The Mother Within:

A Reflection for Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day can bring many feelings.

For some, it is a day of celebration and gratitude. For others, it can hold grief, distance, longing, or complicated emotions. There is often a lot of focus on honouring our biological mothers, and while that can be beautiful, it is not the whole story of what it means to mother.

Today, I want to invite a different reflection.

What if we paused to remember that we are all mothers in some way?

Whether we have children or not, each of us carries the capacity to nurture, tend, care for, support, and grow life. Mothering is not limited to one role or relationship. It shows up in many forms throughout our lives.

We may nurture plants in our homes or gardens, tending to them from seed to fruit.
We may care for animals — feeding them, walking them, playing with them, or choosing food that supports their wellbeing.
Some of us care for children, whether they are our own or those of family, friends, or the communities we serve as teachers, caregivers, or guides.

At times we find ourselves nurturing siblings, supporting loved ones, or even caring for our parents as they grow older.

There are so many ways to mother.

Yet one of the most important forms of mothering is often the one we forget.

Mothering ourselves.

No matter what our childhood looked like.
No matter what our relationship with our mother is or has been.
No matter what we may still long for, grieve, or carry.

The deepest gift we can offer ourselves is learning how to tend to our own needs with compassion.

The Question: How Can You Mother Yourself?

Over the past few days, I kept having a strong image in my mind — a card from the Work Your Light oracle deck by Rebecca Campbell.

The card is called Star Mother, and beneath it is a simple but powerful question:

“How can you mother yourself?”

It even came up unexpectedly in conversation with friends. So today I opened the deck to explore its message more deeply.

And would you believe it — the very first card to fall out was the one I had been thinking about.

Star Mother.

It felt like a quiet reminder to pause and ask myself that same question again.

How can I mother myself?

And so I offer that same question to you.

We may not have received the mothering we needed as a child, a teenager, or even as an adult. Our mothers may no longer be here on this physical earth. Relationships may be strained, distant, or complicated. Sometimes our mothers themselves were never mothered in the way they needed.

There are many stories.

But within each of us lives the capacity to tend to ourselves again and again, even in the smallest ways.

Learning to Mother Myself

Over the past five years I have been on my own journey of learning how to mother myself.

For me, it sometimes looks like holding myself accountable with loving structure — writing a simple to-do list when I feel clear and grounded so I can stay aligned with what matters, rather than becoming overwhelmed later.

It looks like speaking kind words to myself and practising compassionate affirmations.

It means starting with small, manageable tasks that remind me what I’m capable of.

It means facing fears with encouragement and celebrating myself when I do.

It also means remembering to rest.

Taking breaks.
Creating balance.
Surrounding myself with people who feel supportive and nourishing.

And when I inevitably lose my way — as we all do — I try to return with gentleness rather than criticism.

Another practice I deeply cherish is checking in with my inner child.

What does she need today?

Does she want to be held?
To spend time in nature?
To create something with her hands?
To put music on and dance around the room?

Listening to her has become an important part of how I care for myself.

Remembering the Great Mother

Another way I mother myself is through earth-based rituals.

These moments bring me back into relationship with the original mother — the Great Mother Earth.

When I connect with the rhythms of nature, I am reminded of how deeply we are held and nourished by this living world.

The earth nourished my mother.
She nourished my grandmother.
And all the grandmothers before them.

There may be times in life when we cannot rely on, reach, or receive the mothering we long for from our biological mothers.

But the Great Mother — the earth beneath our feet, the cycles of the seasons, the quiet intelligence of nature — remains.

A constant source of nourishment.

A place we can always return to.

The Mother Within

So today, my ode is not only to the mothers of this world.

It is also to the Great Mother.

And to the mother that lives within each of us.

The part of us that knows how to soften.
How to listen.
How to nurture life.

This time of year — as we move into the energy of spring — feels like a particularly beautiful moment to reflect on how we wish to care for ourselves.

To invite more:

Rest.
Joy.
Play.
Connection.
New beginnings.

To plant seeds — both in the earth and within our own lives.

So I leave you with the same question that found its way to me:

How can you mother yourself today?

Your answer may be simple.
It may be quiet.
It may be something only you will ever know.

But it matters.

And perhaps that small act of care is exactly where something new begins.

With warmth,
Ruth 🌿