Tag Archives: Reflection

On My Mind

Slow Down

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People keep telling us to enjoy this time, this holiday season, the two weeks we have off with no plans. “It’ll be different next year,” they say. “And for the next many years,” they say.

We know it will. We’re ready for different, and we’re looking forward to it.

But I am also very focused on what is happening right now because I know this is the end of a time in which our worries are pretty simple and pretty solvable. That’s not to say that there aren’t stressful times, upsetting times, uncertain times – of course there are, because that’s what living means. But now is certainly a time of fewer variables; our family consists of one fewer human now than there will be in a matter of weeks!

So I’m enjoying sleeping in, spending half a day on a puzzle, going for a spontaneous walk in the sunshine, waking without a plan and letting the day proceed as it will. There are things to do, of course, and things I want to get done (nearly all of which relate to baby planning), but rather than rushing into all of them at once, which I am prone to do, I’m trying to do things one at a time. I’m just trying to slow down.

Because this is the time where I can. I can indulge in not having to think too hard or do too much, and I am trying to enjoy this feeling because I know everything is going to change. And as I can be pretty tightly wound and all too efficient for my own good, slowing down is somewhat of a challenge for me.

I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions because I firmly believe that the time to change something is the time when one recognizes there’s a change to be made. Over the course of the last few months, I’ve made a very considerable effort to slow down because I know that’s something that doesn’t come easily to me. I would like my child to be a little more relaxed than I am, and I thought it would be helpful for us both to just take a step back. Approach the to-do list with the confident calm of someone who knows it will get done. Do one thing and then the next thing rather than trying to fit all the things into one moment.

As I’m writing this, the Chanukah candles are burning. Sometimes it’s nice to just sit back at watch.

Weimar, Germany – February 2024
On My Mind

Feeling Like Myself

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I ran into a friend in town last weekend who asked what I thought was a very insightful question: Are you feeling like yourself?

I’m 25 weeks pregnant and my body is undergoing a series of rapid changes. I’ve become comfortable with the pace of change at this point, but the changes themselves are always very new, and each still takes some getting used to. That being said, I really don’t spend that much time in each individual body phase before another takes over. It’s a journey, as they say.

And it really is very beautiful. I have always loved seeing what the body is capable of, and I confess myself in awe of biology.

It’s obviously not just the body that changes during pregnancy, but also the mind. I’m not talking about “baby brain” here, but rather the way that I’ve come to see myself, which is why my friend’s question rang really loudly. The way I spend my time now is definitely different to how I spent time before: I cycle to and from school much more slowly; I am restricted to easy (and therefore boring) routes at the climbing hall, and being there is more for social reasons than training reasons; yoga has become about opening, stretching, and breathing, and no longer has anything to do with using the breath to go deeper and become stronger; I find myself very comfortable spending evenings quietly at home and have been doing a lot of crocheting. Of course, some of this could be related to the time of year. It’s cold, dark, and generally unpleasant outside, and I was more than happy, as always, to go for a long walk in the forest on a sunny day last weekend. But it all feels a little slower, a little more relaxed, a little more settled.

I’m still feeling like myself in the sense that I am at home in my body. I love what it looks like and feels like, I take a picture once a week, and I am utterly charmed by the movement of my growing baby. But where I’ve had to see myself differently is in the way that my body allows me to experience the world. I have had to modify much of what I love to do because that’s the right choice right now, and my body reminds me of that. Accepting where my body is today allows me to enjoy this stage of life, and that is good for the mind. Feeling good in the mind is what allows me to feel like myself, albeit a somewhat different version.

Different phases of life give us the opportunity to try on different selves and I’ve been letting myself listen to this current one. It turns out there a lot of peacefulness to be had there.

Weimar, Germany – November 2025
On My Mind

Expecting – Part I

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You were the size of a sesame seed when your papa and I first learned about you. We were in the Alps for some climbing and mountaineering, and all I could think about was you.

You were the size of a blueberry when we first saw your heart beating. And how fast! We were in awe.

You were the size of a strawberry when it was time for new bras. Finally, an easily managed symptom of my body shaping itself to house you.

You were the size of a fig when I saw your hands wave and feet kick. You turned around and around.

Your papa and I held hands in the waiting room when you were nearly the size of a lemon. Then, the doctor showed us your symmetrical brain, four-chambered heart, 10 fingers, 10 toes. Your feet crossed at the ankles and your hands covered your face. Through tears, we watched you move.

You were almost the size of an apple when it was time for maternity pants. I marvelled at my body’s ability to make space for you.

You were the size of a cucumber when my skin met skin in places that had never touched before. I grew out of my climbing harness and started wearing one designed for my changing body, announcing to everyone who didn’t already know that you were on the way.

When you were the size of a mango, your papa felt you move for the first time. We lay in the dark as I guided his hand, both of us basking in the astonishment of you.

Halfway through the journey of becoming, you were the size of a grapefruit. Your papa and I took some time away to be together, smiling all the while at you.

Madeira, Portugal – October 2025