Winter is a beautiful time to reflect. To allow the chill outside to encourage us to turn inward. As we embrace this season at Little Unicorn our team has pondered on the chance we have to honor ourselves and in turn honor our children.
A simple and profound place to begin to understand ourselves fully is by looking to our relationship with our mother.
A simple and profound place to begin to understand ourselves fully is by looking to our relationship with our mother. It might be simple, joyful, complicated, toxic, or countless adjectives in between. Every situation is different, and regardless of what that relationship looks like, we can find wisdom as we address that relationship. Take time to recount a memory of your mother, aspects of her parenting you seek to emulate and those that perhaps troubled you.
There is power in taking time to reflect on our relationship with our mother. As we seek to hone our our own parenting this reflection can guide us.
There is power in taking time to reflect on our relationship with our mother. As we seek to hone our our own parenting this reflection can guide us. That connection guides who we are as a mother to our children. Either by our resistance to be like her or our guilt if we are not. Both are detrimental as we deny ourselves the ability to decipher her gifts and ours. If we can take the time to find what within our own mothers brings us joy, guides us, has made us who we are and keep those things in this space we can also acknowledge the painful details that we would rather leave behind. We can find traits that linger within us that aren’t serving us. In all of this there is clarity and a knowing that develops.
Being a mother is a powerful role. We have the right and ability to influence the next generation. Sometimes this role is put into a cage of expectation or lifted onto a pedestal of martyrdom. Both are scary and limiting, both are a disservice to our true intuition and knowing as a mother. If we are pushing back against our authentic self often we find ourselves frustrated, non calm and unruffled even though we know those things would better serve our children.
If we are pushing back against our authentic self often we find ourselves frustrated
Take the time this season to find a space of reflection.
So, how can we avoid these? Create your own definition of what mother is to you. Based on your investigation of what you love in other mothers. Based on your investigation of weeding out what you find limiting. Each mother will be unique in her pursuits and that is the beauty of this! Reflection is a super power. Take the time this season to find a space of reflection. Find the beauty in the mothering examples in your world, remove with grace and forgiveness what didn’t serve you and create anew your vision of motherhood.
Below are resources with you that we find clarifying and helpful in defining this role-
Find the Magic Podcast - "Seeing Ourselves Clearly in the Role of Mother"
Harriet Lerners book "Mothers and Daughters"
