Although I’m still officially on maternity leave (thank goodness because I’m not ready to throw the blog into the juggle yet), I managed to pull together a few things I wanted to share with you.  They both touch on a theme I’ve come to believe in:

If you cultivate your talents and focus on your passions, the rest will fall in line, including happiness and money.

Bad Businesswoman

Are you a momtrepreneur?  I didn’t realize I was until I was approached by Jill Salzman of The Momtrepreneur Exchange, a network of business-owning moms who exchange advice and learn from one another in casual, kid-friendly gatherings across the country.

I love that Jill is bringing together communities of women at the local level.  As wonderful as the far-reaching connections made online can be, there are few things as satisfying as gabbing, laughing and griping with real live people who share a common interest.  (One reason why I’m currently trying to organize a get-together of bloggers in Syracuse and Central New York.)

Even though I admit in an interview on the Momtrepreneur blog that I’m terrible at the business of making money, Jill published it anyway, and she includes a few American Express “cardmember since” questions about things like childhood ambitions.

The interview appears this week on the Momtrepreneur blog.

No Impact Woman

Can you imagine living without electricity or without creating trash?  That’s what Michelle Conlin, her toddler and her husband, No Impact Man, did for a whole year.  I spent a lunch hour chatting with Michelle, co-star of the documentary No Impact Man, in a live talk organized by Discovery and TheMotherhood.

Even though Michelle was reluctant to go along with her husband’s radical idea, she discovered a lot of win-wins in the equation.  She lost weight, saved money, learned how to cook, weaned herself from a TV and retail addiction, and more.

Among other things, we discussed making sacrifices to support our families’ larger dreams, and the many ways we are succeeding or struggling in reducing our environmental impact.

When Michelle asked, “I’m curious what all of you do to live more sustainably….I’d love to learn from all of you what you are doing to realize your family’s larger goals……for example, one of the things we do is no-impact vacations where we take the train and our bikes to a local spot instead of going far, far away…….”

I loved how Susan Hunt Stevens of Practically Green responded:

We try and think about it wholistically, asking how we can change our time and money allocations–away from unsustainable products, unhealthy food, unhealthy activities, and boring things like electricity and gas bills–and towards the things we love: delicious and healthy food, fresh air, a night out on the town, an after school program.

You can read many more insightful tidbits from the talk at TheMotherhood.

That’s it for now.  I hope you are enjoying the series of guest posts that have been keeping my blog alive!

— Amy

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