034 – Heather Schultz – Honoring the Pineapple

Embracing duality, overcoming adoption and abandonment issues, and discovering identity… Heather Schultz, freelance writer and adjunct professor of persuasion and public opinion at Fordham University, and public speaking at Baruch College, joins Julie Chan at the MouthMedia Network Studios powered by Sennheiser. (Schultz’s profile)A memoir, racism, and building inner strength Schultz reveals how she fell into a teaching job, why this was a field she is passionate about, how she is working on memoir “Memoir a Twinkie”, went to South Korea, and wrote first person piece for NBC news to explore her adoption. Meeting the OBGYN who delivered her, and growing up in Long Island and then visiting the “motherland”. How she knew she was different, decapitating white Barbies, and customizing her American Girl dolls because none of them looked like her. How Schultz experienced racism as a child and feared going to school, beginning her writing by sharing experiences and not being in it by herself, sharing her victim mentality and learning it is not personal, and being ready for, and priming herself for, building inner strength.Abandonment issues, inner child work, and the value of getting help Schultz shares her efforts trying to understand why she was given up for adoption, being careful with the language she uses, and trying to forgive her birth parents. Dealing with abandonment issues all of her life, her “inner child work”, facing challenges trying to connect with her birth parents, hiring a private detective, and how it is OK to have two sets of parents. The importance of recognizing the value of getting help with a life coach, therapist, meditation, faith, and more, and how a little goes a long way – and how what’s inside (abandonment, rejection, abuse, etc.) affects all areas of your life.An intuitive reading, duality, and helping others Acknowledging something is an issue and getting help with that. And Chan shares an intuitive reading about joy and lightness of pineapples, the how the bright yellow color, sweetness, and sudden tartness are in a dance. Recurring patterns, the duality of inside and outside, recognizing the whole, trying to hide the uniqueness to fit in, and appreciating the dualities that are existing as friends. The beauty of going through the journey, a love to educate and inspire, and helping others to make sense of their adoption narrative. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.