When I made this drawing in March of 2019, it represented the first significant shift in my healing process. For a number of years, I had been holding a daily foundation of presence for my body. In response to this healing work, my armoring of muscular tension had been gradually releasing. My physical tension unraveled enough, so that I finally had access to my visceral region and all that had been stored there. My body felt like an old-fashioned suitcase that had opened up. The things that had been neatly packed on both sides could now be seen. The green tree forms and blue water represented my left side, while the less resolved forms depicted my right. I savored the quiet beauty of the nestled forms. I knew that the unpacking process was likely to be tumultuous. Revived wounds often reactivate with fight or flight.

Reexamining this image now, several years later, I feel as though the left half represents my mother and the mothering aspects of myself. The drawing reveals a shift in my ability to hold a strong mothering ground. Undeveloped parts may now evolve and heal, simply because they are receiving enough fundamental support from within.

In 2007, I composed a poem for my mother that relates to this image. I wrote: “My essence abides in the shadow of her life, where my valleys roam up her mountain and my mountains drift back to her valley. An ebb and flow of space does not separate mother from daughter, mountain from valley, beach from shore. Each relies on the other for its identity. Like a stream followed back to its source, we owe our lives to an unconditional sacrifice of mothers and earth.”

Mostly, I wish to impart to you the value of a kind mothering foundation. The ability to compassionately support yourself in any circumstance, may be the single most important skill to cultivate. Then, regardless of any difficulty you encounter, (and life can be devastating), you will have resources with which to cope. With whatever arises from within yourself and in your life, may you always feel nurtured and loved!

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