Love From Maria

I think we all have a lot of time right now to do some thinking - I know I do. I also think the most important things in our lives are rising up while the less important or obligatory parts are being let go of - for now. It's truly a beautiful thing. When are we ever going to have a chance like this again to slow down, evaluate what we're up to, soak in some snuggles, and settle down? What does slowing down mean for you? For me, it has meant a lot more reading, a lot more writing, and a lot more thinking. It's meant homeschooling the fellas - or trying my best to - more time to tidy and clean, and an even bigger appreciation for a simpler life. It's been a process, moving through the emotions that come with this interesting situation we all find ourselves in. And I am sure the emotions will continue to ebb and flow, as they always do. In the ebb of acceptance, I've found I have a lot more headspace and a sense of finding pieces of me that had been neglected.

Emotions are interesting. My experience with them is sort of like riding a bike - once you've gone for a ride with one you recognize it again pretty quickly. Today I hopped back on the bike with a less than desirable, yet necessary, emotion - sadness. Today sadness came rolling back in like a nasty blast from the past and consumed me for the better part of the day. I don't feel wrong for feeling sad, we are experiencing something that to this point, many of us had only read about in history books or seen similarities to in movies. Sidenote: Contagion is too close for comfort right now. I think we are all processing this in different ways. We feel excited to be together and at the same time overwhelmed to be together. We feel anxious about educating our kids and at the same time, we feel significant being able to educate our kids. We need to stay home yet so many close to us are called to work on the front lines. There's a whole lot going on - it's good, it's

We are surrounded by a culture of do more, be more, start a multi-billion dollar business from the ground up, in your kitchen, while raising four kids - all while documenting a perfect home on Instagram. Well, I'm over it. To be honest, I don't think I was ever really into it, but I am declaring that I am officially over it. As a teenager I lived for Sports Med - I know this seems like a real left turn right now, but hear me out - I spent extra hours in the classroom and soaked up all the learnings. I remember at one point seeing one common denominator shared between just about every disease and illness that we discussed - it was stress. At that time, I was maybe fifteen or sixteen, I decided that I would never live a life filled with stress because to me, it seemed to be one of the biggest causes of illness or death. Ten years later I was a new-mom, wading through the experience of all things first-time-mom. I was grateful, very grateful, but I wasn't happy. My strug