Ep 41: Reclaiming Ourselves in Motherhood ~A Mother’s Day Special~ with Graeme Seabrook

I’m so honored to bring you this special Mother’s Day edition of the Mother’s Quest Podcast with Graeme Seabrook, a woman whose recent writing on reclaiming ourselves in motherhood through a Mother’s Bill of Rights had me laughing, crying and cheering out loud. The moment I read it, I knew I wanted to have this conversation on the podcast.

Graeme is a Motherhood Life Coach, who bases her approach to coaching on the belief that you must be a priority in your own life in order to thrive. Following a traumatizing birth experience and postpartum depression, anxiety, and PTSD, Graeme began a healing journey as a mother and a woman. Believing that our global culture treats mothers as if we’re inhuman and expects us to be superhuman, she helps mothers reclaim our humanity through her work as the founder of The Mom Center, a social and coaching network for mothers, and through her speaking and writing.

In our conversation, Graeme shared generously about her life-long quest to become a mother, the disillusionment she experienced in her first months of motherhood, and how she reached out for support to reclaim her life, something she now pays forward by creating and holding space for other mothers.

We discuss the ways that living an E.P.I.C. life resonates for her, the E.P.I.C. guideposts in her life, and how the floodgates for impact opened as she crystallized everything she’s experienced and thought about into the “Mother’s Bill of Rights” with Ten Articles which I think are revelatory: a mother’s right to Personhood, Privacy, Space, Care, Voice, Respect, Name, Dreams, Desire, and Visibility.

In time for Mother’s Day, I hope this conversation inspires you to examine your own truths and that you’ll record and share with us what you uncover using the hashtag #OneMinuteMomManifesto. It’s a co-created challenge, and a Mother’s Day Gift to you, from me and Graeme…an invitation to you for nothing less than a reclamation of your whole SELF.

This episode 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.

Topics Discussed in this Episode:

• 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.

This Week’s Challenge:

A challenge co-created by me and Graeme in honor of Mother’s Day to invite you to create your own one-minute manifesto about what you want to claim or reclaim in your motherhood. Use video, photos, poetry or any other form of your choice to express what matters most to you and share on social media using the hashtag #OneMinuteMomManifesto. Visitwww.facebook.com/MothersQuest for more information and inspiration. Help us reach our goal to inspire the creation of one million of these Mom Manifestos!

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

• 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

Announcements:

Dedicate an Episode of the Mother’s Quest Podcast

On this special Mother’s Day edition of the podcast, I want to honor my own mother Fran Lieberman, my mother in law Anne Neale, and the matriarchal ancestors that came before us, both biological and those as my guest Graeme Seabrook says we claim for ourselves.

I invite you to take a moment in honor of Mother’s Day to think about the mothers who have impacted you. And if there’s someone special you’d like to dedicate an upcoming podcast episode to, send an email [e-mail]. I’d love to hear your story and share how you can tell it on the podcast.

Spring into Your E.P.I.C. Life Clarity Coaching Package

Spring is an amazing time to more fully seed the E.P.I.C. Guideposts in your life. I’m opening a limited number of one-on-one coaching spaces for a 90 day coaching package that includes bi-weekly hour-long coaching sessions where I will help you mindfully close the chapter of the last season, identify your vision for what’s ahead, set strategic action steps for moving forward, and provide inspiration and accountability along the way. Email me at [e-mail] to set up a free discovery call and learn more.

Virtual Mother’s Quest Circle Pilot

I’m excited to announce that the first founding Mother’s Quest Virtual Circle has been filled. If you’re interested in a future circle, and want to receive notice when the applications open again, please add your name to this wait list. [e-mail]

Help us Grow the Mother’s Quest Community

If you’re finding value from the Mother’s Quest Podcast and would like to get more involved, please join us in the Mother’s Quest Facebook Group, help us find more like-minded mothers on a quest by spreading the word and sharing your favorite episodes, and make a donation or apply to dedicate an episode. You can also share your story on the Mother’s Quest Blog.

Acknowledgements:

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:

• 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 [e-mail]