Isolation
Thriving
Thriving Amongst The Chaos
T
Here is hardly a person alive today who hasn't been impacted by the current pandemic. For women, this has been an even harder transition, especially for those trying to negotiate a world of working at home while homeschooling children.
Enter COVID-19! In less than a couple of weeks, or for some women, a couple of hours, we have been thrown into unimaginable circumstances where our responsibilities and pressures have doubled or tripled with no time to prepare or comprehend. It is exactly these chaotic circumstances that can undo the last decade of self-care and empowerment if we don’t recognise the need to continue putting ourselves first. During my twenty years of addiction and depression, chaos was the main factor that kept me trapped. What I have learnt in sobriety is the need to understand the destructive nature of chaos and find strategies to mitigate the risks and turn challenges into success.
Even those still working are undergoing major pressures in the workforce. It is easy and completely understandable that women around the world are feeling overwhelmed, overworked and completely unprepared. While the feminist movement of the 60s finally gave us the right to vote and the right to be heard, as women we also got swept up in the 90s wave of having it all. Children, work and freedom. As Mumpreneurs I think you would all agree the feminist movement has given us amazing opportunities which have allowed women to fully recognise their potential. On the flip side, it also created an environment where many women sacrificed their health, their families or their work to try and balance an everincreasing load of responsibilities. Bring on the recent decade and women have recognised the need for balance and self-care. The chorus of ‘having it all’ was replaced with women making themselves a priority while searching for meaning and quality in their life. Finding peace with their own choices. I have loved watching this transition for women, where they have become even more powerful as their life choices are directed from within rather than dictated by society. PAGE 16 MUMPRENEUR MOVEMENT
