The Love of a Mother: Why is it so complex?
Why is the love of a mother so complex? Having become a mother three years ago, I have learned so much about the complexity of loving a human being so much it hurts and yet being filled with a monsoon of emotions ranging from blissful joy to sheer anger and frustration. As a mother you try your best to teach your child how to behave and live in a way that is respectful and kind, but sometimes they choose to make their own decisions and their words and actions can bring consequences that truly break your heart.
I'll never forget a dream that I had when I was in my mid-twenties going to graduate school and drinking a little too much at parties and hanging out with some friends that were not the most reputable people. I dreamt one night that I had walked home to my parents house in Ohio and stood on their front door step in freezing weather with snow falling on my bare shoulders. I hesitantly rang the doorbell and my mother opened the door. My perspective in the dream shifted to my mother's perspective and I saw myself as an emaciated, bruised and beaten girl who looked like she was one breath from the grave. Instead of scolding me for showing up on her doorstep half-naked and drunk, my mother reached forward and embraced me in her loving arms without saying a word. She took me inside the house and I woke up from my dream.
Though I have never shown up on my mother's doorstep half-naked and drunk, I feel like this dream has great meaning in my life because it reminded me that regardless of the choices I make in my life I can always come to my mother with all my good and bad and experience her unconditional love.
To me, that is the powerful, complex love of a mother---to love a child, whether they are an infant or adult, in a way that looks past all faults and sees the great potential for their future.
So whether, you have had a mother who is openly loving and expresses their love to you or a mother who is distant, cold and non-communicative, in her heart of hearts there is a love for you that cannot be compared to any other.
I encourage you to remember the love of your mother this Mother's Day and tell her how much she means to you, even if it's complicated.
