A Secret to Success as a Working Mom: Turn Burn Out Into Bliss and Embrace Joy

Last weekend my youngest was committed to going to the "Water Steps" a man-made water fall in Pittsburgh by the rivers. (Fun Fact: Three rivers converge in Pittsburgh--The Ohio River, The Monongahela River, and the Allegheny River.)  He kept asking. I knew he was serious when he said, "If you won't take me, I'll ask  daddy!" Given that it was highly unlikely that would happen on an unscheduled day, I relented. So, we went. It wasn’t planned in the way most things in my life are. No calendar block. No checklist. No “productive” purpose attached. And, so in some respects it was uncomfortable. And yet, it seemed necessary. It was the idea of my 8-year-old—offered with the kind of urgency only children possess when something is profoundly important to them.

A summer sprinkled with fairy dust...


Last summer I was in love with the season. This summer I am in love with my experiences. And I am not alone. My single friends have been enjoying summers full of romance, passion, and excitement. My married friends have had renewed energy in their marriages.

It is as if we have all been given personal allotments of fairy dust. We sprinkle it and get out hearts’ desires.

I am sure that it seems that way because I view life through a most romantic lens. I am enough of a realist to I know that my comments border on the ridiculous. Intellectually I understand that life is full of ups and downs, wins and losses, love and sorrow. Indeed, life can be comprised of an entire season of heartache.

That is why I have so enjoyed the excitement that has come this summer. I have enjoyed my friends’ stories and adventures. Love, passion, and romance are a welcome relief from the discord, coldness, and bickering of the past winter.

Indeed my eyes are sparkling, my heart is pounding, and my mind is full of expectation.

While I have not seen any fairies personally, it is as if Puck is casting his spell on all of us and we are all in the midst of a Midsummer Night’s Dream. Normally, I am all about authenticity, but I am having so much fun that I don’t care if this is all a function of a spell. Indeed, I hope that I never wake up. I have learned that reality isn't all that it's cracked up to be anyway...
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