Making the decision to have a child – it’s momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~ Elizabeth Stone

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Balancing it all...

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a conference at CHLA that focused on women in STEM (science, engineering, technology, and math). They had an amazing panel of women that have accomplished a great deal in their fields. Each woman spoke about her journey, both professional and personal, and gave advice to the women in the room about perusing a career in STEM. Although I am by no means a “science person,” I found the event to be incredibly inspiring and motivating.  They all spoke to the idea of juggling family and career.  As a career woman, I am constantly trying to juggle my two lives, my two selves.  It is difficult to figure out how much my personal life can bleed into my professional and vice versa. I want to be the best at both, but that means that they have to work together, not against each other. I am not just a mother. I am not just a career woman. I am both.
One of the speakers spoke to this idea of juggling our working lives with our children. She went so far as to insist that we don’t need to separate the two. We are both and we need to embrace both and force the rest of the world to do so as well.  She talked about our partners and demanding that they to do their fair share at home. Women should not be responsible for all of the child rearing and housekeeping, along with their full time jobs. Listening to her caused me to reflect on my own life. I have not only a husband, but a partner. Dion takes full responsibility for our children and is in fact the main “deep cleaner” of our house! He takes Elijah to almost all of his incredibly long doctor’s appointments and he makes it a point to be at all of Noah’s soccer games.  Dion does not hesitate to encourage me to pursue my career goals, even if that means that more of the child care and household chores will fall on him. He is an amazing partner.
I started reading a book call Lean In, by Sheryle Sandberg. The book centers on women with careers and leadership roles and focuses on the fact that although we have broken the glass ceiling, we are still not equals in the upper levels of leadership.  It’s a fascinating book that really confirms what I had already heard at CHLA.  The premise is that when faced with opposition or challenges, we should “lean in” instead of retreating.  I think this applies to all aspects of my life right now, both professional and personal. I need to lean in to my career goals. I need to lean in when confronted with the scary aspects of Elijah’s health.  I need to lean in to my marriage and continue to commit to making time for just Dion and me.  I need to lean in.  Words to live by I think.