Other Than Mother

We, as mothers,  are all things to all people.  But within this truth we often forget we must be all things to ourselves.   As mothers we often get bogged down in the day to day tasks of caring for our children, our lives are wrapped up emotionally and physically as well as spiritually within this most important role, that is at the same time, our most undervalued role.  As so much pollen on the wind we often find that in placing our hearts and our lives at the beck and call of these beautiful creatures we lose the sense of ourselves we were born with.  We lose our zest, our joy for things that are completely ours to love.  We forget to laugh and  jump and play for ourselves,  and wind up a player in the games of other people.

It’s not all our fault.  We’ve been trained to and biology determines that our instincts adhere us to our children for the protection of the species.  But the human animal is blessed with a conscious mind and the desire to fulfill our own destiny is strong and often in conflict with our lives leaving us empty at the end of the day.

Carving out time for our own personal joy and growth is imperative to our self-actualization as a human being.  We have to let go of the idea that we are in this alone and reach out to other women to connect and learn and grow, beyond our parenting roles.

Other Than Mother is my initiative to get women doing just that.  My goal is to have women all over the world organise events that explore this idea so that other women will be motivated and given the opportunity to express their own growth and development outside of their mothering roles.

The very first event for Other Than Mother takes place on June 5th, 2009 in Stratford Ontario.  It is the movie screening of The Shift, a new film starring Dr. Wayne Dyer, that explores personal growth and a shift away from doing into being who you authentically are.  Several of the storylines are particularly relevant for women.  There will be discussion, social time after the movie.

A series of such events will allow mothers to remove themselves physically from their mothering roles.  As these events unfold they will be talked about and reported on here in this space.