There Are No Unsolvable Problems

My good blog-friend over at Samurai Mom just mentioned the Salon.com article that came out last week called "Why I Can't Stop Reading Mormon Housewife Blogs."  I love the author's subtitle, "I'm a young, feminist atheist who can't bake a cupcake. Why am I addicted to the shiny, happy lives of these women?"  Good question!

The writer of the article admits to being enthralled with the lifestyle that she sees portrayed on our blogs...staying home, cooking, loving our husbands and children, and, in general, loving our lives.  While she, at times, expresses skepticism about the validity of the happiness that so many of us "Mormon Mommy Bloggers" display in our posts, she still seems drawn to it, like a child with her nose pressed up to a toy store window.  Here is part of what my friend wrote in response:


"I just want to affirm that marriage IS wonderful.  Being a mother IS the most important and fulfilling job a woman can have.  That Mormon women DO really do all the things they blog about.  That for the most part we ARE happy.  In short, we are the real deal. "


And to her words, I'd like to add:  While we don't always love every minute of our jobs at home, we do love our lives and try to make the most of every day.  We get depressed, we get sick, we are met with disappointment.  We experience all the same feelings as any other woman out there working in any other occupation...but we shine through it with the Lord's help, and live to see better days.


Many of us have been in vastly different life situations than the "ideal" described in her article.  We've been single.  We've been employed outside of the home.  We've been divorced.  We've struggled.  Life is perfect for no one.  No matter how someones blog may appear (or how you may read into it).  


Perhaps the writer of that article is the one wearing rose-colored glasses, if she does not notice that we blog about both the good and the bad.  But to answer her original question: Maybe this self-proclaimed atheist has had something stirred inside of her as she has witnessed (perhaps unwittingly) the peaceful pattern of living that has brought true contentment to all of these women's lives, as described on blog after blog after blog.  


Personally, I think we seem happy, because although we live far from perfect lives, we face each day with the knowledge that because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, there are no unsolvable problems in this life.


And that's something that every woman, in all walks of life, can be happy about.