EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!

ON MOTHERING...

MOTHERS  NO LONGER WITH US...

In tears we saw you sinking,
And watched you pass away.
Our hearts were almost broken,
We wanted you to stay.
But when we saw you sleeping,
So peaceful, free from pain,
How could we wish you back with us,
To suffer that again.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
But you did not go alone,
For part of us went with you,
The day God took you home.
 
If Roses grow in Heaven,
Lord please pick a bunch for me,
Place them in my Mother's arms
and tell her they're from me.
Tell her I love her and miss her,
and when she turns to smile,
place a kiss upon her cheek
and hold her for awhile.
Because remembering her is easy,
I do it every day,
but there's an ache within my heart
that will never go away.
 
Don't think of her as gone away
Her journey's just begun.
Life holds so many facets,
This earth is only one.
Just think of her as resting
From the sorrows and the tears
In a place of warmth and comfort
Where there are no days and years.
Think how she must be wishing
That we could know, today,
Now nothing but our sadness
Can really pass away.
And think of her as living
In the hearts of those she touched,
For nothing loved is ever lost
And she is loved so very much.

Anonymous

THE FREEDOM TO MOTHER ONESELF...  

"What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude...

"...A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Out upon your guarded lips! Sew them up with pocketthread, do. Else if you would be a man speak what you think today in words as hard as cannon balls, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said today. Ah, then, exclaim the aged ladies, you shall be sure to be misunderstood! Misunderstood! It is a right fool's word. Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh."

Ralph Waldo Emerson, from Self-Reliance, an essay.

MOTHERING AND HEALING  MEMORY... 

Here's one way you can heal a memory of something that troubles  you still--whether with your mother or anyone else, alive or since passed.

Sit quietly in a chair, back tall yet comfortable, feet flat on the floor, hands on your lap.  Take some soft, deep breaths, releasing any tension you feel in your body. Start  by breathing into your head and neck, feeling the tension leave as you do; then do the same with your shoulders, your arms, hands, upper chest, etc. until you have relaxed your entire body.  Don't worry about any thoughts that come into your mind. Simply acknowledge them and bid them farewell, much like you would cars passing you by on the freeway.  However, focus not on the cars, but on the space between one car and another.

When your mind and heart have quieted, envision a spigot coming out of your heart, much like the spigot from which fine wine flows from a barrel.  Sit with that image until you feel comfortable knowing that when you open the spigot nothing but unfettered, unabashed Love will flow endlessly out of the spout.  Now, envision the one you want to "heal" a relationship with sitting in front of you, also with a spigot coming from their heart. Do nothing until you feel comfortable knowing that only Love will also flow from theirs.  Be gentle and kind to yourself and the other; this is not about fixing another or demanding forgiveness. 

Once you are at peace, hand this significant other a crystal wine glass and invite her or him to drink endlessly from your boundless source of Love.  Just sit with them in Love.  You need neither to encourage nor entice; simply wait and watch--and feeeel the energy of that Love.  And remember to breathe; this is more important than you may realize.

At the same time, notice that you are being invited to drink from their heart--their open spigot of Love. Go slowly; no need to rush or gulp.  Simply sip a long, loving draught of Love from  Source, until you both are filled to the brim.  Take a few deep breaths now, and envision both of you sipping the ruby vestiges of Love for as long as it takes to shift the feeling between the two of you from estrangement to the  generous acceptance of one another just as you are.  Bathe in the freedom you feel, as Love abounds and asks you for nothing--simply to Be.  In this sacred, holy moment, know in your heart of hearts that your relationship can now be viewed from an entirely new perspective--and that you can now move on in Life, unencumbered by any remnants of ill will at all.  Feeeel that sense of  freedom to the depths!

When you are ready, softly and gently bring yourself back to this realm and see what your feelings are now telling you about this relationship. Should the other person still be alive, the next time you meet you will be amazed at how your relationship has already shifted for the better.  Should he or she have passed, know in your heart of hearts that all is well, even then.  Truly, all is well...

You may repeat this as often as you like, until all the sense of separation has left you, whether with the same person or in any relationship you'd like to change.  Indeed, let Love mother you.  And let's not forget that no matter what our relations, we can all slow down enough to become aware of how we and others can be nourished, and do our part when called...