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Welcome back to Questions You Didn't Ask. I'm
Nyesha Frey, joined again by wellness entrepreneur
Charles Chambers. As we continue our series,
Trippin, Black Men, Land and Liberation. Let's
pick up where we left off. One of the things
that I brought up was, you know, acquiring land
and thinking about innovative ways for us to
have access to protect and preserve natural spaces
to facilitate the growth and development of natural
spaces. Have you seen or observed any of that
type of action? action or activity, or even been
interested in discovering how that can happen.
What insights do you have about that, if any?
Well, I could tell you this. Personally, I think
that us as a group of people, Black people, I
think this government is going to do what the
government's going to do. I think there's a lot
we could do for ourselves. And I basically boil
it down to three things. And I think we... As
a group of people, if we educate our own kids,
we grow our own food, and we create our own economy.
In other words, we support each other in our
businesses, and we buy and sell to each other,
energize our own economy. We educate our own
kids. What this administration is doing, that's
really leading us down that path. What we need
to do is come together and figure out a way to
educate our kids the way we would want them to
be educated. I don't think that the school system
that this government is going to put in front
of our kids is... It's not working, and it's
not serving us. Even before this administration,
it's not okay the way that our schools are today.
It's not, and I'm outraged about it. My kids
are grown, but our future, we can't leave things
the way that they are. So again, we educate our
own kids, grow our own food, and that's... speaks
about these green spaces. I think that's going
to become critical in the future where you're
having local food. But with those three things,
I think everything else will fall into place.
The ground of food would be interactions between
different generations. Doing these things will
automatically bring about the unity and community
that we talk about. that we kick around. And
it's not that complicated. If we just focus on
the basics of what we need, those other complicated
things will come together. So getting back to
basics, in a sense, right? And I think you spoke
to this, you know, that that means that community
plays a large role in addressing these social
determinants of health and promoting wellness
that our government at least now and and to some
extent before has not been successful in doing
um to help preserve us right and they're not
we're just not in their program right so we have
to do it but i believe that well i wrote this
poem it's called my piece i think that we all
have a contribution towards our community and
that i think a tragedy is when a person passes
away before they contribute to the bigger pie
of our community. But yes, when we're born, we
have a, I don't want to say obligation, but to
me, that's what life's about. You're born and
then you play some piece in this big part of
stuff that happens. Otherwise, you know, what
are you here for? I'm hoping that I can expand
my contribution. To me, that's part of the living
part is contributing to our community. Is that
a part of what made you choose life over death
when it came down to addressing your addiction?
Well, that was a part that played when I wasn't
contributing. That was a red flag. So when I
was in my addiction, it was like, you know, I
was all out for self. I wasn't contributing.
It was no good. So it played a part in that.
But as I'm healing, the want to contribute more
is there. And the community thing, I mean, it's
being of service to people. is I think what spiritually,
it helps keep me, me helping other people helps
me. Yeah. That I have to give it away to keep
it. That's deep. That we have to give it away
in order to keep it. I love that. I love that.
So as we're starting to like, come to this last
phase of our discussion, one of the questions
that I love to ask my guests, because this is
questions you didn't ask, what are some questions
I didn't ask but should have? I thought your
questions were interesting. What I would like
to add to this conversation is that the trip
isn't just about going to different places or
green spaces. It's the idea of tripping is really
about people pushing the envelope on their lives,
wherever they're at, whatever they're putting
into their lives to propel themselves forward
or to experience life. And it's in a way of being
present. the people that are out there doing
their thing i i would call that tripping um i'll
give you an example i i just posted the other
day it's a video of me doing stand -up comedy
you're right um that to me that's the that describes
the tripping what tripping is about because the
thing is is that i don't like speaking in front
of audiences and I am no way, I'm not a comedian.
And so that was me stepping into it blindly to
just showing up and doing what I could. To me,
that's tripping people that are out there. And
I believe there's people in all facets of life
that you don't have to climb a mountain or be
out in the forest to do this tripping thing.
It's really wherever you're at, as long as you're...
giving it your all, showing up and doing your
thing. That's what the trip is hoping to foster.
This whole thing, I always include a social component
with the event because I'm trying to make space
or create space to where these like -minded focus.
People, we can share information and sort of
a space where we can, collaborate, network, and
come together to celebrate whatever it is that
we're into and to help each other do our thing.
I love it. Thank you for filling in that gap
because it's very important for us to reflect
on what are the things that needs to be said
that hasn't been said. What questions do you
want to audience to ask themselves after listening
to this series? I had wrote something down, but
I can't remember what the hell it was. Pick it
up. Let's lean in. Right. Checking in with themselves
was where I was trying to get at with that question.
It wasn't until I started Checking myself, well,
me checking myself is what helps keep me, helps
guide me, that I have this conversation routinely.
Often when I'm driving, it's a whole doggone
conversation with myself in the Jeep. And so
the question of is, I'm not quite sure how to
phrase that. It would be questioning about your
lifestyle, about yourself, checking in. Yeah.
Yeah. Checking in with yourself. Take some time
to have a nice conversation with yourself. This
idea that talking to yourself means that you're
crazy is crazy. Right. You definitely need to
talk to yourself and take some time to really
keep it real with yourself. about how are you
really doing um and what is really going on and
how to you know how am i living you know and
how can i live better so so that's one of the
big questions that we can ask our audience to
ask themselves now that we're that we're kind
of getting into these you know i love the fact
that you were talking about how important it
is to build community in these set trips, right?
And have a social aspect to it. Not only is it
an individual challenge and opportunity for self
-discovery, but also an opportunity to bond and
connect socially with other like -minded people.
When you're thinking about what keeps you motivated,
who are the people, organizations, or books that
have inspired your journey and your work so far?
No, that's a good question. And actually, there's
a whole gambit of people that I draw from routinely.
Because a lot of them are family members, my
uncles, cousins, my grandmother. I draw from
them a lot because I know them well. And so I
show up in my day as some of them in different
situations. I could hear their voices, my grandmother.
And I borrow from their personalities. My cousin
just passed away. He was a CEO type, dressed
very dapper, and he was real formal. He could
speak really well. And in fact, at the family
gatherings, he would be the one that would be
out in front. And so when I do stuff like this
where I have to speak in audience, I'm standing
in there as Cedric. And borrowing from these
people has everything to do with who I am. And
not just family members, but there's John Coltrane.
So John Coltrane, he's my Henry I. I love his
music. And two, he kicked heroin. Back then,
everyone was doing it. It was a thing. And the
thing about that is that he wrote his most popular
piece after he stopped doing drugs. So there's
this conversation that artists have, you know,
wondering that some people say that like smoking
weed helps the creativity in terms of. doing
stuff so i'll often ask uh artists you know what
do they think about this whole thing of of using
drugs to you know help with creativity and of
course i get a gambit of different responses
but my take on it is that it's an artificial
thing and i don't think it contributes to it
to creativity it's a very narrow window because
if you smoke too much then you forget what you
had the date night before or whatever you had,
whatever I had would be incoherent. I wouldn't
be able to use it. It would seem beautiful at
the moment, but in terms of it being real creativity,
not so much. It's a fleeting thing to try and
capture, to use drugs to help with creativity.
I wasn't able to figure it out. And I spent a
lot of time. And so it was inspiring to learn
that John Coltrane, even after he stopped doing
drugs and he went on this journey of discovering
life itself, the reality of it. And on top of
that, to write his best piece, Love Supreme,
which. It's a beautiful piece. No one will even
remake that thing. It's pretty much his. And
so it says to me that argument of using drugs,
that artificial component to sustain this creativity
just doesn't, I don't think it works. If you're
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I love that. Thank you for sharing that. I did
not know that about our beloved Coltrane and
Love Supreme and how that story, that man. has
been a facilitator in your wellness journey,
in your health journey, and in your journey to
maintain your sobriety. And then also there's
tons more. There's people that told me, hey,
that's not cool what you're doing. There's a
gazillion. That's what I learned is that I need
to connect with people in order to... to sustain
my sobriety. I didn't think people were important
when I was in my addiction, but I think that's
my addiction was telling me that. I think connections
with human beings is everything. That's awesome.
Are there any other organizations that inspired
you or even assisted you along your way in your
entrepreneurship with developing Set Trippin
or helping to facilitate your success or just
give you that eureka moment of innovation? It's
still early on. I've been at the table with the
Adams Board. The Adams Board provide funding
for these agencies that deal with mental illness.
And so they've been interested in my story and
we'll see where that leads. But I'm optimistic
that I'm looking forward to whatever relationship
we can work out. Awesome. And if this platform
can help build that relationship even stronger,
please use it. Adams Board, I'm here to support
Charles Chambers and the work that he's doing
with set tripping and his other endeavors. And
looking forward to you being able to connect
with other organizations that can also help to
further deepen this work and help to make it
even more impactful for those people who are
interested in taking these journeys with you.
Yes, absolutely. Thank you. Yes, you're welcome.
So are there any key solutions or practices that
you believe are essential for improving mental
health and wellness, especially among black men?
I'd like to point out what I was talking about
in the beginning about me asking for help. That
I think a lot of us out here, it's like that
was difficult for me to do. Matt? physically
to say hey can you help me but um in my mind
it was a whole thing that i had to go through
that much suffering to say hey can you help me
um that i think we i think i prided myself off
of the suffering being in that you know i wasn't
considering his suffering but it was like uh
just accepting now it's just like this is the
way it is you know suck it up do it you know
maybe in the marine it it and then also i have
a high threshold for pain so being in a funky
situation i can endure it i can outlast this
and even with going to the doctor like when i
was in my addiction that wasn't the emergency
room was my Doctor visits, you know, unless my
arm was hanging off, I was going to be okay.
I'm all right. Right. And all the people in my
life say, oh, you should go to the doctor. It's
all right. I'm all right. What are you talking
about? But yes, we need to listen to our bodies.
That's another thing. Oh, my goodness. Since
I've sobered up, now I'm hearing all this noise
inside my mind and my body where I used to ignore.
I didn't know the different levels of. I'm starting
to attach names to be able to organize how I
feel inside. Before an addiction, it was just
three things. Pissed off, normal, and happy,
giddy. Those are all three emotions that I could
identify with. In this road to recovery, it's
really about me listening to myself. I'm starting
to learn. to identify what that feeling is when
i say i'm i'm feeling anxiety these check -ins
that i do with myself help me organize all of
this complicated stuff that's going on inside
of me and that's what the journaling does also
it gives me a chance to sort of sort those out
that's important for me because it's it helps
break down these complicated feelings or notions
I have in my head and really break them down
to something that makes it palatable that I can
deal with and take action on and even so the
first part to any problem is recognizing that
there is and then being able to respond to it
but yes for black men one for us to this thing
of living and suffering We've got to let that
go and ask for help to be vulnerable at times.
That is not a bad thing. I'm not sure what to
do about that. I share my story of me asking
for help. And not just that, I practice. not
just with the quit drinking but even with working
i i would i would always try and accommodate
what was in front of me and in my today world
it's well let me back up i used to put my work
first and then i'll take care of later and i
pride myself off of getting my work done at the
expense of everything my family my kids me And
it was easy to, I think I did that because it
was easier to do the work than it would be to
show up and take care of myself and my family.
And so today I've switched that all the way around.
Now I take care of Charles and my family and
then work is secondary. That's a wrap on this
episode of Questions You Didn't Ask. I'm Naisha
Frey, and it's been a privilege to speak with
Charles Chambers, founder of Set Trippin' Outdoor
Adventures. His reflections on freedom, recovery,
and reclaiming space set the stage for what's
ahead. Join me next time as Trippin' Black Men,
Land, and Liberation continues.