Carolina Allen discusses motherhood with Erica Komisar, LCSW and Madeline Wallin from FEFAF and Haro

“Free women. Free women from feeling terrorized and imprisoned by the narrative that unless they are a hard driving career woman, making lots of money competing with men out in the world, that they have no value. Free women, and give them permission to embrace instincts that they feel, but society doesn’t give them permission to feel.” - Erica Komisar

“How can we talk about the future of the world if we can’t talk about, and especially in a forum that’s supposed to be for women, [if] we are not using the word ‘mother’ or ‘family’ and we’re talking about the future?” - Carolina Allen

“We need to use the words more. We need to show motherhood. We need to talk about it so much more and use the correct words. … Nobody exists without the mother!” - Madeline Wallin

https://bigoceanwomen.org/our-work/subscribe/

A graduate of Georgetown and Columbia Universities and The New York Freudian Society, Erica is a psychological consultant bringing parenting and work/life workshops to clinics, schools, corporations, and childcare settings, including The Garden House School, Goldman Sachs, Shearman, and Sterling and SWFS Early Childhood Center.

Erica Komisar is a clinical social worker, psychoanalyst, parent coach, and author. With 40 years of experience in private practice, she works to alleviate pain in individuals who suffer from depression, anxiety, eating, and other compulsive disorders. By helping them live better lives and have more prosperous, more satisfying relationships, she assists them in achieving their personal and professional goals and living up to their potential.

Erica is also the author of the book Being There: Why Prioritizing Motherhood in the First Three Years Matters and has appeared on major media networks such as CBS, ABC, FOX, and NPR. She regularly contributes to the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Daily News, and FOX 5 NY. She is a Contributing Editor to the Institute for Family Studies. Her second book, Chicken Little The Sky Isn’t Falling: Raising Resilient Adolescents in the New Age of Anxiety was released in 2021. Her upcoming book, guiding parents through divorcing healthily, will be released in 2025. She lives in New York City with her husband, optometrist, and social entrepreneur Dr. Jordan Kassalow, with whom she has three teenage and young adult children.

Madeleine Wallin is General Secretary of the European Federation of Parents and Caregivers at Home (FEFAF) as well as the International Coordinator and Board Member for Haro: she previously served as President of both organizations. In her work at FEFAF and Haro, she advocates freedom of choice and equality for parents in Swedish family politics and wants to raise awareness about children's needs and the importance of motherhood. She has been interviewed by and written articles for many magazines, newspapers, and international media including the Wall Street Journal and the BBC. She is a mother of five children between 22 and 36 years of age. She lives in Hyssna, in the countryside close to Gothenburg in Sweden with her husband. Together they founded Malwa Forest AB, a business that manufactures and sells small forestry machines. Madeline is currently one of the owners and a member of the board.

Carolina Allen is the founder and leader of Big Ocean Women, the international maternal feminist organization representing perspectives of faith, family, and motherhood throughout civil society. Carolina holds a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Utah with an emphasis in cultural religions and philosophy of science. Her inspirational and philosophical work has been presented at various international U.N. conferences. She is a native of Brazil, and a fluent trilingual. She and her husband Kawika are parents to 7 children. She is an avid soccer fan and had a brief career as a semi-professional player.

Shannon is joined by Big Ocean Women members Diane and Alina Fisher to discuss promoting life culture in the womb, the home, and our ecological environment.

The WAVE that Diane and Alina run throws baby showers for women who have unplanned pregnancies.

Connect with us at our Virtual Wave Meeting. Find out more at bigoceanwomen.org

“Some people believe motherhood starts when you have the baby. Motherhood starts when you get pregnant.” - Shannon Russell

“Something that I hope is something we give is no judgment and more love. I hope that’s what they feel and that we can give to each other regardless. Whoever we are, wherever we are.” - Diane Fisher

“I believe the genius and the secret of motherhood is other mothers. We need each other. Women need each other. And it's so important to both see and connect with those who are doing the same thing.” - Alina Fisher

“Your ability to nurture life within you is something that should be honored in and of itself.” - Alina Fisher

“As we reach out to each other and give support, we are enough. We are enough together. And the whole world, the planet, depends on mothers who understand who they are and are willing to support others, other mothers to become, and that's a powerful thing.” - Diane Fisher

“Do we value that incredible power to create? Do we understand that motherhood is a unique and sacred place of power? And do we act like that ourselves? Do we treat other women that way? How do we treat other children? The biggest change comes in our hearts, that culture of how we talk and treat each other. And I think that would be the biggest difference.” - Diane Fisher

“Motherhood is a sacred journey. It's a challenging journey. It's a journey full of joy. I wouldn't trade it for anything and I would encourage myself and each one of us to find ways to encourage, inspire, lift the mothers close to us and everywhere we find them, to make the world a better place.” - Diane Fisher

Diane Fisher is a mother of 8 children, professional educator, studied in the Middle East and lived in South America. Passionate about motherhood and family.

Currently seeking to share ways to pass on identity and belonging through family stories in a fledgling instagram @FamilyStoriesMatter. She loves nature, hiking, children's books, and dark chocolate. Alina Fisher is a lover of life and of Him who gives it. She has traveled and lived among many different cultures and enjoys discovering the similarities present in the hopes and hardships that we all face. Inspired by living in remote villages in India and Nepal, she aspires to be a traveling humanitarian nurse and is currently completing her Bachelor's in Nursing. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and is the happy mom of two kids and counting. She strives to fill her time with great literature, great music, and association with great women.

Shannon Russell treasures her roles as a wife and mother, finding that the journey of learning and growing alongside her family is the most rewarding experience of her life. At her core, Shannon is passionate about helping others. Whether it be as a real estate agent guiding her clients to one of their most significant investments – their homes, or volunteering at the Columbus Center supporting refugees in learning English and become assimilated in the United States, or creating nonprofits focused on educating youth, she loves serving those around her and is committed to making a positive impact in her community and supporting human rights for all. Shannon loves connecting with women from diverse backgrounds and perspectives through Big Ocean Women where women are empowered to generate solutions that enable them to live a life of joy and abundance. Her favorite pastimes are playing pickleball, board games, hiking, anything that puts her in nature, and being a beach bum.

Carolina Allen is joined by Maddi Cheers to discuss Life Culture.

*Trigger warnings for abortion and abuse.

“I'm a big proponent of the divine feminine and where that intersects with the divine masculine. And that. . . when you start, it doesn't matter what culture you're looking at, I do a lot of looking at Celtic culture, you can look at Native American culture, the Mother Earth, that the womb is the center of the woman's power.” - Maddi Cheers

“I think that what you said is so important, Maddie, and I'd love to revisit it. The womb is the center of the female power. And if you have a society that's kind of framed around obscuring that power, making it seem like it's actually your, your Achilles’ heel, so to speak, and for you to be powerful, you have to negate that power. I mean, that's the ultimate lie. . . [H]ow different would the world look if we had this mass awakening within women? That we. . . took these scales from our eyes and we were able to see that truly this power to create life is the greatest power of all. And if we safeguarded it in ourselves and in each other, and that became the norm, everything would change.” - Carolina Allen

“Real men, men who are connected to the divine, men who are connected to the divine masculine, as they grow older, don't behave that way. They take responsibility for themselves and for others. And they're not in a 24/7 [search] for pleasure.” - Maddi Cheers

“Ask yourself the questions, ‘Where am I heading? What am I doing?’ And you have that power to carve out the future that you want. And I want to testify that if you can just stop for a minute and be self reflective, take a moment to center yourself and ask yourself those critical questions that you have the power. Carve out your own trajectory and take, to make that shift in your life. You can do that and you will find tremendous joy, tremendous peace, and harmony.” - Carolina Allen

Maddi Cheers is not just an interfaith minister and spiritual guide; she is a vessel for divine wisdom, a storyteller weaving the sacred thread of poetry and art through the tapestry of life's intricate moments. As an author and artist healer, her creative spirit has been nurtured by over 25 years of rich exploration into the vast landscape of the world's spiritual traditions, with a profound resonance with the indigenous practices from the Americas. https://www.maddicheers.com/

Her artistry in "The Mandala Meditations" encapsulates this harmonious blend of global wisdom and her own intuitive rituals, manifesting in poetic verses and mandalas that offer guidance and reflection for the soul's journey.

https://www.amazon.com/Mandala-Meditations-Enhance-Spiritual-Journey/dp/B0CXP3NC5L

Carolina Allen is the founder and leader of Big Ocean Women, the international maternal feminist organization representing perspectives of faith, family, and motherhood throughout civil society. Carolina holds a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Utah with an emphasis in cultural religions and philosophy of science. Her inspirational and philosophical work has been presented at various international U.N. conferences. She is a native of Brazil, and a fluent trilingual. She and her husband Kawika are parents to 7 children. She is an avid soccer fan and had a brief career as a semi-professional player.