VALENTINE’S SPECIAL: LOVE iS, IEISHAH CLELLAND
Once you have perused through Ieishah’s instagram you instantly see the great love she has for her daughters. I meet Ieishah in Berlin when I was just starting Wunderhaus, through the many pop ups we hosted. She was always at Wunderhaus with a beautiful smile,with both her girls by her side proudly. I am so happy to have her share her thoughts on motherhood and her love for her girls.
What do you love most about motherhood?
I love the built-in travel and adventure partners. Motherhood is itself a journey and an adventure. From day to day, you don't know what you're going to get. Things change so quickly--lightning fast--their bodies, their minds, their likes, dislikes and opinions…Learning happens so quickly and I have to learn and grow and adjust along with them. It’s like you are responding to their evolution at your quickest but most intentional pace, and that process is never ending. And sometimes I fail—I cannot keep up. But I make a practice of being open about my failures, and then learning even more from their capacity for forgiveness and empathy. The fact that my girls in particular love being on the road with us and have thrived—to the bottom of the world and back!—only magnifies the sense of adventure already inherent in motherhood. It is quite the ride!
“My love for my girls is expansive.”
How would you describe your love for your children?
‘Consuming’ comes to mind. Of course there’s always that sense of my love for them threatening to take over everything! But that feeling comes second to how much my love for them gets deeper as we become more and more of ourselves together. It’s a clarifying love that makes other things make sense—even if those things don’t relate to motherhood at all. Here’s the thing: a big deal is often made of what we lose when we become mothers—our ‘independence’, our ‘freedom’, or ‘selves’. But I’ve found it to be quite the opposite, I’ve found purpose, fun, friends, world-changing perspective… My love for my girls is expansive.
Do you have any Valentine's traditions?
For Valentine’s Day we do whatever folks are doing in the country we happen to be in at the time. We kind of ‘do as the Romans do’. So 3 years ago we were in Uruguay…or maybe Brazil…and no one celebrated there so we just kind of let it go by. The next year we were in Aotearoa/New Zealand, and also there, no one really celebrated. When we came to the US last year, of course, the stores were filled with red and pink and heart-shaped things. So we bought Valentine’s Day-themed mugs and had hot chocolate and popcorn and a movie night. Let’s see what we get up to this year!