"Why have you abandoned the platform?"
The first episode of season five was a welcome back to the host, Naikey Lenescat, and avid listeners of the show, but it was also a welcome and see you soon to the prior cohost Betina Vildort, who informed listeners that she would not be returning full time to the platform.
The dynamic duo finished season four in March of 2021, so it had been quite some time since the tribe had really received content – whether it be verbal or visual. We were all a year post the 2020 pandemic, balancing “outside” activities with the re-integration of normalcy back into our lives. A topic that had bounced around during the pandemic and afterwards was mental health and the importance of checking in on our friends and loved ones. And no matter how much someone presents happiness in front of the world, they could be dealing with some very deep emotions and thoughts – that do not always lead to the best of places.
Betina alluded to how turning 25, she realized what it meant when people say the “frontal lobe” of the brain is coming together and certain things begin to make sense.
An intimate and inviting atmosphere was created between the pair where Naikey felt comfortable to ask “Betina, why have you abandoned the platform?”.
“I am aware of my toxic trait” says Betina. She further explained that her toxic trait is shutting her friends and people who care about her out when she deals with her personal issues because she does not want to feel like a burden and would prefer to deal with her issues on her own.
Betina then says “I wasn’t able to contribute to the platform like I wanted to; I was overstepping Naikey’s boundaries to a point where I felt like the work ration between Naikey and I was 90:10.”
Have you ever felt like something you were going through was hindering your performance at work – or even something you were building?
How do you get out of that?
Betina said she is in a better place now, with Naikey agreeing with her by adding that even Betina’s acknowledgment of how their work relationship had become is a sign a progress.
Although she is in a better place in life now, Betina mentioned how things had gotten so bad (not explicitly saying what exactly she was going through; but she said she’ll share that another time), she even felt like she was beefing with God.
Now, I don’t think I have ever felt like I was beefing with the G. O. D, but I will say in life, there have been points when I questioned God’s will or if God’s will was real. Was God real at all?
Cousins, what do you do when you feel like you’re falling apart because all you have known and believed to be true doesn’t make sense? Are you going full Money Mayweather on God – if you are, I don’t really know how that works, but seriously, what did you do and how did you come out of that place?
Then Betina said something that changed the trajectory of the conversation and in real life, her life: “… at some point you get better… I had some real conversations with God…. I’ve been given a chance to restart my journey”. That was beautiful and felt. I’ve been there. In that space where the wrong thoughts have cornered you but that was the place where God found you.
God always finds a way to find the lost in the darkest places and there is a beauty to that.
The two then joked about how cringe the first couple seasons were but were happy with the overall growth of the show and the platform.
To close, Naikey asked Betina what does “Lekol, Legliz, Lakay” mean to her.
“Being raised with community, pride and always striving; Haiti as a country is so resilient, and there is always a reminder of a better day coming… That God has a plan for you”.
The episode ended on a positive note with Naikey inviting Betina back to the show to share her testimony.
Naikey would like to have a revolving chair for the show to bring in different perspectives to the three “L’s” of our lives cousins. Who would you like to see next? What would you like topics to pertain to?
Stay tuned.
- Sarah Chanel
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