Mother’s Day

Nanda Jurela
2 min readMay 10, 2021
Painting by Anne Cotterill (1933–2010)

I am grateful to my mom’s health consciousness, sincerity and artistic gifts.

When I was a kid, I did appreciate her sense of beauty, good eye and widespread creativity. It was only much later that I considered myself very lucky to have had a mother who gravitated to healthy food, vegetables and homemade dishes long before it was a trend, no medications — except in emergencies — , who instilled in me the importance of enough sleep, plenty of movement, a conscious handling of finances. My mother’s aggravated sneer at everything “artificial!” is legendary. It had a strong impact on me.

I stayed away from “artificial” foods, I do not relate information that I know is dubious or false (I have too much pride in that regard), I pick up when someone is lying and do not listen to people like that. (Mom’s disgusted warning “artificial!” sunk into my subconscious that I hear it when the offers and information are artificial… I can let it stand and move on to something real instead.)

I find it okay to not self-medicate and find a plant-based remedy. And so on.

My relationship to my parents was not always smooth. I spent several years working on my mind in such a way that I only picked thoughts about them that were positive or neutral. Then I discovered that I had plenty of reasons to be grateful for: that I was brought up with plenty of privileges, that both had worked hard to make sure that I had a life of relative safety and a constructive life philosophy. I felt when the energy was shifting between me and them. We get along well today.

My mom tells me often that I came out well.

I can accept the idea that we choose our parents, because I know that with different parents, I would not have been born awake and I would not have developed the strength I have today.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. You taught me that I can choose and that I have to choose every day.

NJ

10 May 2020

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Nanda Jurela

Writer. Poet. Educator. Holistic healing facilitator since 1995. Water, Gaia, music lover. Garden grower. Mindfulness appreciator. https://nandajurela.com/