Angela Lindvall
Model, actress, and eco-activist.
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"Peace begins in me"
ON MOTHERHOOD: ANGELA LINDVALL
Lindvall has been an ardent environmentalist for the entirety of her career, and her collaboration with ARTICLE22 marks the intersection between her work revolving sustainability and her life as a mother of two teenage boys, Dakota and Sebastian. Voted the"Best Dressed Environmentalist" in 2004 and 2005 by the Sustainable Style Foundation, she lets us peek into her life below.
"The beauty of becoming a mother is this new instinct you have. I always urge a new mother to trust."
On you—
I'm a model and actress, but ever since my kids were born, I’ve added "mother" to the list as well. I was born in Missouri, but I consider Topanga Canyon home now. I’ve been here for 12 years. I love that I can live in a small country town in the middle of Los Angeles. It’s a little vortex here. I love being in the middle of nature. I love that I know the locals. Everyone is pretty laid back here. It’s a very special place. I don’t plan on going anywhere soon. My roots are in the ground. It's my home. I want my home to feel magical and whimsical. It’s important that the energy feels really good, and that one feels inspired and creative here. You want to put on a fire and read a book or play backgammon or do a creative project or cook an amazing meal and light candles versus putting on the TV.
On motherhood—
I gave birth to my first son, Dakota, in 2002. I was quite young, and balancing motherhood with a demanding career has definitely been challenging, but I learned to trust the process. I learned to follow my gut, always. The beauty of becoming a mother is this new instinct you have. I always urge a new mother to trust. If you can, try and take off as much time in the first year as you possibly can. Or if you can change jobs, work part-time or from home, maybe budget heavily for a year. It goes by so fast, it’s such a big change, and you never get that time back. Don’t live in fear. When we trust, we are always taken care of.
@mydomaine
The transition from working woman to working mom was one of the toughest things for me. For new moms, for the first time in our lives, we love something so much that it becomes our biggest priority. However, we still feel compelled to provide for our family. I felt very lucky that I could pick and choose what I did and give most of my time to being a mother, but I still enjoy my work. Ultimately, I discovered time is the most valuable thing we have, and we must use it wisely.
After taking maternity leave, self-doubt began to rear its ugly head in my life, but I learned that our choices become our world and experience. I find that when we are parents, healthy food, good sleep, limiting alcohol, and exercise give us the confidence and energy to take on work and be a present, patient mother.
Being a mother, I learned that my kids had the capacity to teach me quite a bit: they taught me about value. I began to ask myself about what I value. I knew it wasn't prestige, money, or things. It's my relationships, time, and health. When this became defined, it's easier to make good choices for myself.
"We, as parents, cannot protect them from everything. This is how they grow and learn. We can just hope in good discernment."
Being a parent to a baby or toddler is physically demanding and exhausting, but perhaps one of the hardest things about being a mom is when your kids grow up. As I enter the teenage phase of my sons’ lives, imagining them leaving the nest isn’t something that’s talked about often, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I began to feel unprepared when it comes around. I watch old videos of when my boys were sweet little innocent beings. Now, sometimes, they get annoyed with me or don’t want my attention anymore. I also watched them change dramatically over a matter of a year or two.
I think the most important thing is having healthy communication and trust. I want them to know they can talk to me about anything, and they do. They tell me more than most kids do because we established healthy communication and trust early on. I remind myself often that I was 15 once, too, and it’s normal to be hormonal and figuring out who you are, so approaching my sons with compassion and patience has been key. I also have to remember that they have to make their own mistakes. We, as parents, cannot protect them from everything. This is how they grow and learn. We can just hope we instill good discernment.
On life—
Even when we know better, sometimes life gets the better of us, and the pendulum can swing too far in the other direction, throwing us way off course. But balance is everything, and I make a concerted effort to keep my life running on an even keel. We all want to feel we have purpose. I feel my biggest purpose is raising healthy kids with values and virtue. I choose to work less and be a mom more. It goes by so fast. Now that my boys are teenagers, I have much more time to invest into a career. It’s fun!
The only way I can cope with life’s stresses is through daily spiritual practice: either prayer, walk in nature, or breathing meditation—all of these things connect me with my highest self and break the mold of the human self that usually gets in my way. If I skip this part of my morning, I will feel it. Especially if I skip more than one day. Then the crazy starts.
Making quality time for myself is also so crucial to my daily routine and sanity. I run a hot bath and tell my kids unless someone is hurt, do not bother me: this is my time. Hot water, essential oils, and nice music can be so healing and peaceful. If you don’t take care of you, how can you take care of anyone else? Time management is also a must. I eliminate things that don’t align with my values like wasting time on too much social media, TV, and gossip. I make time for kids, friends, health, meditation, cooking— the things that matter.
"It's what connects all of us. It's mathematics and music. It's everything. It's creation. I figured, what better design to represent transformation and peace?"
@mydomaine
On ARTICLE22—
I really like what Article 22 is doing, taking melted-down shrapnel from war and turning it into jewelry. I chose the mantra "I Am Love, I Am Light, I Am Peace" to engrave onto the shrapnel to spread a message of peace in my own collection. I like the concept of "Peace Begins in Me" so that's what I named the collection. The design incorporates sacred geometry in gold or silver, which is layered on top of the shrapnel, and it looks really pretty with the layered effect. I also like the mantra facing toward the person wearing it, like a personal message or reminder. Sacred geometry is something I have always been interested in. It's the Fibonacci sequence. It's the perfection of man and nature. It's what connects all of us. It's mathematics and music. It's everything. It's creation. I figured, what better design to represent transformation and peace?