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AND. It’s one of the smallest words in the English language. And it’s one of the most powerful. It connects opposites, builds bridges, and brings ideas and people together. When individuals embrace AND, they are more authentic, creative, and free. When organizations and communities embrace AND, they are more innovative, inclusive, and loving. Life in the AND is a podcast about how we all can embrace AND create more authenticity, inclusion, and love in our lives, businesses, and the world. Dr. Erin Baker, a transformational coach, and social psychologist shares some of the most powerful ANDs she embraces in her life, and has inspiring conversations with leaders, entrepreneurs, authors, and creatives to unearth their answer to the question, “What AND do YOU stand for?”

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  2. 024 | In A World of Either/Or How Do We Create AND? with Sean Smith

024 | In A World of Either/Or How Do We Create AND? with Sean Smith

Oct 20, 2020

Sean Smith has been a teacher, mentor, and friend. He is a Neuro-Transformational Coach and Founder of the MVP Success Systems, through which he helps passionate people become successful and authentic life coaches. He recently penned And, a poem about independence, our country, and the world. It is a poem that reflects not only his ability to hold honest and uncomfortable conversations but also his desire to bridge the country’s social, political, and racial divides. Sean is a man on a mission to heal the world - and a person I am glad to have in my life.

In this episode, Sean and I discuss what it would take to create AND in a world of “us” versus “them,” of “we” and “the others.” We explore what could happen to a country if its citizens lived a life in the AND as well as discuss how our sense of belonging informs our decisions and beliefs. We explore the story of a young white supremacist whom Sean met when he was a probation officer, explain how we go into survival mode when our validity is threatened, and contemplate on how white people, including myself, benefit from racism even when we are not consciously racists. We also explore how powerful humanity can become when they acknowledge the existence of both light and dark within them.

“If we can live a life in the AND, if we can look at our differences from a place of love and compassion, all our divides would be healed.” - Sean Smith

 

This week on Life in the AND:

  • A reading from Sean’s poem, And
  • How we are born in the And before we get “Or’d”
  • What it means for the country when its citizens live a life in the AND
  • Lessons from improv’s “Yes, And…” game and our tendency to look for what’s different rather than what the similarities are between us
  • Healing the world’s greatest political divides through empathy and compassion
  • The pain of being ostracized in the Black community and the need for belonging
  • How certain conversations and environments force us into survival mode
  • The story of a young white supremacist and how our mortal fear of abandonment pushes us into bad decisions
  • Acknowledging that a person can NOT be racist and receive the benefits of racism at the same time
  • Contemplating on how I have perpetuated racism, whether consciously or unconsciously, as a white person
  • How we can have compassion for a person and not enable their toxic behavior
  • The difference between controlling and suppressing an emotion
  • William the Werewolf and how anger can be a productive emotion
  • The importance of committing to personal values over validation from other people
  • The relationship between knowing, trusting the self, and their relevance in politics
  • The power of humanity when they’re at their AND

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