We’re looking forward to introducing you to Beth Navarro. Check out our conversation below.
Good morning Beth, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
Writing. Always writing. But right now it’s writing something specifically. I write a monthly newsletter about the little things that save me. The things that make me feel tied to myself, my loved ones, the world. The connection I’ve found in myself and in readers has been life changing.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs surrounded by a family of dancers, actors, singers, poets, teachers, and writers which I’m so grateful for. And now after living in the Los Angeles area for over 25 years (how has it been that long?!), I’ve been an actress, a teacher, a screenwriter, essayist, a published picture book author and featured in my writing mentor, award-winning writer and L.A. cult hero, Francesca Lia Block’s literary magazine, Lit Angels. Now I’m deep in revisions of a young adult novel that has taken me over seven years to write. My agent is quite patient. But the time it takes isn’t stressing me out like it used to. It will take the time it needs. My favorite part of the day is waking up making a cup of coffee and writing while everyone is asleep and the sun is still low in the sky. The need for connection always seems to be a theme in my work. I find a lot in delving into how past traumas shape who you become, how to walk through that fire and find strength on the other side. I’m exploring both of those things in the young adult manuscript and a memoir I’m writing now.
I’m a passionate women’s health advocate, a believer that the act of writing heals, and my husband, teenage daughters and I need a good dose of live music every month or so to stay sane. I love these night we have together. Oh by the way, the rumor out there that teenagers suck? Not true. They are the best. Most of the time.
And I love Los Angeles. Maybe it’s the nostalgia of realizing how long I’ve been here and maybe it’s getting older and letting go of crazy young times that taint some parts of this city for me. But I’ve found lately I’m falling back in love with this city. It’s so large and sprawling I’m trying to explore it whenever I can and resist the urge the stay in my little east side, mountain town bubble.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
My mom. Growing up, I remember her telling people how independent and strong I was and how proud she was of me. I didn’t feel that way at all. But she saw it. She still does.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
In 2017, something happened to me…. god I’ve stopped and started writing this sentence about ten times now.
Okay.
In 2017, I found out someone in my life, someone I should have trusted, did something criminal, terrible, scary. I lost any amount of certainty I had. I had to completely start over. There were some very dark moments. The page saved me. I journaled every day multiple times a day for over a year. It kept me alive. I really saw journaling for how powerful writing was. Making small positive self care decisions everyday during that time minimized the trauma. I also needed proof that this was happening. This was really happening. It allowed me to put my negative feelings there and not in my body. It allowed space for good feelings. Without doing that I don’t know how I would have survived a sane person. One day I’ll come back to that journal. Not today. But one day I will.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What’s a belief you used to hold tightly but now think was naive or wrong?
That everyone had to understand me. I attended a beautiful smudging ceremony with an Acjachemen leader, for anyone who wished to be cleansed with sage. When it was my turn I let the smokey, earthy smell cover me and she said to me, “A message came through to me while I was smudging you, can I give it to you?” “Yes please,” I said. Then she said,“You don’t have to be understood.” I nearly broke down and cried right there. I worry about this all the time. I long for everyone I come across to understand me and she released me from that. You don’t have to be understood. Just live your life.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I really feel like I am doing what I was born to do. Writing, for sure. But it looks different then I thought it would. I don’t write for the book deal or screenplay option anymore. I work toward those things but it’s not really why I write. And there’s something else that has come along. Health advocacy came to me in a sneaky and painful way. It wasn’t until I found myself in my doctor’s office in terrible pelvic pain that I saw the depth of health inequity and if it’s bad for me I know the inequity is compounded for women of color and the LGBTQ+ communities. I write about this. I research this and I am proud to be co-chair of Elevating Women Employee Resource Group at Blue Shield of California. This is something I’m born to do something about.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bethnavarro.com
- Instagram: @bethnavarro
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beth-navarro-a5a55520/
- Other: Read my newsletter The Little Things That Save Me: https://www.bethnavarro.com/newsletter
Maybe they will save you too.
Image Credits
Sara Lauder for the personal photo
