Why Mothers

I have a deeply held belief that a special intuition develops as women become mothers. There are glimpses of it prior to the woman becoming a mother and I believe it is what people are referring to when they say someone will, "make a great mother."

Something shifts the moment a woman intends to start a family. Even before the hormonal shift of a pregnancy.

She begins to watch what she eats and starts to get educated on chemicals in the environment around her. She prepares the best environment she can afford (physically and financially) for a person she has not yet met. As the pregnancy unfolds she gives up things she loved, all in the name of good health. She learns the true meaning of the phrase "no greater love" even before she first sees the life emerging from within her body. She began a life of service to someone beside herself even before she meeting her miracle.

Mothers have an inner drive to research and seek out the best for the next generation. A mother worries not just about the child in her lap but about the little children that will eventually come forth into the world from that child. We look forward to and fret about the health of grandchildren while our children are still drawing with crayons.

When you carry the weight of the decisions for future generations upon your shoulders, you see the world around you differently. There is an immeasurable truth and beauty to the Cherokee tribe's belief of being keepers for the next seven generations. Women see this truth so very, very clearly. Every mother wants the best for her child, that child's children, that child's children, and so forth. We intuitively understand that what is good for one generation is good for the next and that in order to do so we must take care of our mother Earth. After all, it only makes sense we would take care of the planet, the source of our food, just as we took care of ourselves when we were the source of food for our nursing babies.

Borrowing again from the Native Americans, the Iroquois tribe's wise women chose the chief and removed him if they were unhappy. Women have the majority of the vote in America and if we empowered our wisest elders we could do the same, but given the notion of gender equality let's just find the right person for the job!

So mothers, embrace your feminine divine and all the wisdom and intuition that comes with being a mother. "A worried mother does better research than the FBI." We know our stuff. When you know it, own it. Start talking. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk! Make sure those around you are enlightened on the topic and listen to their truth about the topics they have researched. Seek and find objective evidence. Do not listen to the headlines, review the primary literature. Read the footnotes about who funded the study and keep a skeptical eye at all times. Also, never forget to find out what the activists say. I have generally found that the more I dig into a topic, the more I think activists have a very solid argument that is being dismissed and brushed aside as "fringe" rather than being thoughtfully considered. It is not easy to cultivate consensus. It is a tremendous skill. It is a skill we mothers must demand from the leaders around us or we should do like the Iroquois and replace them.