Mother's Day

genkaku

Happy Mother's Day to all who may be celebrating it today.

An idle thought that passed through this dad's mind this morning: Men are capable of mouth, but it is women who've got the grit.

True or not, it just wandered through my mind.

Jason

Mother's Day is rather bittersweet for me these days. I loved my mom more than anything, and I miss her so incredibly much. It makes me unbearably sad that I can't spend today with her, or even just hear her voice. But today still holds a special place in my heart, both because of her memory and because of the radical history underlying Mother's Day itself.

Mother's Day is really a feminist holiday if you think about it, the result of years of women's activism in everything from the anti-war movement and labour movements to women's suffrage and lib movements. One of the first calls to celebrate Mother's Day came from Julia Howe. Her 1870 "Mother's Day Proclamation," also known as "Appeal to womanhood throughout the world," was a call for women to be more political active and to oppose the carnage of war.

Another attempt was headed around the same time by Ann Jarvis, who organized a "Mothers Friendship Day" in an attempt to reunite families that had been divided during the Civil War, as well as help improve health and sanitation through women's education.

And even the simple act of taking your mom out for brunch honours a feminist tradition that began in the early part of the 20th century.

So Happy Mother's Day mom, and Happy Mother's Day to all the other amazing moms out there trying to make a better world and doing your best to raise the next generation.

Jeroen

I have an excellent relationship with my mother, who is a small, feisty but loving lady with long and very curly grey-blonde hair who enjoys nothing better than being visited by family with kids. I’m very grateful that she is still around and in good health (well, barring a few minor ailments). Unfortunately we live in separate countries, so the best I can do for Mother’s Day is a digital card and a video call.

But here’s to all the mothers in the world

Tsultrim

I share all your sentiments. Happy Mother's Day all you Mom's out there.

federica

Not every country celebrates Mother's day today. Here's a run-down of the different dates around the world.
The UK celebrates Mother's day on the 4th Sunday in Lent, and in fact, originally had nothing to do with Mothers at all. Which is why it's actually officially called Mothering Sunday.

Shoshin

One of the unique aspects of Tibetan culture is that for hundreds of years, thousands of people have been meditating on the thought “every single being has been my mother.” This means that through countless lives, you have been every possible animal and being, and every single being alive today has been your mother countless times. Even the worst killers shared their body and milk and took care of you. Professor Thurman explains how this thought helps you feel your own infinity as a being, and also creates an altruistic society.

https://bobthurman.com/all-beings-are-my-mother-ep-28/

Jason

It's also a practice familiar in Theravada, stemming from the Mata Sutta:

At Savatthi. There the Blessed One said: "From an inconstruable beginning comes transmigration. A beginning point is not evident, though beings hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving are transmigrating & wandering on. A being who has not been your mother at one time in the past is not easy to find... A being who has not been your father... your brother... your sister... your son... your daughter at one time in the past is not easy to find.

"Why is that? From an inconstruable beginning comes transmigration. A beginning point is not evident, though beings hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving are transmigrating & wandering on. Long have you thus experienced stress, experienced pain, experienced loss, swelling the cemeteries — enough to become disenchanted with all fabricated things, enough to become dispassionate, enough to be released."

The thought of every being at one time being your mother and vice versa is a powerful way of developing loving-kindness for all living beings, no matter how flawed.

lobster

Mummy!