Don't we all live in mother-land? Whether we have kids or not, we come from mother. Complex, confounding, essential, intricate, nourishing, perplexing--most of us can speak volumes about gifts given or sorely missed from the woman who gave us life.
My own personal relationship to my mom and the journey to becoming a mother of children are not threads in my life that I take lightly. But over time what I have come to realize is this--as women, we are all mothers. By nature we crave intimacy, to be known and to know, to teach, to share, to love, to lift up. Our very way of being fills this world with such graceful power, tenacious spirit, and a loving force that has driven the course of history. Women-mothers are the directors, the nurturers, the leaders, the hands, ears, and eyes always in tune to what is needed.
Raising a small child is not required to live in mother-land.
My life is filled with teacher-mothers, a mosaic of women whose chance encounters or vested relationships made lasting and deep impressions on the person I have become. I carry each of them with me and try to remain cognizant of my own "mother moments". As I am talking to my young co-workers about major life decisions or crafting my observations of pop culture with preteens or trying to view the neighborhood I live in through the eyes of children or casing venues for any number of purposes based on their physical accessibility, I am mothering beyond the walls of my home.
I don't know a single woman who doesn't do something like this.
You don't have to give birth to a child to bring your individual ideas and creativity and spirit to this world. You don't have to nurture wee ones to teach values and perseverance and self-reliance.
Of course we can't ignore (nor should we) our moms on this day. But I find it totally acceptable to get a little selfish and think about the gifts you have already offered to this world, and better yet, start planning what you wish to offer up next.
My own personal relationship to my mom and the journey to becoming a mother of children are not threads in my life that I take lightly. But over time what I have come to realize is this--as women, we are all mothers. By nature we crave intimacy, to be known and to know, to teach, to share, to love, to lift up. Our very way of being fills this world with such graceful power, tenacious spirit, and a loving force that has driven the course of history. Women-mothers are the directors, the nurturers, the leaders, the hands, ears, and eyes always in tune to what is needed.
Raising a small child is not required to live in mother-land.
My life is filled with teacher-mothers, a mosaic of women whose chance encounters or vested relationships made lasting and deep impressions on the person I have become. I carry each of them with me and try to remain cognizant of my own "mother moments". As I am talking to my young co-workers about major life decisions or crafting my observations of pop culture with preteens or trying to view the neighborhood I live in through the eyes of children or casing venues for any number of purposes based on their physical accessibility, I am mothering beyond the walls of my home.
I don't know a single woman who doesn't do something like this.
You don't have to give birth to a child to bring your individual ideas and creativity and spirit to this world. You don't have to nurture wee ones to teach values and perseverance and self-reliance.
Of course we can't ignore (nor should we) our moms on this day. But I find it totally acceptable to get a little selfish and think about the gifts you have already offered to this world, and better yet, start planning what you wish to offer up next.
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