I started this website so that you can find out more about my new book, Big Picture Parents: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Life.

But there are few reasons why I am a very reluctant blogger:

1. I am not a parenting guru

I am a normal, human parent. I am often overwhelmed with fear, guilt, and confusion about my role. To my shame, I regularly yell at my kids and snap at my husband. I feel like my life – my house, my marriage, my kids, my heart – is too messy for social media.

But one of my key messages to modern parents is that we need to accept our human limitations – we are not perfect and we are not ultimately in control. All we can ever hope to be is “good enough”. In my book, I show how we can find freedom from the guilt and fear we experience as humans and as parents.

2. Blog posts are too short

Thanks to the internet, our generation lives in a swirling sea of information and advice, especially about parenting. While internet articles and blog posts can give us fragments of information, what we need most is a “big picture” to help us fit the pieces together into a coherent whole.

My book gives you the chance to step back and start building your framework. I encourage parents to consider their purpose in life and parenthood, their human limitations, the values that drive them, and their family’s  structure and place within the wider community.

Once we have taken the time to build this frame of our house, we can then fill it in with bricks – whatever pieces of information and advice support our vision.

3. Your time is precious

The single most valuable resource we have to share with our partners and our children is our time. And yet, we modern parents are often too busy, even to do the things we value most.

The last thing I want to do is to take you away from your family. I don’t want to let my online activities distract me from my family either. For that reason, I only plan to write new blog posts occasionally.

Having said that, I truly believe that you will not regret taking the time to become a “big picture parent”. It will give you a framework for deciding how best to use your time, in line with your values. I hope that reading my book and my blog will send you back to your family, equipped to love them better.