Living a Truly Fulfilling Life

11.19.2009
Time to get a little more personal. Lately I have been doing a lot of soul-searching - mainly about being a working mom or a stay-at-home working mom. One thing I know for sure is that I love my job - working with kids, art, great boss, great benefits, decent pay, summers (kind of) off - what's not to love?


But now that Baby H is on the way, I'm trying to reassess my priorities. I'm not sure how I feel about someone else being with my child for 8 hours every day. I know plenty of happy, healthy kids go to daycare, have nannies, etc., and that may be right for my children and me too, but I've really been giving it some serious thought.

While we're here I think we should live a life each day that is truly fulfilling.


Not only am I thinking about this for my child, but for myself as well. We each get one life to live, and it isn't a very long one. While we're here I think we should live a life each day that is truly fulfilling. Is that possible for every person? Maybe not, I'm not sure. But it's something I'd like to aspire to. One blog that has been really inspiring me lately is Colour me Happy written by Maria Killam.


Maria has transformed her life from a career in sales (which she hated) to becoming a designer. A very popular designer. A very popular designer who actually makes money at what she does and is very happy. To read more about Maria's journey, go here.

Now do I think I'm going to become a designer? Not by a long shot. I can confirm this through Maria's post on, 5 Ways to Know if You Should Quit Your Day Job and Become a Designer. Yeah, I definitely don't meet the criteria! Nor do I know that being a designer is what I want for my life, although I'm sure it would be fun.

Image found here


I know it's not for everyone, but I think it would be great to have a career more like Adam's from Diapers to Desktops. I know Adam and his wife Angie from back in the day in high school, and I really admire what they are doing. While Angie teaches, Adam stays home with their two boys, Charlie and Roman, and also watches the child of a friend to earn some extra income. It was very important for both Adam and Angie to spend more time with their children, and they have made a lot of sacrifices along the way.


You may ask, what's so special about this? Well Adam has started a project called Diapers to Desktops through which he hopes to help other families

1. spend more time with their infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

2. generate a source of income while doing so, and

3. help other families find safe and easily accessible child care

It's really an amazing project that can help people like me who would like at the very least to consider the option of staying home with their children, but can't afford to do so without an extra source of income. I think it could be the best of both worlds as I would get to stay home with my own children and continue to be fulfilled by teaching the children of others.


I can totally see the back room of my little house having a cute little set up like this, with baby H and two or three other little goobers filling up the chairs.

*BUT* (there's always a but) It's a big risk to leave my stable, decent-paying job that I love, especially in this economy. And I'm not a risk-taker by any stretch of the imagination. So like I said, I have a lot of soul-searching to do - wish me luck, I'm going to need it!

3 comments:

  1. I'm sure I'll face similar soul-searching when the time comes to welcome Baby W into our family. (Note: Not for a LONG time!) I know you'll make the right decision for you and your family.

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  2. I'm visiting from the DIY Showoff. I am a stay at home, homeschooling mom to my 5 year old daughter. I can't imagine leaving her with anyone or dropping her off at school for 8+ hours a day.

    Good luck with your decision making.

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  3. Thanks Jenny and Em, we'll see what happens. I swing back and forth on this constantly.

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