Notes on Self-Empowerment Lecture

Introduction

Speaker: Sheena
Personal story of abuse and crisis
- Laying on a sofa at 3AM, feeling vulnerable and scared.
- Reflecting on how she ended up in that situation.
Discovering three truths of self-empowerment that can lead to freedom.

Crisis moments can lead to spiritual journeys.
Key Concept: Impermanence in Buddhism
- Nothing stays the same; everything changes.
Importance of taking accountability for one's life.
- Reflected on decisions that led her to her situation.
- Emphasizes 100% accountability as a pathway to take back power.

Speaker's childhood: loving family, but struggled with financial perception.
- Learned mother filed for bankruptcy later in life.
External judgment affected her sense of self-worth.
- Encounter with a date who denied her based on her single-parent background.
Confirmation Bias: Internalizing societal labels about single-parent households.
- Resulted in her dating people from two-parent households, leading to abusive relationships.
Acknowledgment of the stigma around single-parent households:
- 25% of children live in single-parent households nationwide, 57% in Philadelphia.
- Discussion of how societal labels can misrepresent both types of households.

Speaker is both a professor and a writer, which shapes her understanding of narratives.
Hero's Journey: Ordinary life disrupted by tragedy, followed by growth.
- Emphasizes resilience and empowerment.
Decision to either remain in a cycle of self-sabotage or rise to be the hero.
- Shares her success in becoming the hero of her own story.

Recap of self-empowerment process:
1. Recognizing it's not the end of your story.
2. Defining your own story on your own terms.
3. Becoming the hero of your own narrative.
Encouragement to use the three truths to reach the highest version of oneself.

Thank you for listening to the talk on self-empowerment!
Key message: Everyone has the potential to shape their narrative and empower themselves.