In a mom rut? Which of these basic human needs are you missing?

Are your hierarchy of needs being met in motherhood?

This actually explains so much. It’s way too easy to lose your shit when your basic needs aren’t being met.

I’ve been trying to come up with a term that I see all the dang time with my clients. They want to take better care of themselves but feel guilty when they do. They believe that by spending time taking care of themselves means that they are taking away time from their kids. They feel that they should be able to handle their wellness and healing by themselves, especially if they are interested in self-healing.

(and to clarify self-healing doesn’t mean that you trod this journey alone, it means that you took the initiative to heal + help yourself in ways that are good for Your Self.)

I’m appreciative for #maternalmentalhealth week because motherhood is heavy.

It’s so necessary that we continue to share our stories and break the stigma. 

I wanted to keep my promise to you and share how art has helped me out of some dark times.  ((Cuz maybe you have been here too?))

I am the type of person who has a hard time validating my pains. On the outside I have a pretty nonchalant appearance, while simultaneously being pulverized by my inner critic. 

👤Stressed. 

🗣Are you kidding?!? So many people have it worse right now.

👤Mentally fatigued. 

🗣Buck it up kiddo. The worlds a tough place. 

👤This situation doesn’t feel good anymore. 

🗣You should be grateful for what you have. 

Up until motherhood I was managing ok-ish. 

I had the time, the space and the means to pacify my pains with whatever vice I was into at the time. 

And that worked, until it didn’t. 

Now, I love my son to the 🌙 and back. But I was feeling very unseen in my role of mom and wife. 

As moms, we are pretty much like clear-dry school glue - we hold everything together while remaining invisible. 

So even when things started getting really bad, I assumed that this must be what being a mom is. After all, I had signed up for it, right? To be “the helpmeet” and Mom Martyr. Maybe, “long-suffering” was just the name of the game. 

📷: Here is my happy chart of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

I’m not sure what made me open up my sketchbook one random night. Maybe, I just wanted to break the monotonous cycle of dishes and Netflix. 

I sketched. I wrote. And I felt better. No fireworks or anything. But happy that I was creating and Grateful that I had carved out time for myself. (A whopping 25 minutes out of 24 hours! 💪🏽)

I found comfort in the scratchiness of the pencil on paper (ASMR works y’all) and pleasure smothering my inner critic beneath my paint brush. 

It’s not always easy to fit art into my schedule. But the dopamine hit I get after is always worth it. 

Creating has helped me to carve out a space for myself where I can tell a new story. 

As a mom we CARE all day long - about the kids, the bills, and the schedules. But where does self-care fall on the list?

Creativity is a healthy outlet that we all naturally possess. Click here, if you’re looking for easy ideas to work creativity into your schedule.

((💖Thanks for aiding me with the visual @illustrative.us ))