What my Perfectly Imperfect Mom did for me and the Generations to Follow

It's hard to believe, but it's been 10 years since my mother died, and I feel like I saw her yesterday when I look at a picture that appeared on Facebook from my nephew. So lucky we are with some of this technology that we can fly back into our hearts and our eyes can feast on things that feel so real and so 'now' even though they are from 'then'. 

Here's one of the last pictures (above) I have of me and my Mom taking by my friend Dwaine taking a picture of my friend Louise taking a picture of Mom and me when they were visiting. Kind of has a generational feel to it...and that is what I am thinking about today as Mother's Day arrives. If we were to look inside our lives and down the generations and lineages, what would we see? 

My Mom and I didn't always have the best relationship when I was growing up. She was absent a lot and was one of the women who forged the way for the younger generation, leaving my brother and I to be latch key kids way back when. You know, the kind that has a key around their neck because when they arrive home from school, no one is home. 

That was my teen age life. My mother went back to school, when we became bankrupt instead of taking a job as a secretary at the local library. "I could have done it" she said, "but the thought of being a secretary just wasn't for me. I had already done that!" 

Today, I sit and think of her courage, and the courage of my father, that at a time in their life, with 2 children, the house threatened and no work, they chose to make an unpopular choice in a very vulnerable situation, one that to many, would seem like the wrong thing. 

Not only that, but at that time, going back to school, was not common for the mature student, let alone a woman student. Now, going to school at the age of 40 is not a big deal, nor is it a big deal in the same way for a woman, but at the time for my mother, it was not popular and rarely done. In fact, she was one of the first of her friends to do it. Following close behind was her best friend Val. They were the start of their tribe back then to do this courageous act. 

I admire that courage. I admire that fortitude. I admire going against what is thought to be the right thing instead of doing what everyone thinks you should do, in the name of your heart and soul. 

I admire the path they forged for me and for others along the way. I admire that heart of their convictions. And I admire that they made it a path that I could easily follow with little to no trouble years later. 

Did they even think, even once, that their actions, their push, their going against the grain, was making history? 

Sometimes, I felt alone as she forged her way. But you know, now, I sit here in my living room forging my own way, and I am humbled by the path our mother's had to take in order for our lives to be easier. 

Today, in honor of my mother and your mother, and our mother's mothers, I want to say a big thank you. 

I want to say I see them and their journey. 

I want to tell them that I thank them for forging the way so that our lives could be different and more choices could be available for us. 

For those of us who were lucky enough to have one of those beautiful mothers who were so perfectly imperfect I extend my gratitude. If it weren't for you, would I be following my heart? And if it weren't for you and the choices you made and the fights you put up, would we be able to vote today, go to school when we wanted to or stay at home because that was our choice? 

It makes me wonder, what things am I doing that will make it easier for the younger generation? It makes me wonder. 

As I put myself forward, and speak my heart, I hope this will bring inspiration now but also for those who follow our lead. I hope that my heart will lead me in a direction that will allow others to lead themselves in their directions. And I hope that my choices, even when not popular, will forge the path for the younger generation to come, like my mother and her friends did for me, my family and my friends. 

Living at the end of a dirt road in the wild woods a 2 minute drive from the ocean, selling in an outdoor market at the ferry by the sea where I get to meet amazing people from all over the world, writing to you now from my heart, all these things seem normal to me. But are they? Was going back to school normal for my Mom? Is doing what you are doing 'normal' for you but maybe not so normal if you swing back the pendulum of time?

May you and I forge the way, unknowingly, or knowingly, by following our hearts. And may the mother in you come out to be honored, whether you have 2 legged children, or four legged children or one thin stemmed children with petals or thick trunked with branches and leaves . . . 

For any woman who has bent down over another who is vulnerable and cared for them in what ever way that was and appeared to be to the outside world or inside too, I honor you and . . . 

I thank you. 

We will never know in some ways, how we changed the world in years to come by our actions of now. 

To that, I bow in reverence to you . . . and share my heart. 

Happy Mother's Day Beautiful Wild Soul.

With love, 

~Elizabeth xo 

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Hi! I'm Elizabeth MacLeod. I'm the author of the Wild Woman Mystery Cards - An enchanting journey to your true self and other wild wonders.

Ultimately, all of my work is about helping people be more themselves without the guilt because that's what makes you smile deeply from the inside out.

(Because being who you are is like air is to oxygen and hearts are to love. And if you're wild, like me, it's the only way to feel vibrantly alive)

That's what I do.  And I'm not confused.

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