A while back I came across an interview with Leslie Bennetts, the author of the best selling book The Feminine Mistake. She talked about how many women make the mistake of putting all of their proverbial 'eggs in one basket' -- their family. Thus leaving their independence and sense of self behind. I was amazed. I was headed that direction without even realizing it. How was this possible?!
The interview starts around 27 minutes but the whole episode of The Conversation is great.
While I don't agree with everything that Bennetts says, I think she makes some very valid points worth pondering.
My big take away was this; once you've started a family and had a child it can become scarily (is that a word?) easy to forget about yourself. If you're not careful, you can lose yourself in the whirlwind of responsibilities that come with having a +1. You have to make a conscious effort NOT to lose yourself and your sense of self worth, independence, happiness. It's something you do for yourself, and no one else. A hobby, a job, exercise...whatever makes you happy.
Life+1 came from my own need to create and maintain a sense of self and independence separate from my family and home life. It has been indescribably good for me, in so many ways. These are just a few.
If you're starting to see a reoccurring theme of 'finding one's self' in and amongst my posts lately, then you'd probably be right. Having a child and starting a family has changed my world completely. I came worryingly close to forgetting who I am as an independent person and what I am passionate about. It's easy to do when you become a parent.
My blog was born from this epiphany.
What have you done for you lately?
(Anybody singing that old Janet Jackson tune right now in their head?...No? Just me? Okay.)
