Happy Mother's Day Everyone!

​What does it mean to be a mother, or to be motherly toward others? We all know what mother means in the traditional sense, however I wanted to expand my understanding of what it means to be a mother or motherly. I looked in the dictionary and in addition to the expected definition of mother as a 'female parent,' I found 'a condition that gives rise to something else.' Interesting, I thought, we are all doing that all the time when we speak, act and think!  We are creating conditions that give rise to other things by how we are in the world. I then went on to look up synonyms for 'motherly' and found words like affectionate, kind, loving, maternal and tender. 

So, as we are all mothers in the creator sense, it is very helpful to be aware of what we are creating with our language, actions and thoughts.

We all have the opportunity to be 'motherly creators' by showing kindness and love to others, no matter who we are or who we are in relationship with. We can be 'motherly' toward our own children, our partners, relatives, friends, pets, strangers or ourselves, whether we are female parents or not. 

I enjoyed thinking about all those inspiring people who show this motherly behaviour to others. Interestingly, Mother Teresa popped into my mind, and into the Post Office. Today as I was at the Post Office counter I met a lovely girl Tara, who was wearing her VCE wincheater, with her nickname 'Mother Taresa' on it. She kindly let me take the photo above. Other inspiring motherly people that came to mind were the Dalai Lama, the tour guide at Mungo National Park, the truckie we met at the pub, my friends who are foster parents, our dog Maggie, and other friends and family, many of whom are not mothers in the traditional sense. Our chickens even popped into my head, along with the memory that I had not let them out of the coup and it was 8.30am. Hopefully they have enjoyed a sleep in! 

So as powerful mothers or creators it is helpful to be aware of the power of kindness, both to others and ourselves. I read recently that the most powerful statement you can ever make, feel, or think is, 'thank you.' So thank you and happy Mother's Day EVERYONE!
THANK YOU

• To all those people in my life who have been motherly toward me, including of course my maternal mother to whom I owe so much, including my life!! But also thank you to friends, family, and strangers too, for all the kindness and love
• To others who give me the opportunity to be 'motherly'; the dog, friends, family, others, and of course my own children. They have provided me with so many wonderful opportunities to share love, compassion, joy and patience. I am so grateful to my family. Being their mum is the best. 

The opportunities to extend this motherly kindness don't always come in the ways I expect, or even want, as happened over the past weeks. And as we have explored in previous blog posts sometimes this 'motherly kindness' can be in the form of strong love with the intention to protect others.

My opportunities to extend this motherly kindness have included writing an essay to my son on his overseas departure, and an amazing opportunity to practice patience over last weekend's, extremely complex and fragile 3D model making project! Fortunately, I am very thankful to my teachers for giving me some very helpful tools, to reduce my stress and worry and to bring me back to the present. One tool I find very useful is the 'It's like this now' reminder - I will share more about this next blog.

My friend Chuck from Singapore once said to me 'Maree, you are like everyone's mother,. I didn't quite know what to make of it at the time, but in reflection I feel extremely honoured, grateful and humbled by this kind  remark. 

Have a Happy Mother's Day EVERYONE and great week 
Thank you all once again for your 'motherly kindness,' support, friendship and generosity.
Kind Regards and Best Wishes, 
Maree xx ​