If I Could Live Anywhere...

If I could live anywhere, where would I live?

This is one of those questions that, even ten years ago, would have been pretty easy for me to answer. Back then, I probably would have said something about traveling and not staying in one place for very long, about wanting to see many different cultures and lifestyles, about wanting to know what all my options were before settling down to buy a home and become part of a particular community.

That is a pre-mamahood answer, for sure. Now, even though I still have the occasional travel bug and desire to explore distant lands, the greatest factor in my desired location is the proximity it provides to family.

I spent the majority of my twenties consciously and unconsciously putting a distance between myself and my family. I suppose it was part of what I needed to do, to figure out my own direction and feel like I was making my own decisions.

Then, in my very early thirties, I returned home, at first more out of need than out of want. Since that time, and especially since becoming a mother, I've re-realized the incredible value of family, and the value of being physically close to our family. Seeing Emmy build relationships with our extended family members, through frequent visits and communication, has been one of the best parts of parenting, and one I wouldn't trade, even for an exciting trip around the world.

Jumping on the NaBloPoMo Bandwagon

Seems like every third tweet I’ve read today was from one of my friends, announcing that they would be participating in the Blogher NaBloPoMo for November.

As nervous as I am about committing to a full, non-stop month of writing (never done this before – I’m a NaBloPoMo virgin), I figure I might as well TRY it out.

Nothing to fear but fear itself, right?

Which, by the way, is NOT my favorite quote. Today’s writing prompt is to write about a favorite quote.

And while I love the idea of fearing nothing, it simply isn’t plausible. There are actually plenty of things to fear in life, and I think fear, within reason, can be motivating.

But one favorite quote of mine, which I stumbled upon just a little while ago:

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
― W.B. Yeats

Because even though I am 37 years old, I like to think of the world as a wonderful, wonder-filled place. I like to think that as much as we discover – about ourselves, about the universe, about teeny weeny microcosms and huge, vast macrocosms, there will still be a mystery to life that escapes our grasp and our ability to explain.

As a mother, I hope I can help open my children up to the wonder and magic of the world. I hope that as a family, we don’t get so caught up in everyday moments, that we fail to let our senses key in to the extraordinary.

And at the risk of sounding super hippie-dippie, I DO think that as humans we need to open ourselves up to our own ability to wonder, to allow ourselves to daydream a little more, to think a little less, and to just BE, with all our senses tuned in to the magic around us. It’s certainly not easy to do these days, but it is something to aspire to.

Preparing for Childbirth, in the 21st Century

To start off with, let me make this perfectly clear. I am NOT going to take a video of myself in labor, and post it for the world to see on YouTube. The world does NOT want to see that kind of crazy, trust me. THAT kind of crazy is reserved for the people I really love and really want to scar for life (i.e, my husband).

Nor am I going to Skype with you between contractions. At least, I probably won’t Skype with you between contractions. If my husband gets sick of my squatting and groaning and leaning on him, all the while singing “Fergalicious,” and decides he needs to lock himself in the bathroom for half an hour, I may search you out on Skype. And you’d better be there to sing along with me.

I HAVE already created a Pandora radio station specifically for the baby’s birth. I actually found out from the tour of our birth center that they will even play my music of choice during a c-section, if it comes down to that. Of course, when I heard this, all I could envision was my operating doctors breaking out into a flash mob at a most inconvenient time, and Howie Mandel frolicking into the operating room, grabbing my little newborn baby and swinging him enthusiastically in the air.

Anyway, my Pandora station is pretty mellow, so I am kind of hoping that in labor, I will be responsive to calming, soothing music. If not – if I really need to hear “Get Your Freak On” as I bear down and push, I’ve got an alternative station in the works. 

I have also loaded my kindle up with lots of stupid games that I can play in an effort to distract myself as my cervix “blooms” and my uterus contracts. What’s that you say?  I should use my kindle to download stimulating and thought provoking books, or meditations to help me through the labor? I suppose I SHOULD do that, too. As soon as I am done with this game of solitaire…

I will not be blogging from the hospital. I WILL probably be taking notes for future blog posts, a la “ten crafts you can create using hospital-grade mashed potatoes.”

I probably WON’T update my Pinterest boards while I’m in labor. But if I can somehow figure out how to make a lacey paper lamp shade out of my hospital gown, well… let’s just say you’ll know.

Sure, sometimes I think it might be best to just NOT bring any of this nonsense into the labor room with me, so I can concentrate completely on just being in the zone, you know? That I should strip myself of all the “noise” and just tune in to my primal self, and the magnificent moment of bringing life into this world…

But then that thought gets interrupted by a great song playing on my Pandora station.