My cousin Jennifer has a blog at http://halfpinthomesteader.blogspot.com/ and today I looked at it for the first time as part of my blogging research to see what kind of things she was writing about. When I went to her site the first post I saw was one dated Tuesday, March 8, 2011 and it was titled "The Sun Will Rise, and You Will Find Yourself". As I read through this post I realized that in some ways it does relate a lot to me. In her words: "...is for all of you mothers who have ever felt that you have somehow lost yourself along the way. You feel like you are defined by you role, not who you are. You sometimes wonder if you even know who you are anymore.
If you read through her post you may find that it relates to you in many ways or in no way at all. I found that it related to me in a couple of ways. The first way I can relate to Jennifer's post is the way she talks about how her life was/is tied up into her kids. Now before anyone starts ranting there is nothing wrong with being devoted to your kids, but Jen is right when she says that every woman has to maintain her own identity in some way or you will loose yourself.
I can also relate to my cousin's post when she talks about the things she used to do before she had kids. Now again, there is nothing wrong with change. There is nothing wrong with altering your life. But once again Jennifer is correct about not loosing yourself after kids by letting go of all your dreams and everything you used to do or want to do. Hold onto your dreams and continue to dream. If you don't then what will you teach your kids to do. Your dreams might be slightly altered, as most lives are once kids enter the picture, but don't discard them. Incorporate your children in some of your dreams so you can be inclusive, but also have some dreams that are just for you in order to maintain your identity.
In my first post I talked about starting this blog and how it was a goal of mine. This blog is now a way that I can escape everyday life and start to regain some of my individual identity as a person and as a woman. Not that I don't have some identity as a person, because I do, but now I can open myself up to others out there who may spark an interest in me with their blog posts or comments on my posts.
I want to thank Jennifer for what she wrote in her post because it says a lot and it provokes a lot of thought for me. It has me thinking about the kind of things that I want to write about in my blog. It has me thinking about dreams I may have had that I gave up on. It has me thinking about things I want to do in life and has provided me with a little inspiration to find a way to start doing those things. Live your dreams and live your life!!
