But while you thought those pieces of yourself were lost forever, they were being tossed by the waves. Ground against the sand. Tumbled and polished and beautified. Turned into glistening sea glass.
The shattered pieces of your old self are still there, but now, smoothed by time, (and it always takes time), they have washed onto the shore smoothed and softened and more lovely than ever before. Holding the light and refracting it and flinging it all around you.
You are still in there, and all these sleepless nights and endless days and perfect and horrible moments are forging you into a new version of yourself; a glorious hybrid of the woman you once were, and the hero you have become: a mother. A bad-@$$ Mother. With a capital M.
And as the snows of new motherhood begin to melt and the warm spring of FIGURING IT OUT starts to shine upon your face, tender green shoots of your truest self will begin to emerge, more lovely than ever before.
Kimberly Poovey is a writer, speaker, wife, and over-caffeinated new(ish) mom. She runs a teen pregnancy prevention program for a nonprofit and is a founder of Pearls, an organization that serves women in the sex industry and fights human trafficking. You can find her over on Scary Mommy, The Mighty, her blog, and on Facebook.
