I remember driving home from playdates as a new mother, judging myself for wanting more.
I was taught to be grateful from a young age. (A great life skill to have.)
And yet…
The expectation to “just be grateful” can sometimes make moments of discontent feel wrong.
I grew up in a community and an era where women weren’t encouraged to aspire to anything beyond motherhood. Motherhood was supposed to be the crowning calling of my life.
While I do see motherhood as a noble calling, I have never felt like that role allowed me to express the full spectrum of what was inside me. There was more! So much more! So much more that needed to be explored, expressed, and created!
Going against the gendered expectations started early for me. I went to graduate school (seemingly permissible since I wasn’t yet married) and pursued my dreams of composing music. Later, I turned to photography and spent eight years building a photography business and teaching online courses. I had kids of my own during that time, and I clung to photography even more, needing it for my own self-expression and to feel like I was contributing to something bigger than just my family.
I loved it. And I felt guilty the entire time.
“I shouldn’t want more.”
At those playdates, I didn’t have any local friends who found fulfillment in anything beyond motherhood, and I wanted to talk about my creative ideas and not just potty training. I wanted to dream about what was possible and not just plan meals for the week.
There was this inner battle between my excitement for the calling to express myself and the feeling of shame that I was just being selfish. I wasn’t supposed to want more than what I had.
What was wrong with me that I couldn’t just be content?
Somewhere along the way, I was introduced to the concept of “Divine Discontent.”
Pairing those two words together removed the judgement I had for wanting more, and gave my discontent a purpose. It didn’t mean something was wrong with me. It meant something was wanting to emerge.
I now see that discontent wasn’t the problem. It was a bridge between two worlds:
I could be deeply grateful for my life AND still feel a pull toward something more.
BOTH could be true at once.
And suddenly I didn’t have to choose between loving the life I had and following the part of me that wanted to create. I could make room for both.
I could pursue my personal ambitions without needing to justify them as something more important than the simple fact that they mattered to me.
Divine discontent can feel hard to honor within ourselves, because we can’t see the ending from the beginning. We don’t actually know where this inner call to something more will lead. When you’re in the middle of it, it just feels like “I shouldn’t want this.”
If you know what you’re feeling called toward (a book, a creative project or cause, growing a business, etc.)… and you’re ready to follow that call, I’d love to support you in navigating everything that comes up along the way.
This is the heart of my 1:1 coaching: answering your calling without making yourself wrong for what arises along the way. If you’d like to see whether it’s a fit, let’s talk about what answering your calling could look like.
So here’s a gentle invitation this week.
What do you feel called toward that you’ve been making yourself wrong for wanting?
What if this longing is worth listening to?
You are a creator.
Feel, be, see, say, and do.
The light in me honors the light in you.
Delightfully,
Brooke
If you’d like to go a little deeper:
→ Begin here: Free Meditation. A simple way to reconnect, reset, and experience this work for yourself.
→ Continue your practice: Meditation Library. A collection of guided meditations to help you move from understanding this work… to actually living it.
→ Get support: Book a Clarity Call. A space to explore what you’re navigating and see if coaching together feels aligned. (Complimentary)
If you have any questions, just reply and ask!