Always Learning
Eve Rodsky’s book Find Your Unicorn Space focuses on the need for people, but especially for women, to find a space that lets them do something that they love, that invites their curiosity, and encourages them to share it with others. The search for a unicorn space is constantly evolving and expanding as your curiosity leads you. You don’t ever have to become an expert in any particular unicorn space. You just have to find things that bring you joy and do them.
This book was a delight.
I always have huge goals and dreams, most of which put down roots and grow tendrils in different directions, their green leafy branches providing me shade in many a daydream. But while I love to walk in this forest of dreams, I don’t always do anything about them.
I’m lucky to have a husband who has always done his share at home, and finding time for myself is not a problem. But allowing myself to take it sometimes is. Am I really a good mom if I go and write for a couple of hours, or spend an afternoon in the kitchen without talking to anyone, or hide under a blanket for half an hour with a book? Shouldn’t I be throwing a football or playing a video game or dealing the cards for another game of Rummy?
None of these are bad things to do, but for me, balance has always been a problem. I don’t shift easily from immersion in one task to immersion in another, so if I’m cleaning, I am all about cleaning, and if I’m reading, I struggle to drag myself off the couch. But Find Your Unicorn Space has unique ideas on how to find the time and reserve it in a way that felt clear and manageable and that seemed motivating enough to try to do.
While reading this book, I finally downloaded an app and started working on learning French. It’s been a goal of mine since I was a little girl, but I finally decided to devote time to it. Will I ever “use” it? Who knows? Although going to Paris is still on my list, I may never have any excuse to truly speak French (in my inescapable southern accent). But I absolutely love it. I’ve been doing this for ten days, and I’ve been surprised both by how fun it is and how much it pops up in my thoughts throughout the day.. My daughter was intrigued, and so now she’s working on Portuguese with the same app. Some days we sit together, comparing words and pronunciations, sharing tricks we’ve learned about the app. Some days we work alone. But it’s actually turned into an activity we can share together, and that makes it even more sweet.
I think I will always probably be a person who makes lists, and it’s easy to prioritize the house or the ever-changing list of things I feel like I should be doing to be a good mom. But I’m learning to slide items designed for my own joy onto my lists, and to treat them with just as much importance–or maybe more–as the things I feel like I should be doing.
