One night, after the birth of my second little girl, the words from the song “You’re gonna be ok”, by Jen Johnson were running through my thoughts while I stood in the shower. So many emotions washed over me, love, loss and relief and need and excitement all at once. My heart wondered back to those moments just before we welcomed her, I was in the middle of my birth, and I remember thinking to myself with every contraction, “what if I can’t do it, what if I can’t be a mom of two, what if I screw up or neglect the one or get overwhelmed and make a mess”. While the water washed over me and the song sang in my thoughts, this dance was born. A conversation in my heart, a note to new moms, to a family experiencing life and change. In those moments I felt relief because courage was writing over those fears one day at a time.
Welcoming a new life into your family is so very exciting but if you’re anything like me you might be terrified right now and I would love to be one voice out there not telling you just how hard it is or about sleepless nights or siblings acting out, I’d like to be that one voice that says you can do this! More than that, the beautiful moments and awe inspiring love you’re about to embark on will be breathtaking and too much for your heart at times. But please know this you can do this, one day at a time, moment to moment.
I have such a desire to see families being embraced by a community, especially in those first days after welcoming a new member into their family. Please reach out and support a new mother, but also her husband and especially her other little ones. They need you more than you know.
Special thanks to Ubuntu Baba for this little project we were able to do together, they have really been a part of our community when we needed it most in those first months after becoming a whole new family.
This is the second dance video we have filmed with Shane. Watch the first video here.
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