QUESTIONS OF CALLING

unearthing beauty, mining meaning, and seeking truth

This is a place for anyone who wants more, who is not content to be comfortable, who seeks a life of truth and meaning, not just happiness.

Here, we ask hard questions, tell true stories, and turn life inside out to unearth the ragged beauty within.

I’m honored to have you to join me.

Postpartum: The Second Birth No One Told Me About
postpartum, motherhood, emotional health Mara Eller postpartum, motherhood, emotional health Mara Eller

Postpartum: The Second Birth No One Told Me About

When I was pregnant with my first baby, I read obsessively about pregnancy, labor, and delivery. I read about cribs and car seats, strollers and swaddles. Thanks to some savvy friends, I even read some about breastfeeding, though I didn’t learn many basic facts about babies and their care until after our little girl had arrived and started making it very clear that we were not meeting all of her needs, at which time I read more.

What I never read anything about was what would happen to me after she was born. Not just physically—which offered plenty of its own surprises and challenges—but also mentally and emotionally. . .

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From Fracture to Forgiveness: Navigating a Painful Mother-Daughter Relationship in the Haze of Postpartum
postpartum, motherhood, emotional health Mara Eller postpartum, motherhood, emotional health Mara Eller

From Fracture to Forgiveness: Navigating a Painful Mother-Daughter Relationship in the Haze of Postpartum

One of the many unexpected side effects of becoming a mom is the way it forces you to look at your relationship with your own mother anew. For some, this elicits feelings of profound gratitude, love, and admiration. For others, the feelings are much less positive.

This story is one of the latter. This author (who asked to remain anonymous) remembers her journey to forgiveness with a mother who could not be there to support her and how she learned from becoming a mother herself to understand and forgive her mother.

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Maggie Shackelford: No Going Back
motherhood, postpartum, emotional health Mara Eller motherhood, postpartum, emotional health Mara Eller

Maggie Shackelford: No Going Back

A question for myself and other postpartum people: Why are we so determined to convince the world that we never had a baby? Why do we need to bounce back? Why do we need to erase any sign or hint on our bodies that we just grew and birthed life into the world?

Our culture is obsessed with how quickly birthing people return from this cataclysmic experience and back to “real” life. You get patted on the back for leaving your house with the infant days after giving birth, for fitting into your pre pregnancy clothes as soon as possible, for being “productive” again (because keeping an infant alive isn’t productive). . .

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