deal a lot with that. I coach people with writing. I do a lot of spiritual work where we have to do that. Any of, okay. So I'm gonna do a series of little exercises and I'm gonna go very fast. We're not gonna do the timer because it's very hard to do timing and then, you know, and so I'm just gonna walk you through these questions and, okay. So the first one is a scenario where you imagine, okay. If you want, you can close your eyes and I'll just walk you through it. That way we don't have to write it in a minute and like, you know. So you close your eyes if you want to. If not, then just, you know, consider this. I tell people in my writing workshops, close your eyes and imagine the very last day of your life. And if your ego goes, oh, I don't wanna think about dying. Then you say, okay, I'm 120 years old, okay. That will, your ego will go, okay, I'm 120. Okay, I live my life. So you imagine yourself on your deathbed and you're either at a hospital or you are at, you know, in your bed at home and you're surrounded by family. And you know that you have one last breath left in you. And you wanna say the most powerful thing with that one last breath. And here's the thing, you're surrounded by family. So there's a little girl or a little boy that looks exactly like you who's five years old around that age. And he takes your hand and you take his or her hand and you say, you tell them the most powerful thing you learned about being human, about your life. The most powerful thing that you learned that if they knew, then they would have an amazing life, an incredible life, you know? So what is it? It's very short because you have one last breath left in you and it's not a like a huge breath, it's like a, okay? And so what do you say to the five year old that looks exactly like you, okay? And it's always said in the affirmative. It's never like, I, Miha, don't forget to pay your parking tickets. Like that's not it, okay? Or I, Miha, you should have bought a bigger car or oh, you should have got another degree. It's something really simple and really like just so simple that a five year old could understand this five year old, if they got it, like from the very beginning, they would have an amazing life, okay? So write that down. And this is an example. Mine would be, you are powerful, okay? So you write that down. And at the end, I'm gonna explain to you all these things, okay? So the second one is imagine that you are visually writing, right? You're writing and you have a deadline and you're like, ah, and it's three in the morning and you're writing and you have to make this deadline and you're like, oh, and then there's a knock at the door. And then you're like, and you're like, you hear knock at the door at three in the morning, you're like, oh, I'm not gonna answer. And then the knock comes again. And you're like, okay, I'm not gonna answer. Okay, that's kind of a knock again. And you're kind of just ignoring it, like, ah, ah, ah, and it keeps knocking. And so you get so pissed off, you're like, ah, who's at the freaking door? So you go to the door and you're like, ah, you open the door and it's La Muerte, it's death outside your door. And death says, hi, you know, I'm here for you, let's go. Okay, and you're like, ah, and then you're like, ah, so the question is, or the writing assignment would normally be, what would you tell death to convince her not to take you? What do you do? What do you say? How do you convince death not to take you? So you write that down, right? And it could be, you know, I negotiate, I joke with death, I trick her, I challenge her authority. I go with her and I say, oh my God, how long have, you know, like, why did it take you so long? So write down what you would tell death, what you would do, okay? Because then that's informing, okay? And I see that some of you are from my writing class, some of my students are here, so great to see you. Anyway, so all right, got that? So the third one is, and again, you know, I give you a minute and I'd ask you, think of a moment in your life, maybe around the age of five, between five and 11, when you realized you didn't belong in your family, okay? And so you write the scene where you realize, oh, I don't belong in this family, I'm different. And then you write down, write down, how are you different? What judgment did you make about yourself as to why you didn't belong to this family? What made you different? I mean, like, you know, some people are artists born into families, into a family of doctors. And they're like, oh my God, everybody here is a doctor, wants to be a doctor and believes in science and I'm an artist, you know? Or, oh my God, I'm the darkest member of my family. Or, oh my God, everyone here, I'm the most attractive member of my family and everyone's jealous of me because I'm a light-skinned pretty girl. You know, like there's something, a realization you made you didn't belong to your family. Okay? So the next question is, or writing assignment would be, for one minute, we would write this exercise where you think of the moment between the age of 12 and 14, you're about 12 or 14, where you realize that you don't belong to a group. Okay? Somehow you're not cool enough, you're not pretty enough, you're not popular enough, you're an immigrant, you're documented, you're poor, you're ugly, you're beautiful, you're funny, they're not, you know, like think of all the ways, well, I mean, there's always a particular moment in your life where you realize you did not belong. Okay? And then what was the judgment you made about yourself? As to why you didn't belong. And then secondly, how did you compensate for that? Like how did you make up for it? Like if you really wanted to be a part of that group, what did you give up? What did you give up to belong to that group? Or did you say, oh, I don't belong, forget it. I don't belong anywhere. So that would be a scene that we were right. Okay. And then the last one would be, think of a time in your life between the ages of 18 and 21, where you were on your own, maybe you moved out of your house, or maybe you were still living with your parents, but you were kind of on your own trying to make it on your own and you failed. But you sucked at something and you're like, oh my God, I have to call my mom and my dad to help me. Or oh my God, I'm alone and I can't pay my rent or oh my God, I'm in jail, you know. Think of that moment in your life around that age where you could not make it, where you could not contribute. Oh, let me see it. Okay. Can you still see me? I called K-Min. Okay, all right. Okay, hopefully I've led you through that. Okay, so I'll just do a really quick rundown. The first one is imagine your last day on earth, your last breath, right? The second one is death comes for you. And what do you say to death? So she won't take you. And the third one is think of a moment when you didn't belong in your family. And the fourth one is think of a moment in your life when you didn't belong to a group. The fifth one is think of a moment when you didn't belong, when you could not, when you couldn't live, well, basically when you couldn't take care of yourself. Okay. And then I'm gonna throw bones, man. Okay. And maybe not everyone has this moment, but if you do think of a time where maybe you prayed to God or the creator or the divine or source or the devil, depending who you are. I don't know, you know, or some Orisha, right? And you asked for a favor or a miracle and nothing happened. Or you felt like God wasn't there. God didn't answer your miracle. You're pleading, you know, you asked for something and it didn't happen. Okay. Now it's hard to, it's hard to engage people because I can't hear most everyone, right? Everyone's muted. So, but, but I'm hoping you did it or at least you challenged yourself or at least you wrote down these exercises and maybe you can do them at a later time. Oh, and here's my little commercial blog. Okay. I have a website called josefinalopez.biz and on my website, there's something called a Latino Screenwriting Academy and I did a five day course in screenwriting. I basically wanted to save people the thousands of dollars to go to, to get an MFA in screenwriting because I think it's a scam personally, but you can ask me about that. And I have like tons of videos on screenwriting and the business. So if you're interested in becoming a playwright who wants to be a screenwriter, most of your answers will be answered there. And so then, yeah, so check it out because a lot of what I'm talking, there's so many handouts, so much information, including how to get an agent, intellectual property, like everything you wanted to know about being a screenwriter and a professional writer, all the material is there and it's free, okay? So yeah, so anything I'm telling you that you're like, oh, she went too fast, I don't get it, what about the videos, the handouts, they're all there. Okay, so now I'm gonna explain something really quickly, because I only have 13 minutes before I do Q and A. So one of the things that I have found out, I've been writing since I was five years old, right? So I'm 51, right? So I'm way ahead of most people as far as being a writer because I was very fortunate that, and again, most people don't believe this and that's okay. I'm also a past life regression hypnotherapist as well as I'm intuitive and a bunch of other skills that I have that I found out recently, why I have those skills anyway. And in a past life, I was a playwright and an actress. So I was born, I was 10 years old, I was trying to start a theater in my backyard. I had not seen a play in my life and I was trying to build one. My dad was like, what are you doing? Why are you putting this wood like this? I was trying to make a stage and he was like, and I'm like, dad, I'm gonna have a show in the backyard. He's like a theater? And so I know that I just, I was born knowing a lot of things. So I'm gonna share a lot of this. Okay, so the reason we write, and even though some people say, no, I just write because it's a hobby, just because like, the reason we write is because we have to recreate our trauma in order to heal it. And people can argue with me and I'll be like, that's right, that's right, you know, whatever. I'll be like, look, I've been doing this for so long that I tell people, look, it's free therapy. And here's the thing, trauma takes about 10 years to heal, right? And I remember at the Latino Latin Alliance in Boston, I mentioned this, how most of the stuff you're writing now is a trauma that's at least 10 years old because the unconscious mind will not allow you to tap into something that's very traumatic until about 10 years later, right? And I've been teaching writing for so long that anytime somebody gives me a story and it may be way out there in our space. I mean, I've had, I've heard everything. And then I quickly tap into what's the story really about? And oftentimes our unconscious mind will hide from us the real trauma in order to get us to talk about it because just like in dreams, we release a lot of stuff whether we're conscious or aware of it or understand it or not. It doesn't matter, it just needs to be processed. So oftentimes people will come up with stories that they don't know what the hell, they don't know what kind of imagery, what it means. And I will make sense. And when I make sense of it, when I make sense of it that people go, oh yes. Oftentimes people come in because, and not everyone, but it just tends to be that maybe because I'm this kind of person, I attract a lot of people who have sexual trauma that come to my writing classes. To the point now where I expect at least two to three of my students to be writing about being raped or molested and finally be able to talk about it. Not all trauma is sexual, but a lot of it is, okay? Anyway, so there are only four conflicts, right? Have you ever asked yourself, why are there only four conflicts, right? No matter what story you write, there are only four conflicts. There's man versus self, man versus man, man versus society and man versus nature, only four, right? Now I'm gonna break down some things for you, okay? Really quickly, and I'm like, okay. So the first one is the hospital, okay? The hospital, whatever you are gonna tell your five-year-old, that is what your soul is here to learn and that is what your soul is here to teach. So every play you write, the theme of every play you're gonna write is exactly what you're gonna try to tell that five-year-old, okay? I've written so many plays and movies and the theme is always you are powerful. I'm always trying to teach my protagonist that she is powerful and that she turns around and teaches other people that they are powerful. That is what my life's work is about because I'm here to learn that I'm powerful by empowering other people to know that they are powerful. You are here for another soul lesson and depending what you came up with, that is what you're here to teach and that is what you're here to learn, okay? And again, I'm gonna save you 10, 20 years of having to figure out, what am I really saying? Well, it comes down to that little sentence for that five-year-old because that five-year-old is your inner child that got traumatized at five-years-old, right? So it's that part of you that's completely open and full and can receive and grow and at five-years-old something traumatic happens to you and one of the things that people don't know is that at five-years-old, your brainwaves start changing. Your brainwaves, right? When you're born are really high, they're really high-pitched, they're really high frequency answer and they're in tune with the divine. At the age of five, you get kicked out of paradise because your brainwaves start changing and you start disconnecting with the divine, with the creator. I mean, that's the reason why little kids have imaginary friends is because they're still able to pick up on stuff that adults can't pick up on anyone, okay? So at age five, something traumatic happens which is your ego is born. You feel disconnected, so you create a false self which is your ego and so the exercise about death coming to get you, that's the birth of the ego So depending what you told death, like if death comes for you and you're like, oh my God, you can't take me because I'm too busy because I'm taking care of too many people. Well, you interpret it that you weren't worth it and you had to take care of people in order to justify your existence. And so then if you're here to be a powerful person but you're taking care of everybody and you're not being powerful, then we basically operate between what we hear to learn and the traumatic experience that happens at five years old that traumatizes you and sentences you to limiting belief that didn't trap you in a life where you're not powerful, you're not experiencing love, you're not experiencing unconditional love, all these things that we're here to do, right? So you're caught between your limiting belief and your possibility and your life is always the duality of these two thoughts. And the tension is always there of which one's gonna win, right? Your ego's always gonna make you survive and say, oh no, no, no, you're not good enough so you gotta take care of people, you gotta be a caretaker because that's how you survive, okay? That's how people love you, that's how you deserve to be here and to have people care for you because you're not, and anyway, everyone has their own trauma drama, okay? Everybody, nobody gets out of this because we actually, and this is the biggest secret, okay? And you may think this is crazy. Before we reincarnate, we have to write a blueprint which is a play or a screenplay, okay? Depending on what you wanna call it. And in this story, you have to come up with a theme which is what you learn at the end of your life which is the traumatic experience, the inciting incident that starts your journey, okay? And then there's all these other conflicts, okay? We're gonna look at those right now. And we actually write the story and when you're psychic, you actually can see these things up ahead, like because I've been writing for so long, I'm able to predict stuff that's gonna happen in my life. When people tell me these two things, I can usually predict what's gonna happen in their life because it's a story that you wrote and it can only, there's only so many possibilities in that story. Anyway, I'll talk more about that if you're curious, okay? So the third one is the moment when you just got, when you realize you didn't belong to your family, okay, so the first conflict is man versus self, okay? Man versus self is that moment when at five years old, when your ego comes in and you realize there's something wrong here, I'm disconnected, I feel alone and nobody cares, okay? The second conflict is man versus man, okay? And that usually happens when you don't belong in your family, when you have a conflict with your mom, your dad, a member of your family, it could also be with kids in the playground but it usually tends to be in your family because it happens before the age of 11, okay? Around 12, your brainwaves change a little bit more, right? So, okay, so the man versus society is the trauma that you've had at feeling like you don't belong to a group, okay? And so that's man versus society. And then the one where you can't make it on your own, you tried, you can't contribute to society, actually, actually, that one is old, I'm sorry, I'm jumping around here. The trauma where you don't belong to a group could be man versus man or man versus society. The trauma where you can't make it on your own and contribute to society or even take care of yourself is the trauma of man versus society, man versus nature. And also, if you've ever been let down by God or you think you were let down by God, if you have an addiction, right? Most people that have addictions have this conflict which is they feel that God abandoned them. And so man versus nature is really feeling abandoned by God, okay? So these four conflicts are all the stories because these are the places where we got disconnected from God, I mean, from the divine, from ourselves, from our family, from our community and from God, okay? These are the four ways you disconnect. And we disconnect when we make judgments about ourselves that we don't belong, we're not good enough, I don't wanna be here. And then what we do is we try to put on a fake persona. We say, okay, I'm not popular enough, so what do I have to do to be popular, to be accepted? That's when we become inauthentic, okay? So usually stories are about somebody who gets triggered to have to look at something from the past that they don't wanna see, but life forces them to see it finally. And then they resist, resist, they finally see it and then they realize, oh my God, I did this. This happened, this trauma happened, that I tried to push away or, and here's the thing, we recreate our trauma over and over and over until we become aware of it. The reason I know this is because I'm an autistic director of a theater and actors come in and if I'm not careful, they're going to try and work out their trauma drama with their father or mother and they're gonna project it onto me and they want me to play the role of their mom with her dad and I won't do that. Because as soon as I see it, I'm like, I'm not gonna play because I'm a really good playwright. So whatever drama you're gonna throw at me, I know what play I'm in and I'm not gonna play it. Unless you recruited me to consciously play the role of your mom, your dad, the authority figure that rejected you, the popular role that rejected you, I go, nope, I'm not gonna play that game. So oftentimes when people come into my playwriting class, they have a certain trauma that they're gonna put on paper instead of having to live out loud now. All of us are living a trauma drama out loud, but we're not aware until we become aware that we stop it and we go, oh my God, I'm doing it again. I am doing it again. I'm in high school. The reason people are not powerful is because when you have to stand up to authority or to someone that triggered you to be back in a moment that reminds you of being 5, 12, 18, is because instead of being president saying, no, I am powerful, I consciously choose this, which is the climax of every story, someone being aware, they have the power to choose and not react. And what happens when people get triggered and they react, they go back to being 5, 12, 18, and they're not powerful. They can't stand up as full human beings who are consciously choosing to be powerful and to change their life forever. Anyway, so that's it. I mean, that is really trauma drama for you. And every writing class I do, I basically teach this because yeah, no matter what you write, you're writing about these trauma dramas and you may say, no, no, that's not true. I said, well, you know what? Your first play will definitely be about this. But I've been writing so many plays that I go, oh my God, how many plays does it take to finally heal my relationship with my mother? About 10. Anyway, okay, it's still 30. So I'm gonna take questions now. I know there was a lot and maybe I was confused right here and there. So please ask away. Yeah, thank you so much. That was incredible. I just wanna say yay for all of that. I think some of the things that you've mentioned are really powerful and I just have just a few questions before opening up to the group. One of them is kind of funny and the other one's related to what you just talked about the first one is, I'll start with the funny one. So you wrote Simply Maria when you were 18 and real women have curves at 21. Yeah. Oh my God. I thought I wrote at 19 and at 21 I had the first production. Right. Yeah. What were you, were you asking yourself like where do I go from here? Or at that point were you thinking some of the when you were writing those plays were you thinking some of the things that you were sharing with us just now? You know, no, because I wasn't aware of this until maybe five, 10 years ago. I've done so much therapy, healing. I've done so much inner work, spiritual work that it became clear to me that I said this is the different ways we disconnect from ourselves. And that's, but no, I wasn't aware because, you know, when I was writing it was raw. And the other thing that people don't know and I tell people, I'm being honest with you here I really feel that I downloaded Real Women Have Curves because I go, I'm 51 and I'm still learning so many profound lessons from that play. And obviously there were so many rewrites and so much work after I wrote it. But then I said, I channeled it or I downloaded it because the scene where women undress themselves practically wrote itself. I basically was taking dictation for the divine for the sacred feminine. I tell people, look, I thought it was Real Women Have Curves because it was like curvy bodies. And I said, no curves, what it really means is, you know this is the symbol, this eight symbol upset the eight symbol is the symbol of the sacred feminine. Okay, that's the Holy Spirit and doing this divine work. And what I realized is that the message I was getting at 19 was all women are sacred. Write a story where women are goddesses that women own this sacred energy because society, humanity needs the sacred feminine energy and your play conveys that because I've seen people transform after seeing these women take off their clothes and have this beautiful moment like the energy changes in the room. And I am very sensitive in that way that I can tell that we're divesting ourselves of shame but we're also bringing in like this divine feminine energy and that's how come back I think success has been so, the play hasn't so successful because something happens by witnessing these women like own their inner goddess and these curves, which is the Holy Spirit. The second question I have, and we, before we went live we were talking about the council production the 30th anniversary of real women up in San Francisco which was going to be directed by Diane and then she got sick and passed away suddenly, unfortunately. What, my question is related to and you talked about actresses briefly when you encountered them. When you, you had to take Diane's place for a moment before the show was canceled but I was curious, it's 30 years later when you encounter actors today who may have not even been like aware of this play like aware of this play 30 years ago. What do you say to the assembled? What do you say to the actors who are about to engage in this work that you wrote when you were 21 and now with all of this accumulated wisdom that you have what kind of message do you send? What do you share with them? Well, I mean, I directed for three weeks and I was constantly giving wisdom but the biggest one would be that the secret to doing a great job as an actress in this play is to have fun, is to really love each woman and to have fun together because something magical happens when we see women together having fun and gossiping. So as soon as women get that, we play out the fun because I said, you know there's so many tragic stories about our people our community and immigration that the reason this play is successful is because it's a comedy because it's about the dignity it takes to keep going in the face of oppression and evil and quarrel for things, you know and to me that's been the secret of my life and my success is that no matter how bad it gets you keep going and you keep a sense of humor about it and your sense of humor is the way you show the dignity that it takes to be the bad guy and somebody else's story. So even with the trauma you still try to find the joy just like what Mexicanos do all the time, right? You through the pain you laugh. I love the fact that our culture celebrates death. You know, to me it's like I was aware of death since I was five years old. I had a traumatic experience where my mother and my brother were arguing about how the world was going to end. My mother was saying that it was gonna end because in the Bible, God was gonna destroy the earth and my brother who was only seven no, he was like 12 or whatever. He was saying, oh no, no there are so many atomic bombs man is gonna destroy the earth. And I was five. So I was like, oh my God God is gonna destroy the world or man. And in that moment I was so freaked out that I said, God then what's the point of being alive? And then I heard a voice say to me to make a difference, to celebrate that we lived it all. And I was like, okay. So for me I think I'm very funny because I'm constantly aware that we're gonna die. So to me it's terrible what's happening with the virus but this is kind of my awareness. I've always been like you could die. Anytime you could die. So you might as well tell the truth. Sometimes people don't appreciate the fact that I'm just so bold and in your face. But I go, I find dead five minutes I'm gonna tell you I love you, I'm gonna tell you I don't like what you're doing. And anyway, so in my writing, I am kind of like that. It is kind of like, no, I'm gonna tell you the things that we're afraid to talk about because everyone thinks they're gonna live forever. I am because I have a lot of spiritual work I have to do and I can't get out of it. And I tell you, because I almost died six times and I'm told, no, you can't die. You've got too much spiritual work to do. I got, okay. So ironically, I've been living my whole life as I was gonna die the next day. And then I'm like, oh, I'm supposed to live forever anyway. Okay, all right, yeah. All right, I'm gonna let other folks ask questions. I'm gonna give the floor to moderate it. Wonderful. The first hand I see up is from Juan Ramirez. You are unmuted. Hey, how are you doing? You can hear me, right? Hi, thank you for doing this. Thank you everybody for doing this. I always loved these things. You were talking a lot about, you can hear me? Yeah, yeah. Okay, you were talking a lot about. Yeah, I knew it. Okay, you were talking a lot about healing and writing to heal and using that trauma, right? And I know a lot of like my sort of generation of playwrights are always worried about exploiting trauma, right? On stage or on film. And I have my own. That's all we have. That's all we have. Everything has to be told already. Right, so the same exact way. But what I do wonder is that where do you know where the thin line is between exploiting or not? And can anyone tell you that? You're not exploiting your trauma because, I mean, like, especially as playwrights, like we're not getting rich being playwrights, okay? So let's start off with that, okay? Secondly, if you are courageous enough to share it, even if people may say, oh my God, you're so self-indulgent. I'd be like, you know what? If this helps one person for not killing themselves, well, guess what? So the idea of exploiting thing is somebody's ego telling you, don't talk about that because it triggers me. It makes me uncomfortable that you're so open to talk about your pain when I can't handle mine, right? Because we have to be the courageous people to talk about all the uncomfortable things. You know, like I'm writing a play called Men Drink Water, right? And it's about how society gives men permission to tap into their feelings only when they're drunk and the beer companies exploit that. And I think it's sad and tragic. And I also often think that as a feminist, I really have to start telling stories about men because they can't tell those stories. There are a lot of stories that men cannot tell, so women must tell them, right? So women, I recruit you to tell all the secrets that men have told you. I mean, obviously, you know, don't abuse their, you know, but there's a lot of secrets that men tell me that they cannot write about. Then I go, well, then I'm gonna have to, you know, I wrote one of the first plays on homosexuality, it's called Food for the Dead. And I wrote it when I was 19, no, 1920, right? And I got criticized for it. And I said, you know, okay, I'm not a gay man, but all the gay men are not writing about this. But I get to hear their pain and suffering. So many men confess to me their sexual trauma, the alcoholism, the addiction, that I feel they're not even gonna write about this because there's an unspoken agreement that men can't ask for help and they can't talk about this, especially Latino men. So I, okay, well, then I'm gonna write those plays. So it's better than you write that play Juan Ramirez than I write it, right? So go ahead and exploit that trauma and, you know, just keep writing about it because that way men won't kill themselves, right? And men don't, you know, Latino men don't commit suicide, like they do other stuff, they put some in danger. You know, a lot of gang members don't commit suicide, they walk into enemy territory, right? And there are a lot of men in pain. So the more men who are courageous enough to talk about it, the better. So Juan, keep writing. I appreciate that, thank you. Next up, we have Vanique. Vanique, you are unmuted. Hi, Josefina. Que placer, like really, me encantas. You mentioned the trauma takes 10 years to heal. Can you talk a little bit? Most trauma, sometimes group trauma takes longer. Like if you noticed a lot of movies about slavery in this country or genocides, take about a little longer, right? A lot of stories about the Chicano experience are barely coming out. Sometimes group trauma takes longer. So naturally the unconscious mind processes in about 10, but if it's really traumatic, depending the severity of it, it may take 20, 30, 40, 50, 100, depends, okay? But 10 is about the standard. Sure, and I appreciate that. And my question is more, well, I'm asking you to maybe speak a little bit about the differences and similarities or where you come from, you yourself, when you write before trauma is healed and about traumas that are healed or even healing, what are those differences and similarities? Here's the thing is, okay? I've seen people try to write about trauma that's under 10 years old and they usually don't come back to my class. And I tell them, hey, you may not be ready to write about this. So don't worry if you try to write it and you just get blocked, okay? Your unconscious mind, the job of the unconscious mind is to keep you sane and safe. So if there's trauma that you're saying, I wanna see it and you're not ready for it, your unconscious mind is saying, whoop, blocking it. So just know that that's also what happens. And I tell people, why don't you write about a trauma that's at least 10 years old? And you'll see it'll be easier. The longer the trauma has happened, the easier it'll be to access it. So you can't really, I mean, you could if you're a courageous person like me, where you're like, okay, give it to me. I wanna suffer, I wanna cry. I wanna suffer to cry. I can cry through anything. I tell people, my superpower is that I can cry and I can cry and I can still tell you the truth and I can be in your face and I don't stop. My tears don't shame me into silence, right? But most people can't do that because as soon as the tears come in, most people shut it down. And the thing is, the secret to being a great writer is to write when the tears come and keep going there, keep going there, keep going there because you'll get through it. You know, whenever died of crying, you die from not crying. Gracias. Beautiful. Next up, we have Krista Gonzales. You are unmuted. Cool. Thank you and thank you for sharing your wisdom with us today, Josefina. My question is, when we do this really deep internal and externalized work, do you have regions or mindsets that you use in order to protect and nurture these wounds that you're communicating or exploring? Yes, you know, the greatest tool and the most simplest tool is that as soon as you start crying and you go, oh my God, and you get triggered, you go to pain, you ask yourself, what was the judgment I made about myself, okay? Because as soon as you identify how you judged yourself, then you can take your power back and you say, oh, I said I was worthless. You know, a lot of women who get raped, there's the trauma, the physical trauma of getting raped, and then there's the judgment you made about why you got raped, right? So if you could say, look, some asshole picked me because, you know, and most of the time, if you were molested as a child, you will attract a predator later on. And that's also why women get raped. And again, this is all stuff I know because I know. So then you have to say, okay, this person did this to me, but I'm the one who said I was dirty and worthless, okay? So a lot of our pain and suffering comes from the judgment we made because once we physically heal from a physical trauma, then judgment that really counts us forever, right? So once you say, hey, that guy did that horrible thing, but I'm the one who said terrible things. So I'm gonna forgive judgment because that was a false interpretation. I am in a beautiful future. I am goddess, not your sale. You make every trauma embedded is a judgment you made about yourself. The reason it still lives there is because your unconscious mind is, hey, remember this trauma? Well, you changed yourself to it because you made a judgment and you can't let go until you forgive yourself and you can let it go, okay? So every time I go into pain, for anything, my dreams come true. Oh my God. Okay, I did my play. Whatever rejection letter they sent me, see? No, your dreams are never gonna come true. And then you say, no. Failure is feedback, okay? Not for them, okay? But that's something I constantly do. And then I also take it back and salt water because that takes in trauma and negativity. I try to do it at least once a week and so I can handle anything emotional. I do a lot of spiritual work that requires me to, I'm an empath. So if you're in front of me and something really traumatic happened to you, I will absorb your negative energy and I will take it in my body or I will dump it energetically. And if not, then I definitely go take a bath and salt water. Thank you. So those are just, I could go on and on, but just to give you some quick answers. Great, next up we have Barbie. Let me go ahead and unmute you. All right, you're unmuted. Thank you. Well, thank you to everyone for being on this call and definitely say that first and thank you, Mr. Pina, for your time. Very powerful call. I was actually recommended to get on this call from my dear friend and so I've learned a lot. My question is what elements constitute a great story that involves trauma when there's so many stories of trauma that already exist? You know, if you're willing to go really deep and really look at your trauma, you know, cause here's the thing. Yeah, you know, everybody has a rape play, it seems, right? I mean, like the joke is not another rape play, not another rape movie. And then I tell people, look, if it takes a million rape plays and rape movies then that's what it's gonna take for men to stop raping women. And, you know, obviously men get raped as well, men to rape men, you know, or children, you know? So you have to write as many plays as it takes, right? So I think when you're really true to your experience, then I think it becomes very universal, right? I think, you know, I think, you know, because, and then I'm not saying you're writing a rape play, okay, so sorry to assume that because, yeah. But you just have to find, like, you know, there are plays you need to write for yourself, whether they get produced or not. If they can get produced, great, right? Obviously, you know, it may take, if there's a trauma that you go, oh my God, everybody's are written about this, you know, the Central American, this and that, blah, blah, blah, civil war, blah, blah, blah. You know, you go, okay, well, let me get it out emotionally. Let me write that play. But if you say, okay, I really wanna get this produced, you may have to say, well, what's an angle that hasn't been explored? You know, like the reason real women have curves has been so successful is because I could have easily written a drama about being deported and the fear of being deported, but instead I wrote a comedy, right? And I'm not saying that you should write comedies about traumatic experiences, but if you can find a comedic angle to a very traumatic experience, you're more likely to get produced. Because when you show something very funny about something very tragic, you immediately teach people how to empower themselves in a way that doesn't make them a victim, that makes them a victor, right? So my motto is I always, now I'm just writing comics. I'm saying I'm gonna find the comedic angle on alcoholism and men, okay? And so it's touchy, right? But I know that if I approach this angle, it's gonna be really funny. It's gonna be really touching and edgy. And then more people are willing to read it and watch it, right? Because I wrote a drama, it became a movie about people dying in the desert, right? I put my own money, I worked so hard, I could not get this distributed, okay? It was such a painful ride. And the thing is, is that I know people had written about the desert, people dying in the desert, but I took a very interesting thing enough, but I guess it wasn't commercial enough, anyway. So hopefully I've answered your question. Did that answer your question or do you have a more? Yeah, I mean, like it's the only followup that I would just say is just piggyback off that you just mentioned about like, if you are gonna write about a dramatic experience, frame it in a different tone, in this case, you choose comedy. So, but at some point, you do have to get to that place, right? That serious, right? Yeah, no, and you do, you do. And the thing is, you know, like I've written about like the rape of indigenous women during the conquista. So I know. But I always find the levity. You know, when something gets too heavy, you gotta go, how do I bring in a comedic relief? So if you're aware that it doesn't have to be laugh out loud comedy, but you have to know how deep to take someone and then how quickly to give them relief. And if you can keep doing that, they will consume it. Otherwise, they'll outright reject it, right? You know, I wrote about the murder women in Juarez and I use magical realism. It was a movie for HBO and I thought it was very important and I was very, you know, I handled it as best as I could, you know, but people didn't want to make it. It was too much. Even with all the magical realism and poetry, it still was too much. And then I realized, okay, this story is too real for some people. So sometimes certain traumas need a couple more years, you know, for people to finally be ready for them. That's also part of it. So just know that maybe you have a story and people already need to talk about, right? Like if there was some kind of war or genocide and you want to talk about it right away, people need like 10 years. Like, you know, when 9-Eleven happened, there were nobody was writing about 9-Eleven. Like nobody wanted to touch that subject. 10 years later, Hollywood made a movie about it and then the 9-Eleven movies came out. So sometimes the other thing too is that you have to be ready also, right? That when you do write about it, if it's presented on stage, then you're not gonna get triggered and that you're not gonna go, because you know, sometimes when people get really, I direct and produce plays all the time. So when people get really attached to their story and they won't let it go, I have to sit down with them and I go, there's theater and there's therapy. And if the story has to be exactly as you want it, then you're still too close to it. It's too precious, it's still sacred in a sense. So we can't do this play. Or I have to tell people, look, someone else needs to direct this play because you can't direct it because as a playwright, you're trying to control the way you're perceived because you haven't forgiven yourself about what you did in this story. And if you can't get someone else to direct it, then I don't think we should do this play because the play is gonna suffer because we're not being honest. Because you're too critical, you can't face it. It's still too raw. So, and again, by then it was too late, so we had to do the best, but normally when I see playwrights getting too attached and I go, you know what? You don't have to do it now, write another play. Write something, so that's how you'll know as well too if you're ready to write it, if you're ready to get it produced, if you're ready. Is if someone said, why don't we change it? Obviously they can't change the protagonist, they're not gonna tell you, oh, it has to be a boy. And then you're like, no, no, okay, there's a cannot. But there are some circumstances that we can change because it'll make for a better story. If you're okay with that, you said okay. But if you're like, no, no, no, it has to be this way, huh? Then you're like, no, no, no. You still haven't healed from it because you're not realizing that. Your job is to tell the best story that's gonna give the most powerful message that will empower people in the end because you're still caught up in having been believed and understood. And those are things that you need to work on yourself. Like the audience is not gonna give that to you or the director or the playwright. And it's better not to go into a, I think it's better not to go into a rehearsal process with you being wrong because then the actors become, your energy will create a hostile environment, okay? And I've seen all kinds of things. I've produced over 200 plays. So I've seen everything when people get triggered. And that's when they call me in. And they go, okay. We need to go down there on set because someone's got triggered and they're acting out and there are all kinds of things. And then I have to go and understand what happened and how to bring harmony back. Okay, hopefully I answered your question. You did either. Thank you so much. Okay, great. Okay, great. Next question is from Nora Montes. You are unmuted. Hello, Josefina. Pleasure. So I wanted to ask a little bit. And I apologize if you already kind of touched on this a little bit, but can you share an exercise that you do as a quenadero or as a playwright in yourself when you have been triggered or you see, you had just mentioned someone in the audience being triggered. What is something that you share with an audience in order to kind of ease that? Well, one of the things I do is I ground people because when people get triggered, they're not in their bodies. They go to other realms. They go to their past. They go to all kinds of places. And because I'm intuitive, I can instinctively know where they're at and I can pull you back down. So one of the things that I tell people, okay, imagine you're a kite and pull the kite down until you're in your body again and then tie the kite to your ankles. And then now grow roots into the center of the earth. Okay? And then if they can't do it, I'll pull them down energetically and then that makes them grounded. And then now the problem that triggered them, they're able to talk about it. Okay? You can't really help someone if they're not in their body because oftentimes when people are traumatized, they jump out of their body, right? And I've seen actors who come on stage and they're just so scattered and their eyes are not there and I energetically have to pull them down and tell them, okay, ground yourself. Or sometimes I even witnessed this, we had a performance that was incredible but the person, the actor who portrayed the role of this person who was a heroin addict was totally out of his body, completely traumatized because he had to relive this energy and he was so gone that I had to come in and he wasn't at the opening night party. And that's how I knew that something had gone wrong and I went and I worked with him for about 20 minutes and then he was finally able to be in his body because he had had a similar experience that happened in the play where he almost died. And so it triggered his death, his fear of dying and everything, it just, and he wasn't prepared for it. So that was one of, so that's one of the exercises I do. That's so many more, but I'll go with that. Okay? Thank you. I think we have one last question. Yes, yeah, we're coming up on time. We'll do one more. This one is from Natalie Delgado. You are unmuted. Hi, hola. I just wanna say thank you for speaking and taking the time to give us your thoughts. The question I have, can you hear me? Okay, cool. How do you step away from self-editing while writing your first draft? You have to give yourself permission to be really bad, okay? And if you grew up as a child where you were constantly abused or hit or criticized for not being perfect, you're gonna have a hard time with that, right? So one of the things I tell people is you have to give yourself permission to be really bad, to be really good, okay? You can never be great unless you're willing to be really bad and raw, you know? And so many of us got abused or criticized or humiliated for not getting a right the first time. So we have to deprogram ourselves to think we have to get it right, okay? And put this on your computer. No great playing has ever been written. It has only been rewritten, right? I tell people, look, it took 13 drafts. A real women have curves for the play to work, okay? I've written a screenplay that has taken like 25 drafts and it's still not ready. So just know that unless you're channeling God, you're never gonna get it right the first time, okay? So I tell myself, look, all I want is raw. And this is the metaphor I use. When you are brainstorming, get as much clay. I'm a sculptor, so get as much clay. And when you have tons of clay, then you can shape it. But imagine just getting a this much clay, right? Because you only have these few ideas, this few raw material. And you're trying to make this giant sculpture, you're not gonna be able to. No matter how much you edit, you're not gonna be able to create an amazing sculpture. So it's a matter of saying, look, right now I just need raw material. Raw paint, raw suffering, raw, raw, raw. And then I can shape it. So use that metaphor of like, you cannot sculpt something beautiful unless you have enough raw material. And that's where the chaos is, okay? And using the timer is the way you say, okay, if come up with 10 words about your play, what your play is about, and then write a minute for each, and then you'll get enough material. Anyway, there's so many other exercises. Again, if you go to Josefina Lopez.biz, Latino Screenwriting Academy, I have so much more material and exercises and videos and they're all free. And you can email me at latinoscreenwritingacademy at gmail.com if you have any more writing questions, okay? Thank you so much for joining me. And I love teaching. Anyway. Thank you. Everybody, let's give her a round of applause. Thank you so much Josefina. Yay. That was beautiful. Josefina, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Good luck with your writing, everybody. Keep writing. Keep writing. And hopefully we'll see each other again and have a burasso or whatever. That's right. We will have each other one day soon. Love you. Adios. Okay. Thank you, everybody. Thank you so much. We will be back next Friday with our next session and a quick howl around a plug. If you wanna get some writing done and tackle a few of these exercises, join us for Watch Me Work with Susan Laurie Parks at 2 p.m. Pacific, 5 p.m. Eastern. It'll start off with 15 minutes of free write time followed by a Q&A. So a great time to tackle a few of these writing exercises. Right. And it's this Friday. This, yes. Susan Laurie Parks is today. Next, Latinx Super Friends is this Friday. We'll see you all then. Okay, bye.