Hey there, it's been a while! I'm currently sipping on some peppermint licorice tea (gratitude to the Bendersons for introducing us to "peppy-lick"). If you haven't tried it yet, do so. Your tastebuds will titillate. Grab yourself a glass-of-hydration to sip on, and we'll roll into some reflections!

I've recently come across a term called maternal feminism; it's struck a chord with me as I've entered this new phase of life. I'll save you a trip to chatGPT: it's a combination of feminism with maternalism (the belief that women have a special role in society based on their nurturing and caregiving). This idea was described contextually by a stay-at-home-mom lamenting that at dinner parties when she discloses what she does for a living the conversation fizzles and the crowd's attention bounces away to the next interesting topic. My heart cracked open when I heard this.

Mothering is an incredibly complex, joyful and hopeful craft. Motherhood's methods and philosophies are the root of tomorrow's resilient or anxious adults. It's infinitely interesting. And yet our society sees this as something we can do "on the side of our desks," while balancing the demands of a fantastic professional career, the rituals of great-health-and-zen-mindfulness, the neverending list of adulting logistics (today we're five loads of laundry in!).

In comes maternal feminism, encouraging women to embrace this important responsibility with recognition that it will come at the expense of sacrificing other elements of the journey (for a period of time, or maybe all together). To me, this has meant not being able to go on as many work trips. It has meant prioritizing my breastfeeding baby's schedule and being off camera more often that I would have liked. And I'm confident the future will be filled with plenty more challenging decisions that will frequently tip the scale in favor of Luma. For the parents out there - I'm curious: what does maternal feminism mean to you?

Yet to me, maternal feminism also doesn't feel like a rejection of my individuality and personal needs. It's not synonymous to run-yourself-to-the-ground parenting. In fact, I'm overjoyed to report that over the course of the last few months I have finally gotten back into my daily yoga practice! To me the commitment of joining a studio and getting an unlimited pass really helped -- I'm back to craving stretching. I've also been reading a lot about Traditional Chinese Medicine and have found numerous applications for it in our lifestyle to promote stronger health and wellbeing. The ethereal art of deep sleep was escaping me; Through acupuncture and sleep meditations I've (mostly) found my way back into snoozy nights.

What rituals are you fueling? What's something new you've learned recently?

With immense love,

Alda

❤️