Welcome to my blog: Mindful in the Muddle! My name is Jamie and I am a writer, photgrapher, storyteller and stay at home mom to three kids, plus a furry one. My daughter Emily has Down syndrome, which has added the title of Special Needs Mom to my credentials. I’m more than halfway through my 40’s and I have to say, life gets better every year. I share this busy and beautiful life with my husband of 18 years, Doug.

The name of my blog is rooted in what I learned while seeing a therapist years back. He taught me about mindfulness. He showed me how freeing and centering it could be. Mindfulness doesn’t have to found sitting with your legs crossed on the floor silently for 20 minutes every day. It can be discovered this way, but it’s different for everyone. I don’t always have a long stretch of time or a quiet place, so I needed to find other ways. I might take a few minutes to pause and look for the good and beauty. Or try to slow down throughout my day. It’s not easy with 3 kids, a dog, therapies, practices, homework, a husband who travels, etc. but I do my best. So that’s where the Mindful part comes in.

Now to the Muddle part…the definition of muddle is an untidy and disorganized state or collection, which pretty much sums up my house and my life. I am learning to be more mindful when life is extremely crazy. Sure, it’s difficult, but when I do create these moments, I see some of the most beautiful and joyful times. The craziness gets less crazy. All you need to do is shift your perspective and amazing things can happen. You will see joy, happiness and beauty. You can be mindful in the muddle.

For the past several years, I have thought about starting a blog. I felt it would be a good therapy session for me. I felt that my story might be able to help someone realize they are not alone. I felt like I could build connections with others who are going through or have gone through the same things I am. I could share my successes and my failures, so we could all learn from them. I could build awareness for Down syndrome and Speech Apraxia. I would share my struggles and successes as a mom of a teens, a special needs child, and an elementary age kid. I will share things that have helped me get to where I am today (which is leaps and bounds different then several years ago).

But I was scared to death to create this space. I didn’t want to be judged. I didn’t have the confidence in myself. I didn’t think I was smart enough or talented enough. I was letting the inner critic win. Not anymore. I have told my inner critic to shut up and I’m going for it!

I hope you find my blog to be a place of connection, encouragement, happiness, awareness and joy with some humor thrown in too!