On Mothering

Mothering is so many things.  Mothering is – birthing, nurturing, pushing something forward. It’s protection, care, embrace, guidance, and wisdom. Mothering is the black bear chasing and carrying her two cubs back and forth from the street because they won’t sit still or follow instructions. Mothering is the ritual of a favorite song on the car ride home that opens up channels of connection and strengthens bonds. Mothering is staying up late to help ease what aches in small bellies and is stern decisions that protect us from the unknown. Mothering is adopting–a child, a dog, a tree. 

Mothering is growing something new. Taking something from a seed and nurturing it forward into reality and into something that is living and breathing from your life force– sure like a person – and also like a small business or an original piece of artwork. Mothering is feeding something or someone outside of ourselves and can look like hosting community meals and volunteering at a local food bank. Mothering is taking a young person under your wings and being a positive voice in their lives to help them reach their greatest potential. Mothering is to be a portal.

Our planet of course is the Queen Mother and ultimate example. She has birthed all of the nature around us, including us, and continues to nurture life through her complex wisdom and cycles of care. We can learn so much from her ways. We can learn to coexist and celebrate diversity. We can learn that the environment in which we grow has a direct impact on our development at every stage. We can learn that growth happens at different speeds and that is okay. We can learn to embrace our uniqueness and release our desire to be a different flower. We can learn the importance of sunlight, food, and water. We can learn that change is inevitable and when we embrace it – we reduce unnecessary friction. Because we can also understand that friction is always a part of change. We can learn that even the smallest of beings can be the most powerful. And most importantly, we can learn that everything is connected in a beautiful, divine, and harmonious way.

In this time of constant, loveless, man-made destruction, we have an invitation to birth something new that is more life-giving and in alignment with the mothering planet from which we come. Our truest nature is to connect, heal, to give, and to love— despite the unrelenting messaging, poor leadership examples, and insistence of separation, harm, extraction, and suffering as normal, necessary, or unavoidable. In returning to ourselves and each other, we mother what aches, repair what’s fractured, and sharpen our potential to transform into something beautiful and whole.

In a journal, Explore deeper with these questions for reflection: 

• Where did I learn to mother?

• In what ways do I need to mother myself as an adult?

• What am I incubating or birthing right now?

• What needs more of my nurture and care?

• What could use more of a push from me?

• What am I smothering and need to give more space for growth?

A Blessing:

On this Mother’s Day, I overflow with deep gratitude for my mother and the many, many mothers who have played a role in my lifelong journey of becoming. My altar is lined with the photos of the generations of mothers who carried each generation in their wombs long before we emerged. Everyday, I walk with a fleet of women, living and ancestors, behind me whose wind pushes me forward regardless of having any actual children. May the heart of every mother be filled with light and love.