Oh my dear god!! I cannot believe this video exists. I think this has been the most important video I have ever listened to. My entire nervous system is screaming right now!! Liz has been such a big inspiration for me and my life. As an artist through reading big magic and as an adventurer who dreams of traveling the world. I am 26 now and up until very recently I thought I would have children. I put soo much pressure on myself to reach all my goals and complete all the adventures before I am 30 so that I could start trying for children. and oh my goodness was I STRESSED!! 4 years to have a gallery of all my sculptures..to do my dream art instillation at a festival..to see south america and asia and new zealand and who am I kidding..everywhere!! ..to compose for film..to bikepack across europe.. to learn how to climb.. and thats before figuring out a 'stable' career or house where I would live..or a fricken life partner!! oh my god...anyway.. I stumbled across the childfree lifestyle and my whole world was shaken. Liz came to my mind instantly in that moment of realization as happy women who never had children. This video was so needed and I am so so grateful to know of you Liz. I am so buzzed for my life of art, creativity, adventure and love. I intend to be a great friend and role model. I do truly love kids and will give back to the community..through not having kids I will have the energy to be kind and patient..lord knows I am mean when I dont get enough sleep haha
And hells bells Elizabeth speaks to my soul!!! So often, things I'm starting to think, she beautifully articulates. I've now started to own the fact I AM selfish with my one wild and precious life.
Thank you for having this conversation especially with Liz Gilbert and for sharing it! I knew when I was 5 that I didn’t want to have my own kids. Children are incredibly important and I love them, I work teaching them but the idea of having them, raising them just wasn’t something I craved. Sometimes my students ask me if I have kids or if I want kids, and I tell them, “I have 350 of you guys to see and work with every day! That’s amazing for me!” They’re always surprised by that. And then there are the older folks who see me and say, “You’d make a really great mom.” And it’s a nice compliment but at the same time it has that hint of nudging that I don’t want to be steered in… honestly, all that you guys talked about was extremely relevant, revealing, and just honest! So thank you!
I thank Fate for giving me three single aunts who showed me excellent models of childfree happy women, as well as a happy mother, of 6 of us, who gives me a huge respect for that role too. Each to their own!!
Liz replaced a mother to me that I never had. I am 36. We have been together for the last 14 years. Or 23 years if we include me being 13 years old watching “The Coyote Ugly” movie that was based on her article and deciding to move to New York and learn how to bartend and dance on a bar. 😂 I moved to NY from small town in Russia and all my dreams came true because of her. I also met her 2 times. I got divorced after reading Eat Pray Love and 5 years later visited Bali.
I don't know how much of the difference is generational or geographical, but it's almost shocking to me the extent to which society told Elizabeth she had to have kids. How entrenched in it she was, even among friends. You hear about how parents expect grandkids, but it's wild to learn how far it can go. At 27, I'm the only one of my friends that plans to have children. My SILs, my sibling, my 19 cousins, are all childless. My mother has, if anything, actively gotten me to question my desire to get married and have kids, saying my happiness is most important (a mortgage on the other hand was required :p). I feel lucky to live in a place and time where the choice is so completely mine to make. I'm grateful to the women that came before me and changed things for the better.
I chose not to have kids back in the 70's. Received insults from so many women. I have no regrets. I just knew it was right for me. I got married at age 20. He wanted kids. He got kids with his new wife. Biggest insult I received often was that 'I'd never know what it was to be a woman'.
Oh my dear god!! I cannot believe this video exists. I think this has been the most important video I have ever listened to. My entire nervous system is screaming right now!! Liz has been such a big inspiration for me and my life. As an artist through reading big magic and as an adventurer who dreams of traveling the world. I am 26 now and up until very recently I thought I would have children. I put soo much pressure on myself to reach all my goals and complete all the adventures before I am 30 so that I could start trying for children. and oh my goodness was I STRESSED!! 4 years to have a gallery of all my sculptures..to do my dream art instillation at a festival..to see south america and asia and new zealand and who am I kidding..everywhere!! ..to compose for film..to bikepack across europe.. to learn how to climb.. and thats before figuring out a 'stable' career or house where I would live..or a fricken life partner!! oh my god...anyway.. I stumbled across the childfree lifestyle and my whole world was shaken. Liz came to my mind instantly in that moment of realization as happy women who never had children. This video was so needed and I am so so grateful to know of you Liz. I am so buzzed for my life of art, creativity, adventure and love. I intend to be a great friend and role model. I do truly love kids and will give back to the community..through not having kids I will have the energy to be kind and patient..lord knows I am mean when I dont get enough sleep haha
And hells bells Elizabeth speaks to my soul!!! So often, things I'm starting to think, she beautifully articulates. I've now started to own the fact I AM selfish with my one wild and precious life.
Thank you for having this conversation especially with Liz Gilbert and for sharing it! I knew when I was 5 that I didn’t want to have my own kids. Children are incredibly important and I love them, I work teaching them but the idea of having them, raising them just wasn’t something I craved. Sometimes my students ask me if I have kids or if I want kids, and I tell them, “I have 350 of you guys to see and work with every day! That’s amazing for me!” They’re always surprised by that. And then there are the older folks who see me and say, “You’d make a really great mom.” And it’s a nice compliment but at the same time it has that hint of nudging that I don’t want to be steered in… honestly, all that you guys talked about was extremely relevant, revealing, and just honest! So thank you!
I thank Fate for giving me three single aunts who showed me excellent models of childfree happy women, as well as a happy mother, of 6 of us, who gives me a huge respect for that role too. Each to their own!!
Liz replaced a mother to me that I never had. I am 36. We have been together for the last 14 years. Or 23 years if we include me being 13 years old watching “The Coyote Ugly” movie that was based on her article and deciding to move to New York and learn how to bartend and dance on a bar. 😂
I moved to NY from small town in Russia and all my dreams came true because of her. I also met her 2 times.
I got divorced after reading Eat Pray Love and 5 years later visited Bali.
That's amazing, hope I'll meet her someday just like you did. Liz is so precious to me, like a parent indeed. Thanks for sharing Nina.
I don't know how much of the difference is generational or geographical, but it's almost shocking to me the extent to which society told Elizabeth she had to have kids. How entrenched in it she was, even among friends. You hear about how parents expect grandkids, but it's wild to learn how far it can go.
At 27, I'm the only one of my friends that plans to have children. My SILs, my sibling, my 19 cousins, are all childless. My mother has, if anything, actively gotten me to question my desire to get married and have kids, saying my happiness is most important (a mortgage on the other hand was required :p).
I feel lucky to live in a place and time where the choice is so completely mine to make. I'm grateful to the women that came before me and changed things for the better.
I chose not to have kids back in the 70's. Received insults from so many women. I have no regrets. I just knew it was right for me. I got married at age 20. He wanted kids. He got kids with his new wife. Biggest insult I received often was that 'I'd never know what it was to be a woman'.