Accepting Our Differences
This week’s guest is Dr. Melissa Bird. She’s a driven and dynamic force changing the world the world through public speaking, life coaching and writing. Her words say it all, “I believe in a new brand of advocacy where we humble ourselves to our shortcomings and engage in acts of graceful revolution that bring light to the true reality of people’s lives.”
Dr. Bird’s website: https://www.naturalbornrebel.com/
Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/birdgirl1001
Show Notes:
1:56 Dr. Bird- Introduction/credentials
2:24 Emancipation of a Minor Law- 2006 House Bill 30
3:15 Equality Utah
3:19 Planned Parenthood Utah
4:04 “Throw everything you want into the pot and be willing to take things out that you can live without”
5:14 “What I’ve learned is that you can’t be afraid of talking to people”
5:31 “Be willing to help people tell their stories”
7:03 “I recognized that her passion is equal to my passion; her values and her moral compass is equally as passionate as mine; I had to respect that”
8:36 “I realized that I had crossed the bridge and I had not burned the bridge”
9:26 Monthly conversations with Amy Wolf- Leaning Into our Differences
11:09 “It’s not about being right; it’s about listening… this is not a matter of right or wrong”
11:48 Three tips for listening
1- Seek out people who you don’t necessarily agree with
2- Listen Actively- listen fully before you respond
3- Acknowledge what the other person is saying, and then share your experience15:22 “There are no ‘buts’; that means you are making it a right or wrong decision”
16:58 “This is not a matter of reproductive choice… this is a matter of justice”
20:07 “On July 30th 2020, we are more polarized, more torn apart, more isolated because of the pandemic, and we are more willing to rip each other to shreds than we are to hold each other up as women. And as long as women continue to rip each other to shreds the patriarchy will survive an we will never see a place where our communities come together to stop the violence, to stop treating people like crap, and to start talking about what’s really truly important in our communities”
20:53 “As long as we continue to elevate white voices over black voices the issue of abortion and contraception will continue to be a divisive dividing line… we have to be willing to have difficult complicated conversations and learn from other people about their experiences so that we can move forward as an entire whole.”
21:28 “We are all interconnected…”
21:50 “Find the commonalities”
22:32 Jeanine Staples “I wonder…”
24:51 “Our view of how the world is, is not how the world is”
28:03 “I think the key is to start talking about being together at the table”
28:24 “We all need to start coming together and top attacking each other, and stop attacking each others bodies”
28:42 “We have to explore the idea of why we have been trained to attack each other as women”
29:40 “OUR WOMB IS A COMPLEX SPACE”
29:59 The womb is the chalice - mentioned YouTube video
30:36 “We could stop this whole thing if men would stop being so fascinated with the idea that we can create life and they cannot…”
31:12 “How are we caring for each other while we are here...”
32:23 “We complicate this conversation when we try to blanket how people should feel about abortion”
32:54 5 Things people can do for a “Graceful Revolution”:
1- Pay attention
2- Be kinder
3- Refrain from stoking anger & fear
4- Listen
5- Fear & loathing will get us nowhere37:13 “You are not alone”
38:40 “When did we become a group of women where we had to love everything about everyone”
