
Raven-Symoné & Her Wife Miranda Get Real About Intimacy & Why They Sleep In Separate Bedrooms

Raven-Symoné and her wife Miranda Pearman-Maday are proof that doing marriage your way is the only way.
In a recent solo episode of their podcast Tea Time w/ Raven & Miranda, the couple revealed that they've started to share separate bedrooms, and no, it's not because they're having problems. In fact, the decision has actually brought them closer. "Let's normalize it," Miranda said of sleeping in separate bedrooms, calling it a move that improved their relationship and their marriage for the better.
"We really function in better in separate spaces, especially when it comes to sleep," she explained on the podcast. "And I was like, 'We should have separate bedrooms.' And then we can decorate our bedrooms as we want, number one, which is great because you had a different vibe, so we both wanted to have different style of bedrooms. Now we get to have that. And we aren't fucking up each other's sleep schedules. Primarily, you're not fucking mine up, which is getting up at 2 a.m., 4 a.m. Raven, babes, you love to sleep in the reverse orientation."
She wasn't exaggerating either. Raven admitted that she has always had an issue with sleeping in normal orientation, dating back to her childhood. "When I was younger, I've always had a problem with staying in one orientation when I slept. My mom said that she would not like to sleep with me. And I would kick people when I sleep with them. And so I remember when we got engaged. We slept in my old house and you told me that when you woke up, my ass was in your face because I had turned my body around."
"One night, you literally flipped. I thought you were awake because it was so, it was so violent. Like you were sleeping on your side away from me. You flip yourself up and over, you like kinda sit up, and you had no clue where you were because you put your entire ass on my face. Both cheeks were suffocating me. Boom, it was impact," Miranda recalls. "And I was like, this is, this is going to be a challenge."
Suffice it to say, the incident became an issue. One that they needed to find a solution for. "So now," Raven said, "we've decided I'm sleeping in a separate room from you." The compromise? Whenever they need each other, "We text," Miranda added.
Despite where your mind might go when you hear "separate bedrooms" in someone's relationship, the pair assured that the move has helped their intimacy more than it's hindered it. "I will say it has upped my [feels] for you," Raven told Miranda. "There's a little bit of, I believe, in absence makes the heart grow fonder. We work together, we live together, we eat together, we cook together, we drive together. It's like, I'm going to have a little time to myself, and I think that it's actually helping."
Even with the perks of better sleep and better intimacy that have come with their decision to separate their marital bed, Miranda admitted that if someone had suggested to her separate bedrooms a year ago, she would've panicked.
Together since 2015 and married since 2020, Miranda revealed that the would-be solution initially had her questioning, "Does this mean divorce?" But she chalked that up to programming. "I was very much from a space where I was taking my information from heterosexual [relationships], [and feeling like] this is the best way," she said.
Raven also took the conversation deeper, pointing out how many people conflate sex with love, especially when it comes to intimacy. "I also think if you are basing your entire relationship on sex, then you're not really understanding what intimacy is. You're not understanding what deep love is because you can have a deep, loving, intimate relationship with someone and not have sex. Sex is like a cherry on top. You know what I mean? That's like a oooh, it's built up so much I got to release."
She continued, "I don't think sex defines a relationship. I think sex is lustful. And I think that a deep marriage and a deep intimate relationship is where I can literally be just looking at you, and I can be like... And you know what that means."
"And I know what that means," Miranda echoed.
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On her debut album,CTRL,SZA crooned about her desire to be a “Normal Girl.” Now, nearly eight years since its release, her Not Beauty line represents her commitment to existing outside of traditional beauty norms.
The singer whose real name is Solána Imani Rowe first teased the idea of a lip gloss line during Super Bowl LIX in February, noting that the release would be happening “very shortly.” Not Beauty debuted simultaneously with the Grand National Tour, which she co-headlines with Kendrick Lamar, in Minneapolis on April 19.
Each Not Beauty pop-up would offer fans the opportunity to purchase the glosses, learn more about the brand, and have the opportunity to meet the superstar in the flesh regardless of their ticket status.
During the Los Angeles tour stop, which spanned three dates on May 21, May 23, with the finale on May 24, xoNecole had the opportunity to test out the glosses included in this soft launch, as SZA revealed in a statement that "this is just the start of other lip products, including plans to launch stains, liners, and creams all inspired by SZA's “infamous layered lip combinations.”
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So, what is included in the first Not Beauty launch?
The current Not Beauty products available are lip glosses that come in three shades: In the Flesh, Strawberry Jelly, and Quartz.
During my visit to the first LA Not Beauty pop-up activation, I not only had the chance to purchase all three glosses but also took a peek inside the blow-up log tent. Inside, fans got to experience SZA’s love for nature and her fascination with bugs, which are prominently featured in her performances for this tour. At one point, she even had human preying mantis prancing across the stage y'all.
There were blow-up photos of the beauty that is SZA for fans (myself included) to take photos, but in wooden-like tree trunks were a deeper dive into some of the ingredients featured in her products and their benefits.
For example, the glosses feature Hi-Shine Lip Jelly and Shea Butter as key ingredients and some of the listed benefits included are:
- Shea Butter - “A powerhouse ingredient, offering both functional and nourishing benefits.”
- Hi-Shine Lip Jelly (featured in the In the Flesh shade) - “Formula glides on with perfect adhesion to the lips without stickiness).
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What are in the products?
Featured in an orange package, with images of a bug and flower on the side, the back of the box reads: “It’s NOT BEAUTY, it just works. Developed by Solána “SZA” Rowe.
As someone who never leaves home without a good lip gloss, I loved how compact the wood panel packaging is. Perfect to slip into my purse, or in the case of the show at SoFi Stadium, into my pocket when I’m not carrying a bag.
Because I’m a sucker for a good black and brown lip liner and clear gloss combo, I decided to wear the Quartz flavor on night one of the Grand National Tour LA stop, and it did not disappoint. I’ll admit, it’s light weight feel made me nervous because it felt like there was nothing on my lips. However, when I checked my lips in my compact mirror several times throughout the night, I was shocked to find that my gloss was still intact. I only reapplied once out of the habit of looking cute and applying my gloss, but not necessity.
Here are some of the ingredients featured, but not limited to, in the Quartz flavor.
- Polyisoubutene
- Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea)Butter
- Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil
- Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil
- Tocopherol
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Lip prep
I’m a simple girl who loves to stay true to her roots. So ahead of the show, I stopped by a local Inglewood Beauty Supply store and grabbed a Black and Brown shade lip pencil for just under $2 a piece.
Shading the outline of my lips with the black pencil first, I used the brown to lightly fill the inside of my lips before applying my Quartz Not Beauty shade gloss.
How to apply
There’s truly no right or wrong way to apply lip gloss (in my opinion), with this being a brush applicator sort of product, I simply untwisted the top and swiped the gloss around my top and bottom lip generously.
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Results
Again, my Not Beauty Quartz product stayed on my lips from the start of the show, which began with a fire DJ set from LA’s very own, Mustard, to the conclusion when Kendrick and SZA reunited on stage to send us home to their duet, “luther,” featured on the rapper's GNX album.
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This Journaling Technique Is Designed To Help You Manifest the Life You Want
These days, journaling and I go together real bad. And while audio journaling will still be my go-to when I have to process something heavy, there’s another journaling technique that has quickly become a fave: best-case scenario journaling.
Like its name suggests, best-case scenario journaling is a form of journaling that asks you to focus on what you do want instead of what you don’t want, and by doing so, you set the tone for your day and lay fertile groundwork for manifestation. I first came across it while listening to an episode of She’s So Lucky (formerly Balanced Black Girl).
In the solo episode, host Les Alfred walked us through the practice that changed her life, and I must say, as a chronic overthinker and someone who tends to lead with her worries, especially as I process, best-case scenario journaling has opened me up in my life in ways I didn’t imagine.
It was author Joe Dispenza who once said, "Most people spend 70% of their life living in survival and living in stress, so they're always anticipating the worst-case scenario based on a past experience and they're literally, out of the infinite potentials in the quantum field, they're selecting the worst possible outcome and they're beginning to emotionally embrace it with fear." I don't know about you, but I've definitely been that person. Hell, I can still be that person. It's easy to spiral into what can go wrong in your life versus what could go right.
Joe has also said, "The best way to predict your future is to create it." And that is a sentiment that both Les and I can agree with. Because that is what best-case scenario journaling is about.
What Is Best-Case Scenario Journaling?
Now, instead of shutting down or crashing out when I’m overwhelmed or anxious, I choose not to feed the spiral. I let my desires script what’s possible instead. Not from fear, but from faith. The scenario where the story I pitched resonates with our readers. Where unexpected money finds its way to me. Where someone I’ve been thinking about calls. Where I feel completely at peace, exactly where I am, just as I am.
Best-case scenario journaling isn’t about ignoring the reality of your current circumstances; it’s more about calling in the most aligned version of your life through reallocating that energy into believing in a different story instead of the one shrouded in doubt, fear, survival, complaints, or disbelief. And more often than not, the energy I write in becomes the energy I attract. That’s when everything shifts.
So, how do you actually start this practice? Let's break it down.
How To Try Best-Case Scenario Journaling
As with any form of journaling, there's no one "right" way to go about it. This in part is what makes journaling such a gentle and intuitive practice. You can start with a simple prompt like, "What's the best possible version of the situation I am worried about?" Or even, "If all goes well today, what would my day look and feel like?" Allow yourself to lean into ease and expansion not by forcing positivity, but by rewiring your mind to imagine possibility. To believe in the other side of the coin when it comes to 50/50 chances.
In an interview with The Skinny Confidential podcast, Les Alfred shared how she incorporates best-case scenario journaling in her mornings:
"It's where I will write out either how I want the day to go, assuming all best-case scenarios, or if there's something that I'm worried about, that's stressing me out, that's on my mind, I will write out what I think the best-case scenario of that situation is. I'll do that in detail."
The She's So Lucky host continued, "Let's say I have a day where I'm doing a bunch of back to back podcast recordings and maybe I feel nervous about it, I will write out in detail exactly how I want it to go. Like, 'Me and this guest vibe so well, I get them to admit things they've never admitted on air before. The audience loves this episode. Like, I will write out what I want all of the outcomes to be for the day ahead." Her approach is a great reminder that abundant living lives in the details so script your days like you mean it.
Why Best-Case Scenario Journaling Works
There's something especially powerful about choosing to tell yourself a different story, regardless of your present circumstances, and your mind's default of filling any blanks with fear. Best-case scenario journaling gives the mind a new script, and as you intentionally focusing on what could go right, you're effectively doing the work to retrain your nervous system as well.
As a mindset shift, best-case scenario journaling allows you to build a new habit, one that feeds hope in your life more than trepidation. As a manifestation technique, it facilitates a shift in your frequency, one that allows you to better align with outcomes you actually want to attract.
As a grounding practice, it supports your mental health by acting as an anchor, one that gifts you with self-regulation, gratitude, and a deeper connection to your inner self. So at the end of the day, you're not just feeding your delulu, you're nurturing your well-being, your energy, and your ability to believe that there is always better because in life there's always more.
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