Empty-nest season is nearly upon us. This ceremony of passage within the parental journey kicks into excessive gear in late summer time and is usually stuffed with dread and unhappiness—particularly for girls—as their kids head off into the world.
Rethinking the “Empty Nest” Narrative
It’s simple to purchase into the narrative the patriarchy would have us imagine: that after our kids are launched, we not have a task in society. That we’re used up. That our lives simply languish in entrance of us—our solely pleasure arriving when our children stumble house with duffel luggage stuffed with soiled laundry and empty bellies prepared for house cooking. However I feel it’s bullshit.
I generally surprise if we’ve created a self-fulfilling prophecy round the entire empty-nest factor. Am I unhappy as a result of I feel I’m purported to be unhappy? If I’m not strolling round with a field of tissues all day, what does that say about me as a mom? Does it imply I don’t love my youngsters sufficient?
(NOTE: I’m under no circumstances making mild of ladies who cope with very actual signs of melancholy at the moment. If that is your expertise, please attain out to your physician or therapist.)
What If We Noticed It as Progress As a substitute of Loss?
What if we didn’t anticipate that this variation could be arduous? What if we acknowledged it as the subsequent wholesome step within the evolution of our household—and ourselves? Our youngsters are purported to go off into the world to do their factor. By permitting them the area to vary and adapt, we get the prospect to do the identical.
Too usually, our experiences are compressed into both/or situations. You’re both the devoted mom who cries at each reminder of her little one, otherwise you’re the impassive one who turns the bed room into a house health club the day after they transfer out.
However what if we allowed ourselves to be each?
Dwelling within the Center Means
Our lived experiences present we’re way more sophisticated than a binary alternative. There’s all the time the choice of the center means—permitting your self to be within the liminal area of not figuring out.
An empty nest is completely about loss and shifting into a brand new identification. However what in the event you acknowledged that grief—and as a substitute of letting it swallow you—used it as gasoline to develop into a brand new model of your self? May you progress ahead into that new identification with each pleasure and curiosity?
A Single Mom’s Perspective
As a single mom, I discover the liberty of entering into an empty nest a bit of intoxicating. There are issues I wish to do with my life that I can’t when my world is so closely intertwined with my kids. I’m not abandoning them—they’re off having new experiences in new locations. Why ought to I be caught in the identical outdated life, simply ready for Thanksgiving break?
I by no means had this type of company in my 20s. Again then, I didn’t actually know who I used to be or what I wished. I compromised on goals earlier than I even had them discovered—busy paying down pupil debt and following boyfriends across the nation. My 20s have been centered on ticking off a guidelines: get married by a sure age, have kids by a sure age.
Now? I’ve been there and performed that. What’s subsequent?
Extra Than Distraction
That is the purpose in most articles the place I’m purported to say: go get a passion, be a part of a membership, take up pickleball. However these can simply be new methods to distract your self so that you don’t need to really feel.
What if I recommended one thing totally different?
It’s not about distraction—it’s about turning into so deeply conscious of your self it virtually hurts.
I need you to carry grief and pleasure on the similar time, which suggests being current in each second.
I need you to get snug with being uncomfortable.
I need you to ask your self what feels true proper now—and never be so numb with distractions which you can’t reply.
Some days, nothing will really feel true. Your physique, profession, and relationships could all be in flux. However that flux offers you the area to determine who you actually are. It’s an opportunity to rewrite your story so it’s aligned with the individual you are actually. We get to shed the burden of individuals, locations, and issues which might be not ours to hold.
Stepping Into What’s Subsequent
None of this can really feel simple. It received’t occur in a single day. You received’t get up the morning after your little one leaves along with your new identification in place. It will likely be uncooked and messy. However you have got a alternative: step into the mess with heaviness and dread—or with risk and pleasure.
The Empty Nest and Coping Mechanisms
In my work with girls exploring their relationship with alcohol, the empty nest usually performs a task in elevated nightly ingesting. Distractions begin out harmless sufficient: comfortable hours, high-intensity exercises, limitless scrolling, or extra-long workdays.
The hazard comes when these distractions develop into addictions—once they flip into coping methods. You possibly can slide into a spot of darkness with out even realizing it’s occurring.
Eradicating distractions—or at the least turning into conscious of them—permits you to reconnect with components of your self you might not have touched in years.
In the event you’re interested in exploring your relationship with alcohol, please attain out and guide a STRONGER SOBER session right here. —Krysty
