A Reflection on our Trip to NYC and an Invitation to You

Our lives revolve a lot around John’s career. His job as a pilot–being synonymous with travel–shapes our days one month at a time. This weekend he joined me at my work event in New York. After flying into Philly and dropping the kids off to my sister, we took the train on to NYC.

I love being a mom, and choosing John as my life partner was one of the best choices I ever made. I’m grateful to celebrate 8 years of marriage to him this month. But this weekend it was wonderful to be in a space that allowed me to remember my other hats, gifts, and identities.

Brené Brown has talked a lot about how women in our culture feel so much pressure to “do it all, do it perfectly, and don’t let them see you sweat.” I’ve been grappling with shame for a long time… feeling half in as a mom and half in as a professional in my position that allows me to work from home full-time. Never feeling like I measure up and that I should be doing better at _______.

What I’ve found when I share these feelings with other moms is that I’m not alone.  My friend who works full-time sometimes feels shame that she does not stay home with her kids. My friend who stays home full-time sometimes feels shame that she left her career to be at home with her kids.  My other friend, whose job and family life look more tangled up like mine, has shared with me that she doesn’t feel good at anything sometimes.

I’ve thought, there has to be other solutions out there for me. A job or a way of parenting that I can feel good about all the time. But this weekend afforded me the perspective to accept the chaos of this season of our lives.

Not because I can have it all, and do it all. But because I can’t. I can’t be the best mom or the best employee or the best wife. And I definitely can’t be all three of those things at once. But there’s grace.

This weekend allowed me to take a deep breath and tell myself that despite what is accomplished at the end of a day: I am enough.

Comparison is an easy trap. I do admit social media can make it easy to feel isolated, jealous or discontent.

It is hard to do the good work of watching other people’s lives on social media and saying to myself with a heart of gratitude and peace, good for them. But sign me up. Because what other way forward is there? I enjoy watching your lives and the way social networks have allowed me to connect with you again.

I enjoy creating. I enjoy writing. I started this blog to do both, but I also started it to share your stories and experiences. A place to showcase people like you who are navigating roles in a career, in parenthood, in unemployment, in empty-nesting, in relocation, in career changes, in relationships, in singleness, in joy, in grief… to share your expertise about travel–whether near or far.

There are a few whose lives can become about traveling to exotic places as occupation (those people usually have some of the best travel hacks though, amiright?) 😉 But for the rest of us, we must negotiate so many variables to take a break and travel. My vision is to leverage the power of many stories to help others adventure well.

Please reach out to me if you have a story or advice to share about your travels. I’d love to hear it and others would too. Sign up here to contribute to this blog as a guest.

In the meantime, I hope you remember you are enough and to adventure well on your journey. It’s nobody else’s.