In this episode of "The Courage to Identify" Podcast, I will be answering one of the most common questions that every person on the planet faces at some point: "When are you tying the knot?" Whether you are single, dating, engaged, or married, people always seem to be curious about your relationship status and when you plan to take the plunge. Women have changed from years and centuries ago thanks to technology, career access, evolution of culture, freedom of self, practicing human rights and much more. When women have changed, their responsibilities and priorities have changed, is it relevant to expect women to take this life decision lightly? Is it relevant to ask today's women to follow traditional societal expectations of marriage? Listen to the full episode of "The Courage to Identify" Podcast playing everywhere podcasts are streaming.  #marriage #indian #wedding #identity #podcast Follow on social media: Facebook: www.facebook.com/Sharonangeld Twitter: www.twitter.com/sharonangeltwit Instagram: www.instagram.com/sharonangelig TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sharonangeltok YouTube: www.youtube.com/SharonAngel Website: www.sharonangel.com

Women tend to over-extend themselves that they end up living another’s life or living for their children. They take on burdens that are not their own and forget to celebrate the small wins in life. Growing older, this leads to lack of self confidence, zero drive to achieve in life and resentment.  In Episode 4 of “The Courage to Identify” Podcast, my guest Ektha Agarwal speaks about breaking the savior mentality that South Asian women learn. This is a generational habit that needs to be broken so women empower themselves to fully live in courage and empower their children to make healthy decisions for their life.  Ektha Aggarwal is an experienced licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and Founder of the group practice Shakti Therapy and Healing Services. Shakti Therapy offers a holistic and psychotherapeutic approach to help clients realize that we are an integral part of the vast and complex web of life - that the health of the whole is intimately connected with the health of the individual. Socials: Facebook: www.facebook.com/Sharonangeld Twitter: www.twitter.com/sharonangeltwit Instagram: www.instagram.com/sharonangelig TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sharonangeltok YouTube: www.youtube.com/SharonAngel Website: www.sharonangel.com

Getting a green card or a passport to another country can be glamorous but the process involves an emotional toll that no one tells you about. Dreams can be courageous and beautiful but when turning them into reality, the process might seem difficult almost wanting to quit. This episode is to learn the pros and cons of immigration (immigrating) to help you be prepared for the move.    Find out more on "The Courage to Identify" Podcast as we speak with Mariam Masumi to learn the emotional and financial cost of moving to a different country.    Ms. Masumi is the Principal Attorney and Owner of Johnson & Masumi, P.C., a boutique immigration law firm near Washington D.C. that has helped thousands of immigrants for more than 3 decades.  She has been exclusively practicing immigration law for more than 12 years, representing clients from more than 50 countries in a variety of complex immigration cases.  She handles family immigration cases, as well as humanitarian, deportation, naturalization, and employment-based cases. She enjoys sharing information on immigration law on social media and has amassed a following of nearly 200,000 followers combined on TikTok and Instagram. Socials: Facebook: www.facebook.com/Sharonangeld Twitter: www.twitter.com/sharonangeltwit Instagram: www.instagram.com/sharonangelig TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sharonangeltok YouTube: www.youtube.com/SharonAngel Website: www.sharonangel.com

The reward to finding who you are and living your full self is freedom, but the consequence to making that decision to live in freedom is being isolated by those who don’t get your why. In this episode of "The Courage to Identify" Podcast we speak with April and Beecher, who promised to marry before God and family only to go through an intense roller coaster of identity issues. Both chose to stay in the marriage and deal with each other's insecurities, only to find freedom and advocate that freedom for others.    Listen now to Season Three of "The Courage to Identify" Podcast as it challenges you to find your freedom of self and deal with issues of self worth, sexual assault, strict conservative rules, hate from religious people, loneliness and desperation. When scripture is used to isolate and hurt instead of uniting and being kind, how do you navigate that? Find the tools to navigate hate that Christians propagate in Episode 2.    My guests in this episode are April and Beecher. April Ajoy is a content creator who uses humor to shine light on the harmful, toxic and sometimes just weird traits of American Christianity. As a preacher's kid, she was deep in conservative evangelicalism. Still a Christian, she now identifies as a "recovering conservative" and is navigating through her own faith deconstruction journey through a comedic lens on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter. Her content has been featured on Buzzfeed, CNN, The Young Turks, Newsweek and more. She co-hosts the Evangelicalish podcast where she weekly dives into the good, the bad and the ugly of Christian Nationalism and evangelicalism. She has been married to her partner, Beecher, for 8 years and they have two daughters together. Beecher Reuning (they/them) is a non-binary filmmaker and professor living in East Tennessee with their wife and two children. They have a passion for creating films that deconstruct oppressive gender and sociological norms, often infusing their work with high-concept humor. April and Beecher also released podcast series called The Non-Binary Marriage that shares their journey of accepting Beecher's gender identity as non-binary.   To follow Sharon and hear about her book and podcast: Facebook:⁠ www.facebook.com/Sharonangeld⁠ Twitter:⁠ www.twitter.com/sharonangeltwit⁠ Instagram:⁠ ⁠⁠www.instagram.com/sharonangelig⁠ TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@sharonangeltok⁠ YouTube: ⁠www.youtube.com/SharonAngel⁠ Website: ⁠www.sharonangel.com⁠

A simple yes or no can change our life but these decisions come with a reward or consequence. We are happy when we get a reward. It’s a dopamine hit. But how do we deal with the consequence that our choices bring?  Many suffer from indecisiveness because of the fear of the struggle that strong decisions can bring. The possibility of being alone, isolated and not walking in the familiar can be daunting. Tune into this season of “The Courage to Identity” podcast and I speak about navigating these choices.  You don’t want to miss it!  Podcast streaming everywhere podcasts are available. Listen now!  Facebook: www.facebook.com/Sharonangeld Twitter: www.twitter.com/sharonangeltwit Instagram: www.instagram.com/sharonangelig TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sharonangeltok YouTube: www.youtube.com/SharonAngel Website: www.sharonangel.com

On what would have been Roe v. Wade’s golden anniversary, the United States has entered a new era in which abortion is no longer a constitutional right. In June 2022, the Supreme Court ruling overturned a 50 year legislation to state that abortion is illegal. Today, almost 24 restrict access to abortion.  Every choice has a consequence and though reproductive rights were used to correct people’s mistakes, the overturn of Roe v. Wade left women to suffer on the doctor’s table without no proper protocols in place. Research shows that women of color were the most affected as they lost the right to an abortion on basis of rape and incest.  The stance toward pro-life or pro-choice is based on religion and personal values but is it worth celebrating political identity when a choice hurts the minority group of a society? My guest Pastor Kevin Wilson is the Digital/ Social Media Co-ordinator for Andrews University. As an ordained minister in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, "Chaplain Chai" is passionate about helping people think meaningfully about life so that they can live their lives meaningfully. When he’s not creating content for his alma mater, he spends time nurturing a growing tribe of half a million chai-loving friends across TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, by using chai as a medium for storytelling. He also cohosts the "Faith and Chai Podcast" where he creates space for conversations at the intersection of South Asian culture, theology, and meaningful living. Socials: Facebook: www.facebook.com/Sharonangeld Twitter: www.twitter.com/sharonangeltwit Instagram: www.instagram.com/sharonangelig TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sharonangeltok YouTube: www.youtube.com/SharonAngel Website: www.sharonangel.com