#ProjectMotherHOOD with Kim Blair
Kim, works full time, while pursuing photography and married.
How do you define Motherhood? I once read somewhere that motherhood is watching your heart walk outside of your body in your kids. I never really understood it until I had kids of my own and now I completely get it. Motherhood is humbling, messy, challenging in so many ways. But is also joyful, hysterical, rewarding and one of the greatest adventures I've been on. It's truly difficult to provide a definition of motherhood that does it justice because there are so many emotions I have that defines what motherhood is. It's so much more than just words.
What are a few things that help you recharge your batteries? Working out but more specifically running. Hands down. I hit the reset button with a long run and some headphones in my ears. In fact, I signed up for the lottery for the NYC Marathon after having my first because I had a bad case of PPD. I had never ran a marathon before. I knew that working out was the only way to pull me out of my rut. I never in a million years thought I would be selected. But after running my first marathon 8 months after my first child, I swore that I would run a marathon within a year of giving birth to a child. I recently ran another marathon 6 months after our second son was born.
We do our best and can't do it all. Where do you allow yourself to be unapologetic as a Mother? Mom guilt is the worst, but I give myself grace when it comes to the orderliness of our apartment and our laundry hamper. If you come over unannounced, you have now been warned.
How has Motherhood inspired you? For 11 years, my full time job was to help college students pursue their dream careers, but ironically I had put a dream of mine by the wayside because it was not in line with the traditional career path that I was also driven to succeed in. Photography had been a passion of mine since I was a child, but was always a passive hobby of mine until my first son was born. Once he was born, things truly shifted for me. I felt that I needed to pursue photography beyond just a hobby and really go for it if I was going to be an example for my kids to pursue their dreams and passions when they got older. Motherhood has helped me dig deep into who I am as a person and has inspired me to continue to evolve my dreams even if I thought I was too old to start. My kids are my "raison d'etre."
What's your favorite beauty must do when you are feeling exhausted on the inside? This one is a tough one and my answer is probably pretty lame because I'm usually a no makeup, baseball cap wearing, low key type of gal. But seriously a high pony tail puts a pep in my step. It goes a long way.
One of two: A note of compassion you want to offer a Mother reading this. Preferably something that might/could have been comforting to you at one point of time. OR Note to self. I was not prepared to have PPD with my first child. In fact, when I had my son, all the feelings I thought I was supposed to have, I didn't. I thought something was wrong with me. It took me two weeks to finally be able to admit to my husband (and to myself out loud) that I loved our dog more than my son, my very own flesh and blood. Those first two weeks was incredibly isolating and that didn't make sense at all because I had my mom and my husband physically around me that was supporting me in so many ways. Yet, I crumbled internally and I tried to hide it. But it got better. Once I admitted it and vocalized it, we were proactive at combating it; walks on my own, coffee dates with friends, mani/pedis, etc.; and when I was physically given the green light from the doctor, I started running again. Slow at first but each run helped me hit the reset button. PPD isn't spoken of often as I feel that there is self-inflicted shame attached to it. I know I felt that way going through it the first time, but know that you're not alone. It happens to many of us mothers, but here's the thing, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And sometimes you don't see it initially, but the light gets brighter and brighter and you will get out of it and somewhere down the road, you may even forget those darkest days that seemed to happen so frequently. Hang in there, and figure out what it is for you that helps you hit that reset button. It's all worth it. I promise.
Thank you Kim!
@Blkchaiphotography
