This is a Metaphor

Welcome back to This is a Metaphor — it’s been a few weeks and in this episode, Mo sits down with Twin Essence for a fast, wide-ranging talk that moves from paranormal childhood stories to Starseed identity, ascension work, and the real-world challenge of staying sovereign inside everyday systems. A Starseed is: A lightworker, Star People, Old Soul, Galactic Soul. They have a deep intuition, deep interest in space and stars, and are focused on spiritual healing and ascension.This week was a wonderful teaser for a follow up conversation between the Mo, Lacey, and Marley. Until then, you can find out more about their work and how to connect below:Join The Starseed Portal Membership at https://www.twinessence.com/starseed-portal-membershipConnect with them further at http://www.twinessence.comFollow Twin Essence on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twinessencellcFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/TwinEssenceLLC/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@twinessencellcYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TwinEssenceLLCDo you have some questions and follow-up curiosities you’d love for Mo to ask next time?Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

Mo hit a point where she couldn’t tell if she was gathering insight or just collecting noise, so she pulled out the one tool she can’t escape: discernment. With the Pisces new moon overhead, she talks through what happens when astrology, tarot, and “readings” start to replace your own knowing, especially when you’re low-key trying to survive a breakup you don’t want to admit mattered. The emotions are honest and a little funny, because that’s the Pisces way sometimes: laugh so you don’t cry, and then cry because you can.She unpacks the grief that isn’t only about a person, but about losing a witness to your life. The simple nervous system comfort of sleeping beside someone, having a built-in sounding board, and sharing the extraordinarily ordinary. She also names the weird loneliness that can show up when friends get back into relationships and you feel the lopsidedness. From there, Mo looks straight at avoidant attachment patterns, the tug of love that keeps pulling away, and how avoidance often isn’t about “the thing” at all, it’s about avoiding a feeling.Then we pivot to creation and self-trust: making music by feeling instead of technique, learning to recognize the body’s unmistakable “this is it” signal, and facing a big decision about investing in space for art. Our hostess talks about crying as somatic release and nervous system regulation, why gratitude can bring tears too, and the idea that fear and joy may live in the same root system. Plus, there’s a Spotify playlist treat waiting for you called “Good Grief Girl.”Download and listen here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/64ltGbMTWEC5nRgctaYhAg?si=gk86nAEfTdODrFmuZns9_A&pi=ahZyyYKyQkOUk If this hits, listen through, share it with a friend who’s rebuilding, and leave a review so more people can find it. What feeling are you ready to stop avoiding?Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

Recording a podcast is one of the fastest ways to meet yourself, especially when the Wi‑Fi lags, Riverside refuses to cooperate, and you still decide to hit record. Mo sits down with Madeline Sargent, creator of the She Says It Podcast, to talk about the unglamorous truth of starting a podcast: the tech hiccups, the nerves, the editing spiral, and the pressure to market something that still feels tender. What surprised them most is how quickly all of that friction turns into momentum once they kept showing up. They get into the craft and the business in a very real way. Madeline shares how she thinks about podcast editing, solo episodes that feel like journal entries, and the confidence boost that comes from finally accepting your voice as it is. They also unpack the push-pull between creativity and podcast SEO: titles, episode length, discoverability, and how to make “content” without letting the word drain the art out of it. Threads (the anti X platform) comes up as a rare bright spot for community building, guest booking, and finding talented indie shows that deserve more attention. The conversation widens into self-compassion and discipline: journaling prompts for clarity, what to do when writer’s block hits, and why half marathon training mirrors the long game of creative work. We talk visibility fears, handling low-validation weeks, and the quiet power of choosing kindness as a standard in your work and relationships. If you’re building a show, a brand, or a braver version of yourself, listen through and then share this with a friend who needs the push. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: What part of podcasting feels hardest right now?Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

A cold DM turns into a rare, generous exchange about how we actually hear ourselves. Mo sits down, virtually, across time and space, with a quantum hypnotist, Author, and Akashic Reader Mario Radinger, whose “higher self” sessions reveal something both simple and hard to practice: when trust and safety are present, letting go can be easy. He shares how Dolores Cannon’s work lit the fuse, why most clients come seeking purpose, and what it takes to build a space where answers arise from within rather than being handed down from above.Mo and Mario explore the difference between intuition and a wired-up nervous system, and how the body marks each with a distinct signature. There’s honesty about resistance—performing, pleasing, doubting—and why the session window is spacious by design, giving time for edges to soften. Purpose shows up as remembering, not hunting, and the higher self leads by elevating perspective instead of prescribing fixes. That makes the insight stick. They also step into forgiveness, where a photo becomes a doorway and time finishes the work talk can’t force. Acceptance and compassion come through as powerful energetic correctives: when you stop arguing with reality, much of the pain loses its job.Beyond trance, they talk Akashic readings as a peaceful route for those who hesitate to enter altered states, and the move from solo practice to teaching so more people can access this work. Along the way, ego takes its rightful seat—useful in life, quiet in session—and the craft matures through surprise after surprise until prediction gives way to presence. If you’ve wondered how to hear your higher self, how to separate signal from static, or how to hold purpose without pressure, this conversation offers language, tools, and a felt sense you can take with you.Check out Mario: @the.soul.journeys & https://www.thesouljourneys.com/If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help others find these conversations. What did your body say while you listened?Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

A single line from an interview can change how you see wealth, and today that line reorients everything toward the inside. We follow a thread from Jessie Buckley’s interview from The Colbert Late Show in which she talks about her character, Agnes, from her award winning performance in Hamnet. From which Buckley says about her character, “She is rich”— which asks us to go into the deeper question of what richness really means when it isn’t about money, optics, or curated perfection. Along the way, we bring in Stella Adler’s electrifying idea that some souls aren’t used up by life; they’re overflowing and need a stage. That lens reshapes ambition, identity, and the roles we choose just to hold all that feeling.Our backdrop is Miami, a city built from glass and angles where being watched is easy and being witnessed is rare. We talk about reflections—literal and social—and how a culture of poses can sharpen or flatten who you become. I share what happens when the noise drowns out your voice and you’re left reading micro-movements, questioning whether you want attention or understanding. That tension pushed me back to making with my hands. When language fails, clay speaks. A weird, perfect sign pointed me toward sculpting noses for a new product launch: classical texture, modern attitude, a playful nod to Greek sculpture in the middle of nightlife neon.This is a story about inner wealth as a practice: how craft pulls you into presence, how a city can train your posture, and how confidence shifts from costume to muscle when you prefer witness over watch. We explore creativity as a way of knowing, brand as art rather than noise, and the quiet power of saying “I am” until it’s true from the inside out. If you’ve been craving more depth, more stage for your soul, and a way to show up rich without a price tag, you’ll feel at home here.If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a confidence reboot, and leave a quick review—what does “rich on the inside” mean to you?Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

On her most unhinged episode yet, and possibly most insightful, Mo asks what if the thing you’re meant to do today is the one thing you didn’t put on your list? She starts with a playful ode to singing to money, stumbles into an Irish accent breakthrough, and then steps straight into the deep end: real-world flirting far exceeds the fatigued dating-app world and why acting on a single inspired ping beats three hours of tidy procrastination.She shares how Saturn’s heavy lift through Pisces stripped away her favorite illusions—about time, productivity, and the story of who she’s supposed to be in public. She talks karma, discipline, and the uncomfortable grace of dismantling cages built from safety. If January and February felt long and weird, you’re not alone. There’s a rhythm inside that slowness, and it starts with choosing the next right task, the one that actually moves the needle. That choice builds self-trust, and self-trust changes everything.She digs into identity without hard edges—why visibility doesn’t have to mean a fixed label and how ambiguity can be a superpower. Then comes our favorite part — the metaphor: the Fight Club archetype as your inner rebel, the part that protects and provokes. Mo’s showed up as a loud yes to designing a vision board that truly fits her studio. Saying no to that spark? Instant anxiety. Saying yes? Relief she can feel in her shoulders. Along the way in this episode we get honest about Tampa’s single energy, the thrill of meeting eyes across a room, and the small choices—like a carrot salad for eternally glowy skin—that make you feel ready to be seen.If you’re craving momentum, let’s make it practical. Act while the energy is hot. Trade that concept of “certainty” for aliveness where you can. Let micro-promises compound into real confidence. And if you’re walking through a season where time feels strange and your outcomes won’t land, keep going—you might be closer to the jump than you think. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a quick review to help more people find us.Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

January can feel like a trick of light—too slow, too long, and just honest enough to make you face what you’ve been dodging. We wade into that stretch with a messy mix of car trouble, online yoga teacher training, and a brand-new job in solar that drops me onto a dialer with a script, a headset, and a whole lot of resistance. What starts as a hustle for stability turns into a study in patience, discipline, and the weirdly tender art of staying with yourself when the room is silent and the stakes feel loud.I share what it’s like to trade studio energy for at-home modules, and why self-paced learning is both a gift and a trap. We unpack the solar landscape—good programs, bad actors, and how to keep ethics front and center—then zoom in on cold calling as a crash course in shadow work. People-pleasing, fear of no, the urge to abandon your point just to be liked: it all shows up. The script, surprisingly, becomes a life raft. Memorize your foundation, and you get to improvise without losing yourself. That lesson echoes in performance, sales, and any creative pursuit that asks you to hold steady while you learn in public.There’s a softer thread too: crying as a reset, resilience as repetition, and the eighth house of astrology as a map for transformation you can’t rush. Think year of the snake—shedding skin that clings in places, moving slower than your ego wants, trusting that relief arrives when it’s ready. If you’re navigating a season of becoming, this conversation offers practical footing and emotional company: show up, choose again tomorrow, and let gravity do its quiet work.If this resonated, tap follow, share it with a friend who’s in the awkward middle, and leave a quick review to help more listeners find the show.Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

Mo shares how a week long fever made her burn through identity, ego, and preferences. She shares how a brutal flu made her renegotiate food, comfort, and control: jello for texture, watermelon for water, spaghetti for sanity, and the realization that “good” choices look different when the only goal is to feel better.This week she digs into the spirituality behind sickness. When your fever peaks at 105 degrees, you start having a different kind of conversation. She spent the week clearing and recalibrating. The takeaway isn’t “suffer more to grow.” It’s this: when life strips away your usual story, the body’s wisdom gets louder, and the smallest wins—breathing easier, tasting something gentle, sitting in the light—can reassemble who you are with more care than any resume or ritual. Listen, share with a friend who needs a reset, and if this moved you, follow the show, rate it, and leave a review with your own mantra for noisy nights.Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

We enter 2026 by trading performance for meaning, letting “yearn” guide how we make, love, and choose what matters. From a cold Tampa night that turned radiant to a creative rejection that became craft, we map how to turn longing into honest work—something more aligned than desire. • pressure and pitfalls of year-end recaps• choosing meaning over performance and applause• the power of dropping expectations at a concert• yearning versus desire as a creative compass• finishing a bold 4x4 artwork and starting a book• mobile studio delays and surrendering timelines• a storyboard pitch loss and the skill it grew• storyboards as living maps, not scriptures• bike metaphor for process and flow• texting an ex, meeting the ache with craft• turning longing into stories instead of spirals• making space so the right story can arriveLet us know in the comments what you’re yearning for, and if you know the visceral feeling that comes with it. Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

The day after Christmas has its own quiet electricity—the kind that lingers in the air when the lights are still up, the floor is a little glittered, and the stories of yesterday are still warm. We lean into that charge to explore how simple comforts—fresh socks, a full stocking, a perfectly folded corner of wrapping paper—can feel more luxurious than anything extravagant. Then we follow that thread into a different kind of package: a holiday message from someone we loved, and the complicated hope that comes with it.You’ll hear how anticipation can be its own gift, why we sometimes dress the surface when we’re unsure about the substance, and what it means to hold the last present just a little longer because the not knowing tastes sweeter than certainty. We unpack the delicate choreography of reading or not reading a text preview, the pull between information and intactness, and the choice to respond without reopening old doors. Along the way, we trade heart emojis for a single star—our shorthand for steady light, quiet confidence, and comfort in the unknown.If you’ve ever wanted a message that arrives neat and polite but somehow not enough, this conversation offers language for that ache and a way through it. We talk boundaries, invitations that aren’t really invitations, and the surprising power of leaving things unsaid. Most of all, we practice the posture of anything could happen—not as a cliché, but as a daily discipline that keeps us receptive to new friendships, new turns, and gifts that arrive right on time.If this resonates & helps you breathe easier into the unknown, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s between pages, and leave a quick review so more listeners can find our corner of quiet electricity. What unopened “gift” are you choosing to keep sealed today?Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

Comedy is a mirror and a map, MO’s long conversation with stand-up comic Jake Poland traces both. They start with the personal—the tired voice after a great talk, the open mic nights in St. Pete and Tampa, the strange little signs that push you back on stage—and quickly find the bigger story: comedy as a daily reset. Jake insists the craft restarts every day. Yesterday’s kill doesn’t pay today’s dues, and last week’s applause won’t help if you coast. That tension creates a practice built on honesty and perseverance. It also exposes the real cost of choosing art over certainty: sleep debt, shifting friendships, quiet finances, and the unglamorous grind between laughter and silence.What keeps someone in it? @IamJakePolin leans on a sports engine. He grew up on baseball where a .300 hitter is legendary even though seven of ten at-bats end in failure. That framing transforms a bomb into feedback rather than fate. He records sets, listens back in the car, and lets the tape tell the truth. He writes by riffing: outline a premise, talk it out on stage, find the sweet spots, cut the dead air, then tighten until the idea is both unique and relatable. He avoids fleeting references, reaching for material that will still hit in ten years. There’s a purist streak in him—less posting, more building—because the goal isn’t to be seen; it’s to be undeniable when you are.By the end, the throughline is clear. Comedy is not an escape from life; it is a way to live it more honestly. You show up, you reset, you fail, you cut, you try again. Respect follows rigor. Money follows momentum. And if you hold your nerve through the quiet seasons, the work becomes its own reward—rich not in cash today, but in truth you can spend tomorrow.If you’re chasing a craft, or trying to hold your nerve through a quiet season, this one’s for you. Press play to hear how the comedy reset builds a life, why respect might be the best metric of success, and how to keep your humor when the world asks for certainty. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review.What’s your version of “made it,” and what keeps you going if no one’s watching?Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

Do you ever know something is working, but the feeling isn’t there? Sometimes something good doesn’t mean it’s right. In this episode Mo tells a tale about a pair of borrowed pants, musical serendipity, and love that feels good but just isn’t right. She reflects on a relationship with kindness, keeping the memories bright instead of bitter. If you’re interested in emotional timing, respecting capacity, and letting a relationship end without turning it into a failure—this is the episode for you. It’s about self-love, boundaries, and the unexpected freedom of a breakup that feels like summer break in a slightly unsettling way. If you’ve ever wondered how to navigate labels, embarrassment, and endings with grace, this is your invitation to laugh, reflect, and choose yourself—every f*cking time.If this story resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a nudge toward clarity, and leave a review to help more listeners find us.Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

A wrecked trailer with no side door isn’t the obvious start to a creative life on wheels—unless it keeps calling your name. In this episode we share the full, unglossed story of The Chariot, Mo’s DIY mobile studio built from a $1,500 shell, a stack of tarot pulls, and a stubborn need to turn fear of stagnation into honest motion. What began as a quest to “get to the West Coast” became a deeper practice: learning tools, learning patience, and learning to separate running away from moving toward.This story is equal parts DIY build and nervous‑system repair: trading urgency for practice, comparison for curiosity, and perfection for iteration. If your “one‑month” project is creeping toward year three, you’ll find both solidarity and strategy here—how to outsource the parts you can’t do, how to add a year to your timeline without shame, and how to keep the dream alive when progress feels invisible. The Chariot Mobile Studio Project taught Mo that movement is more than miles and pavement; it’s the shift from panic to presence.If this resonates, follow along, share it with a friend who’s mid‑build, and leave a review to help others find the show. Tell me: what dream refuses to let you quit?Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

A penny that costs more than a penny is more than a quirky headline; it’s a sharp clue that our symbols of value can slip out of sync with reality. From that strange starting point, we open a wider lens on creative work, purpose, and the messy middle where many pursuits coexist before they cohere. If you’ve ever waited for one calling to choose you, this conversation offers a different map.We talk through the myth of “the one thing” and trade it for a spider’s blueprint: anchor a corner, then another, and spiral until the center reveals itself. Early passes look chaotic and even embarrassing, but those loops build tension, strength, and direction. Along the way we explore why logic comes later, how patience protects fragile beginnings, and what it means to rebuild after the wind takes your work apart. Value emerges through repetition and connection, not through a perfect plan.The episode also leans into vision and support. Like a spider sensing light and motion more than detail, we learn to follow signals instead of waiting for certainty. Mo digs into the courage to commit without fearing “forever,” the power of showing up when outcomes are unknown, and the quiet relief of friendships that let you set down the performer identity and be enough as a person. If you’re juggling skills and wondering whether they belong together, consider this your invitation to weave the threads and let the center find you.If this resonates, follow the show and share it with a friend who’s building their own web, and leave a rating or review so more creatives can find their way here.Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

We trace the tug-of-war between fixing others and tending ourselves, from breakup fallout to a supermoon yoga class that forces a choice between pushing and resting. Petty thoughts, poofy bangs, and one blocked mirror turn into a lesson on worth, boundaries, and good-enough days.As heat builds and the sequence stacks, we hit a choice point familiar to every overachiever. Push because you can, or pause because you should. We unpack the guilt of sitting a round out, the myth that rest must be earned, and the surprising strength it takes to resist performing for the room. A fighter’s post-competition “fat week” becomes a metaphor for recovery cycles, and “act as if” gets recast as practicing ease now, not later.Body image rides shotgun through a heated yoga practice—bangs misbehaving, angles not landing, that tug to fix the reflection is louder than the cues across the room. Today we talk about liking the silhouette and still refusing to make worth conditional on a good hair day. The takeaway isn’t polished, and that’s the point: rest as a power move, boundaries around perfection’s endless appetite, and letting good enough be a full answer. If you’ve ever stared at the mirror and felt the urge to edit yourself into acceptability, this conversation offers a gentler script and permission to sit down when your body says no.If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs the reminder, and leave a quick review—what’s one place you could choose stillness over push this week?Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

What do fragile dreams, public grief, and indie film have in common? More than you might think. Mo & Matt Lathrom (from the last guest episode) start with an unsettling “protect the tiny creature” dreams and move through the losses of cultural icons, asking what kind of space opens when giants leave—and who has the courage to fill it. Along the way, they talk illness, resilience, and why a single look in a scene can change how you feel about a character more than any speech ever could.Matt, a visual effects artist, writer, and producer, joins Mo to unpack what really happens behind the Sundance mystique: submissions with unfinished shots, the quiet bravery of showing work-in-progress to people who can truly see it, and the unspoken rule of respecting the room. From there they wade into today’s biggest creative fault line—AI. They challenge the myth of “AI actors,” the promise of cheap, automated storytelling, and why those projects become expensive VFX pipelines the moment you ask for continuity, pores, light, and soul. Productivity without purpose is a trap; the point isn’t more output, it’s better outcomes.They also get practical. Where AI can help—scaffolding ideas, clarifying structure, reducing noise—it’s a tool. Where it starts replacing performance, editing intuition, or the moral labor of choosing what to show and why, it’s a cost we shouldn’t hide. Film remains our best empathy engine, letting us sit with people we’d otherwise never understand. If you’ve been waiting to start your script, short, or show, consider this your nudge. Begin messy. Share early. Keep the room respectful. And keep showing up, because the space our legends leave won’t fill itself.If this spoke to you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review—what part changed how you see the creative future?Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

October has a way of shaking the dust off creativity. In this episode, Mo looks at how Halloween’s built-in weirdness gives people an excuse to show sides of themselves they usually keep hidden. It’s not about spells or candy — it’s about the rare moment when performance, play, and belonging overlap.She traces that spark into the rest of the year, sharing small rituals that keep curiosity alive — Sunday-night cards, moon journaling, neighborhood costume swaps — the kind of repeatable moments that turn time into texture and help you craft a life that feels like your own.Hit play, then tell us your favorite ritual or the tiny celebration you’ll start this week. If it lands, share it with a friend who loves a good theme, and leave a review so we can keep bringing a little make-believe to the everyday.Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

They came for Visual Effects, but stayed for coffee shop politics. On this episode Mo chats with fellow creative, and friend, Matt Lathrom. Agencies thin out while indie film gets louder, scrappier, and—somehow—more fun.  Lathrom, a multi-hyphenate VFX artist and producer whose credits include HBO, Netflix, and a growing list of indie features aiming at Sundance. Together they get candid about the gap between plan and reality, the strange relief of admitting you’re done for the day, and the gravity of trust when deadlines tighten.Mo & Matt pull apart what makes creative collaboration work: leaders who ask questions instead of prescribing, teams that reward taste over tweaks, and the difference between micromanagement and meaningful direction. Matt shares where he finds the most freedom on set and in post, why some shows invite you to invent while others reduce you to a cursor, and how letting go can unlock better work. They also look upstream, at the industry’s bigger shifts—studio consolidation, the indie boom’s artistic payoff but thinner paychecks, and the evergreen tug-of-war between art and business that dates back to Wenders, Lucas, and Spielberg.This is part 1TIMESTAMPS, BABY0:00 – Matt2:36 – Sundance6:48 – Meltdowns9:06 – Time vs Reality15:10 – Perfectionism18:10 – Client vs Personal26:20 – Dry Spells32:20 – Community36:40 – Recession52:12 – AI (The Horror. The Brilliance! The Audacity)Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

In this episode, Mo talks about how she set out to have the perfect morning: coffee, art, beach plans, and a finished painting. Instead, she found herself twelve hours deep slowly slipping into the void of an unfinished project. Or worse, a sh*tty painting. Along the way, Mo unpacks what happens when the vision in your head doesn’t match reality, and why having a plan is really useless when it comes to doing something you’ve never done before. Made-up Time Stamps that might be kind of helpful: 00:00 – Invocation02:30 – Ambition05:00 – Struggle07:30 – Fracture10:00 – Doubt12:30 – Toil15:00 – Collapse17:30 – Reckoning20:00 – Shadow22:30 – RedemptionDo you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

Mo dives into Hopecore, meditation, and the strange joy of carrots. She confesses to endless scrolling, whispering mantras, napping like a pro, and discovering that sometimes doing nothing actually counts as progress. This episode is about showing up, staying chill, and weirding out your inner child. Made-up time stamps you might find useless, or recklessly accurate:00:00 – 01:00 – Brain fried toast01:01 – 02:00 – Scrolling spiritual crack02:01 – 03:00 – Carrots shock me03:01 – 04:00 – Crunch equals enlightenment04:01 – 05:00 – Instagram is therapy05:01 – 06:00 – Meditating like potato06:01 – 07:00 – Visuals whisper secrets07:01 – 08:00 – Nap equals genius08:01 – 09:00 – Emails officially dead09:01 – 10:00 – Meeting serendipity happens10:01 – 11:00 – Abs cry silently11:01 – 12:00 – Glutes demand respect12:01 – 13:00 – Cortisol belly drama13:01 – 14:00 – Meditation creates chaos14:01 – 15:00 – Inner child panics15:01 – 16:00 – Hopecore overload initiated16:01 – 17:00 – Journaling like mad17:01 – 18:00 – Laugh, cry combo18:01 – 19:00 – Weird enlightenment snacks19:01 – 20:00 – Yoga almost illegal20:01 – 21:00 – Power nap rebellion21:01 – 22:00 – Gratitude meets sarcasm22:01 – 23:00 – Self-help chaos vortex23:01 – 24:00 – Weirding inner childDo you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

In this episode, Mo sits down with her friend Curtis to talk Hollywood: L.A. burning as a metaphor for creativity, the writers’ strikes, and America’s fast food–style approach to content. They dive into the concept of money fasting—when you go without, what is it that you really want? With humor, insight, and candid conversation, this episode explores the clarity that comes from going without.If you’d like to see more on Curtis, or Jump Theory: Check out www.JumpTheory.com, and to learn more about community, check them out on Instagram. Full disclosure: Curtis’ audio sounds way better than MO’s. She tried real hard to fix this but the technicality of video recording was much kinder to Curtis. Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

This week’s episode is a ride through friendship, butt jokes, and the bizarre ways the universe answers when you ask, “Where’s the money?” Over coffee with her best friend, a Capricorn card told Mo to be patient, and Uranus reminded her that change often comes with a punchline. From the intimacy of long-distance rituals to the Bratz doll that showed up in her meditation, today’s musings explore discipline, pleasure, and what it means to let anger fuel momentum. Oh, and yes, there’s also a thermometer story you won’t see coming. This one’s about schedules, rebellion, and the unexpected places where creativity—and maybe money—likes to hide.Made-up timestamps you could use for the episode:0:00–2:15 → Thursday Morning Rituals 2:15–4:30 → Pulling the cards, Capricorn + Uranus, initial reactions.4:30–6:00 → Deep dive: “Where’s the money?” hilarity & cosmic metaphors.6:00–8:20 → Meditation insights + brat doll reflection.8:20–10:00 → Anger, discipline, and showing up in creativity.10:00–13:00 → Meditation from your anus.14:00–18:30 → Have the Audacity19:30–22:00 → A story about a thermometer.Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

In this episode, Mo dives into the complex relationship with her own name—how a childhood lisp, early speech therapy, and the shame of not being able to say “Morgan” shaped the way she felt about identity and worth. From journals full of doodles and affirmations to the weight of credit scores and financial pressure, Mo traces how core beliefs get written into us early and how brutal the tug must be to pull them up by the root.Timestampish:[0:00-2ish] Growing up unable to say my own name and finding comfort in “Mo.”[2-4ish] Speech therapy folders, repetition drills, and the power tucked inside names.[4-6ish] My journals: half affirmations, half doodles, always a little embarrassing.[6-8ish] Credit scores and money stress tangling themselves up with self-worth.[8-10ish] Core beliefs, and murky thoughts.[10-12ish] Flipping that idea—if no one cares, then I’m free to find something to care about.Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

We all have friends that bring out the best in us, and some of us are blessed to have friends that bring out the wit, the horror, and the delightfully deprecated allure of brutal honestly. Enter my very good friend, Joseph Witowsky. A deep thinker, avid dater, home designing, button pressing genius. We make fun of each other and reflect on our current dating lives.4:01: Intro to Joe9:24: Sex Lives15:06: “High Value” (ehhh)22:22: Mo is a catch—why nobody catching?29:42: Intentions in Dating46:00: Know who you are and attraction will happen.48:31: Closing and a reflection on “The Fool” in TarotDo you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

This is a Metaphor isn’t about what you think it’s about. It’s never about what we think it’s about. It’s deeply introspective, wildly human, and definitely artful. As a multi-disciplined human, I’ve found that the greatest gift I’ve been given is the one that deeply desires to connect as often, and as genuinely as possible with the room I’m in, and the world I’m exploring. This podcast is part musings, part conversation, with much space left for iteration, contemplation, and integration. This is a metaphor, and it is not without its stories, it’s magic, and it’s humor. This podcast is another way to push art into the world—less refined and untethered to perfection, these are free words, brought to you by a full-bodied creative mind—me, Mo Houston. A writer, illustrator, athlete, friend, and lover. And. A bunch of other things that are so literal that they deflate the magnetism of this introduction. Listen, follow, and connect.  1:00: A Flight from Hawaii1:44: What are you doing?2:33: Artist Magic4:55: The More You Do…7:06: Guest/People Themes______People Themes: Comedians. Artists. Writers. Yogis. Thinkers. Musicians. Editors. Innovative Mother F*ckers. Industry Themes: Art/Design/Performance/Stand-up/Film/Fitness/Spirituality/Mental Health/Creativity/Publishing/Entrepreneurship. Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired” 

Commit to the bit. See it through. Double down. Milk it. Take it all the way…They call it the Full Send, baby. This is episode 000. It is a brutal stream of consciousness that sets the tone for the podcast. There is never a perfect time to start. There’s never a gauge for how vulnerable is too vulnerable. There are just our thoughts, and the intensity in which we seek out their exposure. In order to get to the good stuff, you’re going to have to go all in and trust that you aren’t a totally bonkers human being with access to a microphone. None of which I can promise you, some of which I can foreshadow to, and all of which I have surrendered to. Do you want to be on This is a Metaphor? Send Us a Text!Instagram: @tiam.podcast &  @joyscout.mo For Guest Inquiries, collaborations, and questions: Email Mo: [email protected]“Don’t get Deterred, get Inspired”