Mother

  • Entrepreneurship, Simple Living

    A podcast for everyone: Podcasts you will love if you’re multi-passionate

    This post is going to discuss my favourite podcasts I listen to as a multi-passionate mother. I am a mother, homemaker, urban homesteader and I work this blog. I have varied passions and they are definitely represented through my podcast library.

    overhead shot of a cellphone between a mug and headphones podcast
    Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

    Why I love podcasts

    Podcasts are my absolute favourite way to consume digital content. Not only are they bite-sized enough and I can get a huge variety of topics but I can put them on and enjoy them in the background. In fact, anything that I can listen to while I am busy pottering around the kitchen is great. You can check out my previous post where I share my top 5 audiobooks for entrepreneurs.

    Now, I am multi-passionate, and I think we all are to some degree. I am a passionate homemaker, stay-at-home mother and urban homesteader. But I am also a passionate content creator and interested in business. You could also say that I am passionate about natural living, nourishing food and food as medicine too.

    With these passions in mind, my podcast playlist is varied. It is also full of incredible humans who share their lives, and their knowledge with the world.

    Without further ado, let’s dive in.

    1. Jenna Kutcher’s Goal Digger Podcast

    When it comes to learning more about business there is no one greater than Jenna Kutcher. If you haven’t come across Jenna Kutcher in the business world then this is your sign to go and search for her Goal Digger podcast.

    Jenna has over 600 episodes so far, and growing weekly, where she will dive into business, marketing and everyday life.

    Whether you are looking to optimise your email list, grow your reach on Pinterest, embrace Instagram or just learn some growth hacks, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

    A wonderful blend of life and business. This podcast is perfect for the modern mother.

    2. Lisa Bass’ Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast

    I think I found Lisa through a Pinterest search when I was looking for Sourdough help. It’s here where I first came across her blog Farmhouse on Boone. When I found she had a podcast too and was talking about all the things that I am passionate about I was hooked.

    Whether you’re a homesteader, an aspiring homesteader or an urban homesteader like me I think you will love the Simple Farmhouse Life podcast. Lisa delves into the nitty gritty of homestead life in a really easy and approachable way. I love how even though we live totally different lives I can relate to so much of her content.

    3. The Freely Rooted Podcast

    When I found the Freely Rooted Podcast I felt like I had found what I had been looking for. A podcast that helps embrace my biology in conjunction with health, wellness and natural living.

    The episodes are so full of incredible research and jumping off points to help the modern woman and are particularly interesting for those who are more connected to natural and traditional living, as well as those who are looking to live outside of modern society’s norms.

    4. Sustainable Dish Podcast

    In a world that has an agenda, it isn’t always to find the truth. When it comes to food and nourishing our bodies we’re keen to really uncover what is best. The Sustainable Dish podcast (and Instagram while we’re at it) is a great source of information.

    Diana, the host (and nutritionist) delves into common mistruths surrounding meat eating, ways we can do better and why it is one of the most nutrient dense foods we can consume.

    I love too how it dispels so many myths (with the research) that we have been fed growing up. It’s truly mindblowing.

    5. The life without school podcast

    We have home educated our children since birth and have never put them inside the schooling system. We also have no intention of doing so. I think this is why I love this podcast so much, as it helps me deconstruct my feeling about school and education. It also has me nodding along at every step.

    The life without school podcast is the understanding and guidance I really benefit from and it’s so nice to listen to others who have walked this path before us.

    But before you go

    I feel as though it would be totally remiss of me not to mention my own podcast in a post all about my favourite podcasts. While I am not a listener of my own podcast I can definitely say that I absolutely love making it and my only wish is that I had started it sooner.

    So here it is: The Slow Living Collective Podcast

    What are some of your favourite podcasts? I am always on the lookout for new podcasts to add to my library so be sure to send them over. You can either leave your recommendations in the comments or feel free to DM me over on Instagram.

    Until next time,

  • Motherhood

    The untold burden of Motherhood (in a pandemic)

    Everything feels a lot at the moment, especially in Motherhood, and because I am super productive (read: have to work way ahead of myself in one short burst because hello, motherhood) I am writing this towards the end of January 2021, despite the fact that you will be reading it towards the end of February. At the time of writing we’re currently in a national lockdown in the UK (and I don’t expect much will have changed by the time this is published either, although I hope beyond hope things are at least heading in the right direction) and this one is different. This is our third national lockdown and I don’t know if it’s because it is the third one, because it is January and miserable or because there is nothing to look forward to but this one feels harder.

    Some times it feels fine, sometimes it feels hard but one thing is for sure, I know that for a long time I have been putting myself last. I don’t think my story is in isolation though so I thought I would come on and spill my brain into this post, and try and work out why us mothers are shouldering so much of the burden of this pandemic when it comes to keeping everyday life going.

    It began in 2020

    The last year of our lives has been a weird one for us all and I don’t even know if we’re even processing quite what we’re all living through. A lot of it seems like survival mode and maybe it’s something we will truly come to terms with once it is all over.

    There is one thing I have noticed though, both in my own life, in my friends lives, in the lives of people I know online and that is the untold burden of motherhood through a pandemic.

    Changes, Changes, Changes

    For me the biggest change has been my career. It’s been the oddest time because I was due to come off of maternity leave in late February/early March, so I timed it just right in terms of the pandemic kicking off. I didn’t even really know what I was coming off of maternity leave for if I am honest. My career in Social Media Management and Personal Brand Strategy was something I actually thought I had left behind when I clocked off for the last time in December 2018. I wanted to do something but I wasn’t sure what. Then I didn’t really get time to think because hello, Pandemic! My husbands job at first didn’t seem safe and it was an incredibly worrying time, so I jumped back into what I knew and went for it, pedal to the metal.

    Thankfully his job situation did improve although with the ongoing pandemic although it worries me often. I don’t think any of us can truly feel comfortable right now. He is the breadwinner in our home and it’s been even more important throughout the last year that we have that safety. As time passed the need changed somewhat, and without the ability for too much help with childcare I found my work having to take a backseat. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t overly minded because it wasn’t something I was intending to come back to but I feel better when I have something else to occupy my mind. Being a stay at home mum right now isn’t through choice, it’s through necessity and it is here that lies the untold burden of motherhood.

    Motherhood and the Pandemic

    Mothers taking the slack, having to sit in a more supportive role (some by choice, others by need), having to decide between working or staying home, crisis schooling their children some while trying to hold down full time and part time jobs, some still having bosses to answer to and deadlines to meet, being refused furlough on childcare grounds and in situations like ours knowing that the breadwinners salary and work has to come first in such a precarious situation. This doesn’t even touch on those who are working in key worker roles, on the front line throughout this pandemic. As well as the mothers (first time and subsequent) who are experiencing pregnancy and birth through it too. The burden is heavy and we are taking the toll.

    Now I know this won’t be everyone’s truth, but it is the truth of many, and it’s become a well-known fact that women (and particularly mothers) are bearing the brunt of this pandemic more than anyone else.

    Working mum to stay at home mum (and not through choice)

    For me it’s been a strange transition from always doing something and needing something for my sanity to having to switch to being a full time stay at home mum. It’s a strange switch for me and although I have no pressure from my husband I am extremely mindful of the situation of the pandemic and how I need to support what he needs in his job. His salary is the difference and right now it has to come first. My switch from working mum to stay at home mum (well almost, I am still winding a few bits up) has been difficult for me and it is definitely an adjustment, especially being pregnant too, knowing that maternity leave is awaiting.

    It can feel really heavy

    Mothering and motherhood through a pandemic, I’ve found, can feel unrelenting. It is full-on at the best of times, but it is now spending more time than ever confined within four walls. It is parenting without our village and it is making hard decisions and sometimes sacrificing ourselves for what needs to be done for the good of our family.

    I don’t have the answers, I don’t know why we are taking the brunt of it and I don’t know how we make things change. I do know though that this won’t last forever and I just hope when all is said and done we remember that no matter how hard, isolating and unbearable it felt at times that we made it through the otherside. And there is another side, even if it doesn’t quite feel that way yet.

    You’re doing great, even if it doesn’t feel that way, I promise that you are.