MamaManagement

Do you ever feel frazzled? Overwhelmed? Ready to burst from all the balls you're juggling, all the weight that's perched on your shoulders, all the expectations and judgments that feel like they're coming from other people, but really all come from your own thoughts? Maybe sometimes you swipe the thoughts and feelings aside and just keep going. But other times, the weight becomes too much, and you crack. Maybe you cry, maybe you yell, maybe you recede into yourself, maybe you eat, maybe you drink, maybe you have panic attacks, maybe you feel depressed. Whatever you do, you become suddenly aware of your tight grip on the wheel, the tension in your neck and shoulders, the roil of your stomach, the aching tiredness in your bones, and all the mistakes you're making. If you have ever felt like this, well, this post is for you. Read on. So, I use the meditation app Insight Timer pretty much everyday. (I highly recommend it.) I listen to guided meditations and use the m...

Sometime over the last year or two, writing went from being my hobby to being something more of a vocation. It's not because I started making money at it (I haven't really...yet), but I committed to it in a way that made it somehow different. I set goals, objectives, and timelines. I started investing more time, and more-than-just my time, in it; I'm spending money to attend conferences and workshops; I've joined writer organizations; and I'm querying my work to agents. You know, stuff that makes it feel more like a legit, budding career. It's great and I'm happy with the path I'm on with my writing. I'm growing and developing and really loving it. BUT, what used to be just a creative outlet for me is now somehow changed. And that change left a little hole in my creative brain space. I realize now that I need a creative outlet that is about nothing more than relaxing, enjoying, and creating. No real goals or objectives or timelines. Just joy. ...

My daily intention: Stay Loose; and some other touchpoints (in this case, bracelets) to remind me of what's important I've been working on mindfulness for a while now. It used to be that I spent a lot of my time lost in thoughts of the past or the future. Nowadays I'm more likely to get lost in thoughts of all the things I should be getting done or plotting how I will manage to get them all done (and doing laps in the pool of guilt and shame for not getting more accomplished each day). But I'm trying not to do that. I'm also trying to focus on what's important rather than what seems urgent. One of the ways I do this is by setting a daily intention--an over-riding idea, theme, objective for my day, each day. I try to do this right when I wake up, but sometimes it's more like 9am before I give it the thought it needs. Sometimes it's a phrase, sometimes it's just one word. Today's intention is Cherish . I often write my daily intention on...

You know what you don't hear of a lot of people doing anymore? Puttering. You hear of rushing and running and going and doing. But you don't hear a lot of puttering. As in: "What are you up to today?" "Oh just puttering around the house." or "Thought I'd putter in the garden this morning." I think we need more puttering. putter [puht-er] verb (used without object) 1. to busy or occupy oneself in a leisurely, casual, or ineffective manner: to putter in the garden. 2. to move or go in a specified manner with ineffective action or little energy or purpose: to putter about the house on a rainy day. We're always doing something these days. Always being productive. Or we're checked out in front of some electronic devise. But I bet if you had asked my grandma on just about any given day, at some point during that day she would have described herself as puttering. That's not to say that my grandma wasn't busy or prod...

In today's plugged-in, hurry-up culture, I'd venture to guess that multi-tasking is an epidemic. And, what makes me kind of sad, now that I really think about it, is that for many years I have actually prided myself on my ability to multi-task. Now, I'm not so proud of it...and I'm finding it a really hard habit to break. As I've started to pay more attention to things lately, to become more aware of what I'm doing and how I'm doing it, I've noticed how often I am multi-tasking. I eat my breakfast while checking email or getting the kids' breakfast or driving the car. I unload the dishwasher while talking on the phone. I clean up the kitchen while cooking dinner. I look at my facebook feed while brushing my teeth. Heck, like most moms I can make dinner, talk on the phone, empty the dishwasher, fix a toy, help with homework, and make my grocery list all at the same time. Impressive...or sad? I used to think the former...like a badge of honor....

Dear Ms. Winfrey, I cannot begin to fathom how many thank you letters you must get. Sadly, I would imagine you get your fair share of nastygrams too. But hopefully someone just tosses those in the recycle bin with nary a glance. I know that this note will never reach you, and that's okay. Because I know you, of all people, would understand the idea of simply sending the goodness out into the universe and letting it do it's own thing. So here's some goodness... I pretty much grew up watching The Oprah Show. I was right there with you when you started the book club. (I still remember getting Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone right after you chose the book for bookclub and devouring it on the couch in our family room in one day. I'm not entirely sure I even took breaks to eat.) You've introduced me to so many wonderful books, and for that I say thank you. I find I'm naturally drawn to anyone who shares my love of books and reading and learning, the...