Feelings About Mother's Day (and the Cultivation of Compassion)

Today is Mother's Day. For some, it is filled with warm feelings, laughter, reflection, gratitude. For others, it might include almost none of the sort, but instead feelings of anger, pain, longing, loneliness. Grief might be felt and this might be a blend of feelings related to absence and presence, what was and wasn't, what is and isn't, what was and now isn't or now is. Mothers may have a wide range of feelings too--as well as those who are not mothers, some of whom may deeply want to be mothers but aren't.

As much as I might sound like a broken record (do you remember those???), what I want to offer today is this: not sentimentality but kindness to each of you in whatever circumstance you are in with whatever feelings you have.

I will also mention a book I am reading, Compassionate Mind: A New Approach to Life's Challenges, by Paul Gilbert who works as a psychologist. At 513 pages, it isn't a book I'd recommend to someone who is not up for long reading; and I will also say that Paul expresses some of his beliefs that may or may not resonate with everyone (like everything of course); however, Paul writes with a friendly tone, a sense of humour, and great compassion for human experiences and the struggles people find themselves in. The second half of the book, which I haven't delved into yet, is filled with ways of intentionally fostering the further development of compassion, which is not limited to but includes the cultivation of courage.