There are certain images that come to mind when one hears the word “mother” and “motherhood”.  These images have been placed in our minds mostly through North American media consumption.  We have to keep in mind that those behind the creation of most media still remain, for the largest part, male and white.  So those images of motherhood are often largely those of white men.

And yet, it we don’t translate don’t images into real life, we consider ourselves as failures—myself included.

Don’t get me wrong: I love some of these images, and some small parts of my life do look like that.  And I do strive to make other parts of my life look like those images, too.  But most of these things that we were brainwashed to believe are essential to our happiness and that of our family—most of them not only don’t make us that happy, but can even come and bite us in the behind.  Anyone stuck cleaning up insane amounts of clutter can attest to that.

Because a lot of the things we think we REALLY need are just a figment born out of a FOMO-inducing culture from which has emerged the goal of unattainable perfection.  Modern Mommy Culture, extensively curated and photoshopped and filtered, is part of this.

Being “stuck at home” is one of the saddest things I hear these days.  Yes, it can get tedious, and sometimes I want to have a moment of silence.  But those of us who have homes and family—is it really so bad not being able to do much more than stay at home?

Or is it because staying at home forces us to really look at our lives, and finally admit that the goals we were working towards all these are perhaps not the ones that will bring us the most joy, after all?