Virginia Tech Tragedy

My heart is heavy this morning for the tragic loss of lives at Virginia Tech.  My prayers are focused upon the pain so many families are experiencing as they hear that their precious children were a part of the carnage. 

My daughter is a freshman in college and you can bet I called her yesterday..."Are you okay...I love you...stay safe." 

Mothers everywhere are in agony at the thought of being apart from their precious children and unable to protect them.  It's that dream that wakes us in the middle of the night -- child threatened...I'm not there...and can do nothing...

Let's join together today and send light, love, prayers from our hearts to the hearts of those who need the support...all those associated with the tragedy in Virginia.

Mimi

Mystic Mom

Our culture does not consider mothering a creative activity, in my opinion.  We are termed "soccer" moms even though only 9% of us have children who play soccer.  We are routinely pictured driving mini vans with exhausted expressions on our faces, even though more moms in America drive pick up trucks. We are stereotyped as "dumbing down" if we choose to stay at home during our children's growing up years and we are portrayed as neglectful if we decide to remain in the work force.

I think mothers are mystics, following our deepest gut feelings about our children, knowing what they need before they even know themselves, calling on resources and power most ordinary mortals have never needed to access.  We do this while cooking the meals, driving the carpools, writing the memos, and balancing the checkbooks.

The mystics we read about have only utilized what we all have access to -- an immediate connection with the Infinite.  Are we allowing the Divine to be heard in our busy lives?

Rainer Maria Rilke said he felt as if he were taking "divine dictation" when he wrote his moving works. William Blake said that his poems were dictated by angels. 

Athletes call it "the zone."  It takes discipline and determination to have the strength to enter the zone but we moms have that. 

Mystic Moms Unite!

Take action on your deepest gut feelings.  Create a practice of going within for guidance for even the most ordinary of decisions.  Cut down on the noise and frenzy in your life.  Make choices for calm.

Mothering is the most creative of activities and enlivens and deepens our relationships as well as our mystical, spiritual, glorious selves.

How are you creative, mystical, and inspired today?

Tax that Dog

I recently finished reading Susan Cheever's book about my town of Concord, Massachusetts: American Bloomsbury.

The book sets out to describe Concord mid-ninteenth century and the great thinkers and authors gathered here during that time:  Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau.  Cheever doesn't rise to the occassion, in my humble opinion, as I had hoped she would in this much awaited title...but that's beside the point...

What is your point you ask...

Well...just about the time I finished reading about Thoreau and Alcott's views of the silly rules and regulations of their town of Concord... I received my 2007 tax bill for my dog.  Yup, we are taxed $30 per dog here in Concord. 

What would Thoreau do?

Rip up the bill and let his dog run free, without the annoying metal tag around his neck indicating that he indeed is legal and paid up for the privilege of living on this hallowed, historic ground.

Okay, okay...I paid the bill.  But sheesh...what about those deep thinkers who have walked this ground before me?  They would not be pleased.

Here's my heavy and heavily taxed Cocker Spaniel Comet pondering his taxation:

Happy Children

I just returned from a trip out west where I stayed at a large hotel that happened to cater to families.  It was a joy to see this upscale hotel hand out backpacks full of goodies to the scores of children checking in with their parents for spring break.  The weather was warm, the pool looked more like a winding river, complete with tubes, and the slide into the pool was mammoth. 

I was able to observe many family interactions in my short time there.   What was so clear is that the happiest children were those who were engaged...with their parents.  What I mean is that those kids who were displaying behavior that we might term "unruly" or "disruptive" to others in the hotel were the kids whose parents were on their cell phones (equally disruptive at times) or who were reading the morning paper at breakfast rather than talking to their kids. 

The most beautiful moment I witnessed was a vibrant mom playing with her 2 children at the kid's playground area.  They were involved in a boisterous game of tag and the kids were out of their bodies they were so happy.  I saw this same family later in the dining room and even though mom was engaged in a conversation with dad, the children were happily chatting with one another, coloring in their books, and enjoying their meal. 

So, do we have to give our undivided attention to our children ALL the time?

NO WAY....that's unhealthy.

But, when we are fully focused on our kids and they feel heard, appreciated, loved, and even played with....they can hold it together during those other times....bask in the love they know they have from us and not have to act out for some sort of connection.

Just wanted to share my "mom observations from the road."