When confronting the need for discipline with our kids, we can look to spiritual traditions and teachings for inspiration. Photo: Ben Kerckx on Pixabay “You can’t teach anyone anything without love, and without being happy with them.” ~ Adi Da Samraj, Spiritual Teacher, Writer, and Artist As our children get older, the challenges of parenting …
As parents, the pandemic has served up immense juggling obstacles, but also opportunities for fewer distractions and new habits. Image: Pixabay “In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive resolves itself into crystal clearness.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi As parents, the pandemic has served up a …
Continue reading Finding Silence & Simplicity in a World Trending Toward Speed
A poem on how motherhood shapes us. Photo: Cahypatia on Pixabay A mother’s body:shapeshifter,giver of life,bone shifter.Doorway to the next generationof family story,her body a vessel,she has become whole:holy,irrevocably marked. When it is all said and done,life having called her to another formshe will see that ‘perfect’ never mattered.Her hips spread beyond convention.Not dainty, spritely …
In family life, love itself can become the container within which we live. Photo: Deborah McNamara (Dubois, Wyoming) “Love does not arise, abide or dissolve in connection with any particular feeling. Love has instead become a container within which we live. Through time, riding mysterious waves of passion, aggression and ignorance, we begin to live …
Continue reading The Fruits of Commitment: Saying Yes to the Crucible of Family Life
Tending the hearth right here at home can also be a sacred act. Photo: Deborah McNamara “The symbol of Goddess gives us permission. She teaches us to embrace the holiness of every natural, ordinary, sensual dying moment.”~ Sue Monk Kidd, The Dance of the Dissident Daughter New mothers receive, often unexpectedly and without adequate preparation, …
Continue reading What Do Goddess Archetypes Have To Do with Parenting?
If we tweak our perceptions, the simple day to day tasks can also bring us joy. Have you ever had the experience of being tethered to home, pining for something different or more? If you are a working mother of young children like myself, there are likely piles of laundry, endless order for snacks, toys …
Continue reading How Laundry and Dishes Can Lead to Freedom of a Different Kind
Photo: Alaya Preschool, Darlene Lorraine Over the years, I’ve written a bit on the amazing preschool that my boys attend in Boulder, Colorado. It has been a beacon of wisdom and insight, and I’m eternally grateful. Rooted in the tradition of Shambhala Buddhism, the teachers act based on the premise that there is a basic wisdom inherent in …
Photo: Deborah McNamara Over the years I've written on Principles of Contemplative Parenting — and my reflections inspired by them. Thanks to Alaya Preschool in Boulder, Colorado for outlining some of these suggested points. Here I share a few more, accompanied by my experiences. After a challenging spell with my boys, these served my life like guideposts, …
Continue reading Let’s Try Something New: Lessons Learned from a Buddhist Preschool
Learning that love can shine through, even with a shrieking child at 3 am. “Love can change a person the way a parent can change a baby — awkwardly, and often with a great deal of mess.” ~ Lemony Snicket, A Series of Unfortunate Events One of the consistent times when I needed to “practice” …
Continue reading A Midnight Lightbulb: How Sleepless Nights With the Baby Transformed Me for Good
Sometimes we can set ourselves free by setting ourselves aside “Much of motherhood, from the very first hour, carries the early warning signs of ego warfare. I want to sleep. She wants to eat. I need to do this. She needs to do that. Not again. Again. It can feel as though someone were eating …
Continue reading How Parenthood Can Devour Our Egos in the Best Possible Way
Deb McNamara 