PROUD MAMAS, KEEP ON ROLLING
Hola, mamacitas stuck in your casitas!
The Corona quandary plays on like an endless Phish song that no one knows how to dance to. This Luscious Mother has been in lockdown since Friday, March 13 (irony appreciated, to be sure) and, over these almost 6 weeks, I have felt the feelings. All 31 flavorful feelings. And some have not been so delicious. But getting present to them is a necessity because, as author Debbie Ford states flatly in her brilliant (and at times confronting) book The Dark Side of the Light Chasers:
“What you can’t be with won’t let you be.”
Damn, Debbie, you really stuck the landing on that one! Yes, it’s important to honor our feelings; put them through the digestion process, or else….
Reflux!
Some people, like yours truly, are emotional creatures and our feelings can come on like a tsunami; which doesn’t make us wrong or bad. (I like to think it makes us better looking.) What it does mean is we have to work a little harder to get with what’s going well. What we’re proud of. Especially when our nervous systems are teetering on the precipice of fight or flight, and many are vacillating between claustrophobia and agoraphobia as our brains manically hum the Bee Gees “Staying Alive.” (Luscious Dance Break, track 5)
Today, one of our Luscious Mother founding sisters, Kristin Baker, was working with a group of parents she coaches and the call was positively dripping with Mom Guilt - which is THE worst - and Kristin decided to flip the script. She asked each parent to identify one thing they’re doing right now that they’re proud of. After a stunned moment, they realized there was plenty going on in their quarantine that qualified for pride. They just hadn’t been able to quiet their electric nervous systems long enough to get the good news: they were actually slaying it on the homefront! Kristin said, at that moment, the whole vibe of the call cornered on rails and a new conversation began. One where they were able to acknowledge their own victories. Their own greatness.
After her call, Kristin rolled the same question out to her Luscious sisterhood and caught us unawares. We too have been overlooking our own wins. I know I’ve been in “omg, omg, quick, do the next thing!” mode pretty consistently since this adventure began and it never occurred to me to stop and say, “Hey, Anna, you sexy badass, look at you launching a new business on the fly that serves mothers at a time when they most need support, and check out that creative, hilarious kid you raised who knows how to make his own fun and will fold a basket of laundry in exchange for an episode of TV! You are killing it, sis!”
But, I should take that time. We all should.
Over the next week all 8 LM founders will be sharing what we’re proud of with you on our social media feed, and we want to hear your wins too. We think we ALL deserve acknowledgement! CUE the sound of our founding mother, Sarah Olin, running in high heels yelling - “DID SOMEONE SAY ACKNOWLEDGEMENT?” - just before she pushes children, old ladies and seeing-eye-dogs out of the way to claim her space in the spotlight of Luscious acknowledgement. Why? Because Sarah knows there ain’t nothin’ better than getting acknowledged by your sisters.
Mothers, it’s important we acknowledge ourselves for what’s going well. What’s going well at your house? Tell us something you're proud of, so we can acknowledge you.
I just realized another thing I’m proud of: being connected to all of you.
Keep on rolling, you proud mamas!
Love,
Anna & Sarah
