I fell totally in love with Erica and Tina Campbell, the gospel group that is Mary Mary, during the first season of their reality television hit on WE TV. As a group, Mary Mary has been one of my favorites since their 2008 hit, Shackles. But seeing them up close and personal as they take on their careers, motherhood, marriage, pregnancy, and obstacles made me feel like they were my besties in my head. Erica and Tina are a lot like most of us—they long to have it all without sacrificing anything. As a longtime Cubicle Chick, I too have tried to have it all while juggling work, life, and play. And let me tell you this, it ain’t easy!
Season two of Mary Mary begins where last season left off. Erica is a new mom to a two month old baby while also mothering two little ones. Tina has three little ones of her own and is six months pregnant. They are both on the road to promote their newest effort, Go Get It, and the strain is beginning to show. Eventually, something is going to have to give.
Which brings me to this question: as moms on the move, career ladies, wives, and professionals, can we have it all? Erica and Tina are a case study in progress and we are witnessing their conundrum first hand, an issue that a lot of us ladies face. For men, it’s easy. They aren’t expected to “have it all”, so this question would never be posed to them. But for women, we have so many hats that we have to juggle, and if we drop one ball, even for a second, we can end up disappointing someone—and disappointing ourselves.
The career life balance epidemic is real. For years, I tried to do it all. And for years, I did it, without even breaking a sweat. But over time, you can only go at a fast pace of trying to do it all. And when I did drop the ball, literally, everything else fell. It was when I evaluated what was really important to me that I began to stop “trying” to look like I was the perfect wife, mom, career woman, etc. and get back to basics.
What’s a career without family? Without a life outside of your career to enjoy it?
Erica and Tina as Mary Mary will are a testament that having a career, family, and a life takes work. And while it isn’t perfect and resolved within a one hour show, it’s real. And I think that we all can learn from them. When you put the most important things first, everything else seems to fall into place.
Being the best women we can be, while walking the tightrope called the balancing act, is a gift that we not only give to ourselves, but to others. As the sign in my kitchen states, “If Mama Ain’t Happy, Ain’t No One is Happy”. And it’s this happiness that we need in order to be the best moms, wives, and professionals we can be.
Now go get your blessing!
Photo credit: Getty Images Entertainment
It’s situations like these that the three-time Grammy® award-winning gospel duo Erica and Tina Campbell face in Season 2 of WE tv’s hit series Mary Mary as they balance being recording artists, mothers, and wives. MARY MARY premieres Thursday, December 6 at 10|9c and moves to its regular timeslot on Thursdays at 9|8c, beginning December 13. Watch a sneak peek here!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of WE tv. The opinions and text are all mine.
