The Beautiful Chaos of Mother’s Day by Dr. Jill Satin

When actress Jessie Buckley recently accepted her Oscar for best actress, she shared “I would like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart”. On that day it was Mother’s Day in the UK.

As we approach Mother’s Day in Canada, I’m reflecting on the mothers I’ve worked with over these past years at The Well Parents Centre and “beautiful chaos” is the perfect description. As perinatal therapists, we are trusted to bear witness to the full spectrum of emotions that mothers carry. Mothers share with us profound grief, hope, joy, guilt, shame, exhaustion, elation, and so much more.

I think of the mothers who are doing their best, but feeling their worst. I think of the mothers full of guilt for not doing enough and I want so badly to make them see they are more than enough when they cannot see it themselves. I think of the mothers who didn’t get to hold their babies in their arms, still mothers, and I know that Mother’s Day can feel impossible.

If Mother’s Day is feeling hard this year, whether you are grieving a mother, yearning to be a mother, or struggling as a mother, please take care of your beautiful chaotic heart and know that you are not alone.