Dear Maria,
I was one of the 50 SV Mom bloggers who you met with the other night at the Books Inc. in Palo Alto, when you kindly shared about your life and a few selections from what you called your "presidential library".
Bloggers more talented than I have chronicled what we all talked about, your jokes, yours memories and the way you were able to relate to us all and put us at ease. I shouldn't have been surprised by this - you are a mother after all. It is what we do, isn't it?
I left our gathering thinking about your book, Just who will you be?. My children are getting older and I have been working hard to redefine myself - mother, wife, sister, daughter and entrepreneur. Is it really possible to do it all? Do I have the courage to do only part of it for a while? Oh, how I wish I did have courage when my babies were younger. Oh how naive I was to think that I HAD to work to maintain a sense of me. I was afraid to lose myself; but somehow seemed to lose myself in the hustle of it all. I also left thinking about my mentors, my mother and girl friends, those who helped me get through it all without killing anyone. I left grateful.
Today I had the opportunity to have lunch with a former colleague of mine. She was contemplating scrapping her good paying job and heading off to get an MBA or go for a another maybe dead end job. I realized that in this case I was the mentor. I was the one who could help this talented woman figure out what to do next. I found myself asking her, "Well just who will you be? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?". I left grateful that I could repay the favor.
It was a fun night. You were certainly a highlight, but it was a chance to catch up with girl friends to do something completely selfish like actually listening to a speaker that isn't Shrek or Scooby Doo. It was a chance to catch my breath. This gathering was something I looked forward to all week. Thank you for reminding me about the constant struggle to remember that everyday can be a fresh start and that I can decide who I will be. More over, thank you for reminding me that as a mother and aunt, friend and mentor that we have the responsibility to ask the same question of those closest to us.
With much admiration,
Sheila (aka xiaolinmama)
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