Susan Rockefeller – The Ocean’s Voice

Paradigm Shifters is a series of interviews with a select group of women from eclectic walks of life. It will highlight unspoken, real life insights on how women have been able to turn weakness into strength. A naked soul point of view of how their breakdowns were really a preparation for breakthroughs. They are your quintessential Paradigm Shifters; internal shifts converted into genuine change.

Everything I have ever done has been focused on this underlying theme of shifting the paradigm because, “what we think determines what we feel and what we feel determines what we do.” Hence why Seven Bar Foundation and Empowered by You takes lingerie, which has traditionally been seen merely as a tool of seduction and redirected that energy as a tool of empowerment.

I hope from these stories you will look at your own situations, struggles and accomplishments through a different lens. At the very least you will be more equipped with real-life tools to change your own paradigm. At the end of the day we are our own Alchemist turning the silver we were born with into the gold are destined to become.

Susan Rockefeller

Susan Rockefeller – Conservationist, jewelry designer, documentary filmmaker, author

Renata: You are a board member of Oceana, the chair of Oceana’s Ocean Council, a member of the program committee for the Stone Barns Center for Sustainable Agriculture and a member of the global Leadership Council for Natural Resources Defense Council. Why did you decide to dedicate your life to supporting environmental protection?

Susan: I want to protect our environment because I love it. I would go out to East Hampton when I was young and absorb the magic of the elements of sun, sand, salt and water. I also spent summers in Maine, where I had more of the woods and the Henry David Thoreau experience of living simply. I feel like I became interested in the environment just by being in nature. And my dad is on the board of the Wilderness Society and my mom is a cultural anthropologist. She kept beautiful Native American baskets and ceramics in our home and I was amazed by what you could create from natural elements. So I would say it was a mix of family history, family interest and the notion that so much of what sustains us and creates beauty is from nature. It also provides us with everything we need, including our health. We all depend on nature, so to work to protect it is the sensible thing to do.

Your Dive Deep jewelry collection highlights nature’s beauty by incorporating ocean-inspired designs for each piece. What did you wish to capture in these designs?

Whether I see the sacred geometry of a sea urchin or the frond of an unfolding fern, I’m captivated by nature’s colors, beauty, patterns and forms. The Dive Deep collection has sea urchin rings, pendants, beads, and pearls, along with a few mermaids and sea stars. Each piece is a way to carry nature’s beauty with fashion.

On SusanRockefeller.com, the Circle of Mermaids is a place where women can write about and submit what they are most passionate about and how they protect what is precious. Why did you decide the mermaid would be the symbol of this project?

Mermaids represent our relationship to land and sea. They’re a metaphor for balance and the need to rest, rejuvenate and reimagine a world that is healthy and connected to the things that matter most. Circle of Mermaids invites people to tell their stories about their memories by the sea and give a voice to a community of people who care about their own health and the health of the planet. From telling our own stories, we learn about people’s passions and create a sense of community and a shared value to protect what we love.

Your film “Mission of Mermaids” details the negative environmental and human health effects ocean pollution causes. What were some of your goals when making this film?

I wanted to reach an audience that wasn’t necessarily science oriented. By using the myth of the mermaid and my lifelong love of beaches and oceans, I hoped to connect people to their own memories of the sea and combine their experiences with statistics and facts. I wanted to simultaneously entertain, educate and, most importantly, inspire people to protect our waters.

What is the biggest paradigm shift you have experienced where seeing something differently changed your life?

There are many moments I can point to. In the 80s when I was living in a small Alaskan village, I walked into the post office one day and saw a man who had died that was being prepared for burial. It was so clear to me when I saw him that it was just his body lying there and that his soul was gone, and from then on I put into perspective the purpose of human life and the relationship between the spirit and the physical body. And then having children made me realize that I’m part of this continuum of women that create life. I felt very much connected to the importance of protecting our children and our families and, by extension, making sure that the environment around us is healthy. We’re only as healthy as the environment and what we feed ourselves and our children. So it was this paradigm shift that we are all part of this human ecology and that the health of the environment is not only integral to our own health, but everyone’s as well.

Has there ever been a breakdown in your life that has lead to a breakthrough?

When I was in my 20s going into my 30s I was in a relationship for 5 years and realized that it wasn’t moving towards marriage. I had to make the decision to leave if I truly wanted to create a life with family and children. So it was staying in something and then choosing to leave because it wasn’t moving forward. I think part of experiencing a breakthrough is embracing failure because if you don’t take risks or stay true to who you are you don’t necessarily grow in the ways you need to grow. For instance, if a film I create appears to be a failure because it wasn’t received well or people didn’t understand it, am I going to feel silly that I’m doing a film on ocean health or creating a jewelry line that starts a conversation about an important issue like the health of the environment? No. If you don’t put it out there, you don’t know. And if you fail it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re a failure. It means there is another way of doing things that is coming around the corner that will be more suitable for you.

What kind of legacy do you wish to leave behind with your work?

I want people to be able to give themselves what I call the mermaid moment. We each can awaken the modern mermaid in all of us by resting, rejuvenating and reimagining. I believe that if we give ourselves time to get away from all of the noise and the rush to do 500 things at once, we will live healthier lives. If the oceans are given time to rest, we should realize we need time to rest as well. Research on the ocean states that if fishing regulations are enforced, bycatch is minimized and fish habitats are protected, the oceans will rebound. It’s the same with us. If we take a meditation moment, maybe to walk or breathe more deeply, spend time with our children or listen more, transformation will happen. I hope my legacy will be that people can, in the process of taking time to rest, open their curiosity to the wonders inside themselves and the diversity of this magnificent planet. We’ll find ways in the process of discovery to live a life of substance.

Susan is the ultimate testament that perception is the ultimate catalyst for change. As soft spoken as she is, her unwavering determination to leave a lasting impact is a force of nature to be reckoned with. If you have experienced her films, you will experience the transformation this is having on our environment. I could not be prouder to highlight Susan as a Paradigm Shifter. The fact that someone like Susan exists makes me believe mermaids too.

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Little Women LA Recap: Movin’ On Up

This week’s episode had of Little Women LA covered all the bases: romance, fighting, dieting, flirting, and so much more!

Christy McGinty and Todd kick off this episode in the produce section of the grocery store.  Their wedding is approaching and they’ve both decided they need to drop a few pounds.  Christy is choosing her healthy fruits and veggies for her juicing diet when she comes across some blood oranges that remind her… oh yeah!.. she’s not pregnant.  How lovely.  Christy and Todd are both relieved that the Rhythm Method phone app is still working for them, especially as one of Christy’s big factors for her last marriage failing was an early unexpected pregnancy… and the fact that it was a shotgun wedding, and he cheated, and she didn’t really love him, and so on.  Before leaving the store, Todd and Christy pinky-promise to stick to the juicing diet and dance classes to help their quality and quantity of life.  It’s nice they can work on it together!

Next up, Terra Jole, Elena Gant, Briana Mason, Tonya Banks, Christy, and Traci Harrison are attending a cooking class.  They’re making me really nervous with these knives.  It doesn’t appear that they have very much knife handling experience.  That, and the fact that these girls have had quite a bit of tension between them lately.  My anxiety doesn’t last long, as their attention turns to Tonya who tells them that her ex/father of her daughter/Kerwin is coming into town.  All of the girls look as surprised as me and Terra quickly reminds her of Trevor, the man Tonya met at speed dating, who she has now been regular dating.  Tonya stumbles over some words and tries to smooth it over with the girls, but they are still skeptical.

Fast forward to Tonya and Kerwin at dinner.  The chemistry between these two is really obvious as they reminisce about their first date. 

It’s also date night at Terra’s house, where she is putting those cooking lessons to use to make some pork chops for Joe.  It’s not going to so well.  He doesn’t even want to taste it.  Terra’s feelings are hurt because she is trying to spice up their relationship by doing things like this, and Joe just doesn’t really seem into it.

Todd and Christy are at their first dance class.  Christy has had a lot of experience dancing since she was young.  However, she has always had average height partners and was really happy to be dancing with Todd because she could actually look him in the eyes as they danced.  Todd isn’t the best dancer, but he was a good sport.  He got somewhat out of breath and was sweating quite a bit, and this worries Christy, but hey, getting in shape is the main reason for the dance lessons anyway!

Moving on, it’s bowling night with all the ladies and some of their men.  Tonya arrives with Kerwin, and Terra is like, “What is going on?”  All Tonya can tell Terra at the moment is that she is just really confused.  It looks like everyone is having a really good time bowling while Christy attempts to avoid the tempting greasy, fried, bowling alley food.  She sneaks in one slice of pizza, but Todd swoops in to help motivate her to stick to the diet plan.

Meanwhile, Joe is at it again, flirting with Elena.  Come on, Joe!  He is just down right rude and disrespectful.  For one, Elena is a married woman.  Two, he has a girlfriend.  Three, he just seems to have no shame or filter.  Terra confesses that her and Joe have had a rocky relationship that has consisted of both of them cheating on each other.  Part of me thinks the guilt and fear from the past is what makes Terra not have a larger reaction to him shamelessly flirting with Elena.  The things he says to Elena are disgusting.  Again, he mentions how he prefers their shared form of dwarfism over the form that Terra has.  He says that he thinks he and Elena would make beautiful babies.  Why does Elena not cut this off?  I know her and Terra have had some issues and are competitive, but this is completely inappropriate.  Elena’s poor choices did not end here, though.  She was on a roll at the bowling alley as she promptly went up to Kerwin and “accidentally” asked him if Tonya told him about the other guy she is seeing.

The events of the bowling night spurred Terra to want to take Joe on a trip to the lingerie store.  She is continuing her efforts of trying to spice things up.  The sales associate at the store did not help the situation by referring to Terra as cute and adorable.  I can see why Terra did not appreciate this, as she went to the lingerie store in hopes of getting something to look sexy in, not precious.  She models an outfit for Joe and he says it looks really good on her, but would look better on Elena. As my face meets the palm of my hand, Terra and Joe have a quick convo about his flirting and the status of their relationship.  He assures Terra that she is the only girl for him.  Let’s hope so.

The other couple feeling the effects of Elena’s bowling shenanigans is Tonya and Kerwin.  At dinner they discuss the status of their relationship.  Tonya admits that she has been wishy-washy and has huge commitment issues.  She wants Kerwin to be “the one” but something in the back of her mind tells her that he isn’t.

Later on at Terra’s, Terra gets all dolled up in hopes of wooing Joe.  He is way more interested in Peggy, the dog.  Joe admits he needs to work on his part of the relationship.  Terra feels like she is always chasing Joe and he never chases her.  They both have a lot of insecurities and they hope they can work through it.

Tonya and Kerwin go to the beach with their daughter.  Tonya explains that it’s very hard to imagine not being with Kerwin when the three of them are together as a family because they have such a strong bond.  Ultimately Tonya decides to break up with Kerwin, and I think this is best if she knows she can’t commit.  Kerwin seems like a nice guy and letting him go is better than stringing him along.

At Christy and Todd’s, they are weighing in to see if their dieting and dance classes are paying off.  They’ve each lost about five pounds.  Christy shares that she wants to be at a healthy weight to have a baby and she also worries about Todd having health issues.  They seem serious about getting healthy and I think they will stay devoted to the weight loss plan.

All the girls decide to get together for drinks.  Elena is worried about seeing Tonya because she feels bad about what she did at the bowling alley and she should be.  Tonya is not happy and tells Elena she needs to “stay in her lane.”  I agree!  That was none of her business.  Voices get raised, fingers get pointed in faces, poor Traci is covering her ears and eyes.  It isn’t pretty!  The fight gets broken up and after some counseling from the other girls, both Tonya and Elena apologize.  Terra was going to bring up the flirting between Joe and Elena, but decides to take a pass after the “almost brawl” that just happened.  Things end on good terms.

Lastly, we see Tonya and speed dater, Trevor, on a date.  She shares that she ended things with Kerwin and Trevor is really excited about that.  I hope she doesn’t end up with the same commitment issues she had with Kerwin if things happen to get serious with her and Trevor.  They’re so cute together!

Next time on Little Women: L.A.: Elena wants a boob job, Terra is making a music video and would like all of the girls to be in it, Christy doesn’t want anyone in Terra’s music video, and a fight ensues between the girls AND the guys.  I also hope to see more of Traci next week.  Where has she been??  Can’t wait!

Recap Author: Cecile O’Neil

TELL US – WILL CHRISTY AND TODD SUCCEED IN THEIR DIETING?  SHOULD JOE KNOCK OFF THE FLIRTING WITH ELENA?

Photo Credit: Lifetime

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