From My Heart To Yours

#2 You’re More than Your Fears with Kashira Fatima

Kashira Fatima: “I was able to move away from a conservative, small town background because of the education my mother fought to give my sisters and me. When I go back to my hometown, though my visits are less and less, I still see the girls doing exactly the same thing. Seeing myself on the other side, I feel blessed. That's the major reason why I feel the need to speak up. Life has been full of turbulent situations. When you are very young, you don't know much of what's happening.  I was never happy, because I always saw my mother very sad.  She kept looking forward to that one day when she'd have what she wanted for herself and for her daughters. Then she could be happy. Unfortunately that day never came. She's no longer with us. She lived life with sadness and grief.  I hear people say, ‘I want to be like my parents, like my mama and my pap’. I never wanted to be like my mother. I was very clear looking at her life that it was not what I wanted for myself. She sacrificed herself for everybody else and people who never cared for her. She kept making arrangements for people to be happy, but she never did anything for herself.”  * Have a listen as I interview my special guest Kashira Fatima. Find out how to step out of fear, use your voice, and have a meaningful impact in the world.

#1 Simplifying Life with Kashira Fatima

Kashira Fatima: “If you want to make a difference in your life, there’s nobody who can stop you. This holds a very special place in my heart because two years ago, I finally started living and simplifying my life. I transformed myself. I am now able to do something for society and to give back to society in my own way. I come from a very conservative family background. I was born, raised, and still live in India. I'm able to connect with people at a very deep level and that matters so much to me. I come from a background where I lived my entire life in fear, always scared of everything. I am from a small town. I was brought up in an environment, where for girls, life is supposed to be: get married, then live and cook in your in-law's house, have kids and that's it. That is what your life is supposed to be. That's the trajectory that people have decided for you. You can't do anything else beyond that.  My mother, despite her limited education, held a dream that her three daughters would create a positive impact in the world. She had no resources and no support, yet she gathered the courage to fight for our education. We were educated in one of the best schools in my hometown. A school where kids of mostly rich people attended. Our grandfather and other family members weren't much in favor of that arrangement. Grandfather would say, ‘Why are you wasting all the money on their education’?" * Have a listen as I interview my special guest Kashira Fatima. Find out how to step out of fear, use your voice, and have a meaningful impact in the world.

#4 Sameness with Lisa McFarland

Lisa McFarland: “Sameness tries to divide us, it’s a protective mechanism. Our brains are constantly searching for it. There's security in the familiar. Being able to relate to another person, even if we are hearing their story for the first time, connects us. We are more the same than different. I do a lot of work with folks who have lost loved ones. Because I lost two of my children as a very young mom I'm able to connect with another person who perhaps lost a spouse or their health or both. The experience of loss is very universal. This creates an opportunity for connection and love to arise.  Without the ability to recognize ourselves in others, we are more like an uninhabited island, instead of the ocean teaming with other life. That is when we really feel alone. If I'm not feeling connected to myself and/or others then I'm feeling kind of isolated. That's usually when things like depression, anxiety, and fear start to become the way I approach things. Recognition is the currency available to us to feel and give love.”  * Have a listen as I interview my special guest Lisa McFarland. Find out how to connect more with your “humanness”.

#3 Love with Lisa McFarland

Lisa McFarland: “The first thing that comes up for me when I think about the word LOVE is my son. He has taught me more about love than anyone else in the world. Zach is about to turn 26 and he only weighs 70 pounds, because he has a genetic disorder. Even though he is small, he is very robust and strong. He has not had an easy life because of his physical challenges. He does survive with the use of a feeding tube and has had multiple surgeries for different ailments.  Zach is pure love as he navigates the world with a very honest and non judgmental demeanor. He's not manipulative. If something hurts, which is every day, because he has very bad arthritis, he’ll say what hurts and then seek his own comfort. His lower extremities are a bit malformed. He can run and jump and do a lot of activities, but he does get pain from doing them. He certainly has preferences and knows what he likes and doesn't like.  When he meets someone for the first time, he's cautiously optimistic, and yet he doesn't put narratives onto them. He doesn't put expectations out there. He is curious, guarded, and yet open. We lose that as we age because we decide that we know everything. So we can really miss out on connecting with others.  Anything of value that has come into my life is somehow connected to the experience of love.” * Have a listen as I interview my special guest Lisa McFarland. Find out how to connect more with your “humanness”.

#2 Connection with Lisa McFarland

Lisa McFarland: "It's an undeniable, indisputable fact that we have so much more in common with one another than what makes us different. The further away we move from the ‘little things’ that connect us, the more vulnerable we become. Connection isn't just a person-to-person thing. It's the symbiotic and dynamic chemistry of nature. When we breathe in a fresh breath, we get some new life force. Then, when we breathe out and release that which no longer serves us, the trees use it as their life force.  Humans breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, while trees take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen during photosynthesis. As humans we contribute to the well-being of trees by planting, caring for, and utilizing them sustainably. Trees provide us with resources like food, shelter, and materials. When you deny connection, have fun with that! In experiencing gravity, what goes up must come down, we realize connection is real. So there's this ongoing interaction in the atmosphere between me and everything around me.  ‘Connection is everywhere’ is literally just that, it's undeniable.” * Have a listen as I interview my special guest Lisa McFarland. Find out how to connect more with your “humanness”.