TRANSCRIPT
No Shame | Talking Openly About Our Periods Ep 16
Iva 1:24
Today we're really excited to welcome Karen Daubert and we are going to be talking about periods and why talking about our period openly can actually create immediate social change around the stigma. We're super excited about this very unique topic that we're bringing today. Hi, Karen.
Karen 1:49
Hi, thank you so much for having me.
Desiree 1:51
Hi Karen, welcome to our podcast. So Karen, you are the founder and the host of the podcast Talk About Your Period and throughout her life she's actually always loved facilitating conversations about unconventional topics. She was frustrated by society's backwards attitude towards periods and decided to create an environment that promotes encourages and celebrates conversations about menstruation. She is a recently former expat mom_ I'm going to talk about that in a second, and she moved to Taiwan shortly after getting married in 2016 and has lived there for five years before returning to the US. She even had her son in Taiwan and 2019 and raised them with her husband. They were abroad for two and a half years. And lots of similarities there between all of us. So when she's not talking about periods, she's spending time with her family brushing up on her Chinese impressive or thrifting for second hand goodies. i
Karen 3:03
Hi, thank you so much. I'm really excited to be here today and talk about my experiences abroad in my business. Anytime I can talk about living in Taiwan, I take it, so I'm excited to just go on and on about how much I loved Taiwan.
Desiree 3:19
I know. So yeah, our audience already knows that Iva is in Singapore. I'm currently in Japan. So we have been rocking sort of the Asian game for a while for 12 years. And it's always so nice to meet a fellow mom who has also been in this part of the world. So tell us what, what made you move to Taiwan and what's your journey there?
Karen 3:49
Well, it's kind of a long story. When I was younger, even as late as high school, I suppose I never thought I would live abroad. It was never something that passed my radar. And my journey to getting to Taiwan was a little bit unique. I found that most people I was working with had always wanted to live in Asia, had always wanted to live abroad. And for me that was a journey that took several years when I was in college. I actually took a French class just to fulfill a simple credit and I really ended up loving it. And then when I was in college, I continued on with my French program so much that it was a really big goal of mine to live abroad and live in France after I graduated. My husband and I were to high school sweethearts, and we went to college together and we got married several years after college and we decided okay, we're gonna go move to France after we get married in 2016. And we're gonna teach abroad. Come to find out, it's really hard to get into European schools as a young teacher, they typically want teachers who have more experience than we did. And so, one of my educators pulled me aside and said there's a wonderful fair in Iowa at the UN International Fair where they bring all of these teachers together and all of these schools from all over the world come and they recruit teachers to come to their schools. So we said ‘let's do it’. And we immediately got in touch with someone who was from Taiwan from our school and it was just like a perfect match. And so, later that year, we got married three weeks later, we moved to Taiwan, and that's how we got to Taiwan.
Iva 5:29
Oh my God, but that must have been, ‘Oh, wow. Taiwan, we're doing it.’ I mean, it's very different to, you know, living in Europe or moving anywhere across the US so what was your first reaction when it was like, Taiwan?
Karen 5:47
Well, it was funny because I was in a dance Cologuard team for a few years Oh, rather not a few, like 10-13 years and I had an opportunity several years before to perform in Taiwan as a free trip. And I wasn't even sure if I would go to Asia ever to visit so when I got the opportunity I went. One of my best friends is Taiwanese-American. And so he was on the trip to It was super fun. It was only three days and I loved Taiwan and just in that so you for I did. I got the opportunity. So when me and my husband were looking at schools, it was actually between a school in Taiwan and a school in South Korea and I loved Taiwan so much. I always told my husband if we can go to a school in Taiwan, in Asia, like let's do it. So going to Taiwan, getting to return back to Taiwan. was really exciting for me because I always wanted to return but there's no way I would have ever guessed that I would have moved to Taiwan, had a baby… all this is crazy.
Desiree 6:47
So funny story. I actually used to live in Taiwan too. So cool. So I went there when I was younger, so my parents were expatriates as well. So I was actually like around 11. And for me, I mean, I was born I grew up in Germany. And I remember that distinct moment with my dad and my mom was like, Okay, we need to talk to you. We are going to be moving for me that was already like, that was already devastated as an almost teenager. We're going to Taiwan and I was like, what is that? And this is like before we had Google and all of that, right? Okay, totally dating myself here. But he pulled out Atlas opened up to a page and showed me this tiny little island next to China and I'm like, never even heard of it. And that's where we're going. But it was amazing. I just have the fondest memories of living there. We were in Taipei. I was actually in a European school there. So I have really, really great memories of the people, the culture, of the food. Oh my god, the food.
Karen 8:07
The food, I miss it the most. I'm so happy to hear you had such a wonderful time in Taiwan because it's my favorite place in the world. I miss it every day
Desiree 8:16
And amazing and you actually your son was born there too.
Karen 8:22
So tell you, I have a permanent connection with Taiwan now forever. Yes.
Desiree 8:26
Yeah. That's beautiful. So what was, tell us a little bit about your experience with that?
Karen 8:33
That was a little wild. So my husband and I initially when we moved to Taiwan, we thought we'll be here for one to three years, probably two. And then honestly, within the first two or three months, we're like we're staying here for a while and probably well into our first year we were discussing and we said we would really love to have a child abroad just to kind of experience that and have a very, like, independent experience with pregnancy and childbirth and things like that. I feel that at the time, we were a little young, I had my son at 26 and we just kind of we it's funny in hindsight, I'm 30, now, I can't believe I did it. Like it's just sort of funny. I don't think I could do it again. Being in like alone in a foreign country giving birth to a child. I commend myself for my fortitude. In wanting to do this independent endeavor. But it was tough without family, you know? So my family didn't get to see me pregnant. They didn't get to see my baby for a couple months. And, you know, that's especially challenging. I'm so thankful my son was born a year before COVID. So that would have been much more difficult. I'm sure you guys know how that is. If you don't have family living in the same country as you, and so thankfully ours was able to come out within a month or two, but the system itself in Taiwan, I was very thankful that I had a few expat friends, one in particular who was a labor and delivery or delivery nurse from the States. And so she would help expat women in our city navigate the medical system and she had a pretty good idea of doctors who were more accommodating to Western requests. Like for example, having the husband in the delivery room and any smartphone at least
Iva 10:35
Not common at all?
Karen 10:36
No, yes. not common in Taiwan. It's not typical to have the husband in the room, is typically your mother. So we had to make sure that we could get that approved and there's some doctors who will listen and they'll go with whatever feels comfortable. But there are some more old school doctors who are a bit more, you know, stubborn and want to have things a certain way, which is fine, and I'm just happy I was able to have that guidance and that was really my lifesaver. I really think without my friend Rebecca being there, it would have been probably a little bit of a different birthing experience. I ended up having to have a C-section because my son was breech upside down. And so it was actually it was a very smooth experience. I think I had a really smooth birth. I'm happy to say that and which is good because my family couldn't be there. It was definitely interesting. You know, my friend left and it's just me and my husband and our baby. And we knew no family was going to come in for at least a month. And so it was like wow, it's just the three of us, you know?
Iva 11:37
Wow, no, I commend you as well. It is definitely not easy to go through all of this on your own in a foreign country where you don't speak. They're like I don't know if you spoke the language at that point.
Karen 11:55
Yeah, so it's tough.
Desiree 11:58
And it's totally different characters, not like you can read anything either, right? Yes, very, very foreign and different like belief systems. Like you said, your husband is usually there and everything so and you made that conscious decision, though to have a child abroad that is amazing. That's beautiful. Yeah. And when another beautiful thing is we learn how to build our own tribe don't we overseas. We we don't have that usual support network. We don't have our parents, we don't have our friends. It's difficult. However, we've made such beautiful people along the way and I always feel and Iva we talk about this a lot. We form this very special bond with these people that we probably it'd be a different type of relationship if it was back home. Right. But being abroad and sharing these experiences and it's just such a different relationship we have with these people.
Karen 13:04
So I completely agree it's probably one of the best gifts of living abroad is how close you can become with the people around you. Like you said a tribe is the best way of putting it I think, just truly you are all in the same spot. Frankly, pretty vulnerable, especially if you're a newer expat newer to the lifestyle. Just you know, it certainly depends on the situation. But I know for me, most of my colleagues were very young, like all of us were pretty freshly out of college. My school hired a lot of younger people. And so a lot of us were learning how to navigate adult life while also being in a country where none of us could read or speak Chinese. You know, we were taking the time to learn but doesn't mean you can really get around totally yet, you know, so? Yeah, it's tough at first. Without a doubt I really reflect on my time in Taiwan is the people I've met are people that I know I'm going to be in touch with for the rest of my life. And that's really special.
Iva 14:11
And to that really, it's it's incredible. It's
Karen 14:16
Yeah, yeah, it really is. And I have you know, it's it took like, so much less time to deepen those relationships. And like you said, those relationships might not be the same if we were not kind of thrust into this very difficult circumstance of navigating a foreign country together. And so I'm really grateful for the opportunity to have met people I would have absolutely never have met otherwise. All parts of Milan, people at my school are American. So from all over America, and then of course, all my Taiwanese friends. So my life would just be in a completely different spot. I just can't even imagine being where I am today, with my business and everything. If I hadn't been in Taiwan, because it really just shaped me as a person.
Iva 16:04
So let's shift gears just a little bit here and tell us how did you come about with this? I know you are a facilitator of unconventional topics but you're very passionate in the things you speak about. So how did you decide to open up the conversations about our periods and speak to women all across the globe about menstruating?
Karen 16:33
Yeah. So ever since I was probably in high school. I've always found that I don't have a lot of difficulty talking about certain topics that other people do. I like to tell my friends it takes a lot to make me blush I find a lot of things that are in life things or just things aren't as big of a deal to me as I think sometimes society tries to push us to feel and especially something as natural and normal and literally unpreventable as menstruation from a young age very much puzzled me about why it was something we danced around as if it was something inappropriate or offensive in some sort of way. And of course, I am from America. So my background and my experience is based off of American culture and society. I know every country kind of has their own view about menstruation and taboos and myths and what's socially acceptable, but I'd say in general, well, America is getting better in so many ways but periods and menstruation is very much stigmatized in America. And so I discovered when I was in Taiwan, I was trying to kind of get my footing as a stay at home mom. And while I did love teaching, I was just new. I was called for something else. It was it had been my dream and my goal for a very young age if I could do my dream job, my dream job would be making a positive social impact, while also supporting myself like that's something I want to do. So I always thought maybe I become a part of a non-profit or something like that. But at the time, I had no idea and I had talked to my friend Vivian, who's my first guest on my podcast. She's an artist and a children's book author. And back in 2016, actually, she said, Karen, like you have such an ease about talking about difficult topics. I think, you know, you would be really wonderful at making a podcast, and at the time, I never thought about it and I kind of blew her off. I was like, I don't know. Then after I had my son, I was really starting to feel what do I want to do with my life? What do I want to do? I would love to stay at home with my son_ what are my options here? And I had been running a small Etsy t-shirt business and it was a good way of me getting my feet on the ground for online called E-commerce and working online. And then when I returned home, It kind of just hit me. I just was sitting at my computer one day and I was thinking about my T-shirt designs, and I thought of like Talk About Your Period. And it all like my brain kind of put the pieces together it was like
Iva 19:23
A lightbulb moment
Karen 19:27
Literally. I'd say like, let's, let's figure this out. And I filed for my LLC a week later. And because I'm the kind of person I knew I had to, like, cement it, otherwise I was going to possibly be too scared and so I filed for my LLC a year ago and I'm just launching so it took me a year from inception to launch, but I'm proud of myself pushing through.
Desiree 20:02
Absolutely. That's a big step
Karen 20:09
Yeah. Sometimes I have to force my own hand with these things, because I feel that yeah, I mean, we all experience it, like impostor syndrome or just feeling like I'm, you know, what am I doing? Is this even going to be successful and really getting stuck up in my own perfectionism? Like, I can't move forward until it's absolutely perfect. And when you're launching a business or any personal endeavor, you know, if you wait till it's perfect, you're never going to launch it.
Desiree 20:36
So, so Iva and I always say, Done is better than perfect. You know, it was similar with our podcast as well. We really had a strong feeling we want to record the conversations that we were having. So, in season one, it was really just Iva and me having these conversations until only in season two, we started inviting guests onto our show. And now this is the prep for season three. So you'll be part of our see season three showcase but it's, it's going to be a good combination. But again, at the beginning, it was a little bit like how do we do this? We had no idea. But we knew we wanted to do it and that's all it took. And the rest you can figure it out. And we did we figured it out along the way. But I think that's the main drive that you need to have at the beginning to make sort of your vision a reality. Yeah, but I want to pick like a look inside your mind a little bit. This topic, what are you what are your goals? What are you striving to achieve with these conversations?
Karen 21:48
Well, first and foremost, I'm trying to achieve normalcy around topics of periods because I think there are people I've come across when introducing this idea to that have thought What are you talking about? Like no one cares about periods anyway. It's fine. I don't think some people realize how deep the stigma is and how much it really does affect people who menstruate and what we can do, what we can't do, what we can talk about, what we can't talk about even something as simple as not feeling comfortable telling your boss the truth about why you're taking time off, give maybe a you're feeling very sick, or you stained your pants, you know, these are things where once you bring up the blood, people start to get a little uncomfortable, but that's what it is. It's blood. And so that in itself kind of proves yeah, there's we have a long way to go because even though it's natural, we still feel uncomfortable talking about the nitty gritty, even if it's just a part of the normal menstruating experience. So my main goal above anything else, and well of course I hope to one day, you know, I have big goals and big dreams for myself and my career. You know, bottom line is, as long as I touch one person's life and just make them feel more comfortable speaking openly about their period, to their friends, to their father, to their boss, I will feel very accomplished because no person who has a uterus should feel ashamed about their period. It's something that happens to us, we can't change it and to feel so embarrassed or shy about it is really a shame. And so it's our job as manipulators to stand up and give other people permission to talk about their periods by talking about our own.
Iva 23:31
Yeah, that's literally half of the population. Right there.
Desiree 23:36
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
Iva 23:38
Exactly. And it starts from a very young age. Isn’t that why you're so shy in school, especially when it first happens and you need to hide it from everyone like this secret thing that's happening, especially in front of boys, right? Like because they would make fun of you or, you know, like you said there is bound to be a time where you have that stain or something where it's like, you would literally feel like sinking to the ground and just want to disappear. But as you said, it's just so it's part of us, isn't it? Yeah, it's such a normal thing. And I have to say as well at the beginning I was very okay, first of all, how was it like in Asia? You know, that's like a whole different topic as well. How did you feel? People's minds shifted around the periods in Asia as compared to the US?
Karen 24:38
Yeah, you know, what's interesting is, I recently interviewed my second interview guest is my friend Paula and she went to college with me, but I also helped her get a job in Taiwan. So she traveled with us to Taiwan, about halfway through, which was a blast. And I was asking her about our experience in Taiwan and I shared some stories and she actually had, like a pretty contradicting story about how people were reacting to periods that she interacted with, so I'll share both. So my personal experience was my students I worked at a boarding school for context. It was like an English immersion American boarding school. I found that my students in particular, were very comfortable talking about their periods very plainly. For example, if they had an emergency in any context, they could run up to their dorm and grab medicine or, I don't know a change of clothes or something and I remember coming back from lunch, and asking my students like, oh, where's the student? And one of the boys is like, Oh, she got her period. She went upstairs to get a pad like my boy students were in ninth grade so plainly, no laughs. No giggles, no smirks and I remember being so proud and shocked. Because in America though, I at least when I was in school, it would have been some laughs or giggles or, you know, I was very I was very proud to see that. And I also know, for my girl students, they felt very comfortable asking me for pads and I have made sure to have them of course available. My friend, it was like she had a completely different experience. But she said that she was actually working on the dorm floor. So she lived with the girls on the dorm floor and was kind of like a resident assistant, as well as an educator, and she said that her girls never talked about their periods with her. But I also know she taught older girls and I taught younger girls so I wonder if there was a age difference between older girls who just had their stuff together and didn't need advice. But in Asia in general, one experience does kind of stand out to me is like the lack of tampons that were available in the stores. We've experienced the same in Tokyo. So in America, there's pads and tampons, as many as you want different brands, different sizes available to you with pretty much any store. I found that in Taiwan they had lots of different kinds of pads, but tampons if you could find them Yes, like tiny packs. There were no like, it was just like regular tampons weren't super tampons, and in addition, there were the compact ones. And they were expensive too. And from what I understand, I don't know, my Taiwanese friend shared this me but I don't know if this is an all-encompassing opinion that's held in Taiwan. But my friend shared with me that there are some myths about virginity and tampon usage or being of sexual age before using tampons, things like that, that maybe play a role. But like I said, that was just one friend sharing her experience with
Desiree 27:50
Yeah, no, I have not the same thing. And I was. I spent my teenage years in Indonesia, actually. And so all through high school and I remember I did get my period while I was living in Jakarta, and Indonesia, and I remember was the same thing like tampons were not really readily available, but not so much. So we literally ordered them from people who we knew were traveling to Singapore for examples, ‘can you bring us a pack of tampons?’ All very secret, of course, right? Yes, of course. Yeah. So it definitely was in something even I went to an international school. It's not something that we openly spoke about, even though it was an international environment. It was very hush hush. And yeah, you're right. I heard the same thing about tampons as well. Luckily, like also my family even though my mom is Indonesian. She's very much like westernized in that sense, or our family. That was very normal to do but it was a big, it was a taboo topic and because of the way I grew up with that kind of experience, I feel like even going into my own marriage, it's something like I would not openly talk to about with my husband like I were like, I did struggle with cramps. I still do still struggle with cramps a little bit. I mean, not over the top, but it's uncomfortable, and I will say and I feel only after having children. I personally feel that I shifted my own way of thinking about it. And I feel damn proud to have periods now because that has made me able to have children but it like it shifts your perspective. Over something super annoying that happens. Like actually thinking at that is the reason why I can have children, you know and going out I carry that the ability to menstruate with pride.
Karen 30:04
Yes, I feel truly and very strongly that that's why, you know, of course my first goal is creating a sense of normalcy around talking about periods openly, but truly also a sense of for those who are for people who have struggled with their period, their relationship with their period, just wishing it would go away, I would hope to create a sense of like celebration, about periods and our shared experiences. Not only is it something that, you know, if you choose to have children, it's why we can have children what a gift. Why separate that from the gift of life because it's absolutely go hand in hand, but also just celebrating that it's a part of us, so why shouldn't that be celebrated? It's a part of who we are. It can't change it and for women, and for people who menstruate this is something that this is a journey that we are on for majority of our lives, a big chunk of our lives, right. From, you know, adolescence, pre teenage to menopause age. That's a big chunk of our lives. We are all menstruating for a week every month. You know, why should we hide it? It should be celebrated. It's a part of who we are. That's a crazy concept.
Desiree 1:22
It is. Another thing I find quite funny about it now it's interesting like before you we haven't really like I've never really sat down to think about my period in such a way right. But it's also like, from the teenage years. I remember I was, not a late bloomer, but I guess I was one of the last ones with my group of friends to get my period. I was almost I think I was 14. Yes, I was. Yeah. And I saw so many around me, you know, starting to get their boobs and you know, having, like, me and my friends and I'm like, I feel left behind. They're all growing up and I'm still like a child you know? It's like, and I was craving I was embarrassed to say I don't have my period yet.
Karen 32:12
That's exactly my story as well.
Desiree 32:15
Yeah. And they were all of a sudden, proud to have and they're like, oh, did you get your period yet? And I'm like, No, putting my head down but then, you know, like, years later, you're like, Oh my God, why did I so badly want to have it? I hate having it now. It's painful. It's not pleasant. It's like ah. And then I know people going and looking forward and people going through menopause. It's almost again this not embarrassing, what's the right word? This situation. We're like, Oh, I'm going through menopause. I no longer have my period. And it's again, a huge event in a woman's life, isn't it? Where like, psychologically, emotionally and everything so it's very interesting that roller coaster we go through. Like, we can't wait to have it and then we have it, we don't like it. Then we're kind of proud of it while we're having children. And then again, it's just this annoying thing that comes every month. And then we almost mourn it when it goes
Karen 33:22
Absolutely. It's interesting how that works. And it's funny. Yeah, like I said, I had the same story as you I was really embarrassed. I hadn't gotten my period. I got my period in ninth grade. I was 14 and I was waiting. I couldn't wait. I couldn't wait. Because all my friends got their period in fifth grade. And so I've been waiting for a long time. Like I just, I truly think it's funny. So there's a joke online where when you're growing up, a lot of girls want to pretend like they're not like other girls. Oh, I'm not like other girls. I don't like that stuff. I don't like this stuff. Other girls like I was the complete opposite. I wanted to be just like other girls I wanted to fit in. I wanted to blend in the fact that everyone I knew around me had their period except for me, just made me feel like I was a baby and I really didn't want to feel like a baby in ninth grade. You know, like similar. I wasn't developing yet. And just in you know, in high school, you know, you start dating or so having crushes and you know, it just was like, I felt like I was missing out on an experience but exactly like you said a couple years after I got my period I was like, this is pretty inconvenient. I don't like it. So I'm just, you know, yeah, exactly. And it's a shame that I felt it was an inconvenience for so many years, but I really do think I was just approaching periods in the wrong mindset because I think a lot of us have been inadvertently taught the wrong mindset. No one sat us down and told us hate your period. It's annoying. It's just from what we hear in the media, the jokes that are heard on TV, what people say the discourse around periods is very negative, very low energy. And I do feel that I'm already joining a wave of other trailblazers who are already kind of in this wave of like, There's already people long before me who are having this positive conversation about like, you know, what, if we actually approach this from a different mindset, How could our relationship with our bodies each other be impacted positively, huge mindset shift?
Desiree 35:25
It totally is. And you know, another way we need to celebrate it also thinking about that cycle is not just the fact of bleeding, but that beautiful cycle we as women and only as women possess: we are able to really harness our creativity, our productivity, our sacred, emotional being everything through these cycles once we learn and I think that's a whole different like, sort of level and topic and everything in itself. But once we learn how to, to ride with the cycle, we can just vibrate at a much higher level, we can work and function and be creative on on a whole new in a whole new way. So that's another beautiful thing about the period, isn't it?
Karen 36:33
Exactly. And it's pretty exciting because you know, I started this podcast just for creating dialogue and opening up a conversation with people I know and people I don't know, I welcome to have anyone on the podcast who has had a period. And what I'm finding is as I'm interacting with people online and there's people who I'm who are in the period world, whether they be menstrual coaches, cycle coaches or period products, founders and these sorts of things. The discourse in the period world right now is a lot about people are choosing to kind of try to live their lives according to their cycle instead of the daily nine to five that we've been put in to which people claim as kind of works against a woman's natural, like 28 day cycle. So it's been interesting for me to just read about what other women and people who menstruate what that's been like for them since they've made that transition to truly like living their lives, their habits and their routines based off of their cycles. So resting during their period, getting a lot of tasks done the week after their period, and how each week really has its own function and it's been interesting to see how much more productive they feel more fulfilled, they feel more rested. I think I'll probably I want to do more research into that. I don't have a lot of information about it myself, but I'm excited to kind of go down that path and see if I have to.
Iva 38:01
Exactly I think so it's our superpower as a woman. And this whole thing about hormones. I mean, there's so much related to that how we can be in control more, and take the pressure off of us and yeah, so thank you so much for opening up these conversations. So you do have a newly launched podcast called A Talk About Your Period, and where you invite guests to have these conversations to find out more to delve into the topic. So is there anything else you would like to share about your podcast as well?
Karen 38:46
Yeah, so Talk About Your Period is a podcast that normalizes conversations around periods and a hope to de stigmatize menstruation in general. I invite friends and people who are in the period community or frankly anyone who wants to talk about their period experience onto the podcast, and we have conversations about first period experiences, how their relationship with their period has changed or grown over time and any funny interesting embarrassing, sad all the way in between stories because everyone has a story to share about their period. And, in general, I want people to realize this is normal. You're not alone in this your most embarrassing period story. It's happened to other people guaranteed. That's what I hope to share to the world, I guess. Especially when are those stories happening, when we're in high school or middle school? It feels like the end of the world. You're the only one. You know, the more people I talk to about my podcasts everyone's got a story and they're all pretty similar. So it's interesting to hear other people share their stuff and you go, Oh my gosh, I thought I was the only one. So creating that sense of community is really something that I hope to achieve through my podcast and I'm just I hope you take a listen to it. Just give it a shot. And you know, my friends are pretty funny. So I the first couple of episodes in particular, I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. So I hope you give it a listen.
Iva 40:20
You are definitely on the best way to creating that community. And so thank you for opening that up. So before we go today, there's something that even I love to ask all of our guests to come on here because we feel that we do a lot as moms right. We're busy raising our little ones where we're there kind of gluing the family together and running our businesses as well. And so in that finding balance and everything we do is nearly impossible. We don't really think that exists. Rather what makes it a lot easier is we strive to achieve harmony throughout the day. So can you share with us one thing that you do to achieve a certain harmony in your day?
Karen 41:13
Well, in a more physical way, I have to give myself a cup of tea every day in a very physical simple way is that's my one piece that's for me during the day. My son is three and a half I'm a stay at home mom. And my days are chaotic and busy especially with me trying to get my business off the ground and that is the one thing there's no compromises on i feel that i It's such a simple thing. But if you could pick one thing in the physical world that's just yours that you commit to every day. You know, whether it be like your lemon water or your tea or sitting outside for five minutes or reading a book for five minutes, just a little piece of something. And honestly just reminds me that you know, this just almost re-centers me and then I can go about and I can help out my son but in a more abstract way. Truly the way I create a sense of harmony in my day to day is by constantly giving myself grace. I think as mothers we have been taught in a society to be perfect at everything. And the house has to be clean. The children have to be you know, well nurtured at all times with the best activities and the most creative activities and giving all of your energy to your home and to your family and then yourself last and there is a way to take care of your family while also taking care of yourself and your dreams and your aspirations. And for me, really what I'm constantly having to do is just giving myself a little bit of grace. If I don't get enough work done that day because I was having fun playing with my son. I give myself some grace. If I was really on a roll with something from my work and my son had to sit in front of the TV for a little bit longer. I give myself some grace. So that's how I kind of remained harmony inside myself. Being a stay at home mom and a business owner just because they feel that we have so much pressure to be the best mom all the time. And I think at the end of the day, we're people you know, so we're all just trying our best to be human. We just exactly just giving yourself a little bit of grace remembering. There's always tomorrow. You know, is is my kid fed Do they feel loved? Okay, we're good. You know, we can do the fun activity tomorrow or I can put in a few more hours in my work later this week. There's always going to be time, you know, just to give yourself some grace.
Iva 43:43
I love it. Beautifully said thank you. Yeah, and if you would like to connect with Karen, you can find her obviously on the podcast right? So Talk About Your Period. And you can also find her on Instagram at talkaboutyourperiod and she's got her Facebook as well and her website under the same name. Talkaboutyourperiod.com So we'll put all of those links into our show notes. And we can't wait to follow you to listen into your conversations but we're definitely tuning into your podcasts already. And it's really interesting, how you turned this passion and you followed your calling. And you have turned that into a career, into your own path. So I love that. We love that.
Karen 44:48
Thank you so much and really glad I got to talk about it. Thank you. It's been really fun.
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RESOURCES
Do you want to better support your child's development at home? Are you a fan of fostering independence for your child, but how do you even prepare the environment? And how do you prepare yourself for it? I used to have all of these questions and more when my son was little so I have put together a course to speak to a trusted Montessori educator on how you can implement tried-and-tested Montessori techniques at home and how to navigate around your child's development periods, all while integrating natural solutions and essential oils into your routines. If you want to do the same for your child, then visit https://www.oilyessentialsfamily.com/montessori to read more about the essential parents course. It's suitable for ages zero to seven. Design Your Own manual that works for your family and your child.
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FEATURED GUEST
Karen Daubert
Karen Daubert is the founder and host of the podcast Talk About Your Period. Throughout her life, she always loved facilitating conversations about “unconventional” topics. Frustrated by society’s backwards attitude towards periods, she decided to create an environment that promotes, encourages, and celebrates conversations about menstruation.
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She is a recently former expat mom. I moved to Taiwan shortly after getting married. When she is not talking about periods, she is spending time with her family, brushing up on her Chinese, or thrifting for second-hand goodies.