The house is quiet except for the soft sounds of the "Brain Food" playlist playing on Spotify. I am alone with my fur babes and my thoughts.
Today is Mother's Day. A day to celebrate the females who make a difference in one or many lives. These come in various ways from human birth mamas, fur babe mamas, grandmothers, step-moms, aunts and those unwavering female souls who love beyond their own heart and care, yes, they care.
Within my four walls I was gifted time with ten individuals this morning. We shared a Sunday breakfast together for only a few minutes before the business of life stepped in to take three from the table to attend a baseball tournament.
Isn't this the way it goes at times? We set aside a moment to be with each other, yet we are pulled to play our part in other activities in life.
Some would say time with family should be time uncompromised, and, yes, there is always a time and place for everything. However, I have found the more ties I place on a moment the more the true meaning of the moment is lost.
Over the years I have grown into letting be simply be.
Example: My teenage son informed me two days ago he would work on Sunday. My first response was, "That's Mother's Day!" "Oh, it is?" he responded. A touch of my heart sank to think he would not be part of my special day, but I quickly shifted and told him, "You know what? I am going to enjoy the time I get to see you on Sunday even if it is brief, because I am going to love on you no matter if you are present or afar." The energy in the room was of ease, the way it should be.
So, when the morning sun began to rise today and I was organizing my cooking plans and straightening for the family to come over, I took the same approach. Ease, Erin, simply ease.
Good thing I had set my mind to this way of thinking, because my nephew's ballgame switched times and we decided just shy of 8:00AM to get together an hour and a half earlier. 10:30 became 9:00. Did I mention the egg casserole timer needed to be set for 45 minutes and I hadn't made it to the grocery store yet?! Plus, my grocery list also had "flowers" and "cards" written - I was going to make fancy flower bouquets for my mom and sister, plus spend time down the card aisle to pick the perfect card for each.
There are two ways to look at this I thought. Stress and hurry like I mad woman on a mission or look at what was most important and cut the list down to only the musts. I chose the latter.
No my mom and sister did not get the fancy flower bouquets I had envisioned and, no, they did not get sappy sentimental words written between a folded piece of paper written by a stranger from who knows where. What we all received was the dose of love and easy flow we all needed - time with each other.
To me, this is what family is about. A safe place where we can come together to be us. If the eggs burn, we will have macaroni for breakfast. If the orange juice spills on the carpet, we will grab a paper towel and soak it up. If someone only has time for a "hi. bye", we will love on that time as if they had the entire day to spend with us.
I know in my heart if I had shown up in a hurried, stressed state, everyone of my family members would have felt it. This would have been unfair.
Plus, when you can show up fully and full of joyful heart, you might find you and the youngest members of your clan will want to move beyond breakfast, break out the markers, create inspirational art by the ream (the artist in Aunt Gi Chi keeps a lot of paper on hand, image that!), and have a macaroni for lunch!!
To all mothers who care 24/7/365, I want to personally salute you and hold your hand. I feel ya!! It's a title we are given which tests us and breaks us and grants us the gift to love beyond ourselves where descriptive words are no longer produced. The best part? We wouldn't change it. Period.
Mucho love to all humans! We are all in this together. Be kind, my HeartFULL Friends.
Ep
P.S. If you would enjoy a minute of motivation, click HERE.