I don’t profess to understand very much about Zen. I think it’s about being conscious and aware in this moment, now. I read Momma Zen this week, written by Mom and Buddhist Priest Karen Maezen Miller. Her writing is clear, funny and somehow peaceful given the topic! Read the rest of this entry »
I usually credit my Gram with instilling in me the mantra “anything worth doing is worth doing well”, but in truth this belief rans rampant in my family. I admit that this can drive unsightly perfectionist tendencies in my behaviour, but it also means that I approach most life with zeal. But there’s an extra layer for me in doing something well, and that is also “getting it right”. Read the rest of this entry »
It happens every couple of months for me — rarely less than every six months. I don’t think it’s endemic to writers or mothers or people planning the earlier retirement of one spouse. Perhaps it is common for people who have chosen a path which is off the main trail. It must be a reality for everyone who toils at work whose progress is difficult to measure. Or maybe it’s just a phenomenon among those who live consciously. Read the rest of this entry »
I can’t turn on the CBC radio or TV these days without slipping into bone chilling fear. I’m normally very open to listening to whatever their news-based programming is serving up and consider it my daily dose of reality beyond the streets of my lake-side neighbourhood. My Grandma always listened while she worked through her day too. While I’m not sure my kids don’t hear “too much” from the regular drone of the radio, I feel the need to stay connected. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m not usually into guilt — by that I mean self-reproach for doing something wrong. It’s a pretty rare occasion when I engage in an act of self-flogging. That’s not to say however, that I don’t feel badly when I let someone down, as I did my daughter last night. But my feelings are more complicated than guilt. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s been a bit quiet around Mommy’s Groove recently. It’s not that I haven’t been living the groove every day — but rather that living the groove has kept me away from writing. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve called it a sacred space; I’ve heard it referred to as a womb-room. It’s the space we created in our bedroom after our children were born. It was quiet or quietly interactive, at times light and sometimes dark, filled with love and laughter, wonder and joy. Here, we ate, slept, changed diapers, snuggled, sniffed, caresses, bathed, listened with ears and hearts, watched and wept. Read the rest of this entry »
Speaking to a group of Doulas in the DoulaCARE network on Sunday, I got an interesting peak into the concerns some women have about lying-in. I’ve written before that I hear from women who think that it sounds terrific, but are certain that they could never do it. They cite family expectations, an active lifestyle or an un-evolved partner who could not attend to the household as I was fortunate to have done. Read the rest of this entry »
I dig in my heels and entrench my position further — and its not the kind of well reasoned, deeply felt through position one entrenches for. The voice of reason is cat calling to me, don’t say anything else. This tact isn’t working, shift course now or shut up. But the voice that has the floor is unyielding, stubborn in her intractability and escalating the discussion. She may even be showing distain for her adversary: an independent four and a half year old. I am not proud of myself, but at the same time I can’t seem to help it. Read the rest of this entry »
As he bounces up and down on the trampoline, I can see he’s thinking about all the instructions he’s received over time. Tuck jump, star jump, and seat drop with hands beside your bum. He bounces off the 10 tuck jumps requested by his gymnastics “coach” without out a thought. When she asks him to drop to his seat then bounce back up to his feet, he performs the move flawlessly. When she advances the move to include seat to knees and hands, instead of feet, he tries twice before getting the rhythm. When he looks up at me his faces shines with pride and I can feel him soaking up my verbal encouragement and my clapping. Read the rest of this entry »