Dear Working Mom. You Are Enough.

 

Dear Working Mom,

 

You’ve recently returned to work. Welcome back. Your professional responsibilities have regained their rightful owner; the career you paused now craves your full attention again. Perhaps your transition has been surprisingly uneventful, in which case, carry on. But if it hasn't, come close, we have a few things to discuss.  

 

We see you, fellow mother and colleague. We see you braving the beautiful burden of your esteemed new title, "working mom." We see you walking carefully into your old world with your new heart. We see the subtle taps of insecurity that make you wonder if you still have what it takes. We see the exhaustion tucked gently beneath your impressive smile, and we see your priorities secretly splintered between your dueling worlds. 

 

We see you losing grip of an identity you once meticulously crafted, the one that famously overachieved and relentlessly outperformed. We see you craving just an ounce of the normalcy you once occupied so freely. And, while you’ve grown a human, brought it to bear, survived a newborn, and re-entered the work force, we see you ... perhaps in your loneliest hour, and in the quiet of your own mind, asking yourself the toughest question yet: Am I enough? 

 

Come closer, we need you to hear this. You are enough.

 

You are enough. You are plenty. You thundered new life into this world and it, too, made you new. You underwent a holy alchemy, one that took all your fragmented pieces and threaded a tapestry so wild and new, it will startle you. You uncovered a supernatural set of instincts that will serve as a new compass across an old map. Your capacity swells with every tireless gesture you make to ensure it all stays afloat. You ache in areas you never before felt pain; and your entire being now burns with a love of a thousand suns. You are no longer who you once were. You are new. 

 

Let these super powers be your new guides in your working world. Embrace your newfound perspective; widen your aperture so that your priorities are more clearly in focus. Appreciate the scarcity of time and be ruthless with every minute. Be intentional with the energy you give. It is finite. Not everyone deserves it. Be fluid with your decision making and trust that every day demands something different of you. Be patient with what you decide to put first. It will fluctuate with each passing hour. 

 

Find your tribe. One mom, ten moms, doesn’t matter. Just a few good women who will patiently sit in the bunker with you. We are your underground lightworkers who will reflect the strength you might not currently see in yourself. We know the embers that burn inside you; we’ve done our best to pave the road forward so your apprehensions may lessen through our light.

 

And we need you. All of you. Every bit of your journey is chalk full of wisdom that will guide us, too. You carry insight and wisdom we’ve let slip away, and there are bruises on our stories that we unknowingly still carry. We’ve hardened in places we need to soften; we’ve acclimated in ways that need disruption. Share your truth so we can continue finding freedom in ours.

 

Perhaps one day, when we all bring to light the hints of heartache peppered across each experience, we can rewrite some of the inner dialogue that makes this so hard. We can introduce new realities where our personal and professional priorities are not competing, they are complimentary. Where motherhood is not in opposition with our career but enhanced by it. Where there is a reverence for a woman to feel equally empowered by her professional contribution as well the lives she so desperately wants to raise. 

 

Our hearts are fiercely equipped to handle the load; we just need to give each other the space to do it. The vocabulary to discuss it. And the freedom to feel it. Perhaps our first step together is simply believing these truths ourselves. Silencing the inner critic, reframing the details, supporting our collective journey.  The sooner we tilt the lens on this narrative, the sooner we rise together. 

 

You have our attention, our hearts, our deepest respect. We’ve walked these paths before you, and we won’t leave you behind. We’re in the bunker together. 

 

All our best,

The Other Working Moms