Ep 61: Reclaiming Ourselves in Motherhood: Revisited with Graeme Seabrook

May 9, 2019

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“We need these manifestos. We need each other. And we need each other’s stories.” — Graeme Seabrook

In honor of Mother’s Day 2019, I wanted to re-release this episode I recorded a year ago with Graeme Seabrooke of The Mom Center, Self-Care Squad and recently launched podcast, Your Mom Friend.

I so appreciated this conversation and the invitation Graeme and I co-created for you called the #oneminutemommanifesto. Graeme and I are all about helping mothers claim their lives and realized we each had crafted our own manifestos that were instrumental in reclaiming ours. For her it was her Mother’s Bill of Rights which you’ll hear us talk more about, and for me, it’s The E.P.I.C. Life framework that’s become the foundation of all things Mother’s Quest. We also realize that a manifesto doesn’t have to be long or time-consuming to create, but can be something you can declare in as little as one minute.

Graeme and I have a vision one day for the creation and sharing of one million of these on social media using the hashtag #oneminutemommanifesto. This year, to support you in creating your own, I’m facilitating a Manifesto Challenge in the private Mother’s Quest Facebook Group, from May 13th to the 17th. You can join the group by visiting www.mothersquest.com/community.

Each day, I’ll share a reflective prompt to help you claim the next chapter in your life and I’ll host a different mother, including Graeme, who will share their stories and their #oneminutemommanifestos for inspiration.

I hope you’ll say “yes” to this challenge and creating your own #oneminutemommanifesto as a Mother’s Day gift to yourself. You must be a priority in your own life. And, this is an opportunity to claim it and declare it. Because as you’ll hear Graeme say in our conversation, “We need these manifestos. We need each other. And we need each other’s stories.”

Have an amazing Mother’s Day!

Much appreciation,

P.S. Check out the announcement below to join us for the #oneminutemommanifesto Challenge in the Facebook Group in honor of Mother's Day.

P.S.S. Know someone who would love this conversation? Click forward now to pay this forward to a friend who may be interested.

This Episode is Dedicated by:

Desiree Adaway of the Adaway Group. Sign up for four weeks of reflection, discussion, and sisterhood through Desiree’s upcoming Sister Summer – a 4-week writing intensive. And learn to become a force for freedom –for your liberation and the liberation of others through the Freedom School.

In This Episode You'll Hear About:

The experiences that shaped Graeme’s childhood and conception of motherhood, including her observations of her own mother’s experience parenting, the many times her family moved, and how her home and heart landed in Charleston.
Graeme’s honest retelling of the challenging early months of motherhood where she remembers holding her precious baby and feeling like there was a wall between them.
The E.P.I.C. spark moment that came when she shared her story online, received an outpouring of messages from other mothers going through the same experiences of emotional pain, depression, and anxiety and realized she needed to do something about it.
-Graeme’s “true truths” and the concept from her current favorite author, Octavia Butler, about God. It’s so powerful and a metaphor for the reciprocal relationship between parents and their children.
Graeme’s description of the Ten Articles in the Mother’s Bill of Rights, how she champions and helps mothers reclaim themselves through this framework and the support she offers in her Mom Center.
Graeme’s E.P.I.C. Snapshot moment which revealed reflections on the legacy of our matriarchs, the mothers we claim for ourselves, and how we can become the ancestor we aspire to now.
A description of our co-created #OneMinuteMomManifesto challenge.

Resources Mentioned:

Postpartum Support Charleston and their annual MomsRun
Graeme’s favorite books by Octavia Butler: Parable of the Sower andParable of the Talents
You can visit Graeme’s website, The Problem with Motherhood.
You can also follow Graeme on Twitter, or view her profile on Linked In.
Graeme’s Mother’s Bill of Rights
The piece Graeme wrote about her ancestors
Lauren Rosenfeld, the mentor/teacher Graeme mentions in her E.P.I.C. snapshot moment
Episode 7: Living Out Loud with Jenjii Hysten
Episode 27: Courageous Conversations about Race with Nicole Lee

This Week’s Challenge "Revisited":

Graeme and I have a vision one day for the creation and sharing of one million of these manifestos on social media using the hashtag #oneminutemommanifesto.

Join us in the private Mother’s Quest Facebook Group, from May 13th to the 17th.

Hope to see you there!

Announcements: Spark Your E.P.I.C. Year

Anyone else feel like they need a spring reset to their year?

A few months ago, we declared February the new January and facilitated a Mother's Quest Workshop/Virtual Milestone Hike experience to help us all start again.

Using photos from my favorite local hike, I took a small group on a virtual journey to:

✨Reflect on our last chapter (as we ascend) ✨Decide what we want to release (using an image of a big bad bonfire!) and what we want to carry forward ✨Then, set intentions along the E.P.I.C. guideposts for our new chapter.

There’s a special planning sheet we created to guide you and help you document the whole process.

🌟Truthfully, we can start fresh any time we choose.🌟

If you decide you want to reset and begin again, today, this afternoon or this weekend, using this experience and worksheet to support you. Just sign up here.

Join me on my #100dayproject Journey

I’m doing Lindsay Jean Thomson’s #100dayproject and decided to record 100 stories about the making of Mother’s Quest on my Mother’s Quest Bite-sized Reflections on Living an E.P.I.C. Life Podcast (an unedited sister podcast to my interview show.) Releasing perfectionism, I realized a few days in, these 100 episodes won't be consecutive, but I'll get to 100 still! There are almost a dozen recorded now and I'd love for you to tune in!

Follow Mother’s Quest on Anchor and join the #100dayproject!

Acknowledgments:

A big THANK YOU to our “patrons” for helping to bring these conversations to myself and other mothers through financial and/or in-kind support:

Julie Castro Abrams Alexia Vernon Brooke Markevicius Democracy Clothing Michael Skolnik Helgi Maki Kari Azuma Tamara Sobomehin Katie Krimitsos Carrie Caulfield Arick Rachel Rosen Chandra Brooks Jen Simon Monisha Vasa Celia Ward-Wallace Vanessa Couto Desiree Adaway Rachel Steinman Katie Hanus Denise Barreto Sage B. Hobbs Samantha Nolan-Smith Jody Smith Emily Cretella Collette Flanagan Titilayo Tinubu Ali Carly Magnus Hurt Lizzy Russinko Suzanne Brown Mara Berns Langer Mallory Schlabach Katharine Earhart Jessica Kupferman Jen Jenkins Dohner Genese Harris Tonya Rineer Liane Louie-Badua Cristin Downs Erin Kendall Niko Osoteo Erik Newton Claire Fry Divya Silbermann Rachel Winter Caren and Debbie Lieberman Cameron Miranda Fran and David Lieberman Debbie and Alan Goore The Sustainable Living Podcast

Support the Podcast

If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Three of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution.

If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com

Mother's Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

Join in for intimate conversations with a diverse group of inspiring mothers as they share how they are living an E.P.I.C. life, Engaging mindfully with their children (E), Passionately and Purposefully making a difference beyond their family (P), Investing in themselves (I), and Connecting to a strong support network (C).

Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/