(free image of Penelope from the Odyssey courtesy of clker.com)

I was a literature and writing major in college, and I never read Homer’s Odyssey. I’ve never read anything by Homer, and I’m not really into ancient texts (with a few exceptions). However, I do like allusions to literature, and I enjoy making them. When I can tie my ideas into those of another writer, even Homer, I feel more connected to other human beings and their experiences in this world. I also like the idea of leaving a mark on this world–both physically, in terms of raising up little humans–and intellectually, in terms of sharing ideas and insights. Homer wrote epic poems about great journeys, and while his works have resonated with far greater reach than he would likely have imagined, I have humbler aspirations. I just want to write and be read, as a woman, as a mother, as a person in a number of contexts.

Since I was a kid, I loved to read. Reading is great, and I love reading people’s stories. I love blogs, biographies, essays, and editorials. I want to read something from which I can glean perspective and insight into this life. I want to share and be shared with. As a college student, I found the process of reading other students’ essays, poems, and journals to be some of the most useful reading I did. After all, we all read the same textbooks, but we all read them through different lenses. By reading what other students wrote in reaction to those texts, I was better able to understand the texts, and the process opened up those texts to me like flowers only bloom fully in fertile soil. I came to understand that reading and writing shouldn’t be done in the vacuum of my own room but should be done aloud and with partners, in groups, in classes, in online forums, etc. I found my voice as a writer and was encouraged to keep writing. However, this I did not do. Until now.

After finishing my undergraduate degree, I pursued a teaching credential. I was too afraid to pursue writing as a career, for fear that I wouldn’t be able to pay the bills, so with my love of children, I became a teacher. I taught for a few years and quit to be a stay-at-home mom. Some more years passed, and I have absolutely found my true vocation: a mother. I love my children, love other people’s children, and love other parents. I love this work, but I feel silenced since I left the page unwritten.

So, here I begin my own odyssey, defined as a journey in writing as a mother. I hope that it is a journey of shared adventures and experiences that others can gain insight and understanding through. At the very least, it will document my joyful journey as a mother and it will give voice to my otherwise silenced passion: writing.  Because Homer doesn’t blog, but moms do. Many moms do, and I’m one more.