Truth and Dare - Written Interview with Tracie Chavonne

Questions by Loraine Garcia

Find the original post here.

L: Hiya Tracie! It was so much fun reading about how you turned the classic game Truth or Dare into something that could better help yourself. You mentioned the idea for this blog post came to be when your coworker asked, “Well, do we think the dares have grown up?” Can you give us a little more insight into how you developed this blog post?

T: Hello, Loraine, and thanks for the opportunity to expand upon the blog. I had the idea to write the blog about truth or dare but it was my colleague’s comment that made me think about the ways in which we’ve changed from our adolescence but the game of truth or dare itself didn’t seem to grow up with us. It caused me to ask myself, is there room for this game in my adult life and what would that game look like? Trying to answer that question ultimately led to the way I wrote the blog and I am incredibly grateful to have had the wonderful insights from my colleagues along the way.

L: You mentioned playing Truth or Dare as a child, what is the most memorable truth AND dare you’ve done?

T: Wow, answering that will require some brain muscle as those memory banks are dusty and unreliable. I can’t say that I remember a specific occurrence or dare from my childhood, I just remember playing the game and the rules of the game. I was very principled however, and decided that I would take on any dare that came my way. Though my childhood memories are shaky, the last dare I can remember taking was actually in college, though it came to me outside of playing the game of truth or dare.

I was telling a former friend that I hate doing laundry in public laundry places because sometimes I want to perfectly clean everything I own, even the clothes on my back. She doubted that I would take the clothes off my back and just be naked in order to have everything I possess clean. I told her that I have done this before, but not only did she not believe me, she dared me to do it right then and there, in this very public laundromat that was over a half a block from where we were staying. So, I did it. I undressed, put my clothes in the washing machine, and walked home naked. It was a very cold and liberating walk back home filled with the satisfaction of clean clothes and being bold. Thankfully, no police were around.

L: In your blog post, you mentioned playing Truth or Dare with “different levels of severity.” Do you mind going more in-depth about that?

T: Quite often in the hood where I grew up, we would change games or songs into things that seemed more culturally relevant and truth or dare is no exception. How we let that game evolve reminds of all the rules that developed from the game of UNO where I grew up.

Now, when it comes to truth or dare, I am not the authority on this type of game play. I am sure the game gets played differently in different places. When we played Truth or Dare, players were asked to choose: Truth, Dare, Double Dare, Triple Dare, Tricky Dare, Promise to Repeat, Freaky Dare? I wonder if children still play this way or other ways the game has evolved. Here’s the breakdown of the dare’s with examples:

• A Dare would be to gently smack someone on the hand.

• A Double Dare might take those odds up to slapping someone on the face. In both scenarios that someone is usually a person you know or someone who has agreed to play the game.

• A Triple Dare could involve slapping an enemy, a stranger, or a family member.

• Tricky Dare would be when you play a joke on someone, say slapping that person and blaming someone else or saying there was a bug that you were swatting away when in truth, nothing was there.

• A Promise to Repeat meant that you could get the player taking the dare to say anything you wanted, usually something humiliating that the player didn’t want to say. This was a popular option for players to take because while it wasn’t considered as boring as a truth, it was fun enough that it got other people in the game laughing and you didn’t look like a lame.

• And finally, a Freaky Dare means that you engage in physically intimate activities with someone beyond a simple kiss on the cheek. I was not a fan of taking that dare but I appreciated it because you could avoid doing things you didn’t want to do by avoiding the dare!

L: I loved that you did a small survey for this blog post. What made you want to do one?

T: Yes! I was writing in San Francisco while waiting for a work assignment and I had gotten stuck. Whatever I was writing didn’t feel alive or relevant so I thought to ask my colleagues about this game and their experience playing it, which led to a wonderful two hour conversation. I believe the energy from that conversation translated to the blog somehow. They helped me to see an aspect of the game that I’m not certain I would’ve seen on my own.

L: How has using the revamped version of Truth or Dare (Truth and Dare) improved your life/mindset? Do you have any cool experiences to share with the LYF audience?

T: Well, my latest truth and dare has to do with a writing project I’ve been working on. It has taken me years to get it where it is now and I think being afraid of how successful I might become as a result of completing the project has been holding me back. So I dared myself to finish. It’s a big dare that requires many truths along the way to provide myself with what I need to get it done.

L: I know some people (like myself) have struggled with the concept of being daring. Do you have any advice or suggestions for them?

T: There’s no need to chase fearlessness but rather be fueled by your fear to move through it! We seemed so much more fearless when we were children but the truth is we were afraid then as well - we simply faced our fears (which is easier when we don’t fully understand the consequences of our actions). Those scary feelings were exciting on some level for our developing hearts and minds and we often chased after the things that were risky and scary. When we get that feeling now, I wonder what would happen if we kept moving into that feeling, rather than away from it? And that’s the advice I have right there: approach your dares with curiosity! You don’t know how you will react or respond, but having a curiosity about yourself may lead to learning something new and showing mercy on yourself when things go awry. Also, there’s so much talk about childhood trauma these days and not enough talk about the bravery we had as children. So, find a way to access your childhood self to give you a little boost of courage to be daring!

L: And to find this interview off, what have you been up to? Where can our audience find you?

T: I am a flight attendant in the friendly skies and I have recently started flying a full work schedule again. I haven’t flown regularly in about two years! While I am working on getting back into the groove of aviation I am also finishing my bachelor’s degree in English for creative writing. I don’t hang out on social media much but you can find me @TracieChavonne on all social media platforms. If you want to know more about my background, you can head to my website www.CrescentSol.com to check out the books I have written about my life’s journey so far. I’m also interning with LYF for the summer and will be continuing on in a limited capacity for the fall.