The Weight We Carry: Physically, Mentally, and Emotionally

This morning, for the first time in 𝟭𝟳 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀, I carried just 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗴 to my car. One! 🎉

For the last year and a half, I’ve averaged five:
🎒 My work bag
👜 My pump bag
🏋️‍♀️ My gym bag
🥗 My lunch bag
🎒 My preschooler’s backpack (which is basically larger than she is)

𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘃𝘆—literally and figuratively. The physical weight we carry is matched by the invisible load: the planning, the scheduling, the remembering, the worrying. And with so much uncertainty in the day to day of being a scientist right now, everything feels even heavier.

But today, 𝗜 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻. I finished pumping FOREVER a few weeks ago (welcome back to my life 20 hours per week of FREEDOM! 🙌). And today I gave myself permission to buy my lunch instead of packing it. Such a small thing, but it meant one less thing to prepare, one less bag to carry. And it felt 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳.

It made me wonder: How often do we keep carrying things simply out of habit? What would happen if we put one of them down—even just for a moment?

So I’ll ask you: What permission can you give yourself today to set down even a little bit of the weight? I would love to hear 💖

#Motherhood #MentalLoad #WorkingMoms #LighterMoments #GiveYourselfPermission