The Best Mother’s Day Gift and an “Unmotivated” Motivation Monday!

Hi Friends!

I’ve missed you in the past few weeks!  April stormed through my life with a whirlwind of activity for our family and our business.  It seemed that every day was overflowing with to-do lists, travel, and unexpected bumps in the road.  

I woke up this morning and wanted to write an amazing and inspirational Motivation Monday for you all.   I’m often telling you to follow your dreams, listen to your heart, and walk through your fears to live a life you love.  But it wasn’t there.  After a month of moving forward, I just want to be still.

What happens when there just aren’t enough hours in the day left to do it all?  Our families need us.  Our children need us.  We need some down time.  Perhaps on some days, building our dream business into the wee hours of the morning really isn’t as important as a decent night sleep.

This morning I was glued to my bed.  My brain woke up 3 hours later than my body.  No amount of coffee is starting my batteries.  Pulling words out of the fog to make a coherent post is happening at a snail’s pace.

Some days, I guess that is just the way things are.  And that’s okay.

Last week I traveled to Seattle to teach at the Chic Retreat.  It was an amazing experience filled with wonderful people and new friendships that I am grateful to have made.  I landed home last Sunday night, hit the studio for a busy week of work, and then celebrated my mother-in-law’s wedding this past Saturday as her maid of honor.  

Shaun planned a beautiful Mother’s Day for me.  A brunch with the kids and a day of relaxing.  But we woke up Sunday morning and I had nothing left.  I was so tired from the past month, the good stuff, the bad stuff, the speeches, the jet lag, busting out my amazing moves on the dance floor (hey, it’s hard to move that way)… I told him to cancel brunch.  

I wanted to sit in our back yard and just be with the girls.  No dressing up.  No chasing my two year old around in heels.  No hair and makeup.  Just hanging out.  I chewed my food.  I sipped my wine.  I even took a nap.  

There is this magical light in my back yard.  The kind that makes me want to run for my camera.  Thinking a photograph could somehow hang on to it’s beauty.  It traces the shape of my girls, swirls in halos around their heads, and peeks through their curls like one hundred tiny stars dancing on their shoulders.  I used to try to capture it with my camera, but I have given up.  Sometimes our cameras can’t capture how perfect a moment is no matter how we try.  Sometimes nothing can.  It is just there to be lived.  So instead I simply watched my girls float around the yard in that light.  Little pieces of my heart running through the sprinkler, picking flowers, racing down the slide.   Reflections of the joy I feel inside.

No Instagram.  No camera.  No Facebook status.  Just peace.

And it was the perfect Mother’s Day.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you.  I hope you were spoiled with a little extra sleep and a meal you could chew before swallowing.  And even if those things eluded you this year, I hope you at least had the time to look around you and see the joy in your heart reflected in the beautiful little details of your day.  Happy Mother’s Day to my mom, who gave me the gift of this life and the appreciation for what a little sunshine can do for your soul.

Your Friend,

Heidi