My heart in 2021 || Orange County Photographer
I feel like my heart has been telling me something for a while but I have been drowning it out with my own self doubt and criticism. My heart aches to tell my story in a bigger way, to share my life and our story with more mamas, to connect more. I’ve had friends and family tell me for years I should do more blogging and I know in my soul that I should.
But let me tell you something.
One time, I had someone I love very much tell me that I shouldn’t, that I shouldn’t be “one of those people” and that one tiny statement that she probably doesn’t even remember saying has stuck with me. It was just the bug I needed to drown out the noise of my heart so I don’t turn into “one of those people”. How silly of me. How silly to let that small, off the cuff comment effect me for years. Self doubt is a wild, ugly thing.
So my word for 2021 is heart.
My heart will be leading the way with my business and our lives. Starting homeschool this year has brought me closer than ever to listening to my heart. It’s a miraculous thing, when you start trusting yourself and believing that you can do all the things that we’ve been told we can’t. Homeschooling was one of those things for me. We’ve been taught since we were in diapers to go to school, we were taught that teachers are the smartest people we know and to trust their words right along side the pastor and our parents. I still believe most teachers are superior humans and should be given a raise and a stiff drink to deal with all they deal with. But my heart does not agree with the system. My heart doesn’t think kids should be forced to sit in desks for 7 hours a day. My heart thinks they should be learning to read using scriptures and poetry, not mindless politically correct sentence structures. And my heart really aches for my oldest’s experience so here goes. Despite negative test results, we were told year after year that our oldest had ADHD and a learning disability called dysgraphia (handwriting so illegible that it’s a learning disability). Within 2 months of being homeschooled we corrected both and his handwriting is now better than mine. He is perfect, the system was the problem. It was my fault too, I’m not just blaming the system. I should have worked more with him, I didn’t know better. Not once did a teacher suggest he needs more practice, I would have sat him down everyday. That is my problem with the system. Not enough one on one guidance, not enough love and compassion, just not enough. These teachers are spread thin on a normal year and now even thinner. Homeschool has been a huge blessing for our family and I plan to share more about that too.
The heart of my business is still the same. I feel so content and right where I want to be with this business. My heart is for babies and mamas and I’ll continue to share those with you everyday.
I’ll also be sharing more personal stuff. Analytically speaking personal posts do 8x better for me than a gorgeous photo anyway of the week. So I’ll share our home and life, more recipes and clean living. One of the biggest things that has interested me over the last year is our health and how we support our bodies. I’m currently obsessed with natural healing, herbology, gardening and oils. I don’t sell anything though so don’t worry and I will not be a fashion blogger so don’t expect to see that either. You’re welcome! 😂 I much prefer workout pants and a slippers anyways.
The last important thing my heart needs to say is while I’ll still post of social media, the real guts of my business and me are here on my own platform and I really hope that you’ll check in here often. I really hope you move past the pretty pictures on my Instagram and get to know me and our story. I really hope to connect and hug you in real life. Come to my book club. Meet us at the park. Let’s get a glass of wine. Motherhood is not meant to be done alone and I really hope you’ll do it with us!
Cheers to 2021 friends, I know it’s going to be sooo good!
Xo- Laurel
Gorgeous family photos taken by my insanely talented friend Shannon Worley in Austin Tx www.shannonworleyphotography.com If you’re in Austin, you have to her take your photos!
