Cheers to the Cheerleaders!
It’s Mother’s Day weekend, and I’ve been thinking a lot about the mothers in my life this week—my own incredible mom, my fabulous mother-in-law, my grandmas, and the many wonderful mothers that I have become friends with over the years. I have also been thinking about all that is expected of mothers these days.
Mothers often take on the lion’s share of caring for their home and their children, often while managing growing their own careers and supporting their husband’s career at the same time. While everyone’s case is surely slightly different, I think we can all agree that the expectations society heaps on mothers (as well as those we sometimes heap on ourselves) are a bit, well, unachievable.
Name one person you know who is always pulled together, calm, supportive, fun, deferential, bold, and carefree. I’ll wait…
That isn’t to say I can’t name a few mothers I know who are several of those things on any given day. I’ve been pretty busy over the last few months rebuilding this blog, growing my social media presence, managing my household, feeding my family, writing and editing my novel, and trying to be as present as I can to my husband and kids. So today’s post is for all the other mothers who have cheered me on along the way.
I have always been extroverted, but even for me it is hard to put myself out there. I like to have control, and once you create something and share it with others, you lose control of it. Sharing my novel with a few friends and beta readers to get their feedback sometimes feels like standing naked in front of someone else and saying, “So, what do you think?” The same can go (on a smaller scale) for these blog posts. Once they are published, anyone can find them, read them, comment on them, and use them to make inferences about me and my character. Clicking “share” on posts and reels that I create on instagram is often accompanied by worries of will anyone like this? or is this too cringe? followed by will other people see this and wonder who I think I am?
Maybe this is how Lucy felt in Voyage of the Dawn Treader when Aslan famously told her, “Courage, dear heart.” For me, it comes back to the why. Why am I sharing these posts, my novel, and my social media? I share it because it just might help someone. My heart dances a happy dance when a friend comes up to me and shares that they enjoyed a book I had reviewed or that one of my reflection posts resonated with them. My smile gets a bit bigger when I know that all the work I poured into writing my novel made someone feel something deeply. My heart feels just a bit lighter when a friend keeps “liking” my Instagram posts after I shared my doubts with her about whether it was worth it to create them. All of these cheerleaders in my life keep me going when I’m not sure whether it’s worth the effort of continuing to put myself out there.
So, for all the other writers and creatives out there, this post is for you, too. Paint that picture. Write that reflection. Rewrite your novel for the hundredth time. Keep querying those targeted literary agents, even after rejection number 57. Number 58 might lead to the best working relationship of your life. You’ll truly never know if you don’t keep trying.
Cheers to all the cheerleaders in my life, and cheers to you, too! I promise to have a glass of wine or champagne this week in your honor, dear reader. (Not exactly a sacrifice, I know, but at least you’ll know that I’m thinking of you.) Thank you for the many ways you’ve supported me so far, and I can’t wait to cheer you on in your life, too.
