Show Notes
Ryan sits down with actor Taye Diggs for a deeply personal conversation about the drive to keep achieving — and what happens when you finally stop. Taye opens up about growing up around poverty and abuse, being bullied for his dark skin, and discovering a sense of belonging and possibility through theater. He looks back at joining the original cast of Rent, becoming an unexpected sex symbol in How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and the ambition that kept him chasing the next level even as his dreams were coming true. They explore how divorce and fatherhood upended the life he thought he had figured out, why even spirituality can become another form of striving, and the possibility that after a lifetime of searching, the next step isn’t another practice or achievement at all. Maybe it’s simply learning to stop, sit with what’s there, and hear the words: “Relax. You’re okay.” Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack (@WakingUpWithRyan) You can follow Ryan on Instagram (@wakingupwithryan), YouTube (@wakingupwithryanpod), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
More from Waking Up With Ryan
Why is it so difficult to forgive someone, even when we know that holding onto resentment only hurts us? We all encounter people who disappoint us, frustrate us, or cause us genuine pain. And sometimes, the things they’ve done feel impossible to look past. But what happens when we begin to see people as something more than their worst moments? Continuing this week’s exploration of building a foundation for daily life, Ryan turns to forgiveness — not as a way of excusing someone’s behavior, but as a way of freeing ourselves from the judgments that keep us disconnected from others, and ultimately, from ourselves. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack (@WakingUpWithRyan) You can follow Ryan on Instagram (@wakingupwithryan), YouTube (@wakingupwithryanpod), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What happens when the person who encourages you to find peace is struggling to find it himself? Ryan shares something deeply personal about a darkness that visits him from time to time, and the complicated relationship he’s developed with it over the years. It’s a vulnerable conversation about the pressure to be okay, the quiet ways we turn against ourselves when we’re not, and the possibility that even our most difficult seasons have something to offer us. A gentle guided practice follows, inviting you to meet yourself exactly where you are. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack (@WakingUpWithRyan) You can follow Ryan on Instagram (@wakingupwithryan), YouTube (@wakingupwithryanpod), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It’s often the moments when life feels most fragile that bring everything else into focus. After a frightening medical emergency, Ryan finds himself confronting questions that are easy to overlook in the rush of everyday life. Have we told the people we love what they mean to us? Do we really see them, or have familiarity and frustration clouded our vision? Through a deeply personal experience, Ryan reflects on the things we take for granted, the love we leave unspoken, and the extraordinary gift of having someone in our lives. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack (@WakingUpWithRyan) You can follow Ryan on Instagram (@wakingupwithryan), YouTube (@wakingupwithryanpod), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How do you stay grounded when life seems determined to pull you in every direction? Between the demands of everyday life, unexpected challenges, and the stories our minds tell us, it’s easy to lose touch with the peace we know is possible. Ryan draws on the imagery of a towering tree and the deep roots that keep it standing through a storm to explore what it means to build a foundation within yourself. A gentle guided visualization invites you to discover a place of safety and stillness you can return to, no matter what the day brings. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack (@WakingUpWithRyan) You can follow Ryan on Instagram (@wakingupwithryan), YouTube (@wakingupwithryanpod), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Ryan sits down with spiritual teacher and bestselling author Marianne Williamson for a wide-ranging conversation about A Course in Miracles, the teachings that changed both of their lives, and what decades of spiritual practice actually look like when life gets hard. Marianne takes Ryan back to the 1970s and the strange series of events that first brought A Course in Miracles into her life, before unpacking its central ideas about fear, love, forgiveness, and the power of the mind. She opens up about emerging from her most recent presidential campaign and spending a year reckoning with what had happened — forgiving others, confronting her own mistakes, and eventually arriving at a much more radical idea of personal responsibility. They explore why Marianne believes psychic pain should be listened to rather than simply suppressed, why forgiveness isn’t about excusing what someone did, and how carrying old grievances into the present can cause us to miss the very opportunities life is putting in front of us. Marianne shares one painful example from her own past — a lunch she entered carrying a grievance, only to discover afterward that the woman across the table had actually come to her seeking help for her husband. Along the way, Ryan and Marianne talk about spiritual teachers and ego, fear as the absence of love, the difference between surviving and truly moving beyond what happened to you, and the daily work of choosing differently when life gives you another chance. This is a conversation about what it means to move spiritual wisdom out of the realm of ideas and actually live it. Tell Ryan about yourself! https://wakingupwithryan.com/hello Follow on Substack (@WakingUpWithRyan) You can follow Ryan on Instagram (@wakingupwithryan), YouTube (@wakingupwithryanpod), or visit wakingupwithryan.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.