And I wanted to speak with Sharinia Degar because she is somebody who's always on the pulse of what it's like to be a parent these days. And it's been a difficult time for people around just world news and feeling the pressures of bringing joy on a daily basis to young lives. And how do we do that, given some of the pressures that adults are feeling? So I wanted to start a question and answer interview with Sharin, and hopefully we can open this up and everyone could join
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:40
We as storytellers know the power of story, but you bring it out in people with your mom's matter, show, with the way you write as a journalist, your activism. I just want you to speak to the value of what you've seen in what's revealed, when people get to start talking about stuff, because we can't always have the words at the tip of our tongues to say what we feel or say what we need
Shirin Yadegar
@Shirin · 0:51
If you just sit and listen the way that we sit and listen to our children and our friends and our family, it's the same thing. Just sit and listen and let people talk. And so much beauty is created through that process
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 0:35
And where do you see that discomfort and what do you do about it, and what do you doing about it when it comes to trying to change culture around issues that need to be discussed more and what issues for you are difficult to talk about?
Shirin Yadegar
@Shirin · 2:02
What's happening is that it's excluding races. It's putting everyone in a box rather than bringing us together and teaching us about each other's race, about each other's religion, so that we can have more compassion and empathy for one another to know where we come from. So having those hard conversations allow us to think, wait a minute, maybe this isn't the way it should be. And as moms, we have all the power to change it
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:01
How do you create sacred space to make sure that you're in control of the pace, of the rhythm, welcoming, the energy of those in your household to kind of be together and build strategy around peace, and sort of that sense of we're not being inundated by the forces around us, but we are in control somehow. Because I think that's really part of what is a mystery to people when they start looking at their weeks and their schedules. How do you deal with overwhelm?
Shirin Yadegar
@Shirin · 3:18
So that, yes, we can take on a lot, but at the same time, we take on what serves us, we release what does not serve us. And in the end, we feel very aligned energetically. And we are living in our body mind. Body health is so extremely important. And sleep, we underestimate the importance of sleep. And if we don't get six to 8 hours as women, we are going to crash
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:23
Thanks for answering that. I'm going to leave this final question and then we can go from here, which has to do with the power of mothers to be agents of change. How do we encourage participation in the school board level, the local government level, national policies to help the wisdom of mothers get to the top so that we can create laws that are better for mothers, better for families, better for kids?
Shirin Yadegar
@Shirin · 2:47
Active listening is important to see where you can best serve. City politics is another great place. Again, just show up to the meetings and see where you can be of service. I think it is extremely important for us to be civically involved. We have local elections coming up. We need to make sure to vote. We need to make sure to get behind the candidates that are going to clean up our city, make our city better for women, for our children, for the community at large
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:05
Sharin, this has been extraordinary. I love all your answers because they come from a flow inside you of continuity and being very, very in tune with your constituency that you serve as a CEO of a magazine, as a host, as a community organizer, as an activist