Imagine This Title is aMAZing
Sometimes we just need a “mom” to comfort, center, and let us know everything is okay.
Have you ever felt lost? Do you sometimes feel alone? When that happens, what “brings you back”?
Lisa and I moved across the world this year—from Washington state to Europe—and, as you might imagine, it’s caused my wife and I to feel a bit out of sorts. Although many people in Sicily speak English, and Lisa and I have been learning Italian on Duolingo since last summer; there’s something disorienting about those around you mostly saying words you don’t understand! What is more, they drive quite differently here, the roads are super narrow, and street signs aren’t really a thing. What is more, after a month of doing it “wrong”, I learned you’re not supposed to say/wave “hello” to strangers while you’re out for a walk—that’s reserved for people you know. Oops! And that’s not even getting into being separated from our friends and family.
I share that because, while I’ve certainly had moments of disorientation here, I have mainly felt at home. But I’m getting ahead of myself. From virtually the moment I arrived in Sicily, I’ve noticed there are memorials to and statues of La Madre all over the place. And from the beginning, these icons of The Mother have spoken to and moved me at a deep, deep level. Honestly, at the root of my being, what they’re doing in me is powerfully:
Healing,
Comforting,
Nourishing,
Welcoming, and
Uplifting.
(This Madre was at the top of a hill I walked everyday while we stayed in Motta)
For weeks, I couldn’t put words to what was going on. I knew it had something to do with the divine feminine, but that was about it. I just let The Mothers I encountered shift, shape, and speak to me in a wordless manner. After all—as helpful as words are—time and again practicing yoga, meditation, and contemplation shows me:
Within us, there is a space beyond words, overflowing with peace, wholeness, joy, and love.
I hope you have tasted this treasure! Personally, I know it can be simultaneously elusive and addictive. While I SO crave this deep delight, the more I chase it, the less I experience it! It seems to happen only when I let myself truly surrender to the moment.
(This beauty is in Siracusa)
As I write that, it occurs to me that the newness of these Madres helped me be fully present in the here and now. There’s something about: Getting taken out of our norm—whether it’s by being in nature, at a concert, or in a new setting—that radically puts us in the moment … where all of “life” resides.
Speaking of life. Last weekend, Lisa and I moved into the villa we’re renting in Sicily. We began making a home here. “Coincidentally”, Michael Franti—one of my favorite musicians and people—also sent out his latest music video. It’s about being caught up and spun around by the tumult of being human, BUT, not alone in it! These two things formed a melody in my mind, which gave me better insight into what I’ve shared thus far:
La Madre, The Mother, Mother Mary, and The Divine Feminine represent Home. “Home”, as in the space and place of healing, comfort, nourishment, welcome, and encouragement that we deeply crave and need … which, turns out to be “hidden” inside each and every one of us.
Whether we call this our soul, our True Self, the Holy Spirit, our Buddha Nature, Love, salvation, enlightenment, and/or _____ doesn’t matter. It’s there. In each of us. It’s the precious pearl Jesus preaches about. It’s the essence of us that Rumi and Mary Oliver capture in poetry. It’s the light within us that’s brighter than the sun revealed to Thomas Merton. It’s nothing that we do, but a gift we receive.
(By the way, here’s a link to the Michael Franti song: “Lost But Not Alone”.)
(I am SO delighted that she resides at our villa!)
“Mother Mary” has been taking me to that place, by filling me with the news that—even though I’m a stranger in a strange land—I am home. Not only here, but: Everywhere! I am ALWAYS at home is the message she’s sending. AND, this isn’t a missive only for me. It is for you too!
You are always and forever at home.
Now, I don’t know what your take on the Magical Mystery Behind Reality—aka “God”—is. And, I love and think the world of you regardless of your beliefs there! So, with that in mind I ask: What pronoun do we almost always use for God? “He”, right? With that in mind, I invite you to lean into the ways our religion reflects our culture, and our culture reflects our religion. As well as how—whether one is male, female, or nonbinary—we all have both feminine and masculine energies. We each have softer and harder sides, welcoming and competitive natures, nurturing and driven aspects to us, and so on.
What I’m getting at is: My Madre encounters are healing and freeing me, by meeting a “Mother” need in me, that our “Father”-centric society and religion has neglected. And I don’t believe I’m alone in this.
(The same La Madre from the top with Mt. Etna)
Naturally, I’m painting a somewhat binary picture, in a non-binary world. I think here of how—as a Christ-lover—Jesus both lived and taught in a way that was simultaneously masculine and feminine, while also referencing an Abba (Father) God, who was quite Motherly. After all: Reality and humans are yin and yang, not yin or yang.
The key is to realize—at some primordial level—we all crave and need a “Father” and a “Mother”. We each have both masculine and feminine energies that are meant to play together.
So, as Lisa and I head off to Scotland on April Fools—for the next phase of our European adventure (our pattern will be ~3 months in Scotland and ~1 month in Sicily on repeat)—I plan to lean into and embrace both the Father’s spirit of adventure, and the Mother’s aura of home.
I hope my experiences and reflections are a blessing, and I’d love to hear from you!
Hugs & Love,
Lang (aka “Dr. Love”)