Momma Dreamer Manifesto
When I became a mom I didn’t believe the words “dreamer” and “mother” could coexist in the same sentence. I felt very much like motherhood marked an end of sorts to my dreams. I hoped if not all together lost, they would become dreams deferred, but I never expected them to exist in my current reality. It’s no wonder I felt discontentment and frustration alongside the intense joys of mothering thinking the dreams that breathed life into me were no longer attainable or somehow no longer important.
One night last year, Mike sent me a video from Jon Acuff. I listened to the audio of his book Quitter and subscribed to his blog. I saw Shauna Niequist at a women’s event and read her book Bittersweet. I started noticing the dreams in other moms daring to believe I could still dream too. I felt like someone was slowly pouring water on the cracked soil of my heart making it alive again to the possibilities of the future.
I’m sure I’m not the only mom who has ever struggled with the balance of mothering and dreaming.
I’ve asked four other Momma Dreamers to share their stories – what it is they dream for and how they are making those dreams possible in the midst of their mothering. Their voices are varied and their backgrounds diverse, but they have all been a tremendous inspiration to me in my own journey to rediscover what it means to dream as a mom. Every Friday through March, we’ll be checking in with a Momma Dreamer.
I believe that it is possible to embrace all there is to motherhood, and still pursue the dreams that make us feel most alive. The dreams may change. It may take some hard-core scheduling and juggling to see them come true, but they are no less important to our lives and to the lives of the children we are raising.
There is a dream inside of you. I hope over the next couple of weeks you give pause to remember.
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