Dear Mothers ~ I See You

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.

A mother’s work is often invisible.

You do your finest work in the quiet of the night, awake with your infant; in the living room, giving your full attention to building a tower of blocks with your toddler when no one else is watching; in the moments when you hold your tongue with your preteen, when you take a deep breath and steady yourself to steady your child, when you creatively come up with humor or empathy and find new ways forward with your child.

You help create day in and day out, the container within which your child grows and lives – from meal making to cuddling to giving space to driving them places and picking them up to loving them with all your heart and releasing them simultaneously. I see you.

You mother in your longing for a child. I see you.

You mother in your grieving of a child lost. I see you.

You mother your mother as she becomes older and frail. I see you.

You mother in your auntie role, enriching and expanding the “village” for a child. I see you.

You mother every time you notice someone in need, and search for the sincere response — for a question or a hug, for a “yes” or a “no” or a “maybe” — giving presence. I see you.

You mother as you stand at the pivotal place between how you were mothered and how you choose to mother, in the healing and integration you do, in the renewal you step into so that Love can flourish more fully in the future. I see you.

You mother as you listen closely for what wants to be birthed through you – be this a child, a project, a song, a dance, a phone call to a friend… I see you.

You mother in every gesture and action of being a “keeper of the Hearth”, one who takes care of Life, waters it and helps it grow. I see you.

You mother every time you open that magnificent Heart of yours and pour care and love into another. I see you.

I thank you.

I honor and celebrate you.

And I ask you to take a moment to allow yourself to really feel seen in this work you do. Because it takes you softening the layer of protection you may hold around your heart, to let it in. Then Mother’s Day can actually “land” in you.

Mothering the mothers today, let’s do that together, and for each other.

With all my Love, and a deep Gladness alive in me to be journeying with you along the path of mothering.