real, raw motherhood
Once upon a time on a far away island, a woman’s screams echoed in a hospital bedroom as she labored to birth her second child. During her entire pregnancy, she had wished for a boy. When the nurse presented her with her second daughter, she was surprised and disappointed. She hadn’t even thought of a…
I want to do that mommy! We were leaving the library and she had just noticed a flyer advertising a youth triathlon. When I brought my tiny baby girl home from the hospital almost 10 years ago, I couldn’t imagine then that triathlon was going to become a part of our lives. I had not…
Here it is. 2020. A new year. A new decade.To say I am excited is an understatement. For the first time of my adult life, I feel healthy, vibrant, full of energy, happy. It’s as if I’m living someone else’s life. In a sense, I am: in so many ways, I have become someone else.Who…
The older I get, the faster time goes, or so it seems. Another year is over. I’m one of those people who sets goals in preparation for a new year but before I plan for the future, I like to reflect on the past. Christmas, my favorite time of year with spirits high and moods…
My yoga teachers have been offering me wonderful food for thought lately. Here is a paraphrase of a powerful nugget I heard in class yesterday: “Let go of expectations, of how you think things should be and embrace what is. Trust that you are perfect as you are right now.”We’ve all been told: “Nobody’s perfect”.…
I went to Yoga Sculpt this morning. Before the class started, the teacher shared about her life-long struggle with acceptance: feeling acceptance from others and of course, more importantly, from herself. At the end of class, she invited us to look for opportunities to feel radical acceptance. I liked the ring of that. Most people…
It’s that time again of wanting to write and drawing a blank. Not knowing what I want to say and wondering if there’s value in saying anything at all anyway. I process my emotions through writing and inspiration comes more easily when I am sad or stressed. Thankfully, right now, I am neither. Happy times…
I usually make a point to not discuss religion or politics. I pride myself in having friends from all walks of life. I have friends who are on welfare and friends who are CEO of multi million dollar companies. I have friends who are agnostics and friends who are devoutly religious. I have Muslim friends,…
Today marks exactly two months since the last essay I wrote. Much has changed since then. My past remains unaltered but I am building a new relationship with it. The present is once again enjoyable. The future doesn’t look so scary. In the past eight weeks, I have surfaced from “the depths of despair”. I…
I was recently interviewed by Rachel Nielsen for her awesome 3in30 podcast. The episode aired on 05/13/19. You can listen to episode 081 here. The essay below is what I wrote in preparation for the interview and sent to Rachel. Rachel, I’ve been using traveling and jetlag as reasons why I hadn’t yet written my takeaways on the…