Motherhood and Creativity Interview #23 - Dr Chesica Jones
Chesica loves leading a slow & natural life in Germany, being a mother, seeing her patients thrive, creating, and spending time with animals.
If you are new here, welcome! I’m so happy to have you here as part of this lovely, supportive community of mums. I’m Jenna, a mum of 3, a Coach for Mums and I live by the sea in South Wales.
Here on The Motherhood Connection, I love writing about:
ways to ease your overwhelm and cultivate self-compassion as a mum
tips on how to take imperfect action and live a life that feels good to you
the small moments of family life that bring me joy
honest reflections on motherhood
Every fortnight, I also publish a Motherhood and Creativity interview, where I share the words of creative mums who inspire me here on Substack and beyond. They share their words of joy, strength, creativity and community in motherhood and there’s so much wisdom in every interview.
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Welcome to Motherhood and Creativity, an interview series where I share the words of creative mums who inspire me here on Substack and beyond.
I share words of joy, strength, creativity and community in motherhood.
I feel like when we read the words of mums who speak so honestly about motherhood - the good parts, the hard parts and everything in between - this can really help give us some comfort and feel less alone.
I find so much inspiration from reading about mums who are all weaving their work and creativity around their kids too, as this is the situation I’m currently in. Knowing that there are other mums out there with creative dreams and careers and they are making it work around the edges of motherhood, that is so encouraging.
I hope you enjoy reading the words from these wonderful mums, and that you find comfort and inspiration in their words too.
You can read all 22 of the previous Motherhood and Creativity interviews here.
Motherhood and Creativity Interview #23 - Dr Chesica Jones
’ background is in psychology and life coaching. Chesica was a horse trainer in the Pacific Northwest, helping people with challenging horse cases, before deciding to pursue a career in holistic medicine. She loves leading a slow & natural life in Germany, being a mother, seeing her patients thrive, creating, and spending time with animals.
How old are your kids?
My son is 1.
When your children are older, what do you hope that they remember about the kind of mum that you were?
I hope he remembers the way I always tried to act with wisdom and kindness, whilst still being fun and spontaneous!
When you think about the tough parts of your motherhood journey, which of your qualities/strengths have got you through these tough times?
I'm naturally a curious person with a lot of empathy and I've worked hard to seek balance in my perspective. I suppose it helps that I have been humbled many times, starting with a difficult childhood.
I've always known that I wanted something different for my children and thankfully, whenever overwhelmed or frustration has struck, it comes somewhat naturally to me to turn to my curiosity, empathy, humility, and desire for a balanced perspective.
What brings you joy in motherhood?
Being part of an unfolding miracle, seeing the world anew through his eyes and, witnessing my child and I evolve simultaneously - he practices things like gross motor skills while I practice things like mindfulness and emotional intelligence... though he advances a lot more quickly than I do!
How important is creativity to you?
It is REALLY important to my well-being and I consider it a vital part of my wellness routine. There are so many ways in which creativity is a boon to our health and emotional processing.
Personally, it’s played a big role in my ability to accept my neurodivergence and how I view my own health journey - I am currently writing a post on this very subject!
Tell us more about your favourite ways to be creative.
I enjoy approaching life creatively and feel drawn to many mediums.
I believe that love and creativity have a lot in common and it seems to follow that I get such a jolt of joy from crafting well thought out gifts or unexpected ways to show kindness to others.
Though, I think your question is aimed more towards physical mediums - I journal and photograph daily but my longest creative love has been paper art. I love to collage and I make cards for loved ones on special occasions. Something about putting together colours and textures and words in a certain way is the fulfilment of some kind of need for me.
Since becoming a mum, have you experienced a creative surge? What did that look like for you?
Yes! I noticed a surge in my creativity that started in pregnancy and ultimately led to creating my Substack,
not long after my son's arrival.More than a year into motherhood, I still have a burning desire to create and share things of meaning and value - to help others and spread joy.
What does honouring your creativity look like for you in this season of your mothering?
I have a commitment to myself to enjoy a little daily creativity - even if only 5 minutes to sketch or write a haiku.
Additionally, I write and publish on my Substack regularly and provide resources and ideas to encourage others.
Ultimately, I dream of publishing a book – I feel doing so would be an important way to honour my sacrifices and all the creative spark and personal growth that motherhood has gifted me.
What’s been your experience of finding a community in motherhood?
My situation certainly isn't the norm - I'm a rather eccentric, nature-loving, Christian American in a suburban German community that is largely agnostic and decidedly conventional.
However, I have noticed that babies tend to bring out the best (or worst) in people in that it's been a sort of litmus test for the people around me.
On the one hand, I've been at the receiving end of more generosity and invitation than ever before and, on the other, my experience has been very lonely at times.
Mostly my experience is due to cultural differences and the fact that I'm 6000 miles away from grabbing a coffee with my sister, or getting to watch my best friend's baby become friends with mine, and other small things that tend to add up.
That said, I'm determined to bloom where I'm planted.
What words of encouragement would you offer to a mum who might be struggling at the moment?
I recently wrote about 1000 words, in a post called: “Positivity, mindfulness & other practical 'must-haves' for crunchy moms.”
In essence, I would tell any mother who is struggling that: it gets better!
"The higher the mountain, the steeper the climb, the better the view"... challenges can be a gift, if we allow them.
Also, seek a supportive community and don't be afraid to ask for help or be honest about your struggles.
You can find out more about
here:Substack:
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Thank you Chesica for being part of the Motherhood and Creativity interview series.
I loved reading this interview and enjoyed these parts especially:
when Chesica describes what brings her joy in motherhood as “…witnessing my child and I evolve simultaneously - he practices things like gross motor skills while I practice things like mindfulness and emotional intelligence... though he advances a lot more quickly than I do!”- I think this is something we often forget as mums, that we are learning and evolving all of the time too, alongside our kids. Even just realising this can help us lean into self-compassion more, and give ourselves more grace.
how Chesica considers creativity as a vital part of her wellness routine - I really like this as it links creativity to well-being and making creativity part of your wellness routine means you are more intentional about incorporating it into your everyday life more too.
Chesica’s thoughts on the links between love and creativity:
“I believe that love and creativity have a lot in common and it seems to follow that I get such a jolt of joy from crafting well thought out gifts or unexpected ways to show kindness to others.”
how Chesica describes her love of collage as:
“Something about putting together colours and textures and words in a certain way is the fulfilment of some kind of need for me.”
Chesica’s experience of having a creative surge as a mum:
“More than a year into motherhood, I still have a burning desire to create and share things of meaning and value - to help others and spread joy.”
how Chesica has a commitment to herself to “…enjoy a little daily creativity - even if only 5 minutes to sketch or write a haiku.” - I love this approach of not waiting until an hour or two appears, instead committing to a daily creativity and embracing the small moments that appear and making the most of them. Even those small moments can be such a boost for your well-being.
Chesica’s varied experience of finding a community in motherhood, and how her tenacious spirit comes through when she says “That said, I'm determined to bloom where I'm planted.”
I hope you enjoyed this interview in the ‘Motherhood and Creativity’ series - these interviews will continue fortnightly until April 2025.
You can read all 22 of the previous Motherhood and Creativity interviews here.
I’d love to hear which of Chesica’s words resonated with you - let me know in the comments.
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Work with Jenna in 2025
If you’d like to start 2025 by setting feel-good goals, taking small (totally do-able) steps, that create long-lasting change then just think of me as your personal cheerleader who is going to support you in making those changes!
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