It is often said that out of great suffering and deprivation comes not only bitterness and resentment, but at many times strength and resilience.
My mother was one of six children to whom my maternal grandmother gave birth and who survived. She delivered a total of
Of Suffering, Deprivation, and Irish Twins … Read More »
Moments after a child exits the women, the obstetrician, or midwife cuts the umbilical cord linking mother to child.
Male children enter a journey of maturation into adulthood that ideally includes a father, or male guiding and supporting them.
As with all children she ushers into life, the mother of a female infant lays the baby upon her chest, nestles and feeds her, but unlike with sons, the mother serves as her daughter’s guide from birth into womanhood.
Who better than a man to teach and nurture a boy into manhood?
Likewise, none but women can best assist a girl in navigating the wilds of growing into a wise, compassionate, and prudent woman.
And yet, theory and reality, as with many life dimensions, often diverge.
That for which we hope often gives way to the probabilities based upon the facts of our present reality.
Many women and mothers have raised sons into excellent and wonderful men.
Likewise many men have nurtured daughters into women any parent or person would be proud to call daughter.
And yet one fact remains.
The umbilical cord attaching mother to daughter,
Of Mothers, Daughters and The Quality of Mirroring… Read More »
One of the most difficult aspects of being a mother is the requirement of self-reflectiveness.
As mothers we need to be able to look back upon ourselves, most particularly our time as children, and recall the difficulties and fears we faced in order to remain connected with our children.
Our willingness to do this is most particularly effective in nurturing our daughters.
“[D]aughters can model a great deal from a mother who is self-aware herself,” says Juanita Johnson in, Know Thyself First(Part 6 of Our Mothers, Ourselves: Mother-Daughter Relationships)
I address this at length in the blog post, Of Daughters, Actions and Self-Awareness.
While sons are
Of Daughters, Mothering, and The Willingness to Turn Inward… Read More »
Connecting with the godhead, that part of the divine that lives within all, the Imago Dei, coalesces the disparate parts of the soul, mind and brokenness of heart and spirit.
Writing or revising and editing this part of a story or novel can and often dispenses healing to the writer whose words later transmit this to the reader.
The writer undergoes a trial or test of sorts each time she or he sets out to craft a work.
Of Blogs, The Umbilical Cord, and the Internet…, Read More »