Christopher Rivas sits down with Ruben to talk about the importance of showing yourself enough love so that you can take up space in this world, walk towards your dreams unapologetically, and live a life outside of the boxes society tries to put us in.
He discusses how he became the successful author, podcaster, actor, and storyteller he is today. It took Christopher some time to overcome the challenges he faced with his identity, and there were times when he molded himself into what others thought he should be.
"At the end of the day, I think we need to choose anything we're doing, or someone's going to choose it for us." - Christopher Rivas.
Christopher believes that choosing love does not mean always living in a fairytale. Despite doubts and challenges, Christopher never lets comparison to others or fear to stop him from doing something, and he's open to changing every day. While he acknowledges that not everything he wants will come to him, he believes in staying resilient by keeping his heart open and remembering that he is enough as he is now.
"You still have to learn to love yourself. No one can teach you how to do it. You learn by seeing other people loving themselves. That's one of the things I'm doing with my son now. I cannot teach Remy how to love himself. I can show him how I love myself." - Christopher Rivas.
Christopher reminds us that the experiences, voices, and actions of all cultures matter. After several jobs like working as a personal trainer in Miami, studying theater in California, teaching hip-hop theater workshops overseas, and returning to acting in Hollywood, he finally started disconnecting from the masks he was putting on to fit into the box Hollywood tried to put him in and embark on his own creative endeavors.
In his debut book, Brown Enough, Christopher discusses more what it means to occupy space in this world within a brown body. Despite society's binary construct, Christopher aims to normalize loving ourselves and believing we are always enough.
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About the Guest: Christopher Rivas is a Dominican Colombian storyteller, actor, essayist, social commentator, filmmaker, author, podcast host, and speaker. Remy likes to make art that disrupts traditionally white spaces. He has been featured in The New York Times, Deadline, The Boston Globe, and Pop Culturalist. He hosts two podcasts, Brown Enough and Rubirosa with Christopher Rivas. He is also the author of his debut book Brown Enough.
