Wellbeing

My soulful lessons from becoming a mum

Soul Diva Alice Grist looks back on the last year and how things have changed since giving birth to little Ivy

Soul Diva Alice Grist looks back on the last year and how things have changed since giving birth to little Ivy

This time last year I was recovering from birth and getting to know the little pale pink pinch of blossom that is my beautiful daughter Ivy. In the past year my girl has learned to walk and talk, stumble and fall, get back up and start all over. The days of her being a little ‘poppyseed’ developing behind the closed doors of my belly seem very long ago. Yet the love story that started, perhaps even before her conception, has continued unabated. That’s not to say all has been roses. We have had our hormones and sleepless nights like any other parent-to-be and new momma should! Without gushing too much it’s been the most wonderful adventure of my life – who needs Everest?

Now the book which charts the ups, downs, soulfulness and human moments of my pregnancy is birthed to the world. It’s all there for anyone to see, my spiritual la la, my fits of morning sickness, my fears, my love, my moments of weakness. All tangled up with love letters to my daughter, a changing marital landscape and the ever essential baby related DIY!

Dear Poppyseed is a huge departure from my previous writing. Whilst that was personal, this goes under my skin to the bone, to the soul, to the womb. I hope it acts as support and inspiration for any parent ploughing forth with pregnancy, a little unsure, a little excited, a whole lot in love! Whilst my previous works dealt with my spiritual leanings, this book deals in life, my life, the making of life. It’s a whole other animal, and yet so intrinsically the same. For what else are our souls on earth to be, other than human, and to embrace all the icky, sticky, beautiful human-ness which that entails.

Here are some soulful lessons this year has taught me.

I’m not that important. Though I am the centre of someone’s world! My needs can go unmet for weeks, and I can still be happy. Needs and wants and desires have shifted. Important has new meaning.

Love really can cure all, even at 3am, exhausted, tearful and utterly unsure what to do next. Eat, Pray, Love – eat your heart out!

Everyone was a baby once, which makes everyone kinda special. Yep even when they are being vilely irritating. We are all, from time to time lost little baby souls and everyone deserves a cuddle now and then.

The simple things can fill hours and days with great joy. Forget your lust for a shopping spree and think about ducks, or cats, or the sound of miaow for a little while. A meditation on all things obvious (and cute) can be great for the life battered soul.

A child, like any great event can prompt great change. It’s true. My mum and mum-in-law have most certainly accepted my hippy ways of attachment parenting, and done so with great gusto and against all their 1980’s parenting wisdom. People can change!

Little suprises and tiny amounts of progress can bring great joy. The end goal is irrelevant, enjoy the baby steps people. Without them life would be a fast track to the end. in tiny progress we truly live!

Article by

Alice Grist

Author

Alice Grist is the author of three books: The High Heeled Guide to Enlightenment and Prediction Magazine Award Winning The High Heeled Guide to Spiritual Living. Alice’s third book, Dear...

Discover more

Article by

Alice Grist

Author

Alice Grist is the author of three books: The High Heeled Guide to Enlightenment and Prediction Magazine Award Winning The High Heeled Guide to Spiritual Living. Alice’s third book, Dear...

Discover more