The Origin of The Motherscope Podcast
ABOUT THE EPISODE
Taking a second today to soak in the fact that The Motherscope Podcast is finally live! I've been working on this for about a year now and I just know that we are all going to be doing something special together. Podcasts have been so special to me since becoming a mom, they have been my saving grace during motherhood and a way for me to feel like I can engage with the outside world. I'm a lifelong learner and podcasts are a natural extension of that. This podcast and many others have been a real gift to me, and I hope this one will be to you, too.
TOPICS DISCUSSED
The origin of The Motherscope Podcast and why your motherhood story matters
Leaning into your intuition, what you know, and how that can guide you
How rejection can be a catalyst for the best things in your life
What you can expect in the future from The Motherhood Podcast
RESOURCES MENTIONED
ABOUT JACKIE
JACKIE LEONARD is a life-long writer, Southern California girl, and the founder of Motherscope. She has an MFA in Creative Writing and years of experience as an editor for college and literary publications. However, it was the birth of her first child in 2017, and her experiences in those early days of motherhood, that inspired what would eventually become Motherscope. The things that make Jackie feel most powerful are: the community of women who surround her, writing, and her children. Her garden, cooking, and husband bring her peace.
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Jackie Leonard 00:01
Today is the day, this is the first episode of the mother scope podcast. And I'm just gonna take a second to just soak that in for a bit because I have been talking about and thinking about and wanting to do this for a couple years now. And for it to finally be her feels really special. So welcome. And I cannot wait for you to just immerse yourself in this podcast. I've already done a handful of interviews before recording the solo first one. And I just know that we are doing something special together, the moms who are opening up their lives for a short glimpse into their stories, for you, the listener and for me myself to to be the platform to make that happen. So welcome again. And thank you for listening. podcasts have been something really special to me, since becoming a mom, I had heard about them for years beforehand, but never really they never really took to me. And then one day, I heard a mom, on her Instagram story share that she used air pods to kind of drown out the kids. And I thought, I never thought I would get air pods, but maybe there's something to them. And once I had them, I started listening to podcasts, and they really have been my saving grace as a mom. And just a way for me to feel like I can engage with the outside world. I'm a lifelong learner. And just being able to be in conversation and listen to people who from all walks of life and all skills and all specialties really kind of share their knowledge and have conversations with one another has been a real gift for in my life. And I hope to do that through this podcast for you all and myself included. The first thing I want to do to kick off our time together today is to just share a little bit about myself, and then spend the bulk of our time with me talking a little bit more about the origin of mother scope and why I feel that stories really do need to be heard and also written down regardless of who hears them. So as you may have heard in the intro, my name is Jackie Leonard, and I am, oh gosh, how would I describe myself, I am a Gemini. I consider myself a writer and creative in all the things that I do and all the seasons of my life. I am in Southern California and who has recently moved with her family to Eugene, Oregon. So I'm in the beginning of a very big transition in my life. And at the forefront of all of that has been me learning in recent years, how to really trust myself and listen to myself and lead from that. And it's been both scary and very rewarding. And I feel like this is coming at such a great time to have this podcast at the same time as such a big change. For me personally. I've always loved to read. But I have to admit, I think I like buying books more. And I always have the best of intentions to read them all. And I think one day I will but definitely love buying books, supporting writers and just a sucker for a good story and a nice cover. So that's definitely I am a collector of books. I am a big fan of britney spears and Angelina Jolie and those are two women that I will not listen to any criticism about whatsoever. I love to also collect and play with Oracle and affirmation card decks. They really have helped me focus and make small and big decisions about my life in different ways. All going back to again like this intuitiveness and self trust of of what I have and what I know. I love to garden and cook. I'm really a bit of a homebody but I do love to host and nurture those that I love and I have especially been drawn to finding community with women and growing the relationships that I have with other women in recent years. Part of that, obviously is through mother scope. And I've just found it so incredibly rewarding and something that I consider very important to my well being, and my ability to be the kind of mom that I want to be for my children. So I was waiting until as long as possible to throw in that I am also a mom, because that is very much a part of my identity. But I like to lead with other things about myself, as it is important to remember that we are more than just moms to our children, even though it is such a such an important role that we play. For every interview that I do on this podcast, I presents each mom with a few questions that they can choose from as the focus, the one focus that we're going to have in our half an hour discussion. And since Today's episode is really all about you getting to know what this podcast is about and learning a little bit more about mother scope, I wanted to focus on the question about origin. And the origin of mother scope specifically, since this podcast is really an extension of what I've created through mother scope, which is a community for women to share, and feel empowered by their stories through writing. I want to talk a little bit about how mother scope became a community and not just a blog where I shared my own stories. Because of a rejection, I received a big No, they came into my inbox and open the door for me to create the space that I needed, and that I wanted other mothers to have as well. So to start the story, I go back to being a mom a first time mom, nine months in. And I remember very vividly, I was sitting in our living room on a rug, and my son was at that stage where he was determined to make a mess of everything. So anytime i'd clean up things, he would just be right behind me and throwing everything all over the place will all over again. And it became a bit of a game. And I think on this day, I was especially annoyed by it. And I was just trying to make my space look nice, because I am a very creative kind of go with the flow person. But I do like order. And I like neatness. And it's hard for me to relax in my space, if it's messy. So I remember just really needing to have things be clear and without clutter. And my son just kept pulling the diapers out of the basket that I was trying to organize them and pulling out wipes and dumping toys. And I was trying to watch an episode of the show. This is us. And as I was paying attention to the episode, it was one about the family all having to do a group therapy session and it completely went haywire as one would expect. And something about that moment, sitting there watching this TV show, fighting with my nine month old and just feeling really exasperated by the situation and also feeling really grateful and fortunate to be there. Because before I had him I thought I was going to be working during his early months and years and having to do something about all those feelings that were coming up. And I remember just kind of letting the mess go for a bit, pulling out my phone. And just writing on my Notes app. And what I came up with at the end of that was something that felt like it needed to be shared with other people. I felt like other moms needed to hear what I had to say too, because I thought at the time, rightly so that I think other moms would find it comforting in some way. I knew enough to know that there were likely other people who were experiencing the same feelings that I was feeling. And so at the time, I really was only familiar with motherly as a website, an online publication that was regularly posting essays written by everyday moms. And so I saw on their website that they were taking submissions and that I could do it. And I remember sending that out with one other piece that I had written recently and kind of letting it go and being really proud of myself at the time for you know, putting myself out there, too. kind of go backward. I have a long history with writing. And I have gone to college as a literature and writing major for my undergrad, and I have worked in journalism for the college newspaper, I was the editor in chief. I went to grad school and majored in creative writing or got my master's in creative writing. And so, I my whole, you know, education has been in writing. And for whatever reason, before I became a mom, it had been years since I had sat down and really written especially for pleasure. And definitely not journaled in a long time. And something about becoming a mom reawakens that urge and that desire and that need. And so I definitely wanted to do it, I felt called to do it, and was aching for connection. And I hadn't put those two things together at the time, but I knew I wanted to be in community with more women. And I also felt really drawn to writing at that time. Fast forward about six weeks, I received two emails back to back from motherly, and they were very straightforward rejections about my essays. And I remember at the time, it really hit me harder than I expected. And I think part of that was because like I said earlier, I was really, at a low point, I think I felt a little lost. And I felt like, I didn't know what to do with myself, and was really hoping that that story getting published was going to validate something or give me what I needed. And so often what I do when I feel like a door is closed in front of me, and I receive a no like that. I like to find a way to fix it. And so I dove in to the motherly website and was looking at some of the recent essays that have been published and wanted to get to know the women who are writing those essays. And I thought, you know, maybe there's something that they're doing that I can learn from and do myself, or just get a feel for the type of writers they take. So my my preliminary research really revealed to me at the time that most of them were mom influencers, somewhere celebrities. And the rest of them seem to be very established, seasoned bloggers. And all of that, basically told me that I was not one of those people, and that I couldn't compete with those people to be featured on their website. So because of that, I felt called to create a space where other moms like me, would have an opportunity to share their stories and be heard. And I wanted the writers of those stories to be moms who really weren't necessarily professional writers or had been regularly published in the past, I wanted to really find a way to nurture and I don't know, just invite in the stories that would normally not get written, because the person that had happened to it would never think to write it down, or because they wouldn't consider themselves a good enough writer to share it with other people. And that was really important to me, because I felt as a mom, a new mom, that the experience that I was having in real time did not line up with what I expected. And I hadn't really been given an alternative, or the awareness leading up to becoming a mom that motherhood looks extremely different from one person to the next, one day to the next one child to the next. And if I could create that opportunity for other people out there to see how nuanced and varied and unique the experiences, I just knew that it would, it would be something that would create positive change. And so I just dove in and I said, Let's do this. And it was from that rejection that know that I received that mother scope really came to be there. Other Stories that I like to tell that really did give me the courage. to step up and do what I've created, but that that was the impetus to to, to take action. So I share that with you today as the first story of many stories I will share throughout this podcast, the mother scope podcast, we'll have a little flow of one solo episode, and then three interviews. And then another solo episode, so 131, basically, and for the solo episodes, I'm hoping to be a little prescriptive and share some insights that I've had about writing and help you develop the practice of writing in your life. Maybe I'll have an anecdote here and there about mother's scope or my experience as a writer. But ultimately, what I hope those future solo episodes will do is help inspire you to write and find manageable ways to incorporate it into your life. All in this podcast the same way I'm ending all of my interviews, which is with a series of three requests of the storyteller. And the first one is for them to share a song that they believe represents their motherhood experience so far. So the song that came to mind this morning, and I'll stick with is three little birds by Bob Marley and the wailers. And the reason I chose this song was because it every time I hear it, it brings a smile to my face. And it reminds me to take notice of the little things, and let go of the rest. And know that Everything's going to be all right. Like the lyrics say, it reminds me of the innocence of children and my children, especially who I believe that when I can stop and really watch how they see the world and how they appreciate the littlest details, and the most often overlooked things about our world. It brings me back to a place of gratitude and just happiness. And so that song, right now it feels very fitting for where I'm at in my life. And it always helps lift my mood when I'm having internet and in evidently difficult day. The next thing I asked each guest is to share some solicited mom advice to overpower the frequent unsolicited advice that we receive as moms. And for me, what I would love to share with you, whether you're a seasoned mom, or a new mom, is to take notice of resistance, and embrace ease. So what I mean by this is simply if you are sitting around and notice that you are trying to make something, get something done, and it's just not happening, it's taking forever, or you're just keep, you know, hitting all these roadblocks to just stop and pause and take a break from it. And oftentimes, I've noticed that that little break, and coming back at it the next day or a different time, when you're a little bit more settled, often has better results, or you'll realize you didn't need to do it in the first place. And you'll you'll start to kind of create a muscle memory for what works and what doesn't. And realize that when things kind of happen more easily, and there isn't that resistance that that was the right thing. And this sounds a little abstract, maybe. But I've just noticed that if I can just take a step back and take a break when things aren't working out. I can realize in real time, what is needed and what isn't. so that it can be like if I'm like the example earlier where I shared that I was I had my son was like pulling things everywhere and throwing them all over the place. And I kept trying to clean up and it just wasn't happening. I think what I would have told like to total that past version of myself was just leave it there and come to it at night and clean up and it'll probably happen a lot quicker and be less stressful and be a lot easier. So hopefully that is something you can apply it to your own life. And the last thing that I asked all the storytellers to share is a little bit of their most recent writing. And what I have pulled up for you to read from is something that was recently published on Mother's scopes website through the mom salon back in August and this was a piece I wrote in honor of my son turning for that month. And I'm going to read the first couple paragraphs From that, and like I said, you can read the rest of it on the mother scope website. In a matter of days, I will cross yet another invisible milestone in life alongside my oldest child. As he turns four years old, I become a mother for the fourth year. wiser, more experienced, the novelty of this new role is slightly more subdued than the year before. And still, I am just as clueless about whatever comes next for feels like the completion of something, a closing, which is fitting, because in this last year, we have gone from a family of three to four, we transitioned from a triangle to a square, four sides to make one hole. There was a finality that washed over me at the birth of our second child that surprised me. Even though I'd said over and over throughout the pregnancy that I sensed, this would be the last. In the last four years, I've made big Decisions, decisions that will impact impact the rest of my life, and that of my family, whether it's at my age, or becoming a mother, or a combination of that and more. Most decisions during this period of time feel big. This huge shift is what motherhood asked of me four years ago, as I gave birth to my son and reconfigured what I knew of myself. I'd look into my baby's eyes and partly due to sleep deprivation, those big eyes. So like mine, would quote Mary Oliver, accusingly. What will you do with your one and precious life? In a way that also begs the question, What will you do with mine? Thanks for listening. To close, I'm going to share with you a writing prompts that has to do with the story I shared with you today. And what I would love for you to do right after listening to this episode is to give yourself five minutes to just journal, your response to the prompt that I'm going to end with. I think this special addition to our podcast episodes is really going to help bring some finality to your listening experience. I really want this podcast to be an exercise in some ways of our abilities to actively listen. And to not and be more intentional about what we consume. There's so many different things we can listen to and so many different things we can read. And a lot of times I find myself wondering how I can apply what I've absorbed to my own life. So this writing prompt is a way that I hope to provide that opportunity for you. So this writing prompt is inspired by the story I shared with you today. And it is what was a know in your life that you are now grateful for. And that's all for today. I'll see you next episode. Bye