One Foot Forward

I have four children and parenting them consumes so much of my life. I see how often they feel overwhelmed by the things on their plate. And even though it’s easy to trivialize their pain from my vantage point (taking a shower and emptying the dishwasher are really not as bad as you’re making it), I recognize the emotion in them and see it in myself. For them it’s practicing piano before they can play. For me it’s finishing a bunch of paintings by a deadline. For them it’s cleaning up their shoes and putting away their laundry. For me it’s tackling the mountain of dishes next to the sink and getting our finances organized for taxes. Either way, it’s hard. Either way it’s the elephant in front of us. Either way, we’d rather be relaxing on the couch together instead of doing this. So, I do my best to remind all of us to break it into smaller pieces. We’re not thinking about ALL the things, we’re just thinking about ONE thing. You play one song, I’ll wash one dish. One foot in front of the other, moving forward. And then once we get doing the thing, it’s usually not so bad and we look back and all those steps added up and it’s done. It’s a daily lesson for all of us, that we will all keep reminding ourselves forever. One foot forward. One step at a time. ["One Foot Forward" 9x12]

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My solo show “We Carry On” is hanging now at @15th_street_gallery. Check it out anytime the gallery is open until March 11th. You can also see the whole show online at stephaniehock.com/wecarryon (link in profile). Watch stories for behind the scenes and my favorite details! ❤️💛💙