Sometimes as parents, and especially as moms, we deny ourselves the fulfillment of our longings. We mistake being a good parent with making life all about our kids, as if every one of our hopes has (or will) come true in them. Or we believe we don’t have or don’t deserve the space, time, energy, or funds to bring our own longings to life.
And so consciously or unconsciously we put our hopes on hold.
But what if all the pieces to one of your longings were waiting to be put together? What if all you had to do to step into a desire was decide to do it? (Tweet this)
Unbelievably that happened for me last month. I have been pondering for a handful of years what it would be like to have a creativity studio – a well-lit space with long white tables and room for creating, be it writing, drawing, scrapbooking, paper crafting, or sewing. I would love to have a dedicated space designed to foster imagination where other people could join me in their creative pursuits.
That’s the big hope. The reduced version is to simply have a crafting area for myself. Because for ten years since my family moved into our current home I have stored my crafting supplies in spaces across all three floors of the house. In the dresser and closet of our guest room. Up on shelves in the master bedroom closet. In a desk doubling as a sideboard in our dining room. And in a cabinet in our basement.
I would hunt and gather my supplies and drag them to our dining room table any time I wanted to do something creative. But for the past 8 months my dining room has been taken up by my daughter’s Legos – it has been her space for creativity, which meant I first cleared a section of table to work at and then I would “create” amidst the chaos of plastic bricks (NOT the bright, open, empty space of my wishes). I made it work. But because it was so much less than ideal, the arrangement kept me from creating as often as I would like.
Did I mention being creative feeds my soul? It makes me a better person. It allows me to share myself with the world in many fun ways.
Last month I decided it was time. I made it my project to make a slight rearrangement in our basement room to not only carve out a creative space for myself, but also begin a transition to having a hangout space for my teen and tween daughters.
I moved this cabinet across the basement. 
I sorted through my craft supplies – throwing, donating, and reorganizing. We purchased two shelves and one lazy susan. And we turned it into this.
It is craft heaven for me. Not the studio idea of my fantasies, but doable for our family. Since I created this space I have made birthday cards. I have played with scrapbooking tools and dabbled in long-neglected projects. I pulled out the pieces for a yo-yo quilt to stitch when I want time to chill.
My youngest has often perched nearby working on her own projects, a desire she expressed many times before that didn’t have a context to be fulfilled. My children have gravitated down to craft without me. My teen even took her friends to hang out in the basement, when before she wouldn’t have dared. This longing fulfilled is sweet to me and invigorating for my whole family. All because I dared to take steps to make it happen.
What longing have you been putting off because it seemed too lofty? What hope in your life have you postponed? Could a smaller-scale version be right there in front of you, ready to be assembled? Go for it, moms! You can’t imagine the good that will result.
