Yes, You CAN Be a Mom and a Star! by Liimu McGill
People say that being a mother means sacrificing your dreams. They’ll tell you, “It’s not about you anymore.”
But I’m about share my story of how I learned that following your dreams is the best thing you can do for yourself and your children.
When I Dared to Become Extraordinary
From a young age, my dream has been to be an actress and a singer. Things seemed to be going my way for a while – at 17 I got into NYU’s TISCH School for the Arts and worked hard to learn the craft of acting for stage.
But then… shit happened. Long story short, a series of unfortunate events coupled with alcoholism, drug addiction, homelessness and mental illness totally derailed my plans for the Great White Way.
Years later when I managed to get my act together, I had all but given up on my dream of performing. I met a wonderful man, landed an incredible job (on paper, that is; in real life it was a nightmare – but that’s another story!), and I was building a family.
It never occurred to me that I could still sing, act and perform until I stumbled upon a copy of The Secret, an incredible book about how the Law of Attraction works in our lives every day – whether we’re aware of it or not.
Once I wrapped my head around the concepts of “manifesting” and “eliminating limiting beliefs” and “creating the life of my dreams,” incredible things started to happen.
Instead of wallowing in what was a life-sucking corporate job, I quit and started my own consulting firm, which took off almost immediately. I paid myself 3x the salary I made in my previous job and I got to work from home most days – which meant I could be with my young children.
Instead of feeling sad about not having opportunities to be on stage, I auditioned for NBC’s Clash of Choirs, and ended up singing a solo version of Jesus Take the Wheel with Patti LaBelle conducting and nearly 10 million national viewers.
In 2009, when my then 4-year-old daughter was struck with an unexpected and traumatic illness from which the doctors told us she would never fully recover, instead of blindly accepting the bleak diagnosis, I harnessed the power of positive thought and steered our family through disaster and toward what her medical team called “a miraculous recovery.” Today, my daughter is healthy and happy!
Instead of staying a victim to circumstance, I learned how to reclaim the narrative of my life and have been actively pursuing my dreams ever since. And not just for my sake, but for my children’s sake, too.
Dream Big… Your Kids are Watching!
Today, I live by the motto, “Dream Big… Your Kids are Watching!” It’s true. They watch and emulate everything I do; I’m sure you’ve experienced the same thing with your children.
For me, dreaming big means following my heart and manifesting something I’ve been dreaming of for a long, long time: being an actress and singer, entertaining people with my stories and songs. That’s why I’ve written a brand new one-woman show, MomStar, that tells my story – and not only that, but I’ve also created a new independent web series called The Making of a MomStar detailing my journey!
If you’ve given up everything to be a mother to your kids… what do you think your kids will grow to expect when it’s their time to raise a family? They’ll probably do the same thing that you did – because that feels normal and right to them.
On the other hand, if you lead by example and assert yourself in the world and go after those big dreams, guess how your children will behave as adults? They’ll model your example and go for what fulfills them and makes them feel alive!
Over the years, I’ve learned that the absolute BEST thing I can do for my kids is live my best life. Yes, that sometimes means that I don’t come home until late because I’m taking an improv class. And yes, that means that I fly my kids across the country several times a year so they can be with me when I do have to travel for work. (And half the time, my 15-year-old daughter spends time in the studio working on her album while I’m seeing clients!)
And yes… that means that I can sleep well at night knowing that they will grow up with an incredible vision for what this world is and what it has to offer them. If only they’ll step up to the tree and pluck the fruit, it is theirs for the taking.
Liimu McGill is the founder of MomStar and the star of a new independent reality series, The Making of a MomStar. Watch the first episode HERE.
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