I gave birth to a business baby!

Jan 30, 24

Human newborn dressed in a fox costume, nestled in a soft white blanket nest

I have two human children (aged almost 11, & 13), and one brand new business baby. She’s beautiful and miraculous and I marvel at her features, and yet I am afraid of her too. I’m afraid I’ll drop her, forget to feed her, or miss her cries. I feel inept, in spite of evidence to the contrary, and bewildered, as if she were my first born. I think many of us can relate to the feeling of having a child (or animal) suddenly in our care, after spending all that time worrying about the pregnancy, birth and/or adoption. We might have bought the parenting/pet owning books, but it’s not likely we read them! Who IS this adorable tyrant running our lives all of a sudden??

And yet, we fumble through, graceful sometimes, clumsy other times. Though we love them, our hearts bursting open, we every so often wonder if we can return them… Because it’s a lot! And it’s exhausting, requiring leap after leap of faith, stepping past the feeling of “I can’t do it” whether we like it or not. The kids/pets don’t care if we’re sick, they need breakfast, and they don’t care if we’re perfect, we’re the ones who love them and they trust us. We’re raising them, so we figure it out! And we F it up. And then we do better. 

When I consider my business like a new baby, it brings to mind the words by Kahlil Gibran about parenting, that our children come not from us, but “through” us, and have their own purpose and soul. I like that, feeling like a channel for something good to come through. That I can tend to the business of course, but that there is only so much I can do to control it. Life’s surprises, the clients’ needs, the future - I can plan for them, yes. And I will. And I can also breathe, be here, and connect, trusting myself and making space for possibility and wonder. 

Thank you for making space for me!