Dear Bundle,

Being so far away from my family has been increasingly hard on me throughout this pregnancy. And as my employment situation continues to take shape, it continues to pressurize and test the balance of good faith, hard work and financial capacity. As my pregnancy progresses, I have been challenged emotionally and spiritually as I continue to search for avenues of support, substance and self-purpose. It’s difficult trying to communicate how I can feel so happy and blessed and excited for your arrival and for my life right now, and yet feel so lonely and misplaced at the same time. I think it’s important for me to recognize that these feelings exist and that it’s okay and normal to have emotional ups and downs. And for me, the best thing to do when I start to feel the onset of anxiety or doubt or depression, is to turn inward. My inward place focuses me toward my creativity… to my writing, to artwork, to crafting, to yoga, to music or simply to my meditative place.

When I decompress in this way, it does many things. It opens up my right brain, where I am my most productive and comfortable. It inspires insight and self-awareness. It re-energizes my level of vitality and confidence. It allows me to be more in tune with my holistic body and resets my physical battery. And probably most importantly, it allows me to be more receptive of my spiritual guides and to the wisdom that there are forces at work that are greater than me. And that these forces are working through me to create life, to create challenges, and to create opportunities for me and for others to learn, to grow and to love.

I am so grateful for this journey. And my pledge is to continue striving inward, and to remain in constant pursuit of my mission statement below so that I may be the best version of myself for you and for all who know me. My Mission Statement is as follows:                                                                                              

“I strive to live my life with integrity, compassion, mindful observance, and a healthy sense of humor. In both large and small matters, may I always be true to my deepest principles so that my integrity may be a gift to others. Living now in a constant state of questions, answers, and fortitude… ‘I know that if I continue to advance in the direction of my dreams, and endeavor to live a life in which I have imagined, I will meet with a success unexpected in common hours,’ (H. Thoreau)”  ~ Leonie Marie.

I am so looking forward to everything we have to learn from one another. Love Always, Mom