Hey Mamas of 2020 it is time to get fired up! It is time to stop being desensitized and quiet and small and complacent. If we want a better world for our children--all children regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or any and all other factors--the time to listen is now. If not us then who --and if not now then when? When I had my kids, like any mom, my anxiety turned up but never did I have to worry about my kids not being accepted because of the color of their skin. So on the list of things that brought me anxiety never did I have to think about how they may never be able to go fo ..read more

Can’t go to school! What do we do? Should we stay inside and just feel blue? That doesn’t make sense. Let’s find the joy-- Being at home with a little girl and a little boy. We always want more time And now we kind of have it. When else are we encouraged to stay home and just sit? Yes there is sadness. Yes there is pain. And sometimes we feel like this is all so insane. Yes there is worry. Yes there is doubt. But one step at a time, And we just might work it out. Stay close to your family. Stay close to your friends. And keep hope that in time this pandemic ends. For now-- find the beauty. For ..read more

The world as we know it has shifted and the uncertainty can be overwhelming at times. We are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is unprecedented in its effect on the entire globe. Quarantining. Isolation. Social Distancing—all of these have never been a reality before, and we are all learning a new normal as our lives shift drastically. Homeschooling and working from home are part of that new normal—and as my friend, Lauren says, “Mamahood through quarantine is next level,” and I couldn’t agree more. Last Sunday I woke up with the feeling of utter panic as the reality of the magnitud ..read more

I am a self-proclaimed do-er. An overachiever. A person, like many others, who have benefitted from the achievement model. I have always been “rewarded” for being ambitious; therefore, being ambitious is how I have always been. In fact, people often say to me, “How do you do it all?” The answer is I don’t know how not to. Like so many women and mothers in this time and space, I have been doing all. The. things. All. the. Time. For everyone else. Not realizing that it was an option not to. Not realizing that this doing was an overdoing– or an undoing. As in my undoing. As in the cause of my st ..read more

Dear Jen, You’re on the bus ride to the airport and starting your journey home. Journey—that’s what this is. That’s what all of this is. NH is so beautiful (you just looked out the window. 444 on the car next to you. Angels. The Divine. They’re there. They’re always there we just have to pay attention and invite them in). And just like that you lost it—writing started to get me to think about doing and with my cell phone so accessible and the Internet even more accessible I just went on email and Voxer and looked up Illuminate and Mike’s schedule and talked to him. I started thinking about da ..read more

Also featured in Charleston Moms Blog https://charleston.citymomsblog.com/advice/glimpses-of-joy-snapshots-of-motherhood/?fbclid=IwAR21uWC5g1xwbK1KF30DO_-cyHWcziygm8eubETl4FCHTVJU_a0ckI2JnJY The days are long but the years are short--before I had kids this is what I always heard parents say. And from experience I can now say no truer words were ever spoken about parenthood. The days ARE long and some days are certainly harder than others. But amid all of the tantrums and the chaos and the interrupted conversations and the spilled drinks and the potty accidents and the sleepless nights, there ..read more

Dear Mom Guilt, I am feeling feisty today--so watch out. Emily Ley told me in her book Grace Not Perfection that you are a liar, and today I decided to believe her. And so, like any true break up, I know this will be a process--but it is time for me to say a much overdue goodbye. No longer will I endure your abuse. No longer will I tolerate your gaslighting and manipulations. No longer will I let you activate old stories and patterns. Get out of the driver’s seat because no longer will you drive my bus. We have been together since 2014 when my daughter was born. You swooped in like a bad drea ..read more

https://charleston.citymomsblog.com/advice/living-the-dream-even-though-sometimes-it-sucks/ “You’re forgetting that you are living a dream. Even though you’re years in now and it’s become your norm, the business or role you have now, was once a dream that you wish you could achieve.This dream that you had always wished for made you believe in yourself and what you really can achieve, again.It got you moving; it catapulted you out of your comfort zone.It awakened your senses. It fired you up. It changed your life. Appreciate every single day that you get the opportunity to do what you love.App ..read more

Dear 2018 Jen, This is a really cool little ritual that you created last year. A reflective gratitude letter to yourself. Last year it sort of came to you as a way to process beating yourself up over spilled milk. But isn’t that how the best ideas come to us? By accident. So current status is babies are asleep (for the time being) and so isn’t Mike--after your 16 hour drive from MA where he did all the driving, he definitely needs the rest. So don’t wake him--even though I know you’re tempted to. And as for you, you didn’t sleep much at all and could be sleeping now--but there is something ma ..read more

Photo Credit: Aaron Burden As I am sitting here working on an overdue blog post and trying to set the agenda for my Sacred Bliss Women’s Circle event I have been interrupted 5 times in the last 40 minutes, and it got me thinking about an important topic that I know I’m not alone in---how to get in your creative flow amid distractions, specifically the mom life. I used to trivialize my interests and not create space for my passion. I would let the mom guilt creep in--I should be spending all of my precious time with my children, cleaning the house, working on things for my day job. But as anyo ..read more