Dear Reader: Please note that my midlife mother’s essay will air on NPR – RI’s “This I Believe” tomorrow, January 2nd, at 6:35 and 8:35 a.m. and 5:44 p.m. on 88.1 FM (RI) and can also be heard at http://www.ripr.org/listen-live.html or www.shoutcast.com (insert RIPR in the search window).
Read on…
Welcome to 2013! If your 2012 was anything like mine, I honestly could not wait for it to be over. While always seeking the best in everything, on so many levels I felt tested by professional, personal, interpersonal, spiritual and atmospheric experiences. So many tragedies seemed to befall so many of us that at various points, I could not find enough steady ground to hold on to.
So, with the new year at hand, I want to wish all of you sustained health, happiness, prosperity (in whatever way you determine this) and my very best to you in achieving whatever dream(s) you aspire to.
On the midlife mother front, my art gallery show NURTURE: Stories of New Midlife Mothers (www.midlifemothers.org) is now traveling North America; MotheringintheMiddle.com continues to gain subscribers and a bevy of fantastically polished writers. This past week, I was accepted as a Huffington Post contributor. I’m so excited and passionate about it all!
Aspiring to include every midlife mother voice I can find this year, I would like to hear from you! We will begin offering our readers the opportunity to also be a guest bloggers. Do you have a story to tell? An essay or commentary to share? Perhaps you are an “expert” who intersects with midlife mothers? If so, please contact midlifemothers@gmail.com. We hope to feature you in the coming months.
Regarding Mothering, this past year we featured a few posts by midlife father Len Filppu. Breaking with our tradition of featuring only midlife mothers, in the new year, we will present our first “Mr. Mom” post by Doug Crawford. We will also begin featuring massage therapist Marc Parsont, our newest contributor and another Mr. Mom who will regularly lend his midlife father/mother voice to our site. Marc is joined by newer contributors (writer) Ellie Stoneley from England and Jen Gilbert, yoga teacher and adoption/fertility coach; current contributors Andrea Lynn (SMC), Valerie Gillies (therapist), Jane Samuel (adoption and sensory issues) and Peg O’Neill (M.D.); guest contributors Julie Garstecki (special needs children), Her Mentor Center’s Phyllis Goldberg and Rosemary Lichtman (all-things midlife mothers) and the incomparable Beverley Golden (on all-things). We will also be joined by a slew of nationally known writers, all of whom have much to say!
I want to take this time to thank you for supporting me and our work. As always, I intend to present the amalgam of midlife mother-voices; dispel societal myths and create a greater understanding for what mothering and middle age now means. In keeping with our mission, I aim to offer you (a MLM) a voice, face and forum. And, as always, I will support you in living as truthful a life as possible and whatever path to Motherhood that you may choose.
Here’s to a good year….
Best – Cyma