So last year I realized I have something in common with actress, comedian and singer Tracy Ellis Ross.

This is my buddy. You're hiding behind one of the leaves.

My thriving Fiddly Fig, yeah.

Tracy and I both have had Fiddly Fig plants in our homes, and we both talk to those plants.

What's their name? She doesn't have a name, but she has identified herself as female.

The other day she dropped a giant leaf on my head and it did not look like that leaf was ready to drop off.

I think she was just trying to get my attention.

I talked with Tracy last year just after the pandemic hit and we were trying to figure out

the weirdness of social distancing and quarantining at home.

So during that time Tracy leaned into her friendship with her plant and she also told me that

she was learning a lot about herself during isolation.

I can be okay with discomfort.

And by the way people saying that they have been bored during this pandemic, I'm like,

who, where, and where do you find that thing called boredom?

Because I don't know about you, but there's floors to mop.

There's always something to do that has to get done.

You got time to lean, you got time to clean.

I'm, hey, there you go. I've never heard that, but I'm with it. I'm snapping Sam.

You're listening to It's Been A Minute from NPR. I'm Sam Sanders.

In this episode, we're going to revisit a wide-ranging conversation that I had with Tracy Ellis Ross

last summer. You know, I've been watching Tracy on screen for years.

From the sketch comedy show The Lyruses Lounge Show to her sitcom Girlfriends.

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