Schuyler Grant, director of Kula Yoga Project and one of the co-creators of Wanderlust Festival, is also the mother to three girls.
Schuyler notes that one of the aspects about being a parent is that your perspective shifts, in many ways. One of the ways in which her perspective shifted was that she realized that it is, in fact, a parent’s sacred duty to be deeply embarrassing for their children: by saying embarrassing things, wearing weird or un-cool clothing, being the un-hip mom in front of their friends, et cetera.
Schuyler recalls her teenage years, and remembers thinking that she was the only one that had an embarrassing parent, an experience that she now realizes most of us share.
She shares a funny story about her mom embarrassing her and siblings at a restaurant during her adolescence that has stuck with her as profoundly character building.
At that point, Schuyler was certain that when she became a parent she would never do anything like that to her children, that she would never be that kind of mom.
The gift of her shift in perspective is that she sees now that it’s her job, and every parent’s job, to embarrass their children, as it’s a way for them to develop their character in a safe, familiar setting: We develop character through moments of conflicting emotions and, as children, it is comforting (on some level) to be able to go through this with our parents.
That is a parent’s sacred responsibility.
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Find more Wanderlust Storytelling videos here.
Video shot and edited by Edward Boyce
Accompanying text by Kristin Diversi