Parenthood is a spiritual journey.
Not in the sense of it being a superior path. But in the sense that it asks us to look into all the deep places we’ve kept hidden. To shine light on all the things we’ve kept in the shadows. To acknowledge all the things we didn’t want to know.
It is spiritual because it calls us in to our humanity and asks us who we’re going to be. What choices we’re going to make. What really matters to us. It calls on us to burn away all the dross until all that’s left is what we have decided to commit to. Who we’ve decided to be.
And all this is asked of us, all this is true, whether or not we have kids.
We need spaces where we can grapple with all this stuff and say “I don’t know yet.” Where we can say “This is what I know to be true.” Where we can say “This is what’s hard right now.” Where we can say “This is who I am.”
We need each other. We need to sit with each other as witness, knowing we each walk the same path in different ways. We need space where we are honored for our uniqueness *and* welcomed as part of the universal.
We need spaces for both/and, for “what if”, for paradox and commitment. We need places where we can just be.
The next round of the Parenting Out Loud Intensive starts January 30th. I’d love to have you there if it calls to you.
You are welcome. You belong.