Archimoms have it all…
Recently, Rosa Sheng shared an article on The New Yorker titled “I am the One Woman Who Has it All” by Kimberly Harrington on Twitter. Post reading the very engaging piece, we decided to share our own archimom moments, and discuss whether we have it all. If we have it all, how did we do it, and if we are chasing it all, how are we doing it… or have we accepted that we can’t have it all unless we trade off something somewhere consciously. A thousand experiences, and a million unique paths to have it all, as defined by us – that is the theme of the Archimom Mother’s Day blogs – this is a small effort to gather stories from archimoms to help us know what it takes to balance life as an archimom, and document our experiences. As each generation progresses, and the world around us takes one step closer to an equal opportunity experience for parents of all genders, it is important that we document lives of everyday architects to reflect upon one day, and determine the extent of change our contributions brought to the profession.
Read Archimom blogs about “having it all” here:
1. Equity by Design (2014) An Archimom’s Everyday Moments of Truth
Archimom is an alter ego, a new state of mind. You don’t need to literally be an “architect and mother” to identify with the mindset. Despite the challenges of time allocation, implicit bias, and constant guilt, we can learn many valuable lessons of finding satisfaction, meaningful work, prioritizing, and work/life flexibility from these Archimoms. Their “real life” truths are the beginning of storytelling as a means to inspire and motivate underrepresented talent to stay in the profession.
Link: http://eqxdesign.com/blog/2014/12/7/archimoms-everydaymomentstruths
2. Laura Thomas (2018)
However, I do know that through the 38 years since I received my diploma, I have done all that I could. At the end of the day, I have been married for 36 years, raised two wonderful and independant sons, and weathered a major life changing medical diagnosis with my youngest. And somehow, somehow, I have kept my business open, practiced my profession diligently and with care towards both employees and clients, and given jobs and experience to many young women. I have many clients that I consider friends and many, many finished projects. I still paint and sketch, and try to run or swim every day.
Link: #Havingitall #archimom
3. Laura Wheaton (2018) architect, wife, mother, history-lover
Link: https://twitter.com/wheaton_laura/status/995673384318111744
4. Michele Grace Hottel
Someone asked me recently, “how are you doing it all?”
And i said, “Well, life is just like any other architecture project, you get the problem statement, you design something, the instructor or client says that they want it a little different and you work with it, and what you wanted in the beginning isn’t exactly what it turned out to be but it still is a pretty good project, because it works and that is life..
Link: https://inmawomanarchitect.blogspot.com/2018/05/archimom-havingitall-is-nothavingitall.html
5. Cherise Lakeside
Throw in the guilt about not feeling like you are there enough for everybody, the worry about your employer being upset if a family responsibility takes you away and the stress of trying to get everything done and it can be absolutely overwhelming.
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/voices-my-head-architecture-motherhood-pursuit-having-cherise/
6. Mani Farhadi
What did I give up to have all this? I sacrificed sleep and probably a fit healthy body. I have gained more weight than I’m comfortable with, and survive on several cups of coffee a day. Yes, something had to give and some things were gained. My career is moving forward, my family is thriving, and my community is represented. I may be tired and showing my age, nonetheless my heart is full of love and my spirits are high. To me, that says it all.
Link: https://aremeghana.wordpress.com/2018/07/22/archimoms-have-it-all-mani-farhadi/
7. Meghana Joshi
Chart your own path, and define your own “all”. All work and life decisions become tradeoffs eventually, so make a tradeoff that will matter to you.
Link: https://aremeghana.wordpress.com/2018/05/13/archimoms-have-it-all/
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