You’re Not Being Buried, You’re Being Planted with Dr. Pardis Mahdavi

In this deeply personal and wide-ranging episode of the SuperSelf Podcast Series, Pete Ferrari sits down with medical anthropologist, author, educator, and strategist Dr. Pardis Mahdavi for a conversation about trust, identity, resilience, self-awareness, relationships, culture, spirituality, and what happens when the systems we have been taught to trust stop making sense.Pardis has spent decades studying people, institutions, migration, culture, health, human relationships, and the spaces where science, spirituality, and lived experience collide. But this conversation quickly moves beyond academics.Together, Pete and Pardis explore a simple but powerful idea:Sometimes you are not being buried. You are being planted.Pete and Pardis also unpack the difference between making decisions from a suffering state versus a beautiful state, why meditation and self-awareness can create space between emotion and action, how parents unknowingly “splatter” their internal state onto their children, and why learning to love yourself may be one of the least selfish things you can do.They go deep into relationships, intuition, the danger of ignoring red flags, the “tyranny of the should,” intergenerational trauma and strength, and why Pardis believes horses became some of her greatest teachers.This episode is not about avoiding hardship.It is about learning how to recognize the valley, harvest what it has to teach you, and use what you find there to become more aligned with who you actually are.Episode Highlights:06:54 – The difference between being buried and being planted18:38 – “Relational awakening” and why other people can sharpen your self-awareness25:31 – Parenting is “caught, not taught”36:31 – Why love does not automatically mean someone is the right partner for you44:39 – Why taking care of yourself can also be an act of taking care of your children54:39 – Intergenerational trauma versus intergenerational strengthKey Takeaways:Success feels good, but the top of the mountain is not always where the deepest learning happens.Being planted implies that something new may still grow from what is happening.Growth does not require pretending suffering feels good.Trust does not disappear when institutions fail, it migrates.Community becomes especially important during uncertainty.Ancient practices lose something when separated from their cultural context. The practice is only one piece. The culture surrounding it matters too.Meditation can help you notice yourself before you react.Trauma can become coded before you have language for it.Self-love is not selfishness.About the Guest:Dr. Pardis Mahdavi is a medical anthropologist, author, educator, speaker, and strategist whose work explores culture, identity, migration, human rights, institutional change, trust, education, and the relationship between individual experience and the larger systems surrounding us.Across her career, she has served as a university president, provost, dean, professor, researcher, and institutional leader. Her current work continues to examine what happens when traditional institutions no longer reflect the realities of the people living within them.Pardis is the author of numerous books, including Riding, Book of Queens, Hyphen, Gridlock, Passionate Uprisings, and Crossing the Gulf.Today, Pardis also advises leaders and organizations navigating education, culture, institutional transformation, and a rapidly changing world.Connect with Dr. Pardis Mahdavi:Website: https://www.pardismahdavi.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pardis-mahdaviInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mahdavipardisThis episode is brought to you by Jaca Rare Sugar.Jaca is a revolutionary, rare sugar called allulose with 0 net carbs, 0 glycemic index (diabetic & keto friendly), and 90% fewer calories than sugar. Jaca tastes, cooks and bakes like old school sugar with none of the harmful effects.  www.jacasugar.com