Back in February, as I was teaching, consulting and preparing to take on a big new role as a mother, one of the organizers of TedXGrandRapids reached out to ask if I would be interested in sharing my story at their 2014 event. I quickly counted the weeks to see how feasible this would be with a baby in tow and said…yes. Of course! Somehow, some way, this was an opportunity I couldn’t miss.

Luckily my partner and I were blessed with a very easygoing baby who handled flying across the country and hanging around a conference centre for a couple of days like a pro. As new parents, I’m pretty proud of how we pulled up our boots and worked together to make this happen.

In response to the event theme “What is Connected?” I started thinking more about my connections with city life versus country life, with the animals we keep, with my family. Eventually this grew into an exploration of my own personal alignment.

Personal Alignment: the process of streamlining every aspect of your life, to ensure every element that would typically have an influence on your daily decisions are aligned.

My personal alignment is found out here on our homestead, balancing motherhood with consulting and our gardening/animal husbandry ambitions. I’ve never felt more motivated to work but I’ve also never been more conscious of how I spend my time and where I put my hours. This is more than just balance – it’s alignment. My alignment.

Following the event, Amy and I talked a little more about this concept of personal alignment and opened up the question to the rest of the Felicity team:

What’s your personal alignment?

Over the next few months, we’ll be sharing everyone’s responses with you each week. We also want to hear from you! If you have a story of personal alignment you would like to share with us, please email them to me at [email protected].