Springtime Update...

I hope you’ve been having a happy Spring!  Despite the instability and chaos in the political arena, I can say that it’s been a sweet past few months for me.  I’ve been spending more time outside, setting up the garden beds, sowing seeds, and enjoying a string of sunny days during what is usually a pretty rainy time of year.  My son and I have been gearing up for a busy May and June, lots of travel and teaching trips ahead.  After that, I’m looking to slow down and really anchor life more on the island.

Becoming a mom really has shifted my priorities, and now that my son is almost two, I’m finally starting to come up for air and think about how I want the next five or ten years to look.  Looking at the big picture.

Like a lot of people, I want to find that balance of work and the rest of life.  Before my son, my work—birth work— really was my life, my compass, my passion.  If people asked me about my hobbies, I would look at them confused and then going on talking about birth (no, really).  And now…well, of course birth work is still an anchor in my life, but I also find that I want to slow down and enjoy the warm chaos of toddlerhood.  Go on camping trips and sit around the fire, like my parents did with me when I was little.  Start serving the women in my local island community, with bodywork and support for birth and beyond.

Looking at the future of my work, I’m asking myself what do I need, what do nurses need, and where’s the overlap?  I think we all share a common need in this wild world: to stay connected and slow down wherever we find the opportunity.  AND I know many of us have to be strategic in carving out those places.

I spent a lot of energy launching the first cohort of BirthWise Nurse Mentorship—which felt good but also—wow—tiring to learn so many new systems, online tools, etc.  (I’m interested in less screen time and more beach time!)  I did receive some helpful feedback from folks—which is that in this economy, and with the level of busyness in their lives, that they needed offerings with a smaller price point, and with a shorter time commitment.  However dreamy a yearlong program sounds, a shorter version is just more realistic for a lot of folks right now.  Super helpful to hear this, and I’m going to think about how to finesse the mentorship offering in way that maintains its depth and integrity, but is offered in shorter chunks.  Stay tuned in the next month or so.

I’m also been doing some reading about the nervous system which has made me think a lot about how to integrate this into my work and my life.  For a new blog post up related to the nervous system, read on!

Blessings,

Kelly