One of the biggest gaps I experience in life is between how connected I want to feel – and how connected I feel moment to moment, in reality. Connected to what?
Life, myself, the Universe, God(dess), whatever – to me it doesn’t matter so much what you call it, it’s the feeling I recognise: joy, contentment, openness, and inspiration. Where my energy is flowing and it feels good. Feeling motivated but not compelled to do things – feeling that I am okay no matter what.
Sometimes I feel really ground down by the seeming mundanity of my life, and the endless repetition of tasks that stay-at-home motherhood involves can feel anything but spiritual and connected. Recently I wrote a guest post for Authentic Parenting about this seeming contradiction. The last couple of weeks, though, something has shifted in my ability to connect with that connected state of being.
I sometimes spend more energy trying to escape motherhood, than actually enjoying it; using a lot of the mental space I could be using for being present and feeling calm and joyful in the moment, to orchestrate my next ‘fix’ of something completely non-mother-related, like a spoken word event or a spiritual course. Or looking at friends’ status updates on Facebook too much, to feel like I am part of the real world – filling my mind with often irrelevant distractions.
Because of my fear of isolation, I spent most of Jude’s babyhood rushing frantically around from one activity to another, and it exhausted me. Nowadays our life has a slower pace because Jude often prefers to be at home. Amidst the moments of boredom I’ve started to feel relieved, and to experience that simple contentment of being where I am, with Jude, and knowing him well rather than having a childcare worker share his most significant moments.
I definitely still find cultural and spiritual events inspiring and valuable, but I’m becoming more realistic about my life as a single mother and not trying so hard to squeeze everything in.
I couldn’t organise a babysitter for two arts/cultural events I wanted to go to recently. But instead of feeling deprived, I was surprised to find I felt totally accepting – almost relieved to be able to let go of that pressure to do and be all things, and just read a book in the evening when Jude went to sleep. This has been far more nourishing for me lately. Also, it meant I had more energy the next day to be with my son and join him in his enthusiasm for life.
I’m realising how much energy it takes to be with other people and do task-orientated activities, especially when I am with a high-energy preschooler most of the time, and how much alone time I truly need to recharge.
I think the shift I’ve experienced in feeling more connected has a lot to do with being kinder to myself about how much energy it really takes to mother in a present, aware way, and allowing myself more rest and relaxation.
This requires not believing those less than kind thoughts that insist I use my only two or three hours ‘off’ each day to do goal-orientated tasks. The work of Byron Katie has helped me enormously with this. It’s a radical re-conditioning, but worth it to feel that gap getting smaller.
Mind the Gap 
Such a good point, and I’m glad you’re being kinder to yourself. I also, as you know, fill my life with task-orientated activity. In many ways this is for me, because I enjoy those things, but there is definitely a part of me trying to escape the emptiness of a flat that once contained two of us. And then every now and then I spend a day in my PJs watching TV and reading and eating nice food and I remember that rest is one of the most important gifts we can give ourselves.
Yes. You hit the nail on the head – I do these things b/c I enjoy them, but sometimes it can also be an unhealthy ‘escaping the emptiness’, and also for me a compulsion to have quantifiable, demonstrable signs of success 😉 Yes I think we are quite similar in this regard. Thanks Karin (hope you don’t mind I still call you Karin?)
Not at all, it would be weird for you to call me Rin! 🙂
ah, so relate. well, especially to having this frantic build up of tasks that need to be done in my non mummy time. There are so many that I feel I can’t just sit or read a book at all. well not without guilt any way…..
Moyra, indeed. Did you ever read ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff’ by Richard Carlson? He said something like ‘Your intray will always be full, so don’t stress’. Wish it were that easy though!
Moyra, indeed. Did you ever read ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff’ by Richard Carlson? He said something like ‘Your intray will always be full, so don’t stress’. Wish it were that easy though!
The first sentence of this post got me hooked! So much of what you write resonates strongly. As a mother who was attached 24 hours a day for the first 18 months, and who now has a very loving and balanced 8 year old, I find it takes a burst of energy to get into right gear to engage in motherhood, and much less so to cruise through endless games of heads/bodies/legs and lego-building sessions. I am coming to terms with the fact that along with breast milk came a layer of guilt that I can never quite shift! x
Thanks Rachel, it’s lovely to hear that other mothers can relate to what I’m saying. Shifting gear is exactly what it is – which might explain why I feel even LESS inclined to play ‘trains’ after I’ve had a day off! Also good to hear that your attachment parenting in the early years has paid off 😉
what great written here. I like quote about our tray always being filled with stuff. Our rooms are cluttered, our heads are full of stuff. what helps me is to look at a day as a wave – I have quiet time to do one task only and focus, and focus, like a low tide time. and then i got another few hours just to do multi-tasking, so i am on a high tide mode, which is usually less rewarding then mono-tasking! because i don’t feel so connected to what you, Morgan, describe in that rush to finish things before others leave office. no stress…because our life is like that,
Thanks Olga. I love your analogy of a wave – I will try to keep that in mind! Multi tasking does feel less rewarding to me too, but often so necessary.