Today is my third installment of She Is Sew Creative. You can read about Eleanor from Moo and the Bear here and Gail from Bright Life Toys here.
I’m very excited about today’s guest because she is an “In Real Life” friend (as opposed to an online friend). She’s also the first writer that I’ve featured (and she’s and extremely talented one at that). Meet Heather from Mother Your Business!
Heather writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of being a mother. She says the things that we all think but hesitate to admit out loud. She has 3 year old and 6 month old sons. They are just about the cutest things you ever did see. When I was pregnant with Turtle I would often observe Heather’s oldest playing with Bean and comment that I hoped that my son turned out to be as sensitive and caring as her little guy.
Here are a few of my favorite Mother Your Business posts:
Heather’s writing moves me, makes me laugh and has me shaking my head with how much I can relate with her writing… and she is also a fabulous mother and friend.
So without further ado I introduce you to Heather!
Tell us about you and your blog?
I really likes avocados, running, the open ocean, and wine (not necessarily in that order). I have one kind, patient, supportive and delicious husband; one intense, curious, sensitive, and intelligent 3 year old; and one beautiful baby who houses a gentle, peaceful and knowing soul in his (big!) 6 month old body.
My “blog”, Mother Your Business, is a bit of a virtual diary, where I reflect on my journey as a woman, wife, and mother, and then share with the public. Sometimes the entries are brief, other times more like a story. Obviously, I’m not shy. I am, however, completely neurotic and fret near constantly that by writing on a blog site about mommy stuff means that I am a mommy blogger and, because my style differs from a traditional web log, that I am inadequate and failing miserably. Good times.
When I am not at home doing mommy life, I work in health care as a Critical Care Social Worker. I love my work and feel honoured and priviledged to perform it.
Where did you get the idea for your blog name?
Years ago, when I lived in Tofino, I heard this awesome woman I know say “that’s just my momness”, or something to that effect. It struck me. Soon after, I was trying to tell my husband about the phrase but incorrectly quoted her as saying: “mother your own business”. Different wording to a similar concept, I suppose. Once I’d said it out loud I both noticed my mistake and simultaneously knew that the phrase had a life of it’s own. A few months later, the blog was born.
Where do you find creative inspiration?
I’m of the belief that little moments count. There is lots of truth in the day to day. I find that I am moved because of emotion that I witness in person, hear in song, read in books, or experience in my own living, it’s just how I am, and some of these moments really resonate, all kinda timing related, for no easily identifiable reason. When that happens and it brings some perspective on my life I often start “writing” in my head, in response. It is only when I am afforded the combo of inspiration, time, energy, and focus, however, that I can actually bring that encounter to page. Lots gets lost because I can’t capture it before the tone of that moment is no longer on the tip of my tongue (fingers?). Oh well.
Where do you do your work?
I write from home. In a different life I would be writing in either a small, cozy, cafe nestled in the center of a remote and romantic small town or in a fabulous urban setting where the art is hot, the music is good, and the wine is really, really good. Because I am a mother of young children, my days are scheduled around meeting their needs and, needless to say, there are no quaint little coffee shops or sexy venues in my life (though there is coffee and wine, thank heavens). As it is now, I write when they nap or after their bed time.
What is your favorite recipe?
Baking requires attention to detail, compliance, and discipline, all of which I lack. I love to cook, however, but often don’t follow recipes (I get a bit oppositional with rules). Oddly, though, when I think about this question, two baking recipes come to mind, neither of which I have ever made, but that I have enjoyed, immensely, especially as a child. One is my Grandmother’s recipe for carrot and raisin muffins and the other is my Mother’s recipe for cowboy cookies. Hmm, now that I think about it, I think I might have a moral obligation to make these, regularly, as they did. Plus, it might help my boys like me as they get older and are tempted to reject.
If you could learn one new creative skill what would it be?
I have tried to create with my hands and it has not ended well. The truth is, though I am a true lover of Canadian art and handcraft, making art is not my calling. I was meant to buy and appreciate the esthetics instead (and I do!).
I would like to learn to play the guitar. When I fantasize about what kind of person I might become, I sometimes see myself playing the accoustic and singing rockin’ folk tunes. I can’t play now but I do sing, and though I do not sing well, I sing loudly and I think that’s what counts.
Besides your own blog, what blog is your favorite?
You know, I’m pretty low tech and I don’t have much of an online life. I should read more blogs but I don’t that often. This said, I have had the pleasure of stumbling across a couple blogs that I really dig. I find I can usually get into Jennifer Pinarski’s Run at Home Mom blog (via Today’s Parent). She makes sense to me. Another favorite is bitchesgottaeat.blogspot.com by Samantha Irby. She is completely off side, on the regular, and I love her (viewer discretion). She makes me pee my pants. No, really.
Where can we find you?
Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/MotherYourBusiness
Twitter- @momsareborntoo
Love to see you around!
~Heather
Thank you so much for taking the time to introduce yourself to all of the Sew Creative readers Heather! I encourage each and every one of you to check out Mother Your Business… you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be moved.
Not my finer moments but it worked! I’m super excited to get it plugged in and put all of my books on it.
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