Journaling Challenge 18: Roots
Here in the U.S. we are gearing up to celebrate the Single Most Important Holiday of the Year—Mother’s Day, of course! *wink* Like for most of us, for me Mother’s Days have been a mixed bag, both as a mother and as a daughter… many years, the day has been marked by some cursory gift (Starbucks card, scarf, DVD) and a funny card. Other years I have made an effort to be more thoughtful, to pay more attention (and have had more attention paid to me), and have experienced the day as I think it should be: a day of gratitude and remembering and counting blessings. This year mothers have been on my mind a lot, as my husband and I both had grandmothers pass away in this last year, so this Mother’s Day will be the first one for my mom and mother-in-law after losing their own mothers. I can’t help but think about the ways those two women, our grandmothers, will continue to affect us and our family for the rest of our lives.
When we were babies, our mothers—and grandmothers, and all the mother-figures in our lives—helped us learn to stand, and as we grow up they help us to stand up straight, to stand out in a crowd, to stand for what we believe. They root us, and those roots will still nourish us even when our mothers are gone.
As Mother’s Day approaches, your journaling challenge is to “tell your story” about your mother, and AS a mother. Here are a few questions to get you started:
- What do you know about your mother that gives insight into the woman and the mother that she became?
- Who else has acted as a “mother” to you, though you may or may not have been biologically related?
- As you think about your own mother and the mother-figures in your life, what are your fondest memories? What are your most difficult memories? What did you learn from the good and from the not-so-good?
- How have your “roots” helped your growth throughout the years?
- How do those roots continue to nourish your own family today?
Let us know how you decide to tell this story! You may want to journal in a blog, or the “old-fashioned way” in a notebook, or you may choose to scrap a page; whatever you choose, we’d love to share in your story so please link us up in the comments!
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