Springtime enlivens my body and spirit. I experience my energy mirroring the vibrant new life of nature, and I tend to feel more abundant, hopeful, grateful, creative.
All is well in my life and my family’s lives, yet, every time I meet someone in our new community and share that Trey and I are recent empty nesters, I feel my energy and heart sink. I think that I have feared becoming an empty nester for so long that I have allowed fear to continue to falsely define my reality.
Maybe a new perspective that embraces the truth of my life would be helpful. For me, “empty” conjures up feelings of being alone (yuck), abandoned (more yucky), void of purpose and worth (not true), hollow (false)...all depressing and all untrue!
Although our children no longer live at home, our family remains whole, connected and loving. I am still a mother, and now I also have more time for my relationship with Trey, and gratefully, just for me. My nest has not emptied, but rather expanded into new places and adventures with my chickadees soaring into their own lives.
I assume that for the sake of convenience I will still use “empty nest,” because I’d probably freak out people if I said that we are in our "LOVE nest" phase...which has to be the #1 perk of emptying the nest! Ha!
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