When asked to present a TED-like talk at Integral Life’s “What Next” conference in Dec 2012 on the future of parenting, I sat down and challenged myself to come up with the most condensed version I would pass on to a parent/caregiver that I think would make a REAL difference. Here it is: Integral-evolutionary context and three essential keys on how to “parent the future” as well as pointing to the “future of parenting”:
In the week following our daughter’s birth, one dear friend came visiting bearing the gifts of gold and frankincense. And a few days later, independently, another close friend came by with some myrrh. And so our wee lassie was graced with these three gifts, reminiscent of the gifts the three wise men brought to honor, to acknowledge and gift the baby Jesus. A beautiful gesture of honoring the Christ in her, the potential of awakening to Love, to the fullness of Life, here in this lifetime, in herself and with others.
Last week, during our homeschooling English class, A. and I watched this wonderful talk by Brene Brown on the Anatomy of Trust.
We took our time, we paused it here and there, discussed sections, took notes, and had an incredibly rich and insightful conversation about how and if we trust ourselves, and others.
October 27, 2015
This really is the essence of it all, isn’t it?
To choose Love.
Over and over and over again. And when we don’t, which of course, will also happen many times, then to choose love toward ourselves and one other again. And again. It is the essence of forgiveness. The beginning of renewal and healing. The action that is a response, that is creative, rather than reactive.
Read more
June 14, 2015
Isn’t this just the loveliest photo? I can look at it for ages. It says so much. The joy expressed, the inspiration given, the aspiration, the moments that happen between what our children see and what they do.
Children learn primarily through imitation. We are their models and guides. For better or for worse. Read more
So much about approaching parenting as a spiritual practice involves shifts in perspective…
The shift from “It’s all happening to me” to “What choices am I going to make?”
The shift from being consumed by / immersed in my own perspective to considering my child’s perspective. How does the world look like, feel like from his/her viewpoint? Read more
Dearest fellow parents and caregivers,
Today I’d like to tell you about something so simple, and yet that can change our days and lives as parents, moment by creative moment.
Yesterday afternoon I was picking up A. from her dance class. The evening sun was soft and warm. There is a lovely bench just in front of the dance studio, so instead of waiting in the car, I got out and sat on it, soaking in the spring smells and light. My gaze wandered across all the other parents waiting.
Here’s what I saw: Read more
Dearest mothers ~ keepers of the Hearth ~ mothers of children, mothers of Life, mothering ones,
Yesterday a fellow mother surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. She looked me straight in the eyes and thanked me for the mother I am. She wished me a happy Mother’s Day, and in a few words, she expressed that she sees me in my mothering.
I stood there, heart filled by this unexpected and thoughtful gesture, tears welling up as I felt seen by this lovely friend, just like that. Seen. What a gift.
And that is what I want to share with you today: that I see you. Read more
As I became a mother and experienced the vulnerability, the cracked-openness and the simultaneous demand by Life to gradually release my daughter as she ventured out into the world in ever-increasing circles, I asked my mother, “How did you manage that? To let us go, to not worry too much, to not stifle us with your fears and protective instincts?”
She gave me a reply that has stayed with me, that guides, comforts and strengthens me in my mothering and my letting go. Read more
Here’s the third and final vignette in my three-part blog series on delightful expressions of emotional health and capacity in children, ones that surprise and hearten us amidst the journey of helping them develop emotional intelligence (you can find the first one here> and the second one here>). This one was shared with me by a fellow mother about her daughter:
Since she is little, Maggie loves visiting stores with cuddly, soft stuffies, pretty shiny things, cute booklets, dollies, and the wide array of beautiful, creative toys and trinkets available in certain stores – these things make their way into her heart on a weekly basis when she goes to town with her mother. For the past few years, each time they are in town, she has felt compelled to get something, one thing. Sometimes her mother has acquiesced. Other times she hasn’t. Quietly her mother has wondered (and at times worried) why her daughter feels such a need to have and get all this stuff. “Have we raised her too materialistically?” “Why this drive to consume?” “She has so much already”. Read more
Keep in touch. Let’s journey together.
