Archive for the Relationships
Tracy Green just launched a new website, www.smartworkingmom.com. Her site is worth a look if you have a minute. This week, she emailed me and also left a comment on my blog. I’d like to share them both with you because I think you’ll relate to what she’s saying.
Email: “I applaude you! It was so refreshing to see a website that makes it okay for moms to work, and want to work and celebrates those who do! I’m emailing to ask your permission to list www.sixfiguremomsclub.com as a HOT LINK on my evolving website: www.smartworkingmom.com. I’m a full-time, plus working mom of two boys and enjoy having a career. My issue became that I was in complete control and successful at the office, but at home — forget it! I was out of my element. (Snipped)
Six Figure Moms, What are you REALLY grateful for? As I’ve read other blogs and articles, I’ve been thinking about this question all week. I decided I wanted my post to be narrow so I’ve asked myself this question:
“If you only get to give one answer, what ONE thing are you most grateful for?”
My answer is STRUGGLE. I’m so thankful for the struggle I have in my life and for so many reasons.
- Struggle makes me continue to grow and think about things from a multitude of perspectives.
- Struggle reminds me that I’m alive.
I’m truly amazed at feedback I’ve received in response to my post on Proposition 8: Why Should the Majority Get to Choose How the Minority Lives?. In addition to the 16 comments on the blogpost itself, I’ve received emails, phone calls, twitter tweets & direct messages, facebook messages, phonecalls and people walking up to me to chat. It’s been so enlightening. Below are some demographics about the folks that have reached out to me:
- 90% of the group voted no for Prop 8.
- Most of them have someone in their family that is gay and therefore directly affected by the law.
As I walked into a meeting Wednesday afternoon, my phone vibrated with a new email message. “angiesmom is following you on Twitter”. I got a huge grin on my face. My mom is following me-too cute! You see, my mom is young. She graduated early from high school (read brain child), got married at age 18 and had me when she was 19. We grew up together, more like sisters than mother-daughter. She’s so playful and pretty into technology for the baby boomer that she is. (She knew the intricacies of AOL long before I did).
I’m sitting in Clay’s, La Jolla which is the rooftop lounge at the La Jolla Hotel. The west facing wall is lined with windows and the sun is setting. The whole sky is a beautiful pink, orange, purple, blue. (Yes, of course, before you ask, my close friend, Twitter is here and I’ve been Twittering away.)
I purposely didn’t write about 9/11 yesterday. Not that I didn’t want to honor the monumental event that occured seven years ago and to pay respect to the lives lost and the families affected but I wanted to avoid contributing to the negative energy that would inevitably be evoked by remembering. Like most of you, I remember exactly what I was doing that morning. It was three weeks before my wedding day.
Despite my efforts to stay positive, my day yesterday got off to a rocky start. Could the universal energy pool be off this morning? Is everyone’s energy is so negatively charged due to their memories of 9/11? I wonder…
Some of you readers might remember from my Staycation post that I’m not a fan of staying home for summer vacation, so now I’ve embarked on quite the opposite, an 18 day marathon trip. I’ll do my best to bring you along if you’re interested. My posts will likely be more personal in nature over the next three weeks so that’s what you’re in for if you’re planning to play along.
I was talking with a friend today who posed an interesting question. She said, “Ah, Labor Day, just like New Years.” I must have had a puzzled tone in my voice so she explained. “Don’t you remember that Labor Day was really like New Year’s Day when you were a kid and going back to school? Didn’t it signify the end of summer and the beginning of something new?”. Excellent point. She’s right. Labor Day is the start of a new era. The end of care free summer and the beginning of school days, responsibility, joyous holidays and family celebrations. In fact, I was swimming with a friend’s nine year old son the other day and he kept asking me if I wanted to hear what he had sent to Santa on his Christmas list. “Pierce!”, I said, “Your killing me, we’re swimming in the pool and all you can think about is Christmas and school hasn’t even started?”. I guess for him, Labor Day is certainly the start of a new era…the count down to St. Nick.
I went to a client’s wedding last night. She’s been a single, working mother for over 15 years. It’s been my great pleasure to work with her and observe her amazing transformation over the past few months. You see, she’s been doing incredible work and getting to know herself again. Well, maybe not again. Maybe even for the first time ever. My client is over fifty and has been living a life of service to others for many years..to her children, her church, her friends, her employers. There hasn’t been much time for her. (Can I take a moment to tell you she’s SO amazing?) Anyway, she met a man who initially I thought kismit had brought to her because it was about time that she have some joy and pleasure for herself. But as I sat in the church watching the ceremony, I realized that although that is partially true, the universe has a much bigger plan in store for her. The ceremony included performances by my clients children. Her daughter has a voice like Ella Fitzgerald (or Christina Aguillara for those of you youngsters) and her son performed a reading that made me feel like I was sitting on Broadway in NYC. I watched, listened and wondered about both of them and their individual journeys. Remember I coach their mother, so even though I don’t know them, I already know something about the challenges in their lives.
I went to La Jolla Shores beach with my three year old daughter today. She thinks she’s a mermaid. Really. We were meeting some friends and although I was wearing a swimsuit I hadn’t planned on swimming. However, the mermaid had different plans. Not only did she want to swim, she wanted to swim in gigantic ten foot waves while holding onto me with water splashing over our heads. Now, I’m a confident swimmer and she is too for her age but I have to say I was a bit surprised at how daring she had become. I knew we were safe so I decided to let her determine how far she was willing to go. Each time a wave would pass, she would let go of me and swim around alone until she saw a swell approaching again. It was amazing. I was in love with my daughter all over again and in complete awe of her self assurance. About the time I started to hear music in my head, we got blasted with a wave that churned us both under water. She burst into huge tears and it was time to get out. We were fine and she was done but oh boy what a lesson for me. Can I possibly ever be as brave as she is? Am I pushing my own limits of courage like this little three year old? If I’m not, how can I possibly become the role model that she needs to keep her stimulated? Oh, man, have I got my work cut out for me. I drove home thinking what a wonderful gift she is for my own personal development. Although I’ve read volumes about how children are our greatest teachers, I guess I got it on much deeper level today. Thanks for the lesson, Miss Mermaid.