Today is Remembrance Day in Canada, and I am reminded of a poignant song that still brings me to tears by Buffy Sainte-Marie, Universal Soldier. A few years ago, I received a phone call from a local radio station wanting my opinion on the numerological significance of 11/11/11. I referred her back to my blog where I have for many years responded to similar questions. Perhaps this matter needs to be addressed once again.
Earlier this year, I was invited to contribute an article addressing the question: What is the meaning of life? Such a big question! If I had been asked to define the meaning of life even just a couple of years ago, I believe I would have been hard-pressed to provide a satisfactory answer—at least not satisfactory for my own understanding. I might have proposed that the meaning of life was to find joy, or to discover ways of experiencing fulfilment, or perhaps to share loving encounters with others or even to make a helpful contribution to the world.
I sometimes point out to clients that the hardest part of being a parent is to know when to stop being a parent. Once a parent, always a parent; it’s not something you just turn off and walk away from. I don’t know if this is a universal experience among all mothers, and maybe even fathers, or if it is just for women raised in the 50’s and 60’s, or stay-at-home moms, or single moms. All I can say is there appears to be an involuntary reflex built into the mothering role that is triggered when a meeting with one of my children is imminent…