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(Ep. 25) Just Happy to Be Here with Janelle Hanchett

Sarah Maren Photography

In this episode I was honoured to have the lovely Janelle Hanchett as my guest. Janelle is a mom of four beautiful kiddos, the creator of the blog Renegade Mothering, and in 2018 she published a memoir, ‘I’m Just Happy to Be Here,’ which is a beautifully written and powerful book about her journey through addiction and recovery. She is also a writing teacher and editor, and hosts the most amazing writing retreats and workshops. Her blog and her writing courses have been a big piece of my own journey, and I am so grateful to be able to share this conversation with all of you.

We talk about:

  • Experiencing PPD after having her first child
  • The lack of conversations about mental health when she had her 1st
  • The fear of having her baby taken away
  • Asking new parents how they are – really
  • The importance of talking about the grief and the loss that we can feel as new parents
  • The conflicting feelings that come up with parenthood
  • The importance of connection with other parents
  • Going through active addiction and being a parent in recovery
  • Why she started her blog
  • Sharing her story of recovery
  • The hope in knowing that addiction is a disease
  • The shame spiral of addiction
  • Having a big family
  • Letting go of being the perfect parent and embracing the chaos
  • The pros and cons of the ‘mommy blog’
  • Not fitting in with other moms
  • The pressure put on mothers to be perfect for their kids
  • The assumptions people make about her kids and her family because she is in recovery
  • Harmful societal narratives of parenting that cause emotional distress
  • What Janelle’s blog and writing workshops have meant for my own healing
  • The power of taking space for yourself and intentionally carve out time for yourself
  • The gift of not relying on our kids for our whole identity
  • Knowing that you have everything you need inside yourself

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