SRI LANKA: On being a World Mom

SRI LANKA: On being a World Mom

I am an expat nomad mom, my family and I move from country to country quite often and our kids are growing up as Global Citizens. I, like all the moms in the World Moms Network, consider myself a World Mom.

I have a home country, where I was born but I don’t live there. Even if I lived there I would still feel like I wasn’t “just” from there. As the daughter of an immigrant in the United States, I learned first hand how to survive in a land that’s not your own. I learned to make whatever country I am on into a home.

My kids speak Asian Spanglish, I bet you never heard that before. I believe that they are lucky to have a World Mom to look up to, even if I fall into expat depression once in a while. I think sometimes of “going back” for family and other normal things but then I think of all the opportunities they receive by traveling the world with us. I cannot decide what is better. Traveling the world always wins.

As an editor for the Asia Pacific chapter I have come to know other World Moms quite well and I am taken aback at how profoundly real we all are. I have learned that beneath all the daily strife and events that make us who we are, our children are our greatest teachers. That when you laugh with them instead of fight, the air becomes sparkly and things are good.

Our children will grow knowing that we gave them the world, as much of it as we possibly could. World Moms live as expats, in their hometown, or they travel around. They live as single parents, as grandparents, as matriarchs, but all in all they simply live. World Moms see their life experience as an extension of the whole of humanity; our children being the catalysts for a greater good. We strive for World Peace and equality by being a family and sticking together.

We are not confined to our neighborhoods, our families, our cities. Our souls as mothers expand the globe, we are connected even when oceans apart.

Being a World Mom opens your eyes to infinite possibilities of living. We are not alone. 

I have always had a curiosity about all religions. Being brought up in a catholic / christian environment made the contact with other religions quite limited. Having traveled for five years around Southeast Asia has shown me so much of how other moms believe. I have learned to see how other moms have faith.

The lessons I have learned are just a little stripe on the tiger of life, there are so many stories to hear, so many stories to tell. Every mom has a path to take and I believe we are all in it together.

I hope to keep learning indefinitely as a World Mom, there is so much more to live and my kids have so much more to learn alongside me. Being a World Mom is a rollercoaster ride that spans the globe. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

 

Orana Velarde

Orana is a Writer, Artist, Mother and Wife; Peruvian Expat currently living in Kyiv, Ukraine with her husband and children. She works as a writer, designer and social media manager for diverse organizations around the world.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:
TwitterFacebookLinkedInPinterestFlickr