Empty nest??? Let's change the vibe

It’s funny.. or not so funny…
My baby went to college last weekend and all I have heard is the term empty nester. It’s everywhere. I go to target, I hear it there. Look on Facebook, I see it there. Talk to a friend and they ask me about my empty nest. Now… I have heard it for years, but never really paid attention to it… it wasn’t my reality. Now that it “seems” to be my reality, everywhere I turn.. there it is. Law of attraction.. in full force.
However… I think it is time to change the vibe.. It feels like a low energy word to me. It’s time to shift it up.. don’t ya think? Those of you who have gone before me.. you know what I mean, don’t you? Those of you still with younger kids.. you will find out… unless and until.. we see it and refer to it differently.
Are you with me?
My kids are 7 1/2 years apart, so when my first son left, at 18, I still had a 10 year old at home, so it didn’t apply. Now, my baby leaves the house, at 17, to head to college and we (my hubby and I) somehow now have an empty nest?
First of all, empty nest implies that there is nothing inside the nest.. right? It is empty. The thing is, my husband and I are still here, all of the beautiful memories we have created as a family are here, my mom, our friends and family are here… and most importantly… Our LOVE is here. Our “nest” is not empty in any way. It is different.. for sure, but it is not empty. So, I think it is time to come up with a new word.. a new term for this so called empty nest? What are your suggestions? What symbolizes the kids leaving, the parents/family staying and the experience of it all?
I’m thinking a way to shift up the vibe is to start referring to it with a new energy. It reminds me of when my youngest son was going to be a teenager. People started saying things like… “watch out you have a teenager on your hands.. or, he’s been so easy, now that he is a teenager you better get ready.” No one meant any harm by it, however there is an energy to the fear that is in those words… It got to a point that I literally had a talk with everyone that was close to us. I explained that I did not like the energy that was being put out about him becoming a teenager. Words carry vibration and I did not want to bring that vibration in… in any way. So, we didn’t use the word teenager. He was thirteen… PERIOD! AND… truly, we never had a major issue with him… ever. Now, I am not saying that it is wholly due to that, but we are vibrational beings, and the energy of words affect us. Just like our thoughts affect us. They have to. It is all energy.
I learned a lot… of what to do and what not to do, from my first son. I saw the evidence of this way back then… just in reverse order. He was a wild child when he was little. He was simply wild. People back then would say OMG Sunny, what are you going to do with him when he is a teenager. Mind you, this was when he was 3 and 5 and 8. Some days, I never thought we would make it to the teenage years so it didn’t really concern me… but my response, from as far back as I can remember was this: “When he is a teenager, he is going to be completely different. He is going to outgrow all of this.”
Guess what? His teenage years were much easier than his young years… much! It wasn’t perfect, but it was so much easier. Now, looking back, when he was about 16, I remember thinking why didn’t I say that he was going to outgrow this when he was 7? I took me a while to figure it out.. I learned a lot from him… and the power of words is one of them.
My life is very blessed:  I have great health, lots of energy, a husband I love and who loves me and a couple of kids off creating their own lives. Just that right there, that they are out creating and living their lives, is a sign of a very full nest… don’t ya think? After all, it isn’t about the physical anyway.. it is about the LOVE.
Its been said that women are less depressed, less anxious and less suicidal in their 50s and 60s than at any other time of life.  When the kids go off on their own, many of them truly step into their own. They become better, wiser versions of the women they’ve been.  I think that is a great way to look at it.
So….“Out” with the old term “Empty Nester” and “In” with what?  If we are not Empty Nesters any longer..what are we?
I am going to suggest the term FREE BIRD. We are all FREE birds.. We always have been and we always will be. It just seemed, for some time, that we had some type of ownership over our lids.. when in reality… they are the same FREE BIRDS we were at their age.
 
So, what do you suggest? What term do you suggest we change it to?? Lets hear it in the comments below. #FREEBIRD Blessings to all of my FREE BIRD friends – SDJ
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