Your invisible masterpiece

‪As a mom, I spent decades at home, lost in repetitive and unseen service to little people while younger, freer women filled their social media feeds with travel photos that made my investments feel mundane and pointless. ‬‪

I became less. I was absorbed. I felt it. ‪

Now the whole world sits home—the glorious and the frumpy alike—and I see those who have had more freedom beginning to question their worth.

Pretty adventure girl personas are struggling to stay afloat while I’m still taking photos of common soup I made in a common kitchen.

‪I’m one of a million old moms. I won’t change your life. I’m nearly 50. Age spots on my legs. No sexy, messy buns. No revolutionary escapades. I may frustrate or embarrass you online—but you will never fall in love with my persona from afar.

Yet, here is one secret I have learned. ‪What’s done in small, common places can be your ultimate art. Kindness, generosity, integrity happen within your four walls—acts of invisible love given to those whose breaths you hear after all the lights are out. ‬

And if you are physically alone in that small space, those friends and neighbors you reach by messages and phone calls during this time are no small flock. The humanity you express during this sweatpants-and-no-makeup-monotony has the potential to be your life’s masterpiece.