Just saying: Our photo up there is not us saluting anyone, it’s us being ‘super-heroes’ and we have to do what ever the hell we can think of to get Mr Archer Ted to cooperate with photos… 

Recently I shared a story of mine, not my entire story, just one of my stories. It was how I worked through perinatal depression after my first born. I was, and always will be happy to share that story and was thrilled when Wonderful Mama (a stunning online magazine) asked me to, as I hoped that we could open up the conversation around mental health for mothers.

I think we succeeded, I certainly got a lot of feedback from sharing that story and I was told it reached over 4000 peeps. That’s excellent, thank you and well done guys, because I’ve always said if sharing my story helped just one other mother, then it would be worth it. And let’s hope it was.

Today I want to say THANKS to the peeps that took the time to read it, share it and contact me about it. I’m pumped and grateful that you did this, but there’s a tiny issue. See, I’m  not comfortable with the feedback that says I’m brave and inspirational. Yes, I’m appreciative and feel very much loved but I don’t see it any other way.  I don’t see my story as brave, or inspirational, I see it as motherhood – the verb! I see myself, a mother like all others, who did what she had to do to be here. That’s it, I just did what had to be done to keep my motherhood journey going. Yep, it was hard, there were tears, it hurt, it got messy but I did what any other mother would do – because of that fact, I’m a mother. And as mothers we are brave and inspirational EVERYDAY.

I get all tingly and goose-bumpy with the words of support and love that my loved ones and strangers alike have shared with me, it helps and it means the world, but my story is just that, a story! Like you, and your mother and your friend who’s a mother and your sister who wants desperately to be a mother. We all have a story or two, that make us do things and feel things we never knew we could. There are mothers who have lost children, never held their children, have sick children, have children that aren’t even their own, are sick themselves, have children alone, go to the ends of the earth to make children and I could go on. Motherhood is not a noun, a name we give, it’s a verb – it’s something we do!

We are all stronger than we think, we are all so well loved, we are all admired by others and we all have super human mother-powers! We need to know THIS, and shout THIS from the roof tops! Mothers are just down right brave and inspirational all the time and we should start believing this ourselves.

We are technically super-human and sometimes I imagine what would happen if we combined all of our powers (channeling Captain Planet here!) what would we see then?

In my story, I chose to let my powers shine, a little bit like Captain Planet!  I chose not to live with depression and anxiety and I succeeded. That’s one of my super powers. I have more tucked away under my lycra costume that I don’t even know exist because simply, I’m a mother and I helped create goddam life!!!! That’s some super-human shit right there!!!

But honestly, mothers are doing what has to be done without even thinking about it and that alone is brave and inspirational. I bet if you thought about every mother you know, you could name their super-power – you could tell a story of bravery and inspiration and you know what? You should. You should let them know, like the kind peeps did for me. Let the mothers know how incredible you think they are for being just that – a mother!

You can choose to let your super power shine too, I dare you, strip off Clark Kent style and let it out!

You might just surprise yourself!

Thanks again for letting me share one of my stories,  I’m everything a mother can be and then some. I chose this, and if my story can help someone else make a choice to better their situation then my mother-powers have worked! And I didn’t even have to whip out the Lycra!

I also totally wrote about another one of my super-powers the other day, you could check it out here, or maybe you already know about it because you have mind-reading super powers… hail to ya mama!!

Love Linz