Thanks for stopping by my blog. I’m Meghan and I’m a new suburban homeowner. For the first 15 years of my post-college existence I was a city dweller who swore she would never relinquish city life. I also never planned to become a single mother and get remarried, but life takes us to unexpected places. I hope you’ll join me as I keep track of my progress at updating my 1916 dutch gambrel colonial and learn new things about homemaking and homeownership. I may also share some book reviews and dip into some other topics like living in a blended family and managing work/life integration.
For me, homemaking is essential for a sane, happy life. I think most people likely agree. Designing and organizing a home that supports the members of a household in their daily activities, filling a space with meaningful objects, and nourishing ourselves and loved ones with delicious food has an enormous impact on our quality of life. Homemaking simultaneously shapes and reflects who we are. Each one of us – regardless of whether we’re single, living with roommates, living alone, single parenting, empty nesters or raising a family of 5 kids – are homemakers.
I will admit that for much of my life I did not respect homemaking. I hated the idea of being responsible for so much overhead. I feared that I needed to do it perfectly and therefore it would take too much time and energy and ruin all the grand plans I had for my life. So I mostly ran away from it. I would have loved to have someone – my mom, my ex-husband – ANYONE but me take care of home responsibilities so that I could focus on my career or my social life. But in denying myself the challenge of figuring out how to make my own space and to steward the routines of my life I was giving away my power to cultivate myself as a human being.
While I believe homemaking is essential I don’t think it has to be carried out by *just* one member of a household. We should respect the role of traditional homemakers, but we also need to look toward new ways of thinking about the cultivation of ourselves, our households, and sharing that work with others just as we collaborate with our teams at work or elsewhere.
Please come back and visit from time to time. I also want you to feel free to share your thoughts. If you’re also interested in cultivating your own house and home life I think we’ll all learn a lot through an exchange of ideas.
Take care!