Since my word of the year is “vitality,” every Sunday I hope to share something with you all that makes me feel vital, sparkly, happy, and alive from different aspects of my life. It isn’t about having a perfect life. It is about growing in wholeness and authenticity and living in joy, no matter what crosses our paths.
It has been awhile since I have been on here. I was busy getting ready for yesterday’s workshop regarding first grade homeschool planning! Yesterday I had the great fortune to be part of a great group of women during the workshop. One thing that came up was the plethora of blogs and Instagram accounts that show perfect homeschooling families doing perfect things. We all know intellectually a photograph or even a video represents only one moment in time and that people put the best of their family life on the Internet. We like to think other families have it all together, and somehow we don’t.
I talked about how I have resisted putting many photographs on this blog. I know this is hard on the visual learners, but I NEVER want anyone to feel pressured or like they should be re-creating something that represents only one moment in time. I think there is a lot of pressure for being handling every facet of personal, professional, and family life perfectly for American women in particular, and I don’t want to see that here in this space. In fact, I feel like that would be almost untruthful to my more messy and imperfect life since I am just a normal wife and mother like so many of you! No perfect over here! I really don’t think perfect families exist. Great families are NOT perfect families, and every family has the potential to be great! I want mothers to walk away feeling as if they are enough, their family is enough, and that family and parenting is an amazing adventure.
What makes a family great is so much more than just a photo of a toy in the sunshine or a the back of a child as they run outside. I am sure different people define it different ways, but I think a “great” or “strong” family might do at least a few of the following things:
- Own their mistakes and learn from them
- Be loyal to each other; help each other
- Love each other and take the other family member’s needs into account
- Respect each other and each other’s quirks
- Communicate their needs directly
- Spend time together; enjoy being together and having fun; laughter!
I have heard it said that imperfect human beings are just “messy”. I love being a messy human being, because my quirks make me who I am! And, I feel like empowering other messy human adult beings to parent authentically and have children who grow up and not be perfect might just be my secret superpower. Wink.
Hope you are having a terrific slow Sunday with your family!
Blessings and love,
Carrie