Our ability to give birth and to nourish and raise children is perhaps the greatest of all gifts that life has to offer. I have three children myself and recently have had the pleasure to be in contact with women who have become mothers for the first time. Just as one forgets the pain of childbirth, one forgets the transition from being a woman or man without the responsibilities of children to become a mother or father. It is sudden, real and sometimes shocking in the quantity of time and energy one needs to apply towards this new addition in our lives. Unlike the descriptions of the love, bonding and wonder of this miracle, there are the drudging, bleary eyed realities of laundry, sleeplessness, financial obligations and worries about doing everything right.
This is a part of life as is everything else, just as there are no quick fixes to things that matter, no easy answers to life changing questions, there is no alternative but to be intimately involved in our daily tasks that are connected to our lives. We are a part of this world, the physical world, through our physical needs, our bodies concerns, and our physical pleasures. Our joy is directly connected to every aspect of what it takes to be intimate with those we love. I am not saying that we can be happy and blissful after a sleepless night with a crying infant and having to get on with the day with out any R & R, but we can be aware of the inticrate patterns that each step we take, each action we make and where and how they lead us to a fuller and more contented state of being. When you are so tired that you can hardly stand on your feet, reach out and ask for help, get someone else to do that load of laundry and wash the dishes, or fix you a sandwich. See that the effort of asking for help, comes from a place of softness and gentility rather than needieness and loss of independence. See that reaching out is a part of that beauty of the little things. Feeling and needing and being connected comes through the process of being in and of this world on its most intense level. Our intimacy with ourselves helps us understand how to be intimate with others. Enjoy and Take a nap.
This is a part of life as is everything else, just as there are no quick fixes to things that matter, no easy answers to life changing questions, there is no alternative but to be intimately involved in our daily tasks that are connected to our lives. We are a part of this world, the physical world, through our physical needs, our bodies concerns, and our physical pleasures. Our joy is directly connected to every aspect of what it takes to be intimate with those we love. I am not saying that we can be happy and blissful after a sleepless night with a crying infant and having to get on with the day with out any R & R, but we can be aware of the inticrate patterns that each step we take, each action we make and where and how they lead us to a fuller and more contented state of being. When you are so tired that you can hardly stand on your feet, reach out and ask for help, get someone else to do that load of laundry and wash the dishes, or fix you a sandwich. See that the effort of asking for help, comes from a place of softness and gentility rather than needieness and loss of independence. See that reaching out is a part of that beauty of the little things. Feeling and needing and being connected comes through the process of being in and of this world on its most intense level. Our intimacy with ourselves helps us understand how to be intimate with others. Enjoy and Take a nap.
