I recently had the pleasure of writing an article for a newly developed magazine called TRUSTED, which I helped my company launch. The article, titled “What’s Mine Is Yours, What’s Yours Is Mine,” addresses a shift in the marketplace that has replaced ownership with access. This is the movement of consumers opting in to share one another’s product and/or service instead of having to purchase their own. The peer-to-peer marketplace or what is better known as the Sharing Economy has revolutionized how we catch a “cab,” or book a place to stay when out of town. Before getting into the nuts and bolts of the article, I took time to address the notion of sharing. In writing my thoughts, I began to realize that sharing is something I do every day and still I have a way to go in order to deem myself an expert.
I am divorced and a single mother of the most precious little girl to walk the face of this earth. I know every mother thinks so about their little ones, but my Niomi, I tell you is special. She is full of life and has this burst of energy that captures any room. She has been making me laugh since the moment I met her. She’s only 5 and yet her influence is that of a person whose reach spans across the ages. She has captivated me so much that sharing her is one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do. It is so hard that there are moments that I wish I could go back in time and push the pause button on motherhood in order to eliminate the pain that comes with missing her.
Don’t get me wrong. I am so grateful that Niomi’s father decided to stay in her life and is fully involved and engaged. I would never keep the love of her father from her or deny her the beauty of having a Daddy. What I can’t get or comprehend, no matter how hard I work at it, is that I have been “sharing” my girl since she was six months old. To this day, I am not content with “part-time” motherhood. Every other weekend and 2 nights a week, I have no choice but to stare at my empty arms that crave to hold my baby. The first night without her was a nightmare. I was still breastfeeding at the time, and in the middle of the night, I just knew I heard her crying while I was asleep. I jumped out of bed and soon realized she was with Dad. My bosom began to tingle and before I knew it, milk was everywhere. Even my body was well aware that a piece of me was missing.
I fast-forward five years later, and I learn almost daily that perfecting my “sharing” skills is easier said than done. The keyword is “learn.” I find that being open to learning and continue doing so makes the journey bearable. Now, the one thing I KNOW I have learned is that I can’t journey alone. By nature, I am a loner. I have always been self-sufficient, rejecting the need to rely on others, but doing life on my own – doing motherhood on my own – is changing that (whether I like it or not). It takes a village they say. It takes Mom and Dad. But what happens when there isn’t a Dad (or a Mom)? What happens when your village appears to be just one?
This is the reason I am beginning this blog. I noticed that there aren’t too many Mommy Bloggers speaking to the community of single Mothers. We are unique. While similar to all Mothers, we are VERY different.
Please join me on this journey as we share the tricks, resources, and tools needed to journey well. In addition, let’s use this platform to ensure that none of us journey through life and motherhood on our own!
See you next post – In the meantime, tell me YOUR story. I am all ears!
Sincerely,
Nona A. Phinn
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