ModerateMum is a must-read blog for all parents. It’s full of great advice and hilarious anecdotes that all parents can relate to. Charlene Allcott has written for the Huffington Post and offers courses and coaching. Bjournal spoke to her to find out more about her blog, and something called Mission Acceptance.
Tell us about yourself I divide my time between youth work, my blog and being at home with my two year old son Roscoe. They are three very unique experiences but all require commitment and patience.
How did you come about starting your blog? Becoming a mother was a very enlightening time for me. I had so much to say and only a baby to say it to! He wasn’t that responsive, so I started writing to share my thoughts and find a community. I write about parenting, relationships and personal development.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a blog? Just start. Don’t spend too much time thinking about how or when you’re going to start; there’s always a delete button.
What do you do outside of blogging? I fell in love with yoga last year when I was on holiday in Goa. I also love dancing and there’s an awesome Lindy Hop scene in Brighton. I must be honest and say that I’m working on creating space to enjoy these things more often. At the moment I spend my time outside blogging thinking about doing them!
You have said on your blog that you are doing Mission Acceptance, can you tell us more about that? I would love to. Mission Acceptance is a series of weekly self-acceptance challenges which will hopefully culminate in a year of learning to live with myself. I offer advice on my blog and I came to realise that I was repeatedly telling my readers to accept themselves in order to move through challenges. A common example of this is when you spend a lot of energy chasing after something, for example a particular job, without truly examining whether your own skills or circumstances make it the best choice for you. I will be blogging about how I got on with each mission every Sunday.
How are you getting on with it? Its early days but it’s been more challenging than I anticipated! Self knowledge is definitely the greatest gift you can give yourself but it’s not always easy. One of the things I’ve found hardest is prioritising myself and my missions. It’s much easier to put your own needs aside and support others, but in doing that you’re doing everyone a disservice in the long run.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to do the same? Start with the area that you have the greatest resistance. If you’ve been meaning to lose weight or save money for years and have never made progress, there may be something about yourself that you’re refusing to acknowledge. Accepting this could be the first step in creating change (or not because sometimes we have to accept we that we don’t want to do something!). If you want to go deep, feel free to join me on my journey. I send out a new mission every Sunday and I’d love the company.
And finally, what is your favourite thing about Brighton? I wish I could say something more original but it’s the sea. It’s what brought us here, I love it’s ever changing mood and I still feel like a kid again when I spot a flash of blue in the distance.
You can find Charlene and her blog here, as well as follow her on Twitter.
Holly Martin
all images belong to moderatemum.co.uk
