By Lynn Kuechle
The little project that could…
During my masters work in Communication Studies I began a journey of studying the cultural and social implications of motherhood. While my journey of motherhood started 8 years earlier, when I had my daughter, I hadn’t taken the time or had the perspective of seeing that not only my day to day activities had changed, my entire identity had shifted.
Returning to school later in life I didn’t want to do something to simply fill the requirement to graduate, I wanted to do something that mattered, and it was okay if it only mattered to me.
My project turned into a scripted reading that has taken on a life of its own. I joke with my family and friends that “I’m going to ride this train as long as she’ll keep chugging along.” Well, turns out it’s a little like the little engine that could.
From the beginning I hoped the project would just start a conversation and a dialogue. Of course, I hope it makes a difference in the life of mothers; change never starts or continues without the exchange of stories and looking at the same old thing through a different set of eyes. Here is an update of where the project is currently going.
During a tour of local community colleges in southern Minnesota I was approached by the local PBS station to produce the show. The completed project is scheduled to air in January on KSMQ in Austin MN.
This fall I received an email for the Women’s Center on the college campus where I currently teach asking if I would be interested in putting on the show. My answer is always yes. They asked if I would meet with them and tell them more about the project. We are hoping to put together a working group to construct talking points to present to administration about how to make our campus more family friendly to students, faculty and staff. I think I can, I think I can.
The little project that could keeps chugging along, keeping watching as it could pull into a station near you.
Mamapalooza 