The final week of the Mojo Mom Quote-A-Day Widget

This is the final week for the Mojo Mom Quote-A-Day widget. Next Tuesday I'll be putting a whole new book out there, instead of a Quote of the Day!

I learned a lot by going through the process of making a widget, and it's been surprisingly enjoyable for me to see the new quote revealed each day. Even though I chose the quotes, they always took on new meaning the day they were revealed.

So enjoy the widget, and next Tuesday we'll have a new homepage design for MojoMom.com to celebrate the book release.

Beginning a new chapter

Finishing Mojo Mom has been a strange experience for me. I've been working on it for so long that I deeply feel both an ending and a beginning as I wait for the new book to come out.

Last week, when I finally had a free day I wanted to rebel and sit around and watch Jon Stewart (it was the Jim Cramer smackdown, after all). Then I looked at my house and thought I really don't want to clean it--that's not the reward for finishing I had in mind! Then I started to think about ideas for my next book and that made me feel better. (That impulse surprised me because it's kind of like asking a woman who just had a baby whether she wants more kids.)

What's strange is that even when I published a previous edition, I did not feel that sense of completion the way I do right now. I wrote the first edition largely in solitude, because the cultural conversation about motherhood had not exploded yet. A lot has happened since 2005, and I wrote the new edition in community, involving and responding to other writers, bloggers, and readers. That's been such a wonderful experience, and now that I have updated the book, it finally feels like the work I always wanted it to be.

I spent nine months working intensively to revise, expand, and update the book. I had to stay on an adrenaline roller coaster to get it done, meeting fast and furious deadlines, so it's no wonder I feel a little disoriented now that I have the week of down-time I have been craving for so long. The trick is to go into down-time without just mindlessly wasting it.

It's also strange that I feel like I've transitioned into "stay-at-home Mom" mode for a short time, just before I go into intensive "working Mom" mode. Just shows you that those labels are too narrow--and perhaps the wrong framework altogether--to describe real life. Today I'm cooking chili, following our shedding dog around with a vacuum cleaner, and driving carpool. In two weeks my husband will step into primary caregiver mode while I focus on the book launch throughout April and May. I like living a life that is full of variety, and defies simple characterization.

So I am about to step onto a new roller coaster--the book release--and see where that takes me. I also know that I need a true break when it's all over. I have a Mom-daughter adventure in the works for this summer, and I will also have a week of solitude (what's that???) when my daughter goes to camp and I park myself on the opposite shore of the same quiet lake. I have not had a week away from hands-on parenting in ten years, or a week alone like this since 1993, before I met my husband. I wish he could be there during the camp week but he's scheduled for a business trip, so I will make the most of the chance to spend time relaxing on my own.

Since I already feel the pushes and pulls of transition, I am also really looking forward to reading Mary Pipher's new book, Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World. She tells her story of what it was like to become famous after her book Reviving Ophelia took off and became a huge success. She eventually experienced a personal crisis and had to craft a quieter life.

Based on what I am feeling right now, I know that the ideas and practices of Buddhism would really benefit me. And wouldn't you know, once again the Quote-of-the-Day widget is telling me a message I really need to hear (again....and again):

My book is finished!

Imagine that you are a senior in college, graduating in an off semester. You finish your exams, mail in some term papers, and wait. You aren't sure if your professors have finished grading your work, or might ask for a rewrite. There's no graduation ceremony, but one day you ask the registrar the status of your degree and she says you've graduated.

That's sort of what it has been like to finish the new (forthcoming) Mojo Mom. We went through so many rounds of revisions and proofreading that the words eventually swam before my eyes. I thought there might be one more round of proofs, but I just found out that I am done!

So, there's no pomp and circumstance yet--we'll save that for the April 7 pub date. Today it's just me doing a happy dance, and going back to look at the rest of my life, which has been more than a little bit neglected as I raced toward my manuscript deadline. I have to admit that it's overwhelming to look at the "home" work that has accumulated. I definitely need to read Jack Kornfield's book After the Ecstasy, the Laundry. I have piles of laundry, filing, mail, and unread books staring me in the face. Lots of potential to explore and lots of chaos to unravel.

I am definitely burned out and trying to find my way back to myself as soon as possible. There are all sorts of juicy motherhood stories in the blogosphere right now, but I haven't caught the writing spark this week. I am getting on track with creating new episodes of The Mojo Mom Podcast, which feels like a great start.

And I am especially grateful for today's thought from the Mojo Mom Quote-A-Day widget, from one of my favorite Zen teachers, Cheri Huber:



[The widget moves on, but the February 2 quote said, "Be kinder to yourself than you think you should be."]

I selected all of the widget's quotes, so theoretically they shouldn't surprise me, but it does delight me each morning to see the new thought of the day. I can never resist clicking on it. Maybe that means that the seeds of my wonder and curiosity are still in here somewhere!

Check out the new Mojo Mom Quote-a-Day Widget!

I am very happy to announce that we've revamped and updated MojoMom.com for 2009, to reflect the upcoming release of the new edition of Mojo Mom: Nurturing Your Self While Raising a Family from Gotham Books on April 7th.

I wanted to create something new just for the web site, so I designed my very first widget! The Mojo Mom Quote-a-Day Widget will provide a tidbit of inspiration each day as we count down to my book release. So drumroll, please, here it is!



We've even made it easy to embed as a post on your own blog. I know I love having something quick and fun to share with you, and I hope you will, too.

I came up with the widget concept and personally selected the quotes from my collection of favorites. I hope you'll enjoy a moment of reflection by checking it out each day. I can promise you that some of my blog readers are even quoted in the widget itself!