I was prompted to start blogging again by the recent article in The Atlantic, titled Why Women Still Can't Have It All & all of the post articles, comments & thought provoking questions it made me ask myself.
At work, with the Center for Women, we of course address the topic of Work/Life Balance and I'm honestly not sure if there is a true balance that's a teaching measurement. With that said, we hold those topics (and lots attend) to let others know they are not alone & we can always learn from one another as to how they survive day to day life!
After I made reference to these articles and posted the local one to my facebook page, a comment from my friend Gina really resonated with me. She noted that she had 'a great job, a loving husband, 2 wonderful kids, a nice home, food on the table & they own their own business.--she does have it all!' It made me stop and be like, wait, what is it 'all?!' and that likely differs for every woman! Based on her comment, I DO have it 'all'...and much, much more!!! I think we can make life choices to reflect our priorities and hopefully be able to act upon them. Yes, sometimes work gets in the way of life and life gets in the way of work--but as long as we give our 'all' when doing each, I feel it's the best we can do and should feel confident in doing so. I constantly remind myself when home to be present with Mollie or Matt...try not to multi-task too much and what can wait until nap or bedtime?
In all my sentiment of this 2nd bday for Mollie, of course wanting more children and gearing up for a birthday party tomorrow, I read another facebook post by a friend of mine, Mollie (pure coincidence, haha!!) that really made me think that most women struggling with the 'having it all' syndrome is coming at it from a 'not good enough mom' syndrome...The writer titles the article ' A Letter to My 51 Year Old Self' and boy did it make me proud and sad at the exact same time. My only self-doubt comes when I'm not sure if I've been the best mother I could possibly be on a given day, week or month..and what is the 'best?' I adore my child more than anything I could EVER imagine. My mom used to say that she would jump in front of a bus for her 3 girls and I was always like 'haha, yeah, we love you too.' I would seriously do anything for my family, don't get me wrong..but my children? Bus, bring it on. I could do away with all material possessions and live in my car if needed and if that meant Mollie could get the best life, education, opportunities and so on.
So, what does 'having it all' mean to you? Do you have self-doubt over motherhood, work, wife duties, community involvement or something else? I don't have many answers to overcoming that, but as another friend of mine Elizabeth said on my facebook post, 'It's all about your priorities.' I do for sure believe that 'If it's important to you, you will find a way. If it's not, you will find an excuse.'
Happy 2nd Birthday Mollie--you are my top priority and always will be. To me, that is my motherhood goal. Encourage you to be the BEST woman, role model, friend, future wife, business gal, student, great sense of honor person I could imagine--and help YOU identify your own priorities. We're all different, right?! :)
