I saw that a few people I follow on Instagram joined maker Elise Joy‘s 100 day challenge and when I checked it out, I liked it. The challenge is to do something everyday for 100 days. It’s open-ended; everyone picks their own project or idea. It can be creative, health-based, things you’ve been meaning to do, learning something new, ect. I love a good challenge, so I thought about it for a few days and figured out what I needed.

100 days of back to me.

“Where did you go that you now have to get back?”

I became a mom. And I was not expecting or prepared for the loss+confusion of my well-established personal identity pretty soon after my baby was born. I was an artist. A business owner. An athlete. I was a spontaneous. Adventurous. I loved the woods. The water. The outdoors. I was, overall, pretty happy.

“But you can still be/do all those things, even with a kid.”

That’s what I thought, too. But it hasn’t been that easy for me. Being a mom is the most unnatural role I’ve ever been in. The most awkward identity transition. My biggest learning curve ever. Being so deep in all that unknown (and struggling with postpartum depression) has made it pretty much impossible for me to be and do the things I AM good at. The things that make me ME. I don’t even know me anymore. 6+ months is a long time to not know who you are.

I love and know my kid. But I really need to love and know me again. Lately, thankfully, my head is above water (on most days) and we have a way more doable (dare I say enjoyable?) daily schedule. So when I saw the idea for this 100 day challenge, I thought, why not now?

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The challenge: Intentionally choose to do one thing a day that helps me get back to feeling like myself.

The days: 100 of them! I started on April 1st, so that means this will go through July 10th.

The end goal: By day 100, I’m hoping that all the little, daily things I chose to do will have accumulated into knowing and feeling like myself again.

The things:
– Time with nature (woods, kayaking, hiking, sunshine, taking care of my plants)
– Big ideas (for my business, for my life, planning a trip, planning for the future, ect)
– Big creativity (specifically with painting, but will add embroidery and photography in here, too)
– Moving my body regularly (walking, running, lifting, swimming)
– Home cooked meals (I miss being creative in the kitchen)
– Adventuring (seeing new places, trying new food, exploring new trails)

(It sounds like a lot altogether, but it’s only one thing a day.)

Some days I’ve already planned out, and some days the only plan is to let life help me figure it out. A lot of the first days of this challenge have been about getting outside. I think that’s what my heart was really missing the most and I’m so thankful for spring sunshine.

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I shared the challenge with my close friends and a few of them have hopped on board with their own ideas. One is cooking through a few specific cookbooks. One is going on 100 walks. One hasn’t decided yet, but plans to join us in May! I’m glad to have them to stay accountable with.

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I haven’t decided how much to share about each day of the challenge. I guess I might share the occasional photo on Instagram stories and will probably do a recap here? We’ll see. Anyways, thanks for reading, and let me know if you start your own 100 day challenge.