About #SMG

Hello! Wondering who is behind Single Mother Goddess (#SMG?). Let me introduce myself…

I am a mother, entrepreneur, writer and adventurer. I started my journey as a SMG when I was 6 weeks pregnant. My closest family were two continents away. Not only was I a single mother, I was also an only parent. There was no one else involved in any capacity in the parenting of my child. This was not a path that I would have ever chosen for myself, but it has been the BIGGEST BLESSING I have ever received. And it has been the making of me.

On the discovery I was pregnant and alone, I was too stubborn to go home to New Zealand and admit defeat. So over the next 9 years I set about creating a life that I LOVE for myself and my beloved child. It hasn’t always been easy. We’ve had plenty of ups and downs. But I’ve learned that that’s life. Everyone has some kind of burden, some major challenge to overcome. I don’t know of a single person, single, married, parent or not that has sailed through life from birth to grave who hasn’t had some Grand Canyon sized challenges along the way. Forging this path on my own has been mine.

Screw the single mother stereotypes. I’m so sick of the media portraying us as destitute, desperate, unhinged, poverty stricken, morally bereft and an all-around plague to society. As I began researching I realized that there are more women raising children on their own, than there are women raising children in traditional families. We are the invisible majority-minority. When I started out on this journey I searched frantically for inspiration and wisdom from other single moms who had travelled this same path successfully. Though there are many, many incredibly inspiring single Mothers, I could not find the inspirational, revolutionary movement I was looking for. So I have started it and I hope you will join me.

It doesn't matter where you’ve come from, what you’ve been through, or what mistakes you’ve made along the way. Whether you are a single mother by choice (I salute you), or by circumstances not of your choosing (I welcome you) - I want you to know that YOU CAN BUILD AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR CHILDREN AS A SINGLE MOM.

This is what being a Single Mother Goddess is all about. It does NOT mean we have all the answers (I certainly do not and continue to make mistakes by the truckload full). It doesn’t mean that you have a perfectly manicured home, perfectly styled hair, nannies at the ready and millions in your bank account. Absolutely not. Being a Single Mother Goddess simply means that you REFUSE to be defined by the stereotype of being a single Mom. That you are determined to create a new and better life for yourself and your children filled with joy, wonder, grace, fun, adventure and abundance beyond your wildest dreams. Don’t worry about the HOW - that will come later - just the intent is all you need to get started.

I want you to know that you are NOT here, at this website by accident. You are meant to be here. No matter what you are going through, no matter what you have been through, I promise that that it CAN and it WILL get better. There is an incredible life waiting for you and your children. YOU CAN DO THIS. Not only can you survive as a single mom, but you can thrive.

In a million years I would have never thought I would be raising a child on my own. For as long as I can remember I was fixated on finding “the one” starting a family and living happily ever after. Ha! That’s not how it’s turned out. My marriage imploded after the discovery of an affair (no children involved) and thanks to a subsequent relationship I now have one darling child who turned out to be THE BIGGEST GIFT AND MOST AMAZING BLESSING I could have ever imagined.

Jumping out of a perfectly good, moving boat into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with the closest land mass 2000 miles away - was nothing compared to the terror of finding out I was pregnant and alone.

Would I be good enough? How could I do this on my own? How will I manage? How will I survive? How will we survive? Will my child be ok? What kind of life can we have? I knew NONE of the answers to these questions.

I will never forget my moment of deepest panic - the first 24 hours after I saw those two blue lines and not another living soul knew.

It is said that there are no atheists on Mt Everest and it’s true. I prayed with all my might. For wisdom, for courage, for strength. For something.

That same evening I walked into a rest room, and there displayed on the wall was an image that still today - is my most treasured.

It’s a photograph called “in the Arms of the Angel” by renowned New Zealand photographer Anne Geddes.

In the instant I saw that image, I knew that everything would be ok.

Now I am not a religious person. Despite being raised Christian I have had a very up-down/troubled relationship with God. I stopped believing in Him/Her when I was 10 years old when my best friend died - her whole family wiped out in a plane accident. Ironically I started believing in God again 11 years later when my heart shattered into a million when my best friend took his own life. I am still not a religious person, but I do now consider myself a spiritual person.

Wherever you are at with your relationship with God, it truly doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you believe in a power greater than yourself. Everything is NOT up to you. There is a much greater, ALL LOVING POWER that is the source of all love, all joy, all abundance - in infinite quantities. ALL THIS AND MORE is waiting for you by divine right. Our tiny minds can barely comprehend this. All you have to do is believe that it exists for you - and for your children.

I took ENORMOUS COMFORT in this image.

Even though I would be parenting my child alone, I WOULD NOT BE ALONE. My child is God’s child too - just as yours are.

Whether you are co-parenting with another, or doing it solo as I am, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. YOU AND GOD/UNIVERSAL MOTHER/GREAT SPIRIT/ YOUR HIGHER POWER CAN DO THIS TOGETHER. And an extraordinary life awaits you - more incredible that you could have ever imagined.

This has been my experience and I know it can be yours too.

Welcome!

You are SO LOVED!

YOU CAN DO THIS!

Julie Guest