I felt much like Charlotte Lucas from the 2005 Pride & Prejudice film, when she cries, “I’m twenty-seven years old, I’ve no money and no prospects. I’m already a burden to my parents and I’m frightened.” I was truly living the meme.
I had absorbed clear messages at church as the second wave of the women’s movement swept the nation: a mother’s place was in the home. So, instead of becoming an English teacher, I cobbled together various part-time jobs…
The women I know cannot be contained.
I yearned for a more authentic version of myself. One that I had long-since neglected.
The issue of family size flummoxed me. I was simultaneously being taught that God had a plan for me — a specific glorious plan for how my whole life would turn out and that I must make
the correct choices at every step in order to have this glorious
life.
There was no one to clutch my hand and show me how to navigate a life where being a professional and a mother could coexist.
I’ve tortured myself with regret and wondering why I hadn’t just made better choices at these pivotal moments in my life.
My adopted children have taught me things about the world and myself that my biological children never could have.
This is when I knew something had to change; I was willing to trade the uncomfortable known for hopefully a more comfortable unknown.
The only way to know whether or not you are on your own path is if you see no one else on it.
Exponent II provides feminist forums for women and gender minorities across the Mormon spectrum to share their diverse life experiences in an atmosphere of trust and acceptance. Through these exchanges, we strive to create a community to better understand and support each other.
