Mother’s day is a day we all celebrate because every one of us has had a mother.
But, it could be more than a day of gifts and food. It is the perfect time to reevaluate how well we mother the people, places, and things in our lives.
How well are we doing?
Because not only does every one have a mother, every one of us is a mother. Yes, every one. Because mothering is not something that belongs to a gender or an age, or is only directed towards a living being.
We all mother. And we all can and must get better at it because it is the most powerful art of all.
Don’t we admire the qualities of mothering in action? Nurturing, encouraging, supporting, understanding, listening, kindness – the list is endless.
When firefighters rush into a building to save someone they are not only courageous, they are mothering.
When maple trees drop millions of maple leaves every spring, they are mothering.
When we rush to someone in need, we are mothering.
We mother ideas.
For a few years, I have been mothering a book. Sometimes doing a good job of it, often not. Finally, I learned to nurture it and help it become a full-blown idea. Now that it has grown, I am doing the next part of mothering – supporting it and letting it go.
An idea without mothering does not grow.
Yet, we all do mothering differently.
When my kids were little, I was not the mother on the block who supplied the cookies and toys and rooms to play for everyone’s kids. Joanna was. I was so grateful for her. I was a different kind of mother. I organized the events and taught classes.
Both of us loved our children more than anything, even though it looked different on the outside.
Both of us had to let them grow up and be what they wanted to be.
Celebrating mothering on a particular day is fantastic. It serves to remind us of the sacrifices, skill, art, and dedication to the art of mothering.
Supporting mothering, no matter who is demonstrating it could change so many things.
If we all were acting out of the mother instinct, we would not be so easily tempted to act out of greed and the me-first mentality.
We would be more likely to recognize those who are not choosing to mother but instead are bullies and greedy.
We would have the courage to stop them by taking away their power to harm.
We would spend more time, money, and energy teaching children about the qualities of mothering. Giving them the wisdom and strength and knowledge of how to not fall into the pit of fear and greed.
Prevention by teaching mothering is far more effective than trying to stop its opposite once it has grown up.
We recognize our planet as a mother earth. It does everything that a good mother does.
Noticing how we treat the planet is a good indication of how much we understand and respect and demonstrate the quality of mothering.
We need to choose leaders that consciously choose and practice the art of mothering, and not aggression and competition.
We need to be an example to our youth as to what mothering looks like in every walk of life.
Mothering is everywhere. Let’s express gratitude, and respect for it in all its forms. Let it wash over those that need more of it and nurture its seed in those that are not practicing it.
Most of all, let’s celebrate the concept of mothering every day. Without it, none of us would be here.
And Stephen Hawkins says if we don’t start taking care of our planet we won’t be here in 100 years.
Mothering is more powerful than that. Let’s practice it.
BECA LEWIS coaches, teaches, writes blogs and books, plays with art, and is addicted to reading. She lives in Ohio with her husband and has kids and grandkids scattered across the country.
