Radical Balance

I always tell people that I am both a filmmaker and a mother. But I stumble when people ask why I insist on including my parenting status. For me, parenting and my career are equally part of my soul. I give all of myself to both of these things as part of living fully. My days are full, and each day brings difficult decisions to balance the demands of both jobs. But why is this so hard to explain? Perhaps because we have never valued parenting as equal with income-earning work. 

My choice is a celebration of vocation. I spent many years facing infertility, and for the past decade I have been blessed to raise two children. I am also a daughter, sister and a spouse, but those roles are not a part of my work. Being a mother is a part of the work of each and every day. I find it immensely challenging and rewarding, just like filmmaking has huge challenges and rewards. 

It is a radical balance to give career and parenting equal value. But it is who I am and what I do. The unfortunate reality is that my privilege makes this possible. The privilege of a partner with a secure income, a network that only comes with growing up in the same region where you work, and the privilege of education that gives me the tools to take on independent freelancing. There is always an underlying privilege of whiteness. I'm not going to give up this radical balance because others do not have the liberty to create their own radical balance; instead I will fight for a world where everyone can follow their vocations with a vengeance.