Canna Mom Community Power
Tennis, faith and writing, with a little bit of cannabis sprinkled on-top, was the recipe that healed me during a time when I was feeling like I had lost my purpose. I’m an introverted-thinker whose been in search of community for most of my life and thought I would find that as an adult in a profession like the urban policy, politics or the law.
But that didn’t happen.
However, I did find community in tennis with my lady-friends who meet twice a week and compete healthily. Regardless, my tennis-playing, pearl-wearing world does not completely define me.
My community of faith is another bedrock of my identity and I consider myself a writer, too. I don’t believe we are all one thing or another, but fall uniquely on a spectrum of many choices and are perfectly capable of being many things at once.
And then there’s cannabis, what an expansive community I’ve stumbled into somewhat late in life.
As a mid-century-modern woman I’ve been allowed to live a life few women before me were allowed to live. I’ve travelled the world, earned multiple degrees, and have taken many leadership roles. But when I did what women have always done – brought new life into this world - the trajectory of who I thought I would be ended and I had to learn to be somebody new.
A mom.
And now proudly a canna mom.
But I know now that I am not what I do but who I am. Like you I am a unique combination of my DNA, natural inclinations and experiences in combination with all that I’ve learned to do thorough practice and habit. For a few years I was a practicing family law attorney, an emotionally-destructive career that I wasn’t really that good at. It’s not that I don’t like to argue, I went to law school to learn how to fight. But what I experienced when I was fighting so hard for what I didn’t believe in was that I was constantly disappointing others and ultimately disappointing myself.
After that career-fiasco I did other things for free, as all women and moms have always done. I became that mom at my kids’ school who did all the unpaid work that keeps communities together. But I also found relief from my mild depression and feelings of inadequacy through engaging my body, mind and spirit with a little cannabis. And now I’m learning how I was never alone in my feelings of displacement and that the relief I find in my cannabis habit is shared by so many moms in this world.
I’m back in the professional world with the creation of The Canna Mom Show, and know my experiences are important to share with the young women who are following me on this unchartered journey of modern motherhood and cannabis.
Although I do find comfort on the worlds and communities I belong to, I know the tribes we divide ourselves into are not exclusive and I’d argue cannabis may touch them all. But we need transparency to change the narrative around cannabis and caregivers because invisibility allows fears and misinformation to persist. We must believe that our love for this plant will push out the misdirected fear and help us create a united community that can embrace the power of cannabis to heal us and our planet.
The reality of this can feel overwhelming and there will be pain, for some, as they share how cannabis works in their lives to those who cannot, and may never, be believers. That does not mean we should remain quiet. Discussion is good. Pain is natural. And we should not be stigmatized for revolutionizing the conversation about motherhood and cannabis. And this is how we will do this as a community.
To begin, we must acknowledge others’ pain so that we can open ourselves up to hear how cannabis gives mothers a life free of unnecessary suffering. We all deserve that.
Next, we must tell stories that touch the hearts of those who do not understand and, I think, we should try being funny. It’s frightening, I don’t disagree, but to find a courageous place in the world we must take fear on the journey.
That is why I am overjoyed to announce The Canna Mom Show is planning a Season 4! And we are asking our community for help. If you want to hear cannabis stories from the secular to the sacred on how it heals, enhances and elevates the lives of moms from coast to coast and around the world, you can. On May 1st we are launching our first Keep The Canna Mom Conversation Going Crowdfunding Campaign where your financial gift will be rewarded with some great canna mom swag or a signed copy of the #1 Best Selling Courage in Cannabis or other canna experiences you are going to love. I hope you will join us so that together we can continue building this new world for mothers and cannabis and crush the stigma around cannabis and caregiving.