The beautiful resilience of motherhood
Becoming a mother is a beautiful and challenging experience.
For me, this phase of life came with an intense physical component as after giving birth, I required rehabilitation to restore my mobility.
In this trying phase, I saw incredible kindness from the people in my life. My family was my bedrock, offering emotional and practical support. Friends offered distractions and much needed company. And my workplace had a great maternity leave policy which allowed me to rest and do proper rehab.
But the role of colleagues didn't stop there. When my daughter was born, I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from the team at Smith School. When I needed reassurance, mothers (and fathers) from my workplace were there for me. When I needed to work to restore a sense of well-being, my colleagues made adjustments to make sure this could happen in the smoothest way possible. My colleagues offered wisdom, support and kindness in a way that went above and beyond.
My little daughter, Gita, has also shown me that there's so much joy to be found in the simplest of things. She's taught me how to be strong and she already looks at the world with so much curiosity. Her big eyes light up when we do our nature walks.
I'm now one month away from starting work and I feel much better. From barely being able to walk for two minutes to now doing almost an hour, the journey has imparted invaluable lessons on strength, faith, and hope.
One can't know what challenges life will bring but there is a way to triumph. Having a support network in the form of family, friends and colleagues makes the journey easier and shows that no matter what life throws at you, the human spirit can and will prevail.
As I reflect on my journey, I know that planet earth, much like the human body, also has incredible resilience. With enough time, care and patience, systems will bounce back, often stronger.
To all my wonderful colleagues at Smith School - being part of this larger mission is one of the most meaningful things in my life. With the deepest gratitude, I look forward to returning to work. I do so with a renewed sense of purpose so that my precious little daughter can live in a world full of natural beauty.
