By: Luscious Mother
Hello, Luscious,
Gobble gobble. Anna here.
I made a very empowering decision today, for which, in the spirit of the season, I am extremely grateful. I let myself off the hook.
This morning, I scrambled haphazardly to get myself out the door to physical therapy. I started going as a ritualistic pandemic activity to address the anger my pelvis apparently has about spending endless days and nights before a Zoom screen in an ongoing loop of “when does my work day really start or end?”
But the reality is that rather than serving me and making my life easier, P.T. had become a burden. I wasn’t doing my exercises at home, and, because I am a compulsive truth-teller, part of my weekly P.T. ritual was confessing these shortcomings to my therapist (not that he wouldn’t have known anyway). The whole thing was loading me down with guilt, shame, and stress. It wasn’t helping my tilted pelvis. And it certainly wasn’t self-care.
So, today, I arrived for my appointment in the mismatched floral/camo combo of a six year old girl on a playdate, and instead of indulging in my ritual of shame, I broke up with my physical therapist. I think he really felt it when I told him it wasn’t him, it was me. (I actually sensed the hint of a smile beneath his N95.) I cancelled all my future appointments and left that office feeling more forgiving and loving of myself than I have in many months.
Go take care of yourself. The way you WANT to be taken care of. Because you’re the only one who knows, really, because you are the YOU expert.
Maybe you only have a scattered handful of minutes to take care of yourself just now. Maybe you have a few golden days. Whatever you have, use it for your own good. Not to please someone else, or because you “should,” or because you always have and it’s “what’s expected of you,” or because it’s (GOD FORBID) the “right thing to do.”
Mama, you take care of you. Now is the time to grab some rest and replenishment. Why? Because after the holidays, we have some ass to kick, a world to put in order, and that can not be done in the old way of coasting into the new year on resolutions and fumes. “Crushing the patriarchy” is a 2020 thing, sisters. 2021, whatever that spicy little four number combo has in store for us, is a year for building the matriarchy. And, mamas, she ain’t gonna build Herself.
With love and thankfulness,
Anna & Sarah
Luscious Mother
Keep Reading
Want more? Here are some other blog posts you might be interested in.
Hey, mama. Twenty years ago, over a period of mere minutes, a beautiful weekday morning on the east coast became an American nightmare. Terrorists weaponized airplanes filled with civilians and used them to destroy buildings filled with people who were simply going to work. An average day, ordinary people, in locations presumed to be safe. […]
Mama, it’s us. The women of LUMO, coming to share wisdom and maternally-fueled career and leadership goodness. Last week we posed the question: What did you learn about work from motherhood? This week’s answers are FIRE. LUMO Coach Jayme said: Motherhood taught me to set my priorities in alignment with my values. Before, it was all about what […]
Happy Friday! Sarah here. Last week’s newsletter was a beautiful tribute to Luscious Mother and I remain one proud Mama. As we fully transition to focus singularly on LUMO and explore the data we collected from the Expecting Moms Online Program Beta, we’ve been deep in conversation around pregnancy, maternity leave, being a working mom and the […]