Tag: slow down

Redefine Self Care Take Care of Your Kids' Mom

Posted EmilieLeave a commentPosted in Weekly Reflections

“Self-love is asking yourself what you need – every day – and then making sure you receive it.” ~ Unknown ~ I hate the phrase “self care.” I hated it so much, that even as a sleep deprived, totally exhausted mother of 4 young kids, I wouldn’t have dreamt of indulging in anything of the sort. Self care was for other women, for weak women. I didn’t need something as frivolous as rest. I was strong, capable, and pretty committed to doing it all, all the time. I thought moms who never slowed down and were the most exhausted won. […]

Own Your Body, Own Your Gifts, & Own Your Orgasm #WCW April's Story

Posted EmilieLeave a commentPosted in Woman Crush Wednesday

I found April’s Instagram page on the recommendation of a friend and instantly fell in love. April runs The Vagina Blog and is THE resource for everything you need to know about your lady bits. Her page is hysterical, educational, so relatable and totally important in this era of fake news (and fake orgasms). As a doula, a birth photographer and a birth assistant to a midwife, she’s seen a lot of vaginas.  She covers maturation and menstruation, incontinence and pessaries, sex before, during and after pregnancy, childbirth and so much more.  I’m personally a fan of all the interesting and eclectic […]

Let it Be How to Give Up Control & Learn to Surrender

Posted Emilie1 CommentPosted in Weekly Reflections

“Surrender to what is. Say ‘yes’ to life and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you.” ~Eckhart Tolle I am learning the power of surrender. I’m learning how to receive.  I’m learning how to let go of thinking I need to know it all, do it all, and make it all happen. I’m learning to trust. I’m learning to slow down.  I’m learning everything I want is already here, if I choose to see it that way, and I’m learning sometimes doing absolutely nothing is absolutely everything. So many of us grow up believing in […]

It’s Not About Doing Different Things, It’s About Doing Things Differently You Don’t Have to Work So Hard

Posted EmilieLeave a commentPosted in Weekly Reflections

“Working smart is harder than working hard. It’s just less visible, and we care too much about what others see.” I stood in a beautiful banquet hall, a microphone in my shaking hands, trying not to break down in tears.  The new pink journal I had purchased for this event lay open on the table in front of me, covered in feverilously scribbled notes. Gorgeous, amazing, smart women from all over the globe filled the room and listened as the speaker and our mentor Gina Devee, grilled me. “You need to go back and reread history.  You need to understand […]

Climb the damn mountain: stop denying your desires

Climb the Damn Mountain Stop Ignoring Your Desires

Posted EmilieLeave a commentPosted in Weekly Reflections

“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” – Jack Kerouac I once read the business of life is the acquisition of memories.  I like this. It’s simple and easy to understand. It’s wildly empowering. It relieves the pressure of achieving great worldly success and if you let it, can motivate you to lead a life worth remembering. If our focus shifts away from struggle and hard work and towards memory making, everything changes. If we begin following our desires and listening to our soul’s […]

Break Up With Busy Have more time and energy for what matters

Posted Emilie1 CommentPosted in Weekly Reflections

“It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?” – Henry David Thoreau A wise woman, my mentor Gina Devee once told me “busy is boring.”  That really struck me.  As a busy mom, I had prided myself on all the shit I was juggling at any given moment.  I wasn’t a mom who had balance or time for myself.  I was a “good” mom who did it all, and therefore, was proud of how busy I was. My busyness was proof that I was working hard. And yet, her words […]

Conquer the Chaos Simple Ideas to Create Harmony in Your Life & Home

Posted EmilieLeave a commentPosted in Real World Advice

“Anything worth doing good takes a little chaos.” – Flea – Yesterday was one of the pants on fire kinds of days, where you are almost literally running from one thing to the next.  I made the grave error of not getting up at 4:30 am because well, you know SLEEP, and I paid the price the rest of the morning. No time for coffee or day planning, which I’ve learned is critical for my sanity and therefore, my day was insane. My 10 year old woke up on the wrong side of the bed, a feat that is impossible […]

learn how to received - start accepting graciously and stop refusing help

Learn How to Receive Start Accepting Graciously and Stop Refusing Help

Posted EmilieLeave a commentPosted in Weekly Reflections

“Until we can receive with an open heart, we’re never really giving with an open heart. When we attach judgment to receiving help, we knowingly or unknowingly attach judgment to giving help.” ~ Brene Brown ~ I don’t ask others for help. I don’t even like when someone offers to help. I hate when people want to bring a dish to party I’m hosting, or pitch to help with my kids, or heaven forbid clean my house in any way. I take it as an insult – an attack against my ability to do it all. I always sharply decline […]

I'm a good enough mother

I’m a Good Enough Mother And Done Worrying About How to Be a Good Mom

Posted Emilie2 CommentsPosted in Weekly Reflections

“The very fact that you worry about being a good mom means you already are one.” ~ Jodi Picoult ~ I’ve wanted to be a good mother since I was a little girl. I imagined a big happy family, chicken roasting in the oven on Sundays, homemade lunches with scribbled love notes, and daily peace, joy, and contentment. Fast forward 30 years and my life is more like a Jackson Pollack painting than a Normal Rockwell. It’s colorful chaos, a brilliant and beautiful collaboration of messes, motion, and madness.  There’s lots of yelling and negotiating, noise and anger, disappointments, struggles […]

Why Are We All Going Nowhere Fast? It's Time to Slow Down & Enjoy the View

Posted EmilieLeave a commentPosted in Weekly Reflections

“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.”  ~Rosalia de Castro~ I’ve never thought much about the road of life.   Of course I had heard the old adage, “life is a journey, not a destination,” but never thought much beyond the idea to remember and enjoy it from time to time.  I supposed if anything, I thought of life as a highway built by those before me, a road smooth and even, constructed for speed and getting places.  Graduation, college, career, marriage, and family […]