Really solid book Becoming by Michelle Obama. I think I read it at the perfect time because I was able to relate to the story of her meeting Barack. The way she would describe him, especially when they were getting to know each other sounded very similar to how I would describe myself. Fact-oriented, optimistic, self-assured, calm guy on a mission. Now I obviously don’t have the speaking presence or ability now that he does or even did at my age but I can grow into my best version over time.
I think I’ll return to this book and the notes years from now and remember back to how personally I connected with it. It’s almost like a glimpse into the future for my own life.
With my overall mission and purpose I could see us following that path of world-changing magnitude. Seems very brash and presumptive and self-righteous but what can I do if those thoughts are running through my head. I think I’ll return to this book and the notes years from now and remember back to how personally I connected with it. It’s almost like a glimpse into the future for my own life.
Another aspect of it was how to handle fame and celebrity status, especially when you had a family. They took time to be themselves when they needed to to center themselves individually and collectively. I figure I’ll be more non-negotiable with my personal time than they were because I understand the importance of being my best for others starts with being my best for myself.
Michelle would say that Barack would do his job but when it was dinner time, he would show up and be the father and husband that he needed to be.
The sacrifice of privacy they gave up as they became more and more famous was the price for being able to make grand change. However, they set boundaries for others when the outside wanted to learn more about their kids. And they still let them be kids as much as they could.
Barack being glad that they could outsource stuff at home definitely resonated with me. In an ideal world, I would outsource meal prep and cleaning on-demand when I have the financial means to do so. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to cook. It just means that when I want to allocate my energy to other matters, I can unequivocally do that.
With all that energy freed up though, you can’t outsource or replace genuine relationships. You can’t speak to something with as much conviction or credibility when you haven’t spent the time with people building that rapport, trust, and relationship. I hope I never lose sight of that wherever life takes me.
Michelle made a sacrifice of her career to support Barack’s. Is that something I’m willing to do if the situation presents itself? Is that something that my partner would be willing to do if that situation ever presented itself? Who knows. Can’t spend energy thinking about that now.
What about outsourcing, to an extent, raising kids? What is that right balancing of taking help from a nanny or caregiver to help raise your kids and being there yourself as a parent? Can’t replace relationships like I said.
Being the role model and adult that you want your kids to be one day is the biggest way to show up as a parent, so spending valuable time with them is memories that they’ll have forever.
Overall, it was a great book and I hope one day I get to meet them in person to tell them how much I connected with them in this book.
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