Chasing Dreams in the Chaos of Everyday Life

I never know how much time I’ll get, so I’ll be honest and plunge right in: I’m a mom writing during quiet moments — lunch breaks, nap times, late evenings — whenever the fires are out and the world calms.

I’m squeezing creativity into the little pockets of time I used to spend catching my breath and doomscrolling out of exhaustion. Because I want more than working a typical 9–5 and watching the world through a screen as downtime. I want to show up for myself and my words too, just like I’d want my son to put his all into whatever he loves.

Even though I don’t have time, I’m trying to make it — because the perfect moments we imagine in our heads? They rarely exist, about as rare as a teething baby sleeping through the night. And frankly, I’m tired of waiting for them. So this is me, stubbornly building a new habit and chasing old dreams between feedings, Teams meetings, and never-ending laundry.

If you start seeing more of my work (which I hope you do), remember: even small bursts of writing can add up to something real.

Motherhood, Work, and the Messy Middle Where My Writing Lives

Life can get so chaotic and feel never-ending in some moments. I feel this deeply as I currently work full-time from home (thank you to the gift of remote work) while also being a full-time mom to my little boy. Mornings start with my son blowing raspberries on my arms or him trying to grab anything we’ve left on our headboard. Days are filled with video calls, vendor updates, and compiling product data all while keeping my son cared for and entertained. Evenings disappear into dinner prep, bedtime routines, and a few moments to breathe with my husband if I’m lucky.

It’s absolutely exhausting, but also joyful because I get to spend my days with my son. He makes everything worthwhile, but I don’t want to lose myself fully to the motherhood role. So in the tiny slivers when I can breathe, I’m creating something that’s mine and that sparks another deep purpose.

Writing is one of the things that grounds me and makes my heart soar. Since I was a kid, I’ve filled notebooks with ideas and stories, typed half-finished books across multiple laptops, spent hours daydreaming plots and characters, and even dove into social media to share my interests and help build a readership. But none of it quite stuck, and for years it was something I swore I’d “get to” when life slowed down. Only — spoiler alert — it hasn’t and it won’t for a very long time, if ever. So here I am, scribbling in notebooks or typing on a phone/laptop in every spare minute I can catch.

I’ll admit, sometimes the bursts of writing are frustrating. I’ll have a great idea or find a good flow, and suddenly my son wakes up early, the pot boils over, or a vendor finally replies about an urgent project. But even with the interruptions and frustration, it’s still rewarding to see the words piling up. Making something that finally lives outside my head.

So I push on, cherishing each sacred moment I have. One sentence, one word, at a time. Until I can build what I’ve always wanted, and maybe, if I’m really lucky, achieve my lifelong dream of being a full-time author.

I’m not sharing this because I have it all figured out (I most definitely don’t!), but because I know I’m not alone in feeling this pull to create in the middle of a packed life. Whether you’re a parent, a professional, a student, or someone trying to keep life afloat while chasing a dream — you can make space for your creativity too. It might be messy, inconsistent, and imperfect, but it’ll be yours. And maybe, just maybe, all these stolen moments are enough. Maybe this is how we build the lives we’ve always wanted.