Mother to All

There is a crisis in our culture that I frequently run into.It is a lack of a model or understanding about the transformation of women as they transition from their childbearing years into the next stage of life.  I see many women suffering and missing out on making this amazing and beautiful rite of passage.In my experience for many women moving out of their childbearing years there is a real lack of clarity and a lack of understanding of what they have to look forward to.  This transition comes with a perceived loss of physical beauty, a loss of motherhood and that role, a stepping away from the sense of feminine youthfulness and vibrancy.For men we honor this transition and give them power, influence, wisdom, not a bad trade for the losses we must incur around our health, looks, and youth.Our cultural view on aging gives women little to look forward to.We need to revitalize the understanding of Grandmother, not in the sense of being a grandmother to children (though that is part of it).  We need to honor the maturing feminine for the gifts and wisdom that they can achieve, a very different wisdom than comes from the maturing masculine.My vision for this is mother-to-all.  Where at one stage the feminine virtues of love, nurture and care are directed to the immediate family or career, grandmother can offer that love to everyone.  Mother-to-all comes with that deep, wise connection to the spirit of care and understanding of the more profound beauty and flow of life.There is no right style.  Some mothers are direct, clear and pointed, some are tender and loving, but it all comes from this desire to tend to, nurture and help grow the people around them.When we start to see mother-to-all not as a step down, but a step up, that is when we truly acknowledge the gifts of the feminine.Mother-to-all nurtures her inner spirit, she nurtures and develops a deep spiritual capacity within herself.  She grows into the role and by doing so gets to experience a deep interconnectedness and love, she becomes a true spiritual being.Wouldn’t it be worth it to exchange youth and fertility to move into spiritual bliss and love?  What would you have to do to embrace this next step?Men how can we encourage and honor women in making this profound step?  What does our next step entail? Stay tuned.