Daughtering: Chauncey Beaty at TEDxGreenville 2014

A poetic, illuminating twist on family relationships, Chauncey Beaty's talk may just spur an insightful, more deeply rewarding bond with your own parents. This life coach and poet shares a story of moving back home as an adult to live with her mother, forcing the two to confront all their residual baggage. She introduces us to 'daughtering' (or 'sonning'), which is the act of releasing your parents from the unreasonable expectations that you had as a child.

Chauncey encouraged us all to "Restore compassion with your parents. Go back to the soft. Open your heart over and over and over again." This is because when you cling to negative stories of the past, they can consume you and prevent you from reaching your full potential--your full happiness. Chauncey closes by addressing her mother in the audience — "Mom, I honor you."

This talk was part of TEDxGreenville UNZIPPED, held April 11, 2014, at the Kroc Center in Greenville, South Carolina. For more information about Chauncey and her co-presenters, please visit .

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)