Life's Transmissions
I received from my Mother...one among many...
My Mother used to say; “Once we touch May, July is almost here, and once July is here, December is around the corner.”
Happy Mother’s Day, btw, to all the Super Heroes out there!
The notion that time flies was further reinforced during the years I worked in the Fashion Industry where work-life operated two seasons ahead. End of Spring and beginning of Summer meant that we were in the lookout for the upcoming Fall Fashion trends.
It wasn’t until I delved into the world of Yoga that I began to slow down my pace and become more aware of the preciousness of the present moment and enjoining each season: Summer for Summer’s sake in the relentless heat of Miami Beach.
Yet, even in Yoga there was always that next thing to accomplish, to attain, or to practice, and that next open season to go practice with my Teacher R. Sharath Jois in Mysore-India.
Concerns and worries for the future, along with planning and preparations for career goals and events, can keep us boarded on that fast moving train with one destination only, the future. Pulling ourselves back to our precious present is quite the practice of cultivating awareness.
My Mother also used to say: Aprovecha tu vida y disfrutala porque el tiempo vuela. Make the most of your life and enjoy it because time flies.
And I think that is the beauty of fun and play. When we are having fun, enjoying life, and really making the most out of it doing what we really love, immersed into something that captures our attention wholeheartedly, we instantaneously let go of any grievances or resentments from the past, or of any anxieties induced by worries of the future.
My 20’s and 30’s left me in a flash, and so did my Mother. My 40’s are powering through to hit the mark of another decade to come down the road. As Mother’s Day approaches, I feel the exquisite tug of grief at my heart. I can feel sorry for myself that my Mother is no longer on this plane to celebrate her on Sunday along with everyone else, or I can choose to let her transmissions live by enjoying life, as she preached.
If time does fly, I better be having fun when I hear the fast flapping of its wings.
Journaling has been one of the introspective practices where I can extract these contemplations out of my headspace and put them in paper. When remembering my Mother and writing about her, or her life lessons, a tender part of my heart finds relief with the soothing balm that is writing and sharing it.
Thank you for being on the other end receiving it. Below I leave you with a writing prompt. See what comes up that you might even turn into a love letter or poem for the Queen of your Heart.
Grab a notepad or piece of paper, pen/pencil, and set up a timer for seven minutes to free write whatever comes to mind using the writing prompt below in honor of your your favorite Super Hero, Mom.
Journaling prompt: What I learn from my Mother
*If Mom was instead your Super Villain, see what you can harness from that prompt too because as my Mother used to say;
La Vida Continua!
~Erlinda Del Carmen Mambel Benitez, aka my Mom - the greatest love and heartbreak of my life.
And if your Mom is not longer in this plane of existence, receive my warmest hug. Although I was not 31 when I lost my Mother, and she was only 53 years young, there is a feeling of orphanness hard to describe. Explore the prompt, shed the tears, and be gentle with yourself, too.
