Mother’s day is a very conflicted holiday for many people. Because there is so much pressure to love the mother, to remember the mother with fondness, to feel the love of the mother deep inside our bones. Yet for many of us, this is not how we feel. This was simply not our experience. Either we didn’t have a Mother, or our Mother was unable to healthily love us. And so there is pain, and a feeling of societal pressure to remember the Mother in elevated terms. And there is a confusion as to why it went down the way it did, all those years ago. What works for me, and I want to encourage it if it serves you, is to see Mother’s Day (and Father’s Day, if the same feelings come up for you) as an opportunity to honor, nurture and celebrate you. Not a day to focus on loving your Mother- if you don’t authentically feel that way- but a day when you get to truly attune to and love yourself in all the ways she couldn’t. Happy Self-Mothering day, to everyone who is not celebrating Mother's Day! Love yourself.
p.s. It's high time that we created a space on all societally enforced holidays for each person to share their TRUTHS, whatever form they take. - Jeff Brown