Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rev. Yolanda. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Rev. , appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I get my resilience from feeling ALL of the feelings that come my way. I acknowledge them, see them and in that seeing and feeling they vanish. Therefore feelings and thoughts of fear anger, regret, grief, and many more “negative” forces come and go. I let them, go by letting them go through me. I found in my life that most of my problems come from not want to feel my feelings. I was taught to hold feelings in and push them away. Even when I started on the “conscious Spiritual Path”, I was told there were “positive” and “negative” feelings. Positive ones we want to attract and negative ones we want to push away. That was not helpful advice. Holding in feelings – not acknowledging them-not feeling them is a hindrance to growth and resilience. Strength come from facing fear. Facing the “negative” and learning that it can’t stop me is the key to my resilience.
There is a quote from the Sc-Fi novel Dune that has stuck with me for many years:
” I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
The I that remains is my True Self. That True Self is what carries me through this life in joy and peace. 

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am originally from Muscle Shoals, Alabama- The Hit Recording Capital of the World. I have been making music, theatre, TV and film, and performance art for well over 40 years, winning the NYC MAC Award twice and inducted into both the NY State Blues Hall of Fame and Stonewall Society LGBTQAI+ Hall of Fame, as well as winning the OutMusician of The Year Award and several other music awards in NYC, while releasing 9 cds of my original music, with my 10th cd to be released in 2026.
After graduation from NYC’s One Spirit Interfaith Seminary, I founded the “spiritual happening” called Church With A 2 Drink Minimum with my beloved husband – the late Rev. Glen Morton Ganaway . I am also a founding member of NYC Chapter of Drag Story Hour NYC.
Most recently-Jan 2026- I am featured as a guest star in episode 6 of The Beauty- a new Sci-Fi drama, created by Ryan Murphy, on FX and HULU. Currently I am working on my 10th studio album and playing live with my band “Rev. Yolanda and The Circle of Love”.
I teach a weekly class on A Course In Miracles, and am available for one-on-one spiritual counselling.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1. What someone else thinks about you is NONE of your business.
Develop a sense of who you truly are and stand strong in that knowledge always.
2. Feel your fear and do it anyway.
The key here is to FEEL it- not ignore it. As we feel the feeling of fear, we understand that it will pass. Do the thing you want to do, even if you’re afraid to do it.
3. I AM the LIGHT of the world- and so are YOU!
Each individual is necessary to the whole. Even the persons you do not like are here on this planet and intersecting with your life for your HEALING.

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

I actually do feel that I have about a decade left in this lifetime. I am 70 yrs now, and I don’t expect to live much past 80 yrs. I have had a rich and glorious life (even with all of its difficulties), and I am getting prepared to leave the planet. This is not a gloomy proposition, its a celebration of the power of choice.
I am spending this last decade preparing my end of life papers, enjoying music and art making, and enjoying my friends. There are a few more life goals I want to accomplish and I’m taking the steps to fulfill those goals. I am doing only what I truly want to do, regardless of people’s expectations of me.
I think its wise to prepare for death. Look it straight in the eye and embrace the inevitable. Because I am certain that life is eternal, I am not afraid of leaving the body behind when it is done. Make your peace with death.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.Yolanda.net
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/REVYOLANDA/
• Youtube: https://www.YouTube.com/revyolanda
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/revyolanda
• Other: my entire discography: https://yolanda.net/audio

the story of my life: https://yolanda.net/stories-from-yolandaworld