Who is Ahappyalchemist?
Often, what appears from a distance to be a dead-end may actually be a fork in the road, or a hidden path that you can only see as you get closer. I believe there is always a way–and that by talking together and sharing our experiences and strength, we can help each other discover all the options that exist out there.
I’m a modern day alchemist who seeks out opportunities to turn metal into gold. I’m also a journalist (the author of a book, a magazine editor, and a frequent TV guest on women’s issues). My career has focused on writing about women, especially as we navigate our careers and the often confounding, challenging and ultimately fulfilling job of parenting.
As I go through a divorce, I realize that separating from a partner and finding ways to rearrange a family require accepting a level of uncertainty. But there are so many ways to have a family these days, and so many ways to reconfigure one’s family if things don’t go as planned. Let’s talk about all the options – and all the unexpected ways to make difficult situations better than we ever imagined they could be.
Who is Mylilhurricane?
I’m a mother of two, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a sort-of-ex-wife. I’m also a social psychologist, a researcher, an analyst, a consultant, and a writer. I have a high need for approval, and yet I don’t always do things the way I’m expected to – sometimes that makes life stressful for me. I like to push myself and others to see things in new ways and to get creative about how to solve problems. I seek to make my own destiny, while also accepting that life will bring what it does and sometimes there’s nothing I can do about it. I believe that there’s some purpose behind what occurs, whether or not I know what it is. It’s that belief that helps me cope with things that don’t go as I’d hoped. I do my best to be a good person.
More than a year after separating, my sort-of-ex-husband and I still share our home and co-parent our two young children. We won’t be getting back together, but neither of us plans to move out either — we both want to live with our kids. Whether we’ll officially divorce at some point remains to be seen; that formal step is not important to me. I believe that the end of our marriage doesn’t have to mean the end of our family, and I’m optimistic that we can find a positive way to make this all work. So far so good, but the whole thing is a work in progress that I aim to share with others as the path in front of us emerges. It can get a bit lonely out here in unchartered territory, so if you’d like to walk with me for awhile and share where your own journey’s taking you, I’d be glad of the company.
