Submission Deadline: Monday, August 7
Permission. Sometimes we need permission to cut ourselves a break. It’s OK to feel embarrassed, to fail or be rejected. We are not perfect and can’t possibly be fully conscious of everything around us or live up to the expectations placed on us. There’s no shame in a restart or a “do over” – with yourselves or with your spouse, kids, neighbors or acquaintances. Give yourself permission to make mistakes, learn from them and move forward. When we ease up on ourselves, we’re more likely to ease up on those around us. This may be the very foothold that allows guards to come down, vulnerability to sneak in and conversations that may have not otherwise been permissible be spoken.
Topics to consider:
Share an experience where you embarrassed yourself, lost face or put your proverbial “foot in your mouth.” How did that experience open up conversations or relationships that wouldn’t have happened otherwise?
Share a “mom fail” and how it propelled you to start all over again or come at it from a completely different perspective.
Complete life “do-overs.” What have you completely scrapped in your life (old furniture, relationships, seasons in life, body image, schooling) and just decided to do-over?
Taboo conversations that you’re having with your spouse, your children or close friend.
Share some of the “real conversations” you have around your dinner table.
Share your “Me, too!” embarrassing moment and how you survived it.
Differences can hold us back. Describe a time when you were afraid to start a conversation or a friendship for fear of saying the wrong thing.
Share some of the unwelcomed comments or unsolicited advice you’ve received from in-laws, your mother, friends, strangers regarding your mothering or family. Why did you decide to take, or not take, this advice?
Write about a hobby, job or something that you’ve attempted even though you had no prior experience or didn’t think you’d be good at it – something you just wanted to give a “try” simply because you just wanted to.
Share your story of giving yourself permission to forgive an offender or to receive forgiveness (either from someone else or yourself).
How to submit
Send us your article at content@mops.org.
(600-900 word count)
Submission Information
For more information about the tone of our materials and our submission process read our writer’s guidelines (Insider hint: We take these very seriously, so it’s important you take a peek before submitting.)
Submission Process
Just so you know, all articles are received on speculation. Regretfully, we are unable to respond to submissions when they are received. However, if your article is selected for publishing, we will email you in advance with the submission agreement and date we will be publishing for your records.
And Since You Always Ask
The MOPS Blog does post previously published or posted material. Just make sure it meets our editorial needs first. Because, again, we take those pretty seriously.
What About General Content?
Yes, we certainly accept general articles about parenting, mothering and woman-related issues. In fact, we’re always up for a good tear-jerker or one of those stories that gets us laughing. We welcome those submissions through the same submissions process, but we should tell you up front that since we’re a theme-based magazine and blog, we only publish a few.
