One of the interesting things about being stretched is the other things you discover along the way. I find it fascinating how finite resources or a lack of resources can birth a steamroll of creativity. I took on a project, as a new mum, a mum of two under two with my husband (and my son’s daycare) as the only village I had.
I launched the New Mums Room video podcast through a series of IG Lives on the New Mums Room page leading to Mother’s Day in May. I interviewed eight mothers of different walks, ages, backgrounds, nationalities, vocations, etc, over eight weeks. I handled everything(with God’s help), from sourcing topics, reaching out and pitching to potential guests, following up, sending briefs, conducting the interviews/discussions, editing the videos, uploading to Substack, and pre and post-event social media awareness.
At the end of the eight weeks, I went on to hold a physical event for mothers I know in my city.
I was glad that I could do this for mothers. Some couldn’t make it because…you guessed it, mothering obligations. For those who could, we laughed. We bonded over food. We prophesied and spoke life and affirming words over one another. We took in each other’s faces and painted what we saw, as far as our painting skills could take us.
![Mother's Day decorations/Showing our paintings of one another](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F48bfbacf-21fc-4163-9664-4b38e7d48215.heic)
![Mother's Day decorations/Showing our paintings of one another](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4b17cf4e-8416-43c4-b04f-acc14efd8dca.heic)
![Mother's Day decorations/Showing our paintings of one another](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9e99e52f-88fa-4412-bbfa-2d6abc847b24.heic)
![Mother's Day decorations/Showing our paintings of one another](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F78839603-6c65-46e3-bc29-ba75062dfb49.heic)
![Mother's Day decorations/Showing our paintings of one another](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1e709c76-3167-4dbe-98ca-afc431065bca.heic)
![Mother's Day decorations/Showing our paintings of one another](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F514c39bd-3969-4606-9c96-0c8b0b724eac_1170x2072.jpeg)
I love what God has transformed me into using motherhood. Sometimes I don’t recognise myself. I’ve never felt more empowered than I do as a mother. And it is my God-given mission to empower other mothers, especially in the early years. To create spaces and opportunities for them to be held, carried and supported, so help me God.
I learned a lot in the process of undertaking this project and I’ll share some below -
You can do hard things
…but you don’t have to do all the hard things. If you’re competitive or a go-getter, biting more than you can chew may be in your DNA. ‘The sky is not the limit, it’s your stepping stone’ may be your mantra. This is great but when you add motherhood to the mix, you may need to take a rain check. I underestimated, a little bit, how hard doing this project would be with two littles and minimal support. Did doing this give me life? Yes. Did I come out the other side feeling more empowered? Yes. But there were some things I would have pulled back on. This project took a heavier toll on me than was necessary, in my personal opinion.
Lean hard on your village
…or whatever you have that is close. I couldn’t have done any of this without my husband. He was my rock and no.1 supporter through it all. That being said, I wish I delegated more, in a more structured way. I waited for him to step in more than I voiced the things I would’ve liked him to help with. I voiced some but I believe if I had an actual list of my tasks and a separate list of delegated tasks, I would’ve gotten more help and done more with the little time I had between mothering and…mothering. I generally struggle with putting structure on paper and often end up with too much on my plate (that I could’ve lightened a little if I could physically see everything that needed to be done), because I leave it all jumbled up like a big ball of yarn in my head. So, lay everything out on paper and see how much your village can help you. This will also help you envision how much you can do within the confines of the support you have.
Rejection isn’t personal
…unless you let it become personal. In hindsight, all the rejections and ignored messages I got all led to one thing. They weren’t supposed to be on the podcast One thing that helps me with rejection is knowing that God has me in His hands. He misses nothing, He sees and knows every detail of my life, past, present and future. So if someone says they’re unavailable for a certain date and ignores my follow-up message asking when they’re available or doesn’t get back to me in time, I trust they’re not supposed to be on the podcast for that particular episode. And for every rejection, I believe I found the perfect replacement that made me grateful for the rejection.
Know when it’s time to rest
…and avoid putting pressure on yourself with the question ‘What’s next?’ What’s next for me is REST/taking on a slower pace. It’s important to know when to take a step back and allow yourself to move at a slower pace. Basically…know your seasons.
As a mum, still very much in the thick of early motherhood, it was exciting to have a creative project I could focus on, outside of mothering. If you’re a new mum or early years mama yearning to start some sort of project in the thick of mothering. Do it, especially if this is a burden the Lord has given you. He will help you through it. He will strengthen you to do hard things. Communicate your needs with whatever village you have or can muster up. Take the ‘no’s’ as an open door to something greater and when it’s all done avoid the pressure of what’s next. Maybe just relish in the gifts God has given you and He has given to others through the project you executed. Rest in this.
You can watch all the episodes of the first season of the New Mums Room Podcast below -
If you would like to support the New Mums Room editorial and podcast, but can’t afford to upgrade to a paid subscription, you can buy me a coffee, it would mean the world to me.
You can do hard things…but you don’t have to do all the hard things. As a naturally competitive person this makes perfect sense. It’s very easy to get caught up in what’s next and not take out time to recalibrate thereby transferring levels of burnout from one project to the next until you finally breakdown. P.S thank you for putting together such a great series and I know tons of people will benefit from this resource.