After many failed attempts to write on a regular basis about the everyday manic/mundane of motherhood and how it has become an inseparable part of everything else—poetry, scholarship, fitness, relationships, breathing—this blog is the last resort to motivate such regular writing. Other women don’t tell you comes out of feeling like there is so much we don’t talk about—or talk about enough—when it comes to the experience of motherhood. While it is nearly impossible for me to compose poetry while chasing after a toddler and even harder to write or read for my dissertation within these distracted minutes, I want to start using them more wisely. These distracted minutes are part of what no one told me. But even if they did, would I have listened? I’m trying to write and to listen to the things I wish we would talk about more. I share these words to open the conversation about what is untold.
The basics about me: My name is Julia. I am mother to a toddler boy, two fat cats, a dog, and a house in South Philly. I am wife to the love of my life, a talented carpenter, musician, artist, and amazing father. I am daughter to Jewish refugees from Ukraine, with whom I came to the United States when I was six years old. I am a poet. I am a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Pennsylvania, where I focus on contemporary American poetry about the Holocaust. I am an instructor with Fit4Mom Philly, the strongest and most inspiring community of Mamas imaginable. And I am sure there are many more “I ams,” but they will emerge in the writing. Thanks for reading and maybe sharing your thoughts about the whirlwind of motherhood.
Other women don't tell you... 