Hello friends,
I’m visiting you in the form of this letter today on a Friday instead of Monday. Bear turned one on Sunday and we had a little gathering to celebrate. It was so lovely to be with community and reflect with others on the journey of this first year of motherhood. A pal wished me a happy re-birthday under my post about the party. So sweet. It got me contemplating how I’ve been reborn this year and all the things I learned. Below are some of the wisdom gems I’ve gathered from the caves and caverns of motherhood.
(BTW I think rebirths are available to all of us whenever we decide we need them. So we don’t have to wait on a birthday or a big event to allow ourselves to be born a new.)
Nothing is etched in Stone.
Even the stone itself is made of space and many days demanded that I abandon my plans, concepts, old patterns, and past conditioning to say ‘yes and’ to the present moment.
Everything is personal.
The dog barking that wakes the baby up. The mishap at work which keeps Greg away longer. The food Bear hates today that he loved yesterday. All of it. It’s all teaching me about myself. It’s all a gift placed before me by creation. How am I going to receive it?
Stand on Business.
The longer I’m in the parenting game the more I realize that a lot of advice is useless when it comes to my journey. Now is not the time to ignore my instincts in favor of what others are doing. Others aren’t raising my baby. I am. I’m entrusted with the task of tuning in being fully present and recognizing what he needs from me and what the moment needs from me. It’s time to trust the work that has taken me this far.
St. Francis is one of my son’s guides and his prayer came into my reality recently. I’ve been keeping it as a whisper and it’s been holding me through the present times. I hope it offers you some peace as it does for me.
I also wish you a Happy Re-Birthday when it comes🎉
Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
àṣẹ
"Everything is personal." - I love hearing your take on what's personal. We hear "don't take it personally when __________ [baby isn't sleeping, dog barks and wakes baby, breastfeeding is challenging etc.] " so much, and it's helpful to reframe that and look at everything as an opportunity learn about ourselves and grow as mothers. Thank you for this beautiful share and happy rebirthday! <3