Teaching Humanity Remotely with Dr. Mindy Shaw

In this brief but insightful episode, Dr. Shaw puts forth the notion that how you treat yourself is mirrored in how we treat others AND how the world treats us as well.  She shares some real life examples and some of her personal experiences, and she points out that sometimes it's counterintuitive to behave in the manner that serves us best.  She also reminds us that observing yourself is incredibly valuable in helping to establish how you want to be and how you want your life to unfold.

In this brief but very thoughtful episode, Dr. Shaw discusses the notion of having or being given grace and how that may differ from being enabled.  This concept began with a question posed by a fellow faculty member who works with Dr. Shaw, and the examination and discussion goes from there.  For Dr. Shaw, the notion of grace is a more divine and helpful energy while being an enabler isn't usually good for anyone involved.  She also points to the difference between enabling and being supportive.

In this brief but important episode, Dr. Shaw re-visits a favorite theme of hers which is that we should all learn to not take things personally, particularly when someone is wishing you ill will.  That can be a challenging for any adult, but it is especially difficult when presented as a situation to a child.  Dr. Shaw shares a recent personal experience in which she faced someone generating ill will, but she felt that her own maturity and experience kept her from confronting and exacerbating the situation.  She then shares strategies for aiding a child who is facing ill will through jealously or really any other emotional scenario that a child might be dealing with. Help your child understand that sometimes we can't control it when someone else has a negative feeling about us, but you should simply take responsibility for your own actions and change what you CAN change which is how you show up to face the situation.

In this brief but insightful episode, Dr. Shaw shares one of her key philosophies for parenting, and that is that we need to model our own life lessons and life experiences for our children.  As we go through life, many of the same issues and challenges come up for us no matter what our age or station in life, and if a child can see that their parent and role model might be suffering or struggling with an issue it will help them to understand, relate and then get through their own similar issues.

In this deeply personal episode, Dr. Shaw relates a very recent experience of a form of prejudice that she encountered when she returned to working as a teacher after several years of retirement.  She was greeted in a relatively unfriendly way by some of her fellow teachers, but as you listen to the study unfold, you can understand why her philosophy of not taking things personally is so important, and in fact it was in this situation.  Others may have belief systems and those belief systems are deeply entrenched and very difficult to alter.  In fact it may not be our task in life to alter the beliefs of others, but what we do have to learn, and we should share with our children, is that some beliefs and apparent prejudices are not personal affronts.... they are based on a circumstance, and as a result, they are not to be taken personally.   Yes, it would be nice if others had their eyes or their hearts open wider and made room for variations of belief, but if that's not the case, just observe and move on.