Yes, I know what you think of me. You never shut up, never shut up, never shut up, never shut up. It doesn't leave a scratch, so therefore no one's hurt. Welcome to Never Shut Up.
I'm your host, Rose Kress. Today is February 27th, 2026, and we are talking about purple people. Of course, it doesn't leave a scratch, so therefore no one's hurt. But are they?
This song, what a beauty, this song. And of course, it's a little mental yoga. If you do a little mental yoga, will they disappear? I don't know, it's grim, but it's not for dubious as motives go.
But no matter what it takes, she promises a show. This song is about the hoops that we go through, or at least the energy of this song is about the hoops that we go through to maintain the mass. What's the image that we are projecting to the world around us, and the mental gymnastics, the mental yoga we go through sometimes just to uphold this image to the world? Are you showing up in the world authentically as you?
This is Tori's invitation to step into your authenticity, to align the external version of yourself with your inner self, with your true self. And look, I get it. It can be really hard to do that, because what if no one sees us for the version of the person that we are? What if we're only seen as, or we're discarded, or I don't know.
I mean, there's so many reasons that we keep ourselves, our true selves protected and hidden, that we need that layer. I mean, Tori's a perfect example of that. Tori, you know, she wears the mask of Tori Amos, and then there's the version that she is at home. And, of course, you need to do that when you have this out-there-in-the-world personality, that, you know, Ariana Grande, that she doesn't wear her hair curly.
She literally wears the personality of Ariana Grande so that she can keep something to herself when she's at home. So there's that sense of it. If we give too much of ourselves to the world, then there'll be nothing left for us. But how can we be authentically inhabiting the version of ourselves that we share with the world?
Can it be an authentic reflection of who we are? Do our thoughts, deeds, and actions match what our internal person is? And that's this invitation. Can you show up?
Are you willing to show up authentically in the world? Are you willing to align all versions of yourself with yourself? Because I do believe that's true. I do believe the version that we see, the Tori Amos, you know, the capital T, the capital A, or the lowercase, however she writes it, that that version that shows up is very much the version of, an authentic version, maybe bigger, but an authentic version of who she truly is.
There's an authenticity there. So the practice, then, to invite this alignment is what I'm calling Tori's alignment. Do you remember the video she did in 2017 for Native Invaders? She does this on stage, too, that kind of aligning.
So start with prayer hands, and then you're going to leave your left hand at center. Inhale, sweep your right arm out to the side. And as you draw that right hand down as though we're going to meet the left, you're going to stop right at your third eye center. Half of a prayer hand at your third eye center.
And we're breathing how we align our mind and our hearts together, how we align the spirit and the earthbound version of ourselves, how we align the external and the internal, that we can be compassionate or joyful or brightly shining people, that the energy, our internal authentic energy, can align with an external version of ourselves. This is the understanding that you are so much more than your story. No matter what your story is, you are more than the hurts and the pains, more than the loves of your past. You are this perfect, beautiful, wisdom being.
And I'm inviting you, Tori's inviting you to shine that light. So return to this alignment practice anytime you need to connect with the authentic version of you. And with that, thank you for joining me and Tori for a little mental yoga. Remember, we'll always align with yourself.
Always be aligned with your truest self. And the five minutes a day is so much better than 60 minutes once a week. And don't forget, tomorrow morning, February 28th, is Ears with Feet Book Club. Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion.
Did you finish it? You know what? If you didn't even get through a couple pages of it, that's fine. Come join us for the discussion.
It's always such a wonderful discussion that helps expand your mind, helps expand awareness. It's such a treat to be at this book club and connect with other Ears with Feet. So hopefully we'll see you. Have a great rest of your Friday.
Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.
Bye. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Never Shut Up is a production of the Sideways Society. For more information and links to things mentioned on the show, please visit us online at songvictorianus.com. Yes, I know what you think of me. You never shut up.