What’s a spiritual goal on your bucket list?
Currently I feel like I’m equally knee-deep in motherhood as I am head-high-in-the-clouds yearning for spiritually enlightening experiences.
My daily mothering practice looks like this (take a deep breath to read it super fast): 6 kilos of groceries to buy, carry, and put away, 3 nutritious meals to prepare, serve, and carefully cut up (only to find it all on the floor), 1 dishwasher to unload before I can load it with double its capacity, 2 trash bags to take out, 60 nails to cut, 48 teeth to brush, 6 ears to clean, diapers to change, outfits and heads to brush, 3 seatbelts to click, 31 items of laundry to hang and leave out in the rain, 3 storytime books to read, a sticky floor to wash, bath to draw, a minimum of 4 big arguments to have over the tiniest of shit, 4 apologetic hugs to give, industrial mess of toys to put away, Legos to get out of vacuum cleaner, toothpaste tubes out of the toilet, hair dresser/vaccinations/dentist appointments/parent-teacher conferences to book and remember to show up for (on time and preferably dressed)…
My spiritual bucket list includes dancing at a cacao ceremony, learning to give ‘astrological/iridology/ hand/ healing/Goddess tarot card/ insert anything’ readings, studying massage, breathwork, Chinese medicinal herbs, dried flower arrangements, riding a motorcycle through Mongolia wearing a Native American feathered hat, studying with a shaman in New Mexico, doing a yin yoga teacher residency in Ubud, Ayahuasca in Peru, Ayurveda in India, walking El Camino de Santiago, living in Buddhist monastery in Thailand …
Sharing life with small humans is an easy excuse to temporarily postpone deeper yearnings. And the temporary can last a very long time. And that long time is what future generations grow up seeing and emulating.
Do we have to live small just because we have small children?
I really hope not, but for now I’ll choose to be in the moment. Which involves looking up from writing this article to find my daughter brushing her hair with the toilet brush.
I’ll end with a quote I heard Elena say that really resonated with me: “Your adventures matter to all of us.”