Muses or Not

by Nana Yaa Larbi

It was an awesome day for me on the 10^th of June this year. I met Christine Hohlbaum, who was featured in the premier edition of this magazine, and it was an amazing thing for me to meet with someone I had gotten to know via the Web. We connected on so many levels, and I told her things I haven’t told anyone before. She was the first to know that I was not happy with the teacher-training program I was doing and understood perfectly when I described what writing meant to me.  She shared a lot of things that I could relate to, and listening in on her Following your Dream telecast a few weeks back really helped me make the firm decision to take a step of faith and stop the teaching program; but one of the things she said, that I couldn’t quite relate to, was the fact her children were her muses.

I have four children, and I wouldn’t exactly say they are my muses, especially since it seems like they cannot appreciate that when Mummy has just cleaned a room, at least I expect it to stay tidy for ten minutes, let alone an hour. However after making the painful decision to stop a perfectly respectable teaching program I was initially so excited about, I find myself so at peace with the decision and know that at this time of my life, my sole purpose and joy is to be found in mothering.  I have been struck anew by how fulfilled I feel hanging out the several pairs of socks (I have four boys) and folding the clothes that have been stuck behind the kitchen door for several weeks now. I have joy in my heart knowing that I can be available to take the boys to school and pick them up,  to hear them read and learn their multiplication tables, and enjoy (most times) what Mummy has cooked. I can imagine that it is never easy for any mother to make the decision to return to work and after three months away in a classroom, I do salute those who do it.

Yes, I am aware that my boys will grow up, develop their own lives, make friends, and become more independent, but for now, I revel in mothering.  I hope for many more years of writing prolifically in addition to that, and  for the boys to become my muses, too. My cup would truly be running over then.

Nana Yaa Larbi is a freelance writer who currently lives in England, but is originally from Ghana. She enjoys meeting people from other cultures and enjoys reading, too.