Guest post by Camille Faye
My journey right now is through the landscape of motherhood.
As I keep one foot firmly planted on the path of being the matriarch for my
family, my other foot is on the path of being a writer. Navigating both paths
in the past several years has been very tricky at times, but while working to
find that balance between the people I love and the work that I love, I've
noticed some spiritual growth lessons along the way.
Being Present
Being present is incredibly hard to do for my busy mind. What writer doesn't
have a million things going on in her head at once? But being absolutely
present is the only way for me to have creative breakthroughs and peace of
mind. I've been practicing presence more often since reading
The
Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. He suggests simple practices to incorporate
into your day to help you live in the now.
Before I quit teaching in order to stay home, my life felt like a mess.
Trying to be a teacher, mom, wife, and writer had me going in so many
directions that it was impossible to be present. I was always running, running,
running, without a break. Quitting my job gave me some room to breathe. Then I
could focus on a task and be a better mommy, wife, and writer.
Feeling Joy
Remember when you were a kid and you would absolutely bubble over with joy?
My son is so excited to see his cousins over the holidays and I know he'll have
a hard time sleeping because of all that fizzy excitement.
When I made the decision to leave my job, it was heart-wrenching because I
felt like I was giving up a piece of my identity. Heck, in a world where there
are all these super-moms, I felt like I was just plain giving up. Over the last
several years, I've made decisions about the way that I choose to feel in my
daily life. The two states of being that make me feel the best are joy and
peace.
One of my favorite bloggers is Carol Tuttle and one of the things she speaks
about is the
importance
of nurturing your inner child. There was some serious dysfunction in my
extended family that I never really dealt with until I had my own children. So
I decided that since I was cognizant of those shortfalls in my own childhood, I
would raise my children to feel joy, peace, and love. But more than that, I
would commit to raising my own inner child to overcome that negative energy
that surrounded my childhood. As an adult, I get to experience joy through my
children when we dance, laugh, play, cuddle, and sing.
Staying Strong
As a woman who has suffered through tough bouts of depression in my teen
years and then postpartum depression when I had my children, I wanted to notice
negative patterns in my thinking and eliminate or redirect those so that I could
stay in a positive space. I have done yoga since 2000 and love how it helps me
relax and reconnect with my body. Many times, I notice that I get sick, feel
low, or have intense neck pain when I've ignored some mental stress that's been
wearing on me. If I stay in touch with how my body is feeling and manage my
negative thoughts, then I don't tend to feel so bad.
Yoga helps you gain flexibility, balance, strength, and peace in mind, body,
and spirit. It doesn't have to last an hour or more, either, and you can do it
in the comfort of your own home. Some of my favorite yoga channels on YouTube
include
Ekhart Yoga (with
Esther) and
The Yoga
Solution (with Tara Stiles).
Envisioning Success
I'm a goal maker. Every January the members of my critique group,
The Lit Ladies, share our individual
writing and life goals for the year. At our summer writing retreat, we touch
base on how we're doing for the year and we make vision boards. On last year's
vision board (made in July), I wanted my novel,
Voodoo Butterfly, to be "award-winning." Then in October
of last year, it was a finalist in the Lone Star contest and one of the judges,
a publisher out of New York state, offered me a publishing contract.
I believe that magic can happen in your life when you focus on your desires
and prepare yourself so that they can occur when the time's right. Writing goals
down or making a vision board gives you something to look at and reflect on
throughout the year. These tools reminded me of the smaller, incremental steps
I needed to take in order to make the big goal, of publishing my book, a reality.
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In the midst of raising young children, my parenting path is more traveled than
my writer path simply because I have to dedicate more time and energy to the
mommy part of me. At least for now. But later, all of the love and spiritual
knowledge I've gained as a result of dedicating my life to motherhood, will
bubble up into my writing. Until then I give myself a small chunk of time in
the day to write. And throughout the day I remind myself to feel peace and joy
while navigating my two life paths at once.
CLICK HERE to learn more about Camille & VOODOO BUTTERFLY in her interview with the Blog Ring of Power.
