I Went To See Michelle Obama!

As a part of my birthday festivities, my family took me out to see “A Moderated Conversation with Michelle Obama”, at the Prudential Center. Of course, my admiration for Michelle goes without saying and having read her memoir, I was super excited to attend.

The show started with a video montage of Barack, her Mom & brother, and the girls Sasha and Malia, speaking about Michelle. Her chef and friend, Sam Kass introduced her and sat down to moderate the conversation, for about an hour. I personally wished the show was 30 minutes longer. It felt a bit rushed and maybe 15-30 extra minutes would have given them time to flush out the discussion and topics.

I wanted to share 5 things I took away from the show, which are universal life messages, applicable to anyone, whether you read her memoir or not.

1. We need to share our stories more to CONNECT. She made a huge point about our current state of affairs and having connections as humans on a deeper level. She is not talking about the basic connection we have when we look at the color of someone’s skin or ask what they do for a living, or their religion. What will make this world a better place, is if we can share our experiences wholly with others. Can we share our childhood without fear of being judged? Can we not be ashamed of a middle-class upbringing? Can we discuss our familial traumas and how we overcame them? These are the stories that will connect us all on a deeper level. We just have to be open to letting the wall down. (See what I did there?)
2. Listen To Your Children. Michelle is a huge proponent of giving our children a voice. I know it can seem so hard when you are juggling so much to keep things together. Just a few minutes at the dinner table can make a world of difference in how our kids feel. The little time that is taken out to ask them about their day and the forum to express their feelings, matter. Barack Obama was at the dinner table every night with his family in the White House, and he was a whole entire President. I am going to slow down and not rush through the nightly routine of homework, dinner, bed. I will make a conscious effort to sit down, talk and LISTEN to the boys!
3. Motherhood Shouldn’t Make Us Lose Ourselves. I mean hello, that is the whole mission behind 3TheChicWay. Michelle says it’s important to maintain the relationships you had before Motherhood. Going out to dinner with your girlfriends, having a self-care day is IMPORTANT. I am a firm believer in this as well, and I partake as often as I can. You have to make time for yourself. I know in the beginning this is easier said than done. But give it time, you will get back to the essence of you!
4. Marriage is HARD. She was very open in saying, we don’t keep it real enough with young married couples. Telling them how hard this thing here really is. And we further don’t tell them how hard marriage is with children. She is now getting back to Barack because of the empty nest, and she is loving it. She advocates for counseling, before and during. I related to this because it can be hard to maintain the spice of marriage when you are worn out and tired from dealing with the kids, and everything else. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, both parties just have to want to get there!
5. Empathy Is A Virtue! There will be times in life when you will have disagreements with people and it may get ugly. But something that helps Michelle feel for even her biggest hater, empathy. Hurt people tend to hurt people. When you realize we are all fighting a battle, many we are not equipped for, you will empathize with the hater in your life. They really don’t have a problem with you, there’s something going on inside. I am not all the way there yet on this one. God is still working on me! But looking back on a few situations in my life, I can totally see what she means here.

“When they go low, we go high”

Michelle Obama

It was a great and inspiring show. I will always have a soft spot for Michelle. For what she stands for. For her style. For her grace. For her words. If you’ve seen her speak live, what were your takeaways from the conversation? I would love to also hear if you relate to any of the things I have listed in this blog post. Sound off below! As always, stay chic!