The day I got married, we had our pictures taken in a beautiful park full of open fields and stone walls, giant trees and small ponds. While we were taking pictures at the park, our limo bus broke down.
According to FEMA, there are four phases of emergency management. Although I couldn’t have named them then, I practiced the first two for years, my own desperate religion: mitigation and preparedness.
We were not all crazy, honey, but some of us were. Some of us, if you can believe it—and it’s really just impossible to understand so you’ll have to trust me here—it seems that some of us would do anything for money and power. I mean it, anything
I enter the woods at a near-run
Each footstep pounding out loss
Frustration
Heartache
Despair
Anger
Giving it the Mother, who can bear it.
And She saves me.
We all want to be the butterfly emerging, soft and beautiful, from its chrysalis. And yes, I know you’re thinking the caterpillar-to-butterfly metaphor is overdone. But maybe it’s not.
It was a gift, finding old videos of her: chubby with lingering rolls, voice high and babyish. The clips were mostly mundane: playing with Play-Doh, my husband and I encouraging her to crawl, a younger me hugging an infant her on the couch. None of the moments in these videos were remarkable. I had no specific memories of any of them.
Listen. Listen. The world is trying to tell you something. There are messages in the dragonflies that seem to follow you everywhere, in the way the wind whips up at just the right moment, in the clock showing you the same time when you wake every night, sweaty and confused.
Our minds don’t understand what is really happening all around us, our senses lead us to the wrong conclusions. It awakens in me a sense of mystery, the realization that the facts and data we grew up understanding to be truth don’t tell the complete story. There is more to be discovered.
"I hold back, sometimes I won't. I feel good, sometimes I don't." Those words, from the Drake song "God's Plan" have been stuck in my head for weeks, along with the words that close the refrain: "And still."
There really is something to the concept of affirmations, even it seems completely woo-woo. (I happen to love woo-woo stuff, but you don't have to in order to get something out of this.)
The perfect guidance for life is hidden in a children’s song that’s been around forever. “Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream…” Those are the lyrics to a song you’ve likely known since you were little.
It’s really hard to do things for yourself when you’re a mom. And you have to do them anyway. Carve out little chunks of time for yourself, whether it’s five minutes or a whole hour. Prioritize sanity over dishes, until you reach a place where you can keep both under control.
Like yoga, letting go is a practice. You're never done, never perfect. The art is in learning what's worth hanging on to, and what isn't. When you let go of all the stuff that doesn't matter, you have more room (and patience and strength and passion and energy) for the things that do.
You don’t need to wait for another life to arrive and rearrange your organs, your thought process, your life. You can do it for yourself. What do you want? What do you believe? What do you feel in your gut?
“Are you happy, mama?” My daughter started asking me this a lot, about a year ago. I’m not sure why. She asked it sometimes when she was reading the scowl on my face. I understood why she was asking it. But other times, we would be in the course of a normal moment in a normal day and it would come: “Are you happy?”
Are you trying to create #allthethings? And is your content a little...all over the place? Hit pause and work on your brand voice and tone before you write another word.
Want to connect with your audience? You need to stay active on all your social networks. Here are my 3 favorite tools for staying social- and staying sane.
The word “grace” catches my attention. It is elegance and beauty, it’s a bestowing of favor, it’s mercy. Yes, I want to give myself grace. And, I think, so should you. Here's why.
Start communicating more efficiently and effectively by ditching bad email habits. It's time to sound like the business-savvy momma you truly are.
Looking for advice and encouragement that will help you juggle days building your biz while also building Legos? You'll love this list of tips from mommas who have been there, done that, and have the happy babies and thriving businesses to prove it's possible.
Solopreneurs: Keep these points in mind as you craft an "About" page that both feels like you AND helps grow your business.
Here are 5 of my favorite tips that work for the often crazy life of a mompreneur. They'll help you free up time to work, write, plan and yes, binge watch a little reality TV every once in a while.
Writing is part of doing business as a modern mompreneur—and you need tools to help battle writer’s block. When you just can't seem to focus, here's what to do:
Hey there! I’m Stacy.
Some days, I'm a copywriter and content strategist. But every day, I'm a writer. I write to explore life (and myself), to find glimpses of truth, and to create connection-- between myself and the world, and between ideas, people, and things.
In the biography of her friend and famous choreographer Martha Graham, dancer and choreographer Agnes de Mille recounts a conversation the two had about their fledgling careers.
“No artist is pleased,” said Graham.
de Mille responded, I imagine a bit worried, “But then there is no satisfaction?”
“No satisfaction whatever at any time,” Graham reinforced.