Rebecca
Each quarter, we feature an individual woman and ask her the questions below. From there, we build that months’s newsletter around her answers. Being that we are one year into this journey, we wanted to answer our own questions and share more of us with you! So this month we bring you Rebecca–stay tuned for Theresa’s WOVXN Women feature next quarter!
For what are you most grateful?
I am grateful for the women that have been part of my journey. The circles of women that have surrounded and carried me (when needed) have influenced my life in ways that I am still uncovering. The examples of care and strength from my mom and grandmother and being present and finding joy in small things from my aunt (I love the picture of her above- it makes me happy every time I look at it), . For every phase of my life, there have been incredible women cheering me on and serving as inspiration for what living a full life can be.
And feeling like I am coming into a space in time where I can integrate all the parts of myself. Some of those parts felt like they were dormant and others took longer than I thought they would to get there, but the journey has led to this beautiful (and often chaotic and overwhelming) place.of seeing the big picture of my life and the pieces I want to carry forward. I can be an acupuncturist and an artist and a mother. I didn’t always see.a path to it all or know if (motherhood) would happen. One of the gifts of aging is having more time with yourself and while there may be days that I don’t love myself as much as I should, I know that each piece is part of my whole and I am worth the effort.
Who have been the most influential people/events in your life thus far? How have they affected your life decisions to this point?
Finding acupuncture…Getting acupuncture 20 years ago for recurrent and persistent sinus infections, changed the trajectory of my life within weeks. I did not grow up thinking someday I want to be an acupuncturist. I don’t even know now what led me to make the appointment other than being in pain that wasn’t getting better with repeated rounds of antibiotics. I think I was 26 and within weeks, I enrolled in the three year Master’s program. Two years later, I met my husband through one of my classmates over tater tots at Palomino after class one Tuesday. Sometimes the path finds you. Chinese medicine has given me a beautiful language and lens by which to look at the world.
What of your perceptions, knowledge, experience, and wisdom would you leave as a gift for others? For your children, grandchildren, or best friends? What gifts have others given you that you’d like to pass on?
The importance of learning to love yourself as you are. Sometimes what you think is a weakness may actually be one of your super powers. When I was younger, I felt like I was never drawn to one thing and was self-conscious about the windy path that my life has had. I started in business school and then transferred to art school and after graduating with a BFA in photography went to acupuncture school. I liked many things, but never felt great at anything. A few years ago, I did my Human Design chart and it made sense of what I thought was deficit. As a Manifesting Generator, I am multi-passionate and I have come to see my ability to merge various paths as a strength.
Do you feel connected to your body? Has it betrayed you in any way? What lessons has it taught you?
The journey to and into motherhood has been a lesson in letting go of expectations and the pressure to be or do more than I am capable of in the moment. Now that my daughter is almost six, I am taking time to reframe my experience and have gratitude for all that my body has done. For a number of years, it was hard to not feel like my body was failing. Even after getting pregnant, I grieved some of the rites of passage that I envisioned as part of the transition into and through early motherhood. I never experienced labor (she was breech and was delivered by C-Section) and as hard as we tried, breastfeeding (read my story here) was not successful. But she arrived healthy and was fed and loved–looking back, it feels easier to acknowledge our journey as our journey and honor my body as is.
What is your relationship with your menstrual cycle? Do you have discomfort or do your symptoms interfere with your living your ideal life? If you have gone through menopause, how did you find that transition and have you found it has changed how you look at your body?
My period when I was younger was often irregular and didn't serve as a reliable marker of time or rhythm in my life. I didn’t really understand the physiological ways that hormones affect a woman throughout the month, but had a sense when we started trying to get pregnant that it may take some time. And now I am in an interesting transitiion–being an older mom, it feels like the depletion of postpartum (which can last 6+ years) has converged with perimenopause; My cycles are coming closer together and I am experiencing more fatigue, brain fog, temperature intolerances, and emotional fluctuations. I am also gaining weight more easily and relearning how to best take care of myself to better balance my stress hormones and shifting ovarian hormones.
If you could share something with young girls that you wish someone had told you, what would it be?
You don’t have to know who you are becoming and you don’t have to have it all figured out–whatever your age! Give yourself space, listen to your gut, be open to what presents itself, and take the next step. I put so much pressure on trying to identify who I was and what I wanted , but life is constantly unfolding and with it, I change. It is OK to not be who I was yesterday or to know who I will be tomorrow as often what lies ahead is not something that I could have imagined. And as you age, allow yourself the ability to explore the possibility and potential that aging brings. You are not done becoming.
AND, don’t worry so much about what other people think!
What does your ideal look like:
My ideal day would start off with either a hike followed by brunch, putting on some “Sunday” music (as we call it in our house) and cooking at home, or going to the farmer's market, connecting with friends and sitting by the water. Our neighborhood has an end of the farmer's market party. Everyone brings a dish inspired by the market and it is one of my favorite events of the year–farmer's market, food, and friends!
Do you have a favorite family recipe?
My grandmother’s peanut butter cups! Ironically, when I make them now they are too sweet so I have adapted the recipe and use a little less sugar! But they bring me right back to her and my childhood.
What are some of your favorite Instagram accounts/newsletters/resources:
@hellogloria
@thenatureofthepoints
@dr.avivaromm
@artistmotherpodcast
Find Rebecca here: