Diary from the sky, and the grief that's swirling
- Emily Bagaric
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
The Kitchen Table - the place where I connect with my passion, my work, and my community.
All amongst the calm and the chaos of family life.
It's messy, it's imperfect and it's the daily realities of meeting my needs alongside my family.
Enjoy weekly stories, musings and anedotes of raising kids in emotionally attuned ways.
So we’ve landed back home after our week adventuring north in the sun.
It was a full mix of delightful connected family time, sunshine, new experiences and some overwhelm sprinkled in.
As we’ve plunged straight back into the realities of life, work, mainly solo parenting for me, I’m reminding myself of the things I need to do that have me able to show up in the most regulated way (not calm! but regulated with an overall feeling of nourishment and capacity to be with the feelings that will always come and go).
It was a rejuvenating time away and one thing my husband and I did well this trip was prioritise (where we could), solo time to meet a few of our individual needs, so we were better equipped to hold the ups and downs of feelings that come with new places, spaces, experiences, more sugar and stimulation!
This is something I have often struggled with in the past, with a high value on family time and generally little time in a week where all four of us are together, taking time away has been an edge I’ve met many times.
But after dancing on that edge I was ready to take the plunge and claim the solo time unapologetically and really felt the benefits coming back into the family dynamic with more in the tank to sustain me.
The return plane trip was not quite as smooth as the way up. Of course the mood of the week coming to an end was a contributor and a long day or packing and airport all adding to our systems. Unfortunately we were seated behind some kids that had access to ipads for the entire trip, which did not help the situation for our boys! Adding to their already big feelings and feeling robbed as they had nothing but a lunchbox, notepad and pen.
The 2 hours with the stark contrast between our aisle and the one in front became increasingly obvious.
The boys becoming quite rambunctious and hearing myself shushing them as there was little to no sound from the children in front, it really made me think about how ‘kids being kids’ is so often inconvenient in many parts of our society and culture.
The natural ways they move through the world if we allowed more of it, could actually bring us all so much more joy, instead we tend to shush, distract and quieten down.
And please hear me, I’m not advocating that as parents we should let our kids freely scream at the top of their lungs and be their wild selves in all areas of society!! Imagine! But I think it was a moment to pause and reflect for me personally, on where can I allow more natural expression from my kids and not make them wrong, or have to suppress parts of them to fit into a certain way of being.
Perhaps something you want to ponder yourself?of your nervous system, so it can be the anchor for you, your children and the whole family unit.
Times are big right now and perhaps you’re holding some heaviness in your heart and world too?
It’s been a time of sadness, loss and grief for me, which often comes with the reminder that life can be so fleeting and as cliché as it sounds, to come home to what truly matters.
So I wonder if you too, would like to take some time today or over the next week, to sink it to what is lighting you up right now? What is bringing you a sense of joy, presence, gratitude?
However big or small.
Is there something in your day that brings you into presence and how can you weave more of that into your week?
It doesn’t have to be grandiose or intsa worthy, just something meaningful for you.
I’d love to know, if you feel called to hit reply and share with me.
Before I go I want to share these cards that I pulled, the perfect words and images to leave you with.
Presence. Weave. Pause.
They are a beautiful deck of cards - Spacious, from an dear old friend Clare Foale, and you can check them out here.
With love and connection,
Emily xxx
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