karenika - balancing it all

And I remember saying to her, "The show is over by noon. I could be in the car by twelve-thirty and be able to pick up my kids from school every afternoon."

"It's perfect," Elizabeth said again. "It's the perfect balance of family and work." And it seemed it would be. A mid-morning show, four days a week, someone else's signature on it. A show that didn't belong to me - it would give me a certain distance, and the freedom necessary to raise my family. I think this is close to every workingwoman's dream. It's the fantasy that somehow you'll land a gig that allows you to explore your talents without shortchanging your children, a job both big and small to allow you to exist in all your dimensions - domestic, corporate, maternal, artistic.

I've always been a fan of Rosie O'Donnell. I like her rawness. Her honesty. How so much of herself she is. So I was bound to read Celebrity Detox. The most profound parts of the book, for me, were about the struggle between motherhood and self-identity.

There is no such thing as having it all. It does not happen. People who say it does are lying. People who think they have it are wrong. It's just not humanly possible. Each time you do something, you're sacrificing something else. It's just a fact of life. So the trick is to choose how you spend your moments wisely.

January 20, 2008 | literature | share[]