The Good Mother

Horrible title and name for this object, but that's what we call her around here!  


So, let me introduce you to The Good Mother...


I saw her at 10,000 Villages, in New Haven several years ago.  I immediately burst into tears.  I have not come to motherhood gracefully...I have struggled greatly along it's path.  When I saw this figure, I was overcome.  I didn't buy it that day, but after a couple of weeks of not getting her out of my mind I went back.

Peace, strength, bliss, love...

The way her arms just envelope the child, it's hard to see where one ends and the other begins...


The softness and strength of her ample form...


How she's *holding* that child like there's no one and no thing else in the world...

I wept.

Looking at her, I just know everything will be alright...that I can love enough and be loved enough.

The look of pure bliss, peace, and utter love she holds in her face...

Unconditional love and acceptance...

And those hands...they can hold all the grief and all the joy in my heart... (this photo of her hands is my photo for the Project 365 pool on Flickr)

She is a symbol of the powerful divine feminine spirit of nurturing and protection.  When I think of her, at times, I'm the mother and at other times, the child.

My daughters and I often take our troubles, our hardest or unanswerable questions, to The Good Mother.  She stands sentry in our living room.  Look closely and you can see her looking over my karate crew here.  


Do you have a symbol of feminine love and energy?