Finding harmony

It’s hard to believe that my maternity leave ended one month ago and my daughter just turned 4 months old. Seriously, where does the time go?
Since returning to work, a lot of people ask me what it’s like being a working mom. I can’t speak for every working mom, but I definitely don’t think I’m alone when I say that finding a healthy balance can be challenging.
I work as a product marketer for a social media company. We’re a startup based out of Atlanta, and our office looks like something you’d see in an episode of HBO’s Silicon Valley. Couches, ping pong table, kegerator, funky murals — the whole shabang.
Our co-founders are in their mid-20s, and I think the median age of our employees is somewhere around there, too.
Startup culture has it’s many perks, one of them being a flexible work schedule. I’m super fortunate to be able to work from home a couple of days a week. It’s truly been a blessing. Having this flex schedule allows me to spend more time with Lily during these first few months of her life and still contribute to the growth of a company that I wholeheartedly believe in.
This also means that my days can be somewhat hectic. Even though I created a beautiful office space in our loft upstairs, more often than not, I spend my days crouched over a laptop on the floor while Lily plays on her activity mat or gnaws on a teething ring in my lap. Proper work attire completely optional. And instead of taking a break to watch an intense ping pong battle or chat with a co-worker, I change diapers or fold baby clothes. My multitasking game is on point these days.
On top of my job and baby, I also have to make time for mine and Bill’s relationship. Like any parents, we want Lily to grow up with a good understanding of what a healthy relationship looks like. That means we must constantly be looking for ways to better ours. Even if it’s just sitting down together with a glass of wine or sharing funny memes (pretty much anything Harambe, as of late), we try to set aside time every week for just the two of us.
It’s really easy to get sucked into this downward spiral of negativity when I think of everything that’s on my plate. Am I spending enough time on this? Was that really the best use of my time? Should I have done this differently? Before I even know it, the dreaded mom guilt has set in!
I use to think of this as a balancing act. However, the more I begin to think about it, it’s more about finding harmony than balance. Balance assumes that I spend an equal amount of time in all or most areas of my life, and that’s just not logistically possible for anyone. It is, however, completely possible to create a life that has harmony in it.