Episode #20 :: Beauty and the Beast + Rachel Moore

Today I’m chatting with Rachel Moore, a Marriage & Family Therapist Registered Intern in San Diego California. Rachel focuses on helping writers, artists, and musicians overcome creative blocks and anxiety.

We discussed themes of dark/light, above and below, and all sorts of contrasting experiences, as well as Rachel’s love of singing, writing and the healing power of art.

Enjoy our ramble through the fairytale Beauty and the Beast and Rachel’s relationship with her body and creativity.

Things we chatted about in this episode:

  • the fairytale Beauty and the Beast
  • First saw the Jean Renoir film version of Beauty and the Beast. Dark. Feeling torn that it’s her fave.
  • Identifies with Belle and her love of books and libraries and desire to escape and see more of life and not be confined by expectations of family.
  • Doesn’t think that it’s always the case that under every monster is a prince but because of her outlook on life believes that it’s essentially good.
  • Feels it’s important to see people for who they really are, really interested in what’s underneath.
  • The internet has ruined reading for her. Feels hard to pick up an actual book now.
  • Getting into the state of flow and how it takes 20 minutes.
  • How her brain has gotten much more distractible now.
  • Grew up in an isolated homogeneous culture in Idaho, very much a white mono culture. Traveled as a teen to other parts of the world and country, and remembered thinking in her early 20s in Boise thinking ‘I don’t belong here’
  • Eventually moved to southern California and feels most comfortable around a diversity of views, cultures and people
  • Really resonates with Belle’s desire to get out of this ‘provincial life’
  • Also really likes the myth of Persephone
  • Themes of above/below, darkness/light, outer/inner
  • Likes the idea of being a complete person and integrating all aspects of selfhood
  • Knows she has a tendency to go towards the light so strives to keep both, loves having people in her life who embody the dark more.
  • relationship with creativity
  • Has an undergraduate degree in creative writing.
  • When she was dating, took the viewpoint that it will either become a good relationship or a good story.
  • On naming her little sister before she was born (at the age of 6), writing books, playing piano, being super creative as a child
  • How damaging it is when child’s creativity is stifled or responded to poorly, it’s such a creative loss that often gets internalized
  • How important it is to heal those wounds as adults, essential to living full lives.
  • Loves creativity because of its ability to connect, bring people together and help people not feel alone.
  • For her, singing is the ultimate experience in living. Art and creativity are what make it worth living.
  • For an entire semester when she was 30 she studied an aria from Sampson and Delilah, in French, and it made her feel complete.
  • Doing marketing involves a lot of creativity, and it’s awesome
  • relationship with body
  • Aware of the cultural conditioning of never being good enough, the cultivated self assessment and outward critique of physical appearance, the male gaze
  • How disembodiment happens in these situations
  • Thinks that for most of her life she ignored the fact that she was a corporeal being. Didn’t think she had a body.
  • Growing up was really skinny, got plenty of comments about ‘getting some meat on her bones’
  • Knows she’s had an easier time in society with the body she’s got, and also feels no one ever feels good enough physically in this American culture
  • Singing is the ultimate connection between the intellect and the body. Percussion too.
  • Singing comes from the body as instrument.
  • Loves doing zumba. Loves the connection with the music, the dance, getting into the flow.

Resources from this episode:

Connecting with Rachel:

Connecting with Janelle: