I met somebody this past weekend while I was in NYC. Behold Maria, as in MariaWander.com. Like, she’s a closet designer for some fancy store that I can’t remember because the star factor overwhelmed me and I silently began to weep with envy when she casually mentioned it. Weep. She was all busy spinning fiber into lace weight yarn and I, embarrassingly enough, had brought my knitting some yarn, a pattern and 4 double pointed, size 5 knitting needles so I could try, yet again, to make some Baby Boobie Beanies for one-on-one labor whispering session prezzies.  It’s bad, right? So I’m all dragging my stuff out, and trying to chew through the yarn with my teeth when Maria hands me some scissors, obviously pumped that a fellow fiber artist is at the table. I try to tell her gently, “Sorry Maria, I suck,” to which she says, “You get better at knitting by knitting.” Oh, right then, so it’s ok to suck, it’s just not ok to give up. Keep trying, to improve the effort in both art, business and, of course, in birth. I could actually add parenting in here, well, most anything, really. In labor it means that each contraction is a new opportunity to turn a challenge into healing, whatever that looks like for you. In postpartum, it may mean knowing you will figure out what your bebe’ is communicating, what do do about it, and knowing that this intense period will pass, oh yes it will. My Rowan practical application of Don’t Give Up, Just Keep Knitting  in this moment looks like assessing where my Labor Whispering; Mapbook for Mamas project will go from here. I’m super clear on what I did right, on who loves me and has my back. I’m also clear on who thought this was worthy of investing in, and a special thank you to my loves who were ready to bust out a check book and write big checks with zeros behind them so that I could make the goal. Big love to all of you, my heart breaks open. With Love. What I don’t like about my Labor Whispering; Mapbook for Mamas campaign is: 1) how I come across in the video, 2) my hair, and 3) the stale energy. And that’s no fault of the director, because this would have been hideous and I could never have even stepped into the ring without her help and assistance. But it’s true, I don’t dig it. At All. This has totally slowed my roll, and I wonder if I recognized this as it was going down, or if I’m only seeing it in retrospect. So, I’m reviewing my birth story for Labor Whispering; MapBook For Mamas. Examining the painful parts, rejoicing in what went well. And loving all the folks who helped from start to finish, the clappers, the cheerers and the project doulas who walked the journey with me. And really, the love I feel? I am the lucky one. So, I love you tremendously, and let’s see where we will go with this next. XOXOXOX, Rowan