By: Shana West REALTOR/Sales Associate

When I found out that I would be writing about my most wild self, I immediately thought of my younger self living abroad in Australia, jumping out of an airplane and doing all sorts of other wild adventures. But I quickly realized that my most wild and natural self is my current life. Being a mom to two young kids ages six and three. It may sound ridiculous, but it’s true. 

I’m in my most wild and natural state while parenting. It’s not always pretty and It’s certainly not easy, but then there are times when I feel completely me. The moments when I am not distracted but instead engaged in my children all of the way. When I let go and play with them and become the silliest version of myself, doing ridiculous things just to make them laugh. This is when I feel wild and free.

These are no way the moments that dominate my parenting or the day to day with my kids. But these moments are when I am most happy parenting and free in my ability to love and be close to my children. Even if they are sporadic, fleeting moments, they are the times that are full of meaning and joy. Laughing hysterically as my kids laugh with me. And these are the parenting moments that allow me to recover when I am not doing my best, and I feel ashamed because I know that I can do better.

Parenting is a roller coaster. Some days are full of fun and intense joy, and other days are full of challenges and struggle. This roller coaster ride gives me the opportunity to be my wild self in a way that I could not have imagined in my younger years. I may have bungee jumped off of a bridge in New Zealand, jumped out of an airplane in Australia, and experienced all sorts of other wild adventures along the way, but I feel a sense of wild and free now that feels completely me.