My not-quite-a-manifesto…
I believe…
“We are all star stuff.” Nearly 14 billion years ago, the cosmos and all the matter of the universe burst forth, and you and I and the entire world are radiant pieces of that initial spark of creation.
We all possess the Buddha-nature within. Call it spirit, the universal vibration, Atman-Brahman, Reality, the Absolute, or even the laws of physics.
We are all doing the best we can.
Parenting is a practice.
When it comes to mindfulness and meditation, you cannot “do it wrong.” No moment of intentional awareness is EVER wasted.
A clean and organized home helps quiet the mind and allows calm to prevail.
Revelation is not sealed.
Our children, as Jon and Myla Kabat-Zinn remind us, really are “live-in Zen masters.” They turn our worlds topsy-turvy and force us to confront our most deeply-held beliefs and our very identities. And that’s a good thing!
A well-timed F-bomb is incredibly therapeutic.
“Mothering will come naturally” is a myth. It did not come naturally to me. Sometimes it’s okay to trust the parenting books more than your intuition.
Stress is a given. Being stressed out is optional.
Mommy bloggers are not perfect. Mindfulness bloggers are not perfect.
You can have a spiritual practice or a life practice or whatever you want to call it without having a “religion.”
It’s okay to not like being a mom sometimes. Really, truly, it’s okay.
Teaching is an art. It’s ultimately about being authentically YOU.
You should put on your own oxygen mask first. If you are not nurturing and compassionate toward yourself, it’s hard to do it for others.
You’ll find happiness when you stop pursuing it.
As human beings, we danced our religions before we believed them. Our lives are about practice, not creed.
Dancing is the best exercise there is for my mind and body (yoga is a close second!)
Motherhood is amazing, profound, terrifying, beautiful, exhausting, life-changing, overwhelming, wonderful, breathtaking, and all-at-once the most daring, the most challenging, and most awesome thing I have ever done!
Balance is a journey, not a destination.
Gratitude is not just an attitude — it’s a practice.
When it comes to the big, huge, ultimate concerns of life, it’s more important to live the questions than to find the answers.
What do YOU believe? What’s in YOUR manifesto? Share in the comments below!
top photo credit: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center via photopin cc
