Thursday, December 30, 2010

{ unspoken not unwritten } ~ austin area photographer

Warning, this is a heavy post. There are some deep and personal things I have been sorting out lately and I feel that my best writing comes when I share the hardest and scariest things. In an effort to challenge myself as a writer, I am sharing the inside, the raw, the tumultuous emotions I have been wading through. On the bright side of this, a light at the end of a weighty post...is that maybe you will celebrate with me in having admitted and dealt with some things I've long been confused and afraid of.

I have always been a little nervous that I wasn't a good enough mother. Fact. I knew I was doing my best, but I felt like it was never going to be close to what my girls need and deserve. I frequently worried about this and still do at times. I would try to remind myself that it's all about love and that I have overflowing for my girls, but still this fear didn't ease.

A book I have been reading has helped me recount many things in my past and realize the conditioning and message I have had in my life about that I chose to believe. Somewhere along the line I believed a lie, I accepted the lie that I was not good enough. From that point on even when people weren't saying that, I perceived that. I know it happened long, long ago, and some people may read this and be offended, however I am placing no blame. Life happens and people make mistakes, it's all about how we recover from those.

I didn't recover for a long time, in fact I went through very painful phases where I allowed that fear to literally run my life. For a short period of time I stopped eating almost entirely, I refused any and all help. One day I noticed that even my eyes seemed lifeless and I sought help. From there the fear took over other areas of my life. My whole marriage was spent trying to be the wife I was "supposed" to be and I never felt good enough. I felt like my old church wanted me to be different than who I really was, wear different clothes and use different words. Insert confession: sometimes I swear, not that much, but sometimes....love me anyway, or don't. All the things I tried to change for others only made me hollow and loath myself more. That is where life began to blur and needed clarity.


{ tawny }

Somewhere inside I found that I was stronger than I had known, that I knew things about myself that I had pushed down, and that being honest and real is the only way to live free and at peace. Lies I had believed gripped my life and held me back from truly loving everything, because all my time was spent worrying. At 16 in a small town I was once the pregnant outcast, I guess that prepared me for what I would go through these last couple years as an adult losing the love and comfort of close friends and family because of divorce. Being the one to stand alone to do what I know I must do is part of why I am here and why I am okay to be an individual. On the path of conforming to everyone else's ideas of who I should be, I was headed in a very scary direction, one that can cause serious illnesses and even fatality to a soul. Though I still have times when I worry if I can ever be worthy of my role as "mama," I know that something from my heart is in each of my girls and with love, guidance, and support, they will grow their own way with grace and strength.

Story: For Christmas I received an envelope in my stocking, it was from Avery and Masyn and they had filled it with sheets of paper. Each paper was a hand written certificate, one for being "World's Funniest Mama," another read "World's Nicest Mama," and more. The last few pages were poignant and broke my heart beautifully... written out in pencil they read "YOU ARE AN AWESOME PERSON. WE WOULD DIE IF EVER YOU YOURSELF THOUGHT DIFFERENTLY. SO STOP WORRYING, YOU ARE DOING A GOOD JOB. LOVE AVERY AND MASYN.
Humbled. Grateful. Accepting. Motivated. Captivated. Inspired. Challenged. Loved. Proud. All things I feel when I read those pages and see my sweet girls. I will daily, try to build them up and encourage them on their own journey. A favorite quote of mine will end this post, thank you if you have read this far. ;)
"The greatest gift you can give your children is roots of responsibility, with wings of independence." - Denis Waitley


signblog

10 comments:

nic said...

that is one incredible gift...and the fact that you've raised girls who would write you such beautiful words is proof that you're doing an exemplary job as a parent. well done, mama.

Kath said...

What an awesome Christmas gift! The love you have for your girls always comes through loud and clear on your blog!

Rhembein said...

Crying. Crying. Those notes from the girls, especially the one you posted capitalized... Wow. How much we beat ourselves up as women in general, as parents and when we make decisions like you and I both have.. Oh the guilt and struggle. I adore you. Hurrah for you!!!
-gillian

donya said...

Oh, please keep writing Amelia! I love your posts. What a wonderful gift from your amazing daughters!

amelia said...

Thank you ladies! That encouragement is so greatly appreciated and I adore each of you!!! XOXOXOXOXO

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful post, sometimes we try so hard to please people but for more that we try is never enough to them. so on that note do not listen to those who only criticize, your true friends will be with you no matter what changes you do in your life and you are a very talented woman, beautiful and a good mother.

xoxo

Elda

*reyanna* said...

Awwww! Your girls are the SWEETEST! What an awesome gift!

And I think you're doing an amazing job! Keep it up! :-)

And please, let's have lunch sometime! :-D That'll be my New Year's Resolution. Have lunch with Amelia. LOL. ;-)

Vanessa said...

thank you for these beautiful, helpful and very inspiring words, amelia. xo

Texicanic Mom said...

you have some very wise girls there...and what they wrote is a true testament of how well you are raising them and how GREAT of a mother and woman you are...you can tell, you are their hero...much love to you.

Cilla

Rebekah said...

In my experience (which isn't all-encompassing, but still), the mothers who are nagged with thoughts of not being good enough are truly quite good at it - it's the ones who don't care if they're good at it who stink :)

It is the wise mother who finds that, while she makes mistakes, she is what she is and can still raise beautiful-on-the-inside children. That's you.