We are seeking a wide variety of content. We highly value unique perspectives or novel thought processes with a diversity of voices and experiences as well as variations in content lengths. These types of pieces will have a better chance of being published. Please visit our Writer’s Guidelines and submit to: content@mops.org. Deadline: MONDAY, MAY 4, 2020.
Theme: CHASE JOY
Actively seeking out joy is how we fight discouragement and fear. It’s how we fight our tendency to complain, accuse or be offended. Joy is a decision, a really brave one, about how you will respond to life in all its circumstances. Joy is the most magnetic and contagious force in the universe, that type that people around you can’t help but notice – especially those looking up toward their mom. It is a gladness that’s not just reserved for happy moments, but particularly during the hardest days that come your way. Joy is the deep knowing that you were made for more than anxiety, depression and fear. This is your year to reclaim joy and share it with others!
FORMAT OPTIONS:
- Essay or narrative piece (wordcount: 600-800)
- Informative or research article (wordcount: 400-800)
- How-to article (wordcount: 400-800)
- Satire/humor piece (wordcount: 400-800)
- Opinion or inspirational piece (wordcount: 400-800)
- Round-up article (wordcount: 400-800)
- Poetry or fiction shorts (wordcount: 300-800)
WRITING PROMPTS:
Intimacy
- 5 things my mama never told me about intimacy.
- Name the season, event, catalyst (dating, marriage, becoming a mother, adolescence, death, illness, etc.) that taught you the importance of having intimacy (or lack thereof) in a relationship (marital, parent/child, friendships, dating, etc.).
- 4 tips on how to feel comfortable in your own skin
Humor/Fun/Joy
- Pranking as a love language: Fun practical jokes you can play on your kids/family
- Quips on the joys of childhood: Things I thought I’d never hear myself say (as a mom); Unconventional ways to find joy
- The opposite of joy: it’s not what you think.
- How can we rediscover your joy? / What’s your secret formula for joy?
- Daily exercise to practice joy – physical, emotional, spiritual (chart)
- 10 Habits of Joyful People (infographic)
Spiritual/Faith
- Reclaiming Jesus after enduring spiritual trauma within the church
- The science of joy and how it breeds good health – physical, emotional, better sex drive, spiritual
- A history lesson on motherhood and how the effects it has on modern motherhood.
- How you chose joy while being confined to bedrest, suffering from a chronic illness, paralyzed, etc.
- The Five Senses of Joy – how smell, sight, touch, taste, sound affect joy
- Chart for Joy – things that bring me joy and things that steal my joy: BRING ME JOY STEAL MY JOY
- How I fought my joy-stealer(s): depression and anxiety
- Healing through depression, anxiety using alternative forms to traditional “talk therapy.”
- Share your reflections of joy and pain of child birth (perspective from birth mom, adoptive mom, natural birth/c-section/epidural) – severe pain to elation, cry and weeping to laughing, overwhelming joy
Relationships
- How to determine toxic people from good people who challenge you.
- My MOPS group or group of girlfriends weren’t a fit for me so this is how I moved on and found my community.
- I think I might be jealous of my friend … am I a bad person?
Marriage
- My marriage is ending – how do I find joy?
- How to reorient your marriage after you become parents.
- 5 Essentials in my spiritual walk when my spouse doesn’t believe the same things as me
- Finding joy in singleness / What if marriage is not for me?
- How to go on “a first date” with your husband again.
- Letting go of control as a stepmom/blended family.
Home
- My Top 4 Thrifting Tips – online, garage sales, consignment stores, second-hand/vintage stores
- The How-to for Thrifting on a Budget
- 10 Fashion hacks every mom needs to know – during pregnancy and post pregnancy
- What brings you joy in your home? (An heirloom, a thrift store find, a brand new shiny something and why?) / Cultivating a home that feels like joy
- Recipes that are fun to make with the whole family
Parenting/Kids
- Teaching your kids the joy of failure, so they can reap benefits of failure.
- A realistic look-ahead: Here are the things kids are teaching their parents about social media, gender pronouns, coping mechanisms, politics, etc… (and how to prepare).
- Sibling dynamics that no one warns you about and how to navigate them well.
- You can’t force your kids into being best friends … but here are some tips on what you can do to help.
- The burden of becoming “ the sandwich generation.” (sandwich generation: a generation of people, typically in their 30s or 40s, responsible for bringing up their own children and caring for their aging parents.)
- My best road trip ever – how going on a road trip alone can increase your joy/happiness.
- The modern mom’s fall reading guide.
COVID-19
- How to create joy in hardship, and other lessons from a global pandemic.
- Even in the midst of social distancing, I found spiritual proximity with Jesus.
- Back to School routine – milestones, starting preschool or kindergarten, middle school, high school, senior year, empty nest (college-bound kids). Fresh ways to commemorate a new school year (especially in the season of quarantine and COVID-19).