Interview with Charlotte Clymer

The Importance of Being Challenged

Today we met with Charlotte Clymer. I was really looking forward to this interview, and it did not disappoint. I asked Charlotte what she thinks the most effective way to protest is without harming people in the process, as she had discussed the topic in her latest podcast. She said that if you are putting other people in jeopardy in any way, you undermine what you are trying to accomplish. If you are being harmful, you take attention away from your cause or message, and you may even cause people to become more hateful or inconsiderate. 

Charlotte also spoke about how harmful division is. People tend to form an opinion and stick to it stubbornly. Charlotte’s message is that if we don’t communicate with each other, problems will never be resolved. If you don’t talk to other people who hold different opinions, your opinions can never be challenged, and it’s important that they be challenged if we are to improve our nation. – Chloe Smith

“You Don’t Have to Run for Congress to Be An Effective Public Servant”

Today is our last full day in Washington DC, and we have talked to some incredibly thoughtful and effective public servants, people who have a great love for others and for their country. These folks work non-stop on behalf of equality, equity, freedom and justice, both in government and in the country generally. They come from all walks of life, and while they don’t all agree on everything, they all share something in common: none of them are currently members of Congress, although a few work for or with members of Congress. I had only vaguely noticed this fact up0 to this point in our trip, but today I became consciously aware of it.

Today we had the pleasure of interviewing Charlotte Clymer, an LGBTQ+ activist, trans woman, and veteran. She is a firm believer in the importance of faith in God, however that may appear to an individual. She made the point that “You don’t have to run for office to be an effective public servant.” She put into words something I had noticed throughout this trip, that some of the most brilliant and effective public servants are those who don’t hold high-profile positions. Instead, some people find their own way, based on their own sense of morality and public service, to make this country and world a better place. It is incredible to me that some people can remain grounded in their own morals and beliefs without discounting the morals and beliefs of others. Charlotte spoke about how so many people become stuck in their own way of thinking and refuse to make room for other ways of thinking. I aspire to be like her, firm in what I believe is right, but genuinely open to other beliefs about what is right. – Mordecai Coleman

Interview with Linda Ryden

Fight, Flight, or Freeze: Understanding the Brain to Manage Difficult Emotions

Today we interviewed Linda Ryden, founder of the non-profit “Peace of Mind,” which helps schools implement mindfulness into curricula. She had a lot to say to us about the practice of learning and understanding mindfulness early in life. She also spoke about metacognition—thinking about thinking—and the importance of understanding how we can train our brains to work better to understand and manage emotions. I’m very interested in understanding the brain, but I have never viewed it from the perspective of using knowledge about the brain to understand why I have certain emotional reactions to things.

Linda explained that her curriculum teaches kids about brain processes, in particular how the brain processes emotions and feelings. Much of her focus is on the amygdala, which is responsible for the “fight, flight, or freeze” response to perceived danger or threat, and teaching kids to understand how to manage their reactions and allow the more rational part of the brain to function better. Although the amygdala performs an important job, as it protects us in threatening situations, kids can learn to work through conflict and stress to process difficult emotions in a healthy way. – Lucy Harris

It’s More Than Painting Rainbows and Butterflies

This morning we interviewed Linda Ryden, a teacher who created the organization Peace of Mind. Her curriculum teaches children from a young age about mindfulness, taking them through exercises that give them a way to understand their mind and why they feel the things they feel. I thought it was amazing that she doesn’t push the narrative that kids need to be friends with everyone in class. She understands that you do not need to be buddies with everyone you meet and that you aren’t obligated to agree with everything someone says. What she does expect, however, is for her students to be capable of being kind and advocating for others even if they do not like them. It was very nice to hear this message, because often we think of teaching peace as involving painting rainbows and butterflies on the walls and telling everybody that they should be happy. Instead, Linda shows her students exactly how and why our brains respond to stress, discomfort, or danger. She explained how the amygdala responds when you’re scared or on edge, and she discussed how she teaches students to calm themselves in these situations. This approach gives kids a better chance to develop into kind and sensible leaders who lead with compassion. I believe that this method is the most effective way to teach peace. – Lagi Hunnicutt

It Starts With the Way You Talk to Yourself

Understanding how your own brain works is the first step to understanding others around you. Linda Ryder spoke to us today about the amygdala, the part of the brain that controls the fight, flight, or freeze response to danger. This part of the brain is triggered when it senses danger. Sometimes, however, this response is triggered when one is not in danger, for example, when one is simply stressed while taking a test. She teaches students up to the eighth grade how to sense when they are triggered and to understand how and why they feel as they do, so that they can gain control of their emotions. When students are able to control their emotions, they are then able to reduce the possibility of conflict. Students can then look more critically at a situation without being overcome by fear or anger. She explained that minimizing conflict “has to start with you and the way you talk to yourself,” so that you can then move on to face larger problems. As a result, students are able to communicate better with themselves and others, and thus work to create a better environment for everyone. 

Linda’s goal is to help people understand one another. She often asks her students to think of a person in class whom they don’t know very well and then to think of things they have in common, for example, how they get home from school. After the exercise, students often say that they had never thought about how fundamentally similar they are to those people they had previously thought were very different from them. This exercise helps students to remember that everyone is human and that kindness is essential if we are to have the conversations necessary to change the world for the better. – Amelie Zands

Peace of Mind and the Science of Mindfulness

Linda Ryden is much more than just the person who started the Peace of Mind curriculum. In her interview, she told the story of a special education staff member who would sit on her couch in the back of the room while her students did their mindfulness exercises. He confronted her to tell her that he thought she had “the luckiest job in the world” because she “gets to sit around all day and meditate.” However, once he learned that there is scientific research behind her curriculum, he became a believer and got on board. I find it interesting that many people underestimate mindfulness as a way to manage some emotional problems. Linda gave the example of one school that had behavioral issues with students. The school spent a lot of money on security guards and “behavior techs” who would break up fights and discipline kids, but the behavioral issues continued. 

Linda explained that the amygdala is the part of the brain that is responsible for the fight, flight, or freeze response to real or perceived danger. I really enjoyed how she used the example of a math test to explain brain science. Often when students see a question they can’t answer they will become stressed. Some students will want to “flee” by quitting the test or asking to go to the bathroom. Other students will want to “fight” their test by crumpling it up and throwing it on the floor. Still others will “freeze” and be unable to complete the test. I think the last possibility is the most likely for many students. – Nash Wilson

Interview with Former Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

“Cuba is Not Free, and Human Rights Are Not Respected” 

Today we interviewed Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the former congresswoman from Miami. She is a Cuban immigrant who moved to the US when she was eight years old. When her family left Cuba, they bought round trip tickets to the US, as they always thought they were going to return home. Decades later, she still has that ticket. 

My grandparents fled from Cuba to New York when they were about seventeen and eighteen years old. When I heard that we were interviewing a former congresswomen who was born in the same city as my grandmother, and who understands a part of my heritage that not many people do, I was ecstatic. I asked how her experience as a Cuban-American affects the way she views US foreign policy, and she replied, “It has shaped how I think.” Her understanding of how the Russian government has been involved in Cuban affairs has fueled her passion for helping foreign countries face similar problems in their own governments. She explained that she works to make life better both in the US and in Cuba: “I work hard and pray, hoping that someday my homeland will be free.” She is passionate about bringing people together, “building bridges and not blowing them up.” I hope that one day I am able to visit Cuba in a time of understanding between people. – Amelie Zands

A Lesson in Bi-Partisanship

Today we had the pleasure of interviewing former US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this interview, since we hadn’t yet interviewed someone with such close ties to Congress and government. I was also very curious about what we would learn from her, since she comes from a political background that differs from that of the others we have interviewed so far.

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed hearing about what Rep. Ros-Lehtinen had to say about how much connection matters in life. She spoke a lot about the importance of bipartisanship and building bridges with other individuals, even when those individuals have different views from you, come from different backgrounds, cultures, or have different identities. It was nice to hear how much she had to say about this topic and how she tries to include bipartisanship in all of the work that she does. She was adamant about how it is important to believe in yourself and the goodness of people. Finding the good things about people helps to connect with them even if you are initially suspicious of making that connection. – Lucy Harris

Living Outside the Bubble

Today we interviewed former congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. I was nervous to interview her since she was the first conservative interviewee that we’ve had, and I thought that since she was in Congress and had a very high standing in our government that the interview would be a lot more formal and perhaps uncomfortable than our previous interviews. To our surprise, she was extremely relaxed and funny. She was personable, genuine, and generous as she spoke to us. She gave us bags of popcorn and plates of cheese that we enjoyed during the interview. The visit was really nice, to be honest.

She stated that a major reason that she retired from Congress is that there is so much toxicity in politics, and no one seems to value bipartisanship. Her words affected me because I am always astonished that so many people refuse to listen to others with different beliefs. I’ve noticed that we tend to live in social bubbles in which we only interact with others who share our beliefs. While it is comforting to live in a bubble, not opening ourselves to new ideas and perspectives hinders improvement of our democracy and increases polarization. I often find myself having the same interactions with my peers, so knowing that people in our government also value connection with those who hold different beliefs is reassuring. – Lagi Hunnicutt