There is so much that can be said about the human mind
It tells so many stories
Generates so many feelings
And something that it has always done is generate terror of what it cannot understand
When the mind comes across something it cannot understand, it often attempts to dumb it down and control it
I believe that latter is still happening with birth and motherhood
The process of birth and becoming a mother is one of the mosts overtly mystical and magical things that we experience in this life
It is so ordinary and yet so magical at the same time
The mother is the vortex that brings forth new life
the channel through which new beings enter the life experience
She is also the bearer of inexplicable pain so that the new life can take its first breath
And then once the new life is born, the mother is a source of mythical strength and endurance
She holds the fear that the new being that was once part of her might not survive
She endures unbelievable fatigue and exhaustion at the point in her life when she is probably most physically weak
She has the strength to set her own needs and comfort aside to an unimaginable extent for the sake of a new heartbeat
She does whatever it takes to keep the new life alive
It is a position, a responsibility, that is beyond comprehension
So what does society do with that?
They dumb it down and try to control it.
They force women to give birth while lying down and connected to IVs to make the process easy for the doctor and ironically causing the woman to need more "help" to birth the baby
They teach women that they cannot handle birth unless they are medicated to completely numb the pain, leaving the women paralyzed and out of control in a moment when they are poised to experience their greatest power
They don't understand the intense feelings that come with giving life to a new creature and so they diagnose mothers and medicate them to make them more tame and normal
They feel uncomfortable with the magic and mythical strength of motherhood and so they create a cultural narrative of the weak and sweet one who has the less important job
We are afraid of mothers
So we make them small
And then we as mothers buy into it
We believe it
And we play the part of being small
But we don't have to
We can call bullshit on the whole thing
And be the fierce supernatural force that is our birthright
Come with me on that journey
It's a much better way
I promise.
Photo by Miguel Bruna on Unsplash