I have only met Em from Tea Cups Too three times, maybe four in fact and each time I have encountered her, there is something about her heart and presence that makes me smile.
We have some mutual friends and we live a stone’s throw away from each other, but I stumbled across her blog whilst looking for pictures from an event we both went to on the weekend and I stayed at her place online for a while.
So, today I have put my little man to bed, my big man is scraping the peeling paint off our wooden window sills that have been corroded by the sea air and I wanted to have tea with Em online.
The isolation of motherhood has the capacity to take us to beautiful places and dark ones also. As I read your recent post on motherhood, it reminded me of a quote I have been repeating to myself lately.
‘Embrace the chaos’
For those who don’t know me, I am a stay at home mum with one son Maximus, one husband (who works in Juvi with young offenders and is a body builder, I know not sure what happened there…) and I write often here and also here.
Aside from my writing, I do heaps of other stuff, which you can find more about here. To say life is chaotic is an understatement. Max just turned eighteen months; 6 days ago, and the last year and a half of my life has tippled into toddler oblivion,my priorities and preconceived judgements on mothering have been dramatically turned upside down.
This is the quote recently that made me smile and I have decided to make it my summer mantra.
Chaos (especially in my house and my diary) often makes me feel overwhelmed, but there are moments when I stop my mind from trying to control the moment and I embrace the cry of my heart to live a life that contributes significantly and my little heart secretly starts to roar.
It’s like I have a little dinosaur inside me, that when I think thoughts of beauty and creativity, when I produce moments of inspiration and life, whose eyes grow large and a mighty roar begins to emerge. A roar that no-one can hear but I can feel it rise in my heart.
Finding a sense of purpose and contribution in my days, helps me to embrace the chaos and to allow the dishes to harden, the washing to stiffen, knowing that my time is being given to that which makes an eternal impact.
Your post Em, reminded that the times I spend with my son, screwing the lids on and off, the times that I walk slowly so that he can rip lovely flowers apart, are just as valid and important as the times that I am recording moments for radio, writing books and helping women in far off places.
Embracing the chaos and not trying to contain its place, allows us to live in those moments that full vibrant colour filled memories are made and allows us to build a life of beauty rather than contained order.
Does it mean I think allowing our lives to be messy and out of control everyday is helpful?
No, in fact spring cleaning, keeping my housework at bay and structure allow my creativity to thrive.
However, its just changing the priority scales of its importance and allowing the opinions of others to fade and the ideas that brew late in the evening hour, to become reality.
Embrace the ROAR Em.
Each time I have met you, I have sensed a great potential for beauty, awaken-edness and life.
You are delightful and your life produces beautiful things.
Let’s have a real cuppa soon, or watch the sun on the ocean go down with a glass of wine and forget that toilet training creates a lot of mess, on top of the dust piling on my lovely wooden floors.
Smile often,
Mumma V.
