As I write this there are riots and protests and chaos.  I think, what can I possibly write that would be relevant to parents of your children at this time?  I am a white mother to a teenager.  I am privileged and unpacking all that is going on around me.  What do I do with the emotions and emotional exhaustion of recent days?  Once again, in my parenting journey, I come back to the same question:  How do I stay centered in the storm?

There is a beautiful quote by Margaret Atwood that I return to again and again.  She says, “God is not the voice in the whirlwind.  God is the whirlwind.  At the last judgement we will all be trees.”  

How can we stay centered in a storm? Are we bending or breaking?  What are the daily rituals that keep us and our family centered?  

My first whirlwind as a mother was our emergency birth and time in the NICU.  It both affirmed my faith in knowing that I was held and surrounded by angels and ripped away all sense of safety and order in my world.  

It was prayer and music that got me through.  Have you noticed that it is hard to stay stressed while singing?  You have to breathe deeply and regularly.  Singing triggers all kinds of comforting hormones.  

Babies are born into chaos.  Everything is new.  We are the guides that make it all understandable.  Babies and young children look for patterns of sound, our motion…we are born looking for ritual.  

How do we shape our days?  I still remember the song my mother sang to me in the morning when she came to get me from my crib.  “Good morning to you!  Good morning to you!  Good morning!  Good morning!  Good morning to you!”  This memory encouraged me to create songs for my day with my son and formed the base of my Mommy Jingles Musical Parenting Program.

Having songs for different parts of the day helped to calm and center me and helped my son Clayton understand the world.  These songs got me through postpartum anxiety and panic so that I could breathe deeply again.

My son is now a teenager and keeping centered is as important as ever.  In the quarantine and in these recent times of upheaval I find that I have abandoned the rituals that keep me centered.  My yoga practice and meditation have fallen by the wayside and I have become emotionally exhausted.

Today, I walked.  I walked for miles.  I stopped by a tall pine and I prayed.  I remembered that I am the connection between earth and sky.  I remembered my breath and I prayed for all that this hurting world is suffocating.  I cried and I listened and I went home to my family.

Today I leaned into the whirlwind and I did not break.  Today, that was enough.  What are the rituals that keep you centered?

• To learn about Amy’s Musical Parenting program please visit MommyJingles.com
• To download her free musical meditation, join her mailing list at AmyRobbinsWilson.com
• Listen to Amy’s Embodiment and Sacred Performance HERE

   

Amy Robbins-Wilson, MA opens transformational spaces with music.   Her voice has been described as “angelic”, “crystalline” and “a whisper to the soul.”  She uses her unique and extraordinary voice and the power of intention to open transformational space within which listeners experience a renewed sense of well-being.  As one listener commented about a session, “ I love how it both stills me and fills me.

Amy sang her first solo at the age of three and has been exploring the intersection of healing and music ever since.  She holds a BA in Empowerment Theater for Women from Bates College, a MA in Expressive Arts Therapies from Lesley University and a MA in Ritual Song and Chant Performance from The World Academy of Music and Dance in Limerick, Ireland.  She is a Reiki master, Awakener, and the creator of Angel Baby Remembrance Concerts for those who have lost a child.

She offers Angelsong Circles, meditative concerts and individual sessions for those seeking healing and a restored sense of peace in the world.

Amy is the author of the Mom’s Choice Award Winning book Transformational Mothering – A Prayerful Companion for New Mothers, transcriptionist of The Diary of Josephine Knight and creator of four solo albums of music: Circling, The Divine Hours of Motherhood (also awarded a Mom’s Choice Award), Lullaby and Goodnight (winner of the Kids Music Award) and Angel Baby Lullabies.

As the musical parenting expert on Lullaby-Link.com, Amy educates and encourages new parents in the best ways to connect, communicate and develop creative young minds with music. She created online musical parenting program for new moms called Mommy Jingles which empowers moms by showing them how to best use music with their babies.

Her lullaby Angels Watch Over My Baby was licensed by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for a national fundraising campaign  and she was recognized for her scholarship, leadership and public service by the Harry S. Truman Award. Her experiences as a NICU mom have made her a passionate supporter of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. She is thrilled that Johns Hopkins Hospital licensed her lullabies to use in their NICU.

Amy licenses music for film and tv and is a Meditation Guide at Ananda Yoga and Wellness in Belfast, Maine.  She makes her home with her husband Tim and their son.

Like many white people I paused my content last week in solidarity to all the BIPOC people who often have their voices silenced by our system. Before this blog goes back to it’s regularly scheduled posting I wanted to take a few moments to talk about action.

I believe that Black Lives Matter. I believe that all voices, but especially minority voices should be heard.  I believe in truth telling.  This is part of the mission of Mommy Rebellion.

However I was born a white cis hetorsexual female.  My experience is shaped by these factors as well as the fact that I have been married for almost 18 years.  These are just part of the privileges that affect my day to day life.  I can not speak to another’s experience of motherhood that may be different than mine.  But I can provide a place for other mothers (and parents really) to share their stories and advice, regardless of the body they are in.

I know I have more learning to do.  I thought I would share some of the resources I have been using and have found helpful while navigating the conversations around race and intersectionality that are happening right now.  This is an ongoing process and not something I assume will ever be finished.  

I am dedicated to continuing my learning and passing my learnings and understanding to my children.  

I am dedicated to listening.  As a postpartum mother during a pandemic listening is all I can do some days.  It may not be enough, but I hope it is better than doing nothing.

As I write this I see that I am using the “I” word way too many times.  So here are the resources I have found helpful while navigating this.

Books:

• Eloquent Rage by Brittney Cooper
• Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Renni Eddo-Lodge
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• A Mighty Girl has many resources here’s one on Broadening The Story 60 Picture Books Starring Black Mighty Girls
• Listens for Raising an Anti-Racist 
• An Antiracism Listening List
• Victoria Alexander Book List for Black Allies

Articles and Other Sources:

• 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
• Scaffolded Anti-Racism Resources
• Justice in June  (time based resources what to do if you only have 10 minutes, 25 or 45 minutes a day set up in a monthly schedule etc.)
• 15 Kid-Friendly Movies to Help Build a Conversation About Race and Racism

If you have any other resources please share them in the comments below.