It's funny, the things you end up doing that totally mimic your childhood. For instance, right beside me, as I am typing this, there is a big wicker basket that has quite a few books in it. When I was a child, there was something similar in the living room. A book that I always remember being in the pile wasCodependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself by Melody Beattie. I also recalled my mother referring to herself, quite often in fact, as being a "codependent in recovery". It's interesting that, even with all of the information that she had on the subject, as a daughter of an alcoholic and mother who, well, was married to one, codependency was something that my mother constantly struggled with—and I think still struggles with. And, because I am the daughter of a codependent, some of the residue of her internal warfare rubbed off on me, although I was well into my thirties before I recognized it.
As women, it is certainly in our nature to be profound and next level nurturers. But when that capability is tainted with childhood trauma (check out "How To Recover If You Had To 'Raise Your Parents' As A Child", "What If It's Your Parents Who Happen To Be The Narcissists?" and "Why You Should Be Unapologetic About Setting Boundaries With Toxic Family Members"), not loving ourselves, never knowing how—and why—to say "no" sometimes, trying to control other people's lives and/or being low-key ego maniacs who think that we know what's better for other people than they do, that can turn us from being blessings to becoming burdens to others and, to ourselves, exhausted, confused and even bitter and resentful as the direct result of always trying to fix everything and everyone.
I know of what I speak because I've been there. More than once. What got me out of being a self-proclaimed Ms. Fix It was 1) asking the five questions that I encourage you to ask yourself and 2) recognizing that a healthy well-being requires a ton of self-awareness, spiritual healing and balance. Pretty much in that order.
Are you ready to stop being Ms. Fix It in your own world? It's my prayer that everything down below can help to get you there.
Ask Yourself, “Am I Codependent?”
I say it often because, for better or worse, the statement applies. For oh so many of us, adulthood is definitely about surviving childhood. One way that a lot of us were affected is growing up in a household where abuse, especially emotional abuse, ran rampant.
Because children are so precious and innocent, we naturally want to please those who are taking care of us. But when they are unhealthy, it teaches us 1) how to take blame for stuff that isn't our fault or our responsibility and 2) to try and make unhappy people happy. And yes, that can start us on the path of being a codependent person which is basically someone who overcompensates in their relationships in order to feel good and worthy.
And that? That is why a lot of adults also end up in codependent relationships and marriages. So, what are the signs that you could possibly be a codependent individual?
- Are you drawn to addicts (of any kind)?
- Do you do things for others that they should be doing for yourself? Hell, do you even know how to determine what those things are?
- Are you consumed with other people's stuff and issues?
- Do you feel responsible for other people's words, actions and choices?
- Do you always make sure that other people's needs are met at the expense of your own?
- Do you minimize how you feel yet resent others for not acknowledging your feelings?
If so, these are some classic signs of being a codependent. Not only that but our fix-it-nature is more about having a low sense of self-worth than actually wanting to help others. It's more about feeling like you won't be loved, appreciated or accepted unless you go out of your way or bend over backwards for someone else. The crazy thing is that, while you're in this head space, while others may be getting their needs and wants met, because you are more invested in their life than your own, your own life will be in shambles. Or worse, you might end up attracting another codependent who will try and…well, fix you.
First Step Solution: If you saw yourself in any of this, first, forgive yourself for not knowing the cycle that you've been in. Then gear up to set up some much-needed boundaries (not walls, boundaries). Articles like "The Relationships In Your Life That Are Desperately In Need Of Boundaries" and books likeSafe People: How to Find Relationships That Are Good for You and Avoid Those That Aren't (and if you are married,Boundaries in Marriage: Understanding the Choices That Make or Break Loving Relationships) can help to bring clarity as to why you choose to see people as projects, how to better guard your heart and to strengthen your boundaries so that you can stop being codependent with other individuals.
Then Ask Yourself, “Am I Actually HELPING or Am I ENABLING?”
A lot of things in life have fine lines; especially when we're first learning the differences in them. A great example of this is helping vs. enabling. I have a friend who has a grown daughter who has been taking advantage of her for years. Her daughter is in her thirties at this point but still acts like a 19-year-old as her mom takes care of things that are totally her daughter's responsibility. Whenever my friend and I discuss it, she's always talking about the difference between her daughter's actual age and maturity level. But what seems to continually be my friend's blind spot is her not wanting to accept that her still treating her daughter like she's a teenager is a part of what's preventing her daughter from actually growing up. My friend thinks she is helping her grown child; actually, what she's doing is enabling her.
Good help? That is when it is actually benefiting someone and helping them to grow, evolve and progress as an individual. Enabling someone is all about ignoring toxic patterns, financially compensating for their bad decisions, constantly making excuses for destructive (or counterproductive) behavior and taking on someone else's responsibilities. If you are out here doing more of the latter than the former, you're not fixing anything. You're simply being used and drained of your resources as you play a significant role in keeping someone stagnant.
First Step Solution: Before you agree to do anything for someone, step back and contemplate if you are actually going to help them by doing so. An article that I once read on helping vs. enabling broke the differences down this way—helping is doing something for someone that they are unable to do on their own. Enabling is doing something for someone who is capable of doing it themselves. Knowing the difference makes all the difference. A woman by the name of Darlene Lancer once said, "Allowing others to suffer the consequences of their own actions, without enabling them, is the best motivation for them to undertake the difficult task of change." There is a lot of truth in that. Plenty, in fact.
Also Ask Yourself, “Am I Afraid That ‘No’ Comes with Consequences?”
Ain't it a trip how, a lot of the people who we are afraid to say "no" to, they typically have absolutely no problem saying "no" to us? It could be because they have good boundaries. It also could be because they are self-centered as hell. Either way, the point still stands.
For a lot of us who are constantly trying to fix everything and everyone, sometimes the motive is rooted in fear; fear that if we don't do what's expected of us, we will be rejected or someone won't like or love us anymore. Or, for the super codependents out there, scared that they will no longer be needed. First of all, anyone who is only in your life for what you can do for them, they don't belong there. Second, healthy and mature people get that making a request does not automatically garner the response that they want to hear. In other words, they are fully aware of the fact that, just because they asked for something, that doesn't mean they will—or should—get it. And third, again, balance is important. "No" is a complete sentence (as author Anne Lamott once said), but it's not a full response to an entire relationship. What I mean by that is, don't assume that just because you say "no" to something that others can't handle it. The right ones for you will be fine. The wrong ones? Well, it's time for them to do some shifting in your world, anyway. How they handled your "no" proves it.
First Step Solution: Practice saying "no" to anything that you aren't ready or prepared to do, doesn't seem beneficial, or you know that you are only doing out of fear. Only offer explanations for your "no" if you want to (not if others push you because that only means that they feel like you need to justify your boundary when you absolutely do not). Then see how people respond or react. If they cop an attitude, try and make you feel guilty, or start to distance themselves from you, then you know where you stand. If, overall, they are cool about it and don't try and manipulate you to do something else, those are your "safe" people. Those are the ones you can feel good about saying "yes" to in the future.
Then Ask Yourself, “Is This Coming At the Cost of More Pressing Priorities?”
Remember how I said that balance is so important when it comes to assisting others? Something that I have a spiritual gift (if you've never taken a spiritual gifts test before, you can take one here) for is giving. I've always been a big giver. But, for years, because I had childhood emotional abuse wounds, my self-esteem was low and I didn't know how to give responsibly, I would find myself putting other people's needs before my very own. I mean, literally doing things like paying people's rent before I paid mine, giving money I didn't really have and making sacrifices that put my own sense of peace in jeopardy. Listen, I'll be the first one to say that sometimes relationships are inconvenient; I wrote an entire article about it. But your first responsibility is yourself. If you are constantly on the bottom of your own priority list because you are always so busy making sure everyone else is good, short of your own children, that's not commendable; that's actually pretty dysfunctional. Besides, if you're anything like I was, you'll realize that a lot of what you were taking care of were people's wants while you were abandoning your own needs. Not only that, but many of the very people whose lives you were "fixing", somehow, they were unavailable when you needed them to return the favor. SMDH.
First Step Solution: Read articles on our site like "4 Ways To Make Yourself Your Number One Priority", "6 Ways To Start Making YOU Your Top Priority" and "OlanikeeOsi Is The Bold, Fearless & Totally Unapologetic CEO Of The SelfishBabe App" can help to get you on the path of reprogramming your brain to understand that prioritizing yourself isn't a bad thing. A priority is simply putting things in their proper order and rank and, the reality is that if you don't take care of yourself, if you don't work on what you need to get "fixed" within yourself—you'll only be doing others a disservice in the long run because you'll be "serving them" from a fractionated space. Bills, sleep, health and well-being, self-care, time alone to recalibrate—all of these are things that you must prioritize on top of just about anything else. When you do, you can give from a good space rather than a broken or depleted one.
Finally, If You’re Spiritual, Also Ask Yourself, “Am I Trying to Do God’s Job?”
A lot of people are walking around here with god complexes, whether they realize it or not. Something that Christian speaker Joyce Meyer calls it is putting yourself in the role of "Holy Ghost Jr." (when no one really asked you to). That's a pretty relevant way to look at it since the Bible describes the Holy Spirit as being the Divine Helper (John 14:26—NKJV).
OK, but surely, you're not out here thinking that you know as much as God does about what someone else needs…right?
I remember back when I called myself being all in love with a guy who I know God was sending me signs to leave totally alone. Every time, as I was praying, when I would be like, "But he's so 'this and that'", I would hear a voice in my head respond with, "You do know I live with him, right? I know stuff you have no you clue about. I've known him since before he was born." (Which is also biblical—Psalm 139:13) The same thing goes for whoever it is that you're trying to "fix" or "save". If you don't have peace in your prayer and meditation time about whatever it is that you are about to say or do, it very well could be God sending up a smoke signal, alerting you to the fact that, while, with your very limited knowledge, you think you are about to do a good thing, you could actually be in the way of 1) God wanting someone else to do "it", 2) God needing you to focus on other matters at hand and/or 3) God wanting them to learn a lesson that your "fixing" is only going to hinder or prolong. If you're always trying to "play God", you are a stumbling block to the Lord actually being God in someone else's life. Help as spiritually led. Be intentional about keeping your own ego or even personal perspective out of the way.
First Step Solution: If you know that you are out here trying to "be God" far more than you should, a great Scripture to keep in mind is, "For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him." (Matthew 6:8—NKJV) Rather than you always taking it upon yourself to fix someone's situation or life in general, pray about what you should do—if anything at all. Our conscience is a powerful thing. If we're supposed to get involved, it will let us know. Other than that, sometimes praying or lending an ear or shoulder is really all that we need to do.
Ms. Fix It. It's the title that a lot of women struggle with. But I pray that this has helped you to see if it applies to you and how to break free. Because remember, we as humans are called to help and support, but that doesn't mean that we are to fix everything. Let yourself off of the hook, OK. It's time.
Want more stories like this? Sign up for our newsletter here and check out the related reads below:
How To Stop Being A People-Pleaser & Start Doing You
Should You Really Not Care About What Other People Think?
The Art Of Saying "No" To Things You Don't Want To Do
How I Handled Four Relationships That Totally Took Me For Granted
Featured image by Giphy
Amber Riley has the type of laugh that sticks with you long after the raspy, rhythmic sounds have ceased. It punctuates her sentences sometimes, whether she’s giving a chuckle to denote the serious nature of something she just said or throwing her head back in rip-roarious laughter after a joke. She laughs as if she understands the fragility of each minute. She chooses laughter often with the understanding that future joy is not guaranteed.
Credit: Ally Green
The sound of her laughter is rivaled only by her singing voice, an emblem of the past and the future resilience of Black women stretched over a few octaves. On Fox’s Glee, her character Mercedes Jones was portrayed, perhaps unfairly, as the vocal duel to Rachel Berry (Lea Michele), offering rough, full-throated belts behind her co-star’s smooth, pristine vocals. Riley’s always been more than the singer who could deliver a finishing note, though.
Portraying Effie White, she displayed the dynamic emotions of a song such as “And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going” in Dreamgirls on London’s West End without buckling under the historic weight of her predecessors. With her instrument, John Mayer’s “Gravity” became a religious experience, a belted hymnal full of growls and churchy riffs. In her voice, Nicole Scherzinger once said she heard “the power of God.”
Credit: Ally Green
Riley’s voice has been a staple throughout pop culture for nearly 15 years now. Her tone has become so distinguishable that most viewers of Fox’s The Masked Singer recognized the multihyphenate even before it was revealed that she was Harp, the competition-winning, gold-masked figure with an actual harp strapped to her back.
Still, it wasn’t until recently that Riley began to feel like she’d found her voice. This sounds unbelievable. But she’s not referring to the one she uses on stage. She’s referencing the voice that speaks to who she is at her core. “Therapy kind of gave me the training to speak my mind,” the 37-year-old says. “It’s not something we’re taught, especially as Black women. I got so comfortable in [doing so], and I really want other people, especially Black women, to get more comfortable in that space.”
“Therapy kind of gave me the training to speak my mind. It’s not something we’re taught, especially as Black women."
If you ask Riley’s manager, Myisha Brooks, she’ll tell you the foundation of who the multihyphenate is hasn’t changed much since she was a kid growing up in Compton. “She is who she is from when I met her back when she was singing in the front of the church to back when she landed major roles in film and TV,” Brooks says. Time has allowed Riley to grow more comfortable, giving fans a more intimate glimpse into her life, including her mental health journey and the ins and outs of show business.
The actress/singer has been in therapy since 2019, although she suffered from depression and anxiety way before that. In a recent interview with Jason Lee, she recalls having suicidal ideation as a kid. By the time she started seeing a psychologist and taking antidepressants in her thirties, her body had become jittery, a physical reminder of the trauma stacked high inside her. “I was shaking in [my therapist’s] office,” she tells xoNecole. “My fight or flight was on such a high level. I was constantly in survival mode. My heart was beating fast all the time. All I did was sweat.”
There wasn’t just childhood trauma to account for. After auditioning for American Idol and being turned away by producers, Riley began working for Ikea and nearly missed her Glee audition because her car broke down on the highway while en route. Thankfully, Riley had been cast to play Mercedes Jones. American Idol had temporarily convinced her she wasn’t cut out for the entertainment industry, but this was validation that she was right where she belonged. Glee launched in 2009 with the promise of becoming Riley’s big break.
In some ways, it was. The show introduced Riley to millions of fans and catapulted her into major Hollywood circles. But in other ways, it became a reminder of the types of roles Black women, especially those who are plus-sized, are relegated to. Behind the scenes, Riley says she fought for her character "to have a voice" but eventually realized her efforts were useless. "It finally got to a point where I was like, this is not my moment. I'm not who they're choosing, and this is just going to have to be a job for me for now," she says. "And, that's okay because it pays my bills, I still get to be on television, I'm doing more than any other Black plus-sized women that I'm seeing right now on screen."
The actress can recognize now that she was navigating issues associated with trauma and low self-esteem at the time. She now knows that she's long had anxiety and depression and can recognize the ways in which she was triggered by how the cult-like following of the show conflicted with her individual, isolated experiences behind the scenes. But she was in her early '20s back then. She didn't yet have the language or the tools to process how she was feeling.
Riley says she eventually sought out medical intervention. "When you're in Hollywood, and you go to a doctor, they give you pills," she says, sharing a part of her story that she'd never revealed publicly before now. "[I was] on medication and developing a habit of medicating to numb, not understanding I was developing an addiction to something that's not fixing my problem. If anything, it's making it worse."
“[I was] on medication and developing a habit of medicating to numb, not understanding I was developing an addiction to something that’s not fixing my problem. If anything it’s making it worse.”
Credit: Ally Green
At one point, while in her dressing room on set, she rested her arm on a curling iron without realizing it. It wasn't until her makeup artist alerted her that she even realized her skin was burning. Once she noticed, she says she was "so zonked out on pills" that she barely reacted. Speaking today, she holds up her arm and motions towards a scar that remains from the incident. She sought help for her reliance on the pills, but it would still be years before she finally attended therapy.
This stress was only compounded by the trauma of growing up in poverty and the realities of being a "contract worker." "Imagine going from literally one week having to borrow a car to get to set to the next week being on a private jet to New York City," she says. After Glee ended, so did the rides on private planes. The fury of opportunities she expected to follow her appearance on the show failed to materialize. She wasn't even 30 yet, and she was already forced to consider if she'd hit her career peak.
. . .
We’re only four minutes into our Zoom call before Riley delivers her new adage to me. “My new mantra is ‘humility does not serve me.’ Humility does not serve Black women. The world works so hard to humble us anyway,” she says.
On this Thursday afternoon in April, the LA-based entertainer is seated inside her closet/dressing room wearing a cerulean blue tank top with matching shorts and eating hot wings. This current phase of healing hinges on balance. It’s about having discipline and consistency, but not at the risk of inflexibility. She was planning to head to the gym, for instance, but she’s still tired from the “exhausting” day before. Instead, she’s spent her day receiving a massage, eating some chicken wings, and planning to spend quality time with friends. “I’m not going to beat myself up for it. I’m not going to talk down to myself. I’m going to eat my chicken wings, and then tomorrow I’m [back] in the gym,” she says.
“My new mantra is ‘humility does not serve me.’ Humility does not serve Black women. The world works so hard to humble us anyway."
This is the balance with which she's been approaching much of her life these days. It's why she's worried less about whether or not people see her as someone who is humble. She'd rather be respected. "I think you should be a person that's easy to work with, but in the moments where I have to ruffle feathers and make waves, I'm not shying away from that anymore. You can do it in love, you don't have to be nasty about it, but I had to finally be comfortable with the fact that setting boundaries around my life – in whatever aspect, whether that's personal or business – people are not going to like it. Some people are not going to have nice things to say about you, and you gotta be okay with it," she says.
When Amber talks about the constant humbling of Black women in Hollywood, I think of the entertainers before her who have suffered from this. The brilliant, consistent, overqualified Black women who have spoken of having to fight for opportunities and fair pay. Aretha Franklin. Viola Davis. Tracee Ellis Ross. There's a long list of stars whose success hasn't mirrored their experiences behind the scenes.
Credit: Ally Green
If Black women outside of Hollywood are struggling to decrease the pay gap, so, too, are their wealthier, more famous peers.
Riley says there’s been progress in recent years, but only in small ways and for a limited group of people. “This business is exhausting. The goalpost is constantly moving, and sometimes it’s unfair,” she says. But, I have to say it’s the love that keeps you going.”
“There’s no way you can continue to be in this business and not love it, especially being a plus-sized Black woman,” she continues. “We’re still niche. We’re still not main characters.”
"There’s no way you can continue to be in this business and not love it, especially being a plus-sized Black woman. We’re still niche. We’re still not main characters.”
Last year, Riley starred alongside Raven Goodwin in the Lifetime thriller Single Black Female (a modern, diversified take on 1992’s Single White Female). It was more than a leading role for the actress, it also served as proof that someone who looks like her can front a successful project without it hinging on her identity. It showcased that the characters she portrays don’t “have to be about being a big girl. It can just be a regular story.”
Riley sees her work in music as an extension of her efforts to push past the rigid stereotypes in entertainment. Take her appearance on The Masked Singer, for instance. Riley said she decided to perform Mayer’s “Gravity” after being told she couldn’t sing it years earlier. “I wanted to do ‘Gravity’ on Glee. [I] was told no, because that’s not a song that Mercedes would do,” she says. “That was a full circle moment for me, doing that on that show and to hear what it is they had to say.”
As Scherzinger praised the “anointed” performance, a masked Riley began to cry, her chest heaving as she stood on stage, her eyes shielded from view. “You have to understand, I have really big names – casting directors, producers, show creators – that constantly tell me ‘I’m such a big fan. Your talent is unmatched.’ Hire me, then,” she says, reflecting on the moment.
Recently, she’s been in the studio working on original music, the follow-up to her independently-released debut EP, 2020’s Riley. The sequel to songs such as the anthemic “Big Girl Energy” and the reflective ballad “A Moment” on Riley, this new project hones in on the singer’s R&B roots with sensual grooves such as the tentatively titled “All Night.” “You said I wasn’t shit, turns out that I’m the shit. Then you called me a bitch, turns out that I’m that bitch. You said no one would want me, well you should call your homies,” she sings on the tentatively titled “Lately,” a cut about reflecting on a past relationship. From the forthcoming project, xoNecole received five potential tracks. Fans likely already know the strengths and contours of Riley’s vocals, but these new songs are her strongest, most confident offerings as an artist.
“I am so much more comfortable as a writer, and I know who I am as an artist now. I’m evolving as a human being, in general, so I’m way more vulnerable in my music. I’m way more willing to talk about whatever is on my mind. I don’t stop myself from saying what it is I want to say,” she says.
Credit: Ally Green
“Every era and alliteration of Amber, the baseline is ‘Big Girl Energy.’ That’s the name of her company,” her manager Brooks says, referencing the imprint through which Riley releases her music after getting out of a label deal several years ago. “It’s just what she stands for. She’s not just talking about size, it’s in all things. Whether it’s putting your big girl pants on and having to face a boardroom full of executives or sell yourself in front of a casting agent. It’s her trying to achieve the things she wants to do in life.”
Riley says she has big dreams beyond releasing this new music, too. She’d love to star in a rom-com with Winston Duke. She hasn't starred in a biopic yet, but she’d revel in the opportunity to portray Rosetta Tharpe on screen. She’s determined that her previous setbacks won’t stop her from dreaming big.
“I think one of my superpowers is resilience because, at the end of the day, I’m going to kick, scream, cry, cuss, be mad and disappointed, but I’m going to get up and risk having to deal with it all again. It’s worth it for the happy moments,” she says.
If Riley seems more comfortable and confident professionally, it’s because of the work she’s been doing in her personal life.
She’d previously spoken to xoNecole about becoming engaged to a man she discovered in a post on the site, but she called things off last year. For Valentine’s Day, she revealed her new boyfriend publicly. “I decided to post him on Valentine’s Day, partially because I was in the dog house. I got in trouble with him,” she says, half-joking before turning serious. “The breakup was never going to stop me from finding love. Or at least trying. I don’t owe anybody a happily ever after. People break up. It happens. When it was good, it was good. When it was bad, it was terrible, hunny. I had to get the fuck up out of there. You find happiness, and you enjoy it and work through it.”
Credit: Ally Green
"I don’t owe anybody a happily ever after. People break up. It happens. When it was good, it was good. When it was bad, it was terrible, hunny. I had to get the fuck up out of there. You find happiness and you enjoy it and work through it.”
With her ex, Riley was pretty outspoken about her relationship, even appearing in content for Netflix with him. This time around is different. She’s not hiding her boyfriend of eight months, but she’s more protective of him, especially because he’s a father and isn’t interested in becoming a public figure.
She’s traveling more, too. It’s a deliberate effort on her part to enjoy her money and reject the trauma she’s developed after experiencing poverty in her childhood. “I live in constant fear of being broke. I don’t think you ever don’t remember that trauma or move past that. Now I travel and I’m like, listen, if it goes, it goes. I’m not saying [to] be reckless, but I deserve to enjoy my hard work.”
After everything she’s been through, she certainly deserves to finally let loose a bit. “I have to have a life to live,” she says. “I’ve got to have a life worth fighting for.”
Credits
Director of Content: Jasmine Grant
Campaign Manager: Chantal Gainous
Managing Editor: Sheriden Garrett
Creative Director/Executive Producer: Tracey Woods
Cover Designer: Tierra Taylor
Photographer: Ally Green
Photo Assistant: Avery Mulally
Digital Tech: Kim Tran
Video by Third and Sunset
DP & Editor: Sam Akinyele
2nd Camera: Skylar Smith
Camera Assistant: Charles Belcher
Stylist: Casey Billingsley
Hairstylist: DaVonte Blanton
Makeup Artist: Drini Marie
Production Assistants: Gade De Santana, Apu Gomes
Powered by: European Wax Center
I typed these words in my iPhone Notes as I fed my newborn daughter one morning during the first few weeks of having her earthside. I didn’t have much time for page-filled journal entries as my days were filled with nonstop feedings, soothing, and recovery…but I knew I needed to give those words space and life.
Prior to my maternity leave, I, like most working moms, was burning fumes juggling work and life. Since 2019, I’ve been running revenue operations here at this really cool company you may have heard of called xoNecole (hehe). I’ve been behind the scenes building our brand partnerships and negotiating deals with companies such as Ulta Beauty, Toyota, Target, Spotify, SheaMoisture, etc.
Courtesy of Shakyna Bolden
I’ve co-produced our signature events like ElevateHER and Pajamas & Lipstick while conceptualizing, selling, building, and distributing our original video and podcast content and podcast. The list goes on and on. I’ve helped build this small but brilliant company into what it is today, all while running my own small family. And that is not an easy feat.
In all truth, trying to be the best mom and partner I can be while also leading in my job has felt at times like a whirlwind where the rest of my life is passing me by. I don’t quite know where or when it happened, but I swear somebody pushed the fast-forward button in life, and I’m losing my edges trying to keep up.
My mind and body get so preoccupied with the management of life that my soul sits on the sidelines, waiting to take the reins and intentionally live it.
So many facets of my life, from my health and well-being to my hobbies and passions, have been placed on the back burner while tending to my young family and growing in my career has taken center stage. And for the longest time, I’ve wanted to flip the switch, but the pace of life just hasn’t let me restack my priorities.
That is, until now.
Courtesy of Shakyna Bolden
When I found out I was pregnant with my daughter last year, I couldn’t imagine adding more to my already full plate. Simultaneously, I was also relieved to know that my upcoming maternity leave would force me to press pause and catch my breath. Her birth in January 2023 was a much-needed reset, to say the least.
My maternity leave was the first time since 2019 that I had a second for dreams that were buried in the back of my heart to bubble up to the surface of my reality. I got a taste of what it was like to solely focus on my well-being and my home life. And I liked it a lot. My healing. My recovery. Sitting and really taking quiet time with God to search the unattended areas in the garden of my life.
I was cooking homemade meals on the regular and actually sitting down with my family at the table to eat. As grueling as those first newborn weeks can be, I was enjoying the long-awaited shift in my priorities; and I wanted that shift to stick. I didn’t want it to fade away after my maternity leave.
I want to build my work around my life and not my life around my work.
As a leader of an organization that speaks to millions of women every day about their well-being (and also in leading a team of majority women), I feel it’s my responsibility to carry this shift forward boldly. This is why I’m launching a new column here at xoNecole: Chief Mom Officer!
As I return to work full-time this month from my maternity leave, I want to regularly share my experience of trying to harmonize work and life. As an audience, you all share your raw, unfiltered journeys with us. For years, they’ve undoubtedly inspired me. I want to show up and do the same because I know this shift in my life will be quite the journey.
So for all my Chief Mom Officers—those of us who are constantly merging the imperfect and chaotic worlds of leadership in the office and wearing our crowns at home—I invite you to come on this journey with me and celebrate the ebbs and flows in how we show up for each.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for daily love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Featured image courtesy of Shakyna Bolden
