Ep. 265 – Shannon Watts

Metta Hour with Sharon Salzberg

Be Here Now Network

Society & Culture, Sharonsalzberg, Metta, Salzberg, Meditation, Beherenownetwork, Buddhism, Religion & Spirituality, Beherenow, Compassion

4.6 • 682 Ratings

🗓️ 11 June 2025

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For episode 265, Sharon speaks with and activist and author, Shanon Watts about her new book, Fired Up.

Shannon is the founder of Moms Demand Action, the largest grassroots group fighting gun violence in the U.S. Known as the ‘summoner of women’s audacity,’ she has been named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People, a Forbes 50 over 50 Changemaker, and a Glamour Woman of the Year. Shannon is also an active board member of Emerge America, one of the nation’s leading organizations for recruiting and training women to run for office. Helping to redefine what’s possible when audacious women unite to drive change, she writes regularly about culture, politics and women’s issues for her Substack, Playing with Fire, and outlets like The Washington Post, Elle, Time, The 19th. Her new book, Fired Up: How to Turn Your Spark Into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age, is coming out on June 17th, 2025. To learn more about Shannon’s work, or get a copy of Fired Up you can visit her website here.

In this conversation, Shannon and Sharon speak about:

The impetus for Shannon’s book
How to live a life on fire
Shannon’s personal story
Marrying our abilities, values & desires
Being burned up by our anger
Survivors of gun violence
What holds us back
Sharon’s fear of public speaking
The firestarter triangle
How we find our desires & aspirations
Sharon and Sharon’s top values
Living with a sense of what you care about
How do we sustain our fire?
Community Building
Firestarter University

Shannon closes the conversation with a short reading from her book, Fired Up.

Join Sharon for her new online course, Intro to Meditation, starting June 21st. With meditation becoming increasingly popular, it can be hard to know where to begin. This four-day introductory course is designed to teach you the fundamentals of meditation. This course is ideal for beginners who want to establish a practice, as well as experienced students seeking a refresher course. Learn more: Intro to Meditation

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Transcript

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0:00.0	In these uncertain times, when the world feels divided and restless, where do you turn for refuge?
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0:56.1	invitation to return. Spaces are limited. Register now at romdust.org backslash boon.
1:14.1	I began to journal after that. You know, I couldn't afford a therapist.
1:16.0	I couldn't tell my husband because a lot of what I was feeling was that I had married the
1:20.5	wrong person.
1:22.4	I was in a career I didn't want.
1:25.3	And I just, other than, you know, adoring and loving my children, I was miserable.
1:32.5	And that journaling really did lead me out, it eventually led me out of my marriage, out
1:38.2	of my career, and into the mindset I needed to be in to start mom's demand action in 2012.
1:47.0	And that was really how I married my abilities, my values, and my desires was through
1:56.0	Mom's Demand Action, and it's how I found my people. And I want to unlock that in other women.
2:02.2	I don't want that to be their deathbed regret at the end of their life,
2:06.3	that they feel like they didn't burn.
2:23.0	Hello, and welcome to the Meta Hour podcast with Sharon Salzberg.
	...

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