Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
I live in northeastern Brazil, slightly below the Equator. I have lived here for most of my life, but I was actually born in the USA to a Swiss father and a Brazilian mother of native descent.
What language(s) do you speak?
I speak English, Portuguese, French, and a little Spanish.
When did you first become a mother?
When I first became pregnant I was 24 years old. It was not planned but turned out to be the best gift ever. My son is now going to turn 7, and I also have a four-month old daughter.
Are you a stay-at-home mom or do you work?
I am a stay-at-home working mom! 🙂 I am presently working on my doctoral thesis in environmental international policy, and I also do some technical translating on the side.
Why do you blog/write?
I LOVE to write! My plan is to someday become a fulltime writer (or at least part time mom/part time writer! J).
How would you say that you are different from other mothers?
I’m certainly not the typical mom. For one thing, I never wanted to be a mom, but in the end this seemed to have a positive twist. When I see other women that are somewhat disappointed with motherhood despite having dreamed of it their entire lives, I realize that what helped me fall in love with motherhood was not having that many expectations. Thus, being a mother is something I work on daily, sometimes with painstaking awareness of the process, yet never ignoring my intuition. I’m also interested in many things that are not considered very “mainstream”: raw foodism, Waldorf education, attachment parenting, extended nursing, reiki…
What do you view as the challenges of raising a child in today’s world?
I think there are several challenges to raising a child in today’s world. Stopping to live a quieter, simpler, and more peaceful life in the midst of so much rushing. Recognizing our connection with nature and being a living example of that connection to our children. Showing them that the world is good, beautiful, and true (as you would say within a Waldorf perspective), despite everything else.
How did you find World Moms Blog?
I found the World Moms Blog while reading another blog (“The Parenting Passageway” I think, but I don’t remember for sure).
Do you have any questions for EcoZiva?
This is an original post to World Moms Blog by EcoZiva from Brazil.
Photo credit to the author.
It was great to know more about you. I am with you about staying connected with nature and showing that to our kids being challenging. Everything is so fast paced and living a simple and quiet life is getting challenging. So true!
Yes, it is funny how hard it can be nowadays living a simple life, when it should be the opposite. Once I saw the title of a book that was something like “The hurried child” (never read it, but I thought that title said everything about today’s world)
You sound like very interesting person. I always wanted to know more about reiki… , but.. hm.. never had the willingness to dig deeper and be more involved.lol
Hope to read more about you!
Thank, you Polish Mom! And you just gave me a great idea for a post on reiki and children (my son also does reiki)
great! 🙂 can’t wait to read it!
EcoZiva,
I’m so excited to learn more about you! I love your honesty in admitting that you did not want to be a mother. And, I love finding out how much it has changed and inspired you.
I absolutely agree with this: “Recognizing our connection with nature and being a living example of that connection to our children.” I try my best to keep this in mind in my parenting, whether it’s about conservation or taking opportunities to be outdoors and learning about wildlife.
It was probably Karyn @ Kloppenmum’s comment (from New Zealand!) on The Parenting Passageway that led you to us. No matter how you found us, we’re so glad you did!
And in addition, World Moms Blog is now officially writing from South America! Yay!!
Jen 🙂
Thank you Jen! I am also excited to learn with and contribute to World Moms and share experiences with the other mothers.
Pleased to meet you. Welcome to World Moms!