Storytelling

Storytelling is a big part of being human. I think it helps us digest and comprehend the events in our lives. Giving birth is no exception. I recently started working on the Mother/Baby unit in the hospital and have been contemplating how to help them. I think that if one of my nurses asked me what they could do for me I would have told them to get me out of the hospital as quickly as possible. But as I think a little deeper I think I really would have liked someone to sit down and listen to me tell my story. In a way this blog is my way of doing that.

It is interesting that one of the things we do as mothers is tell stories. Of course there is the formal storytelling where we sit down and read books to our children, but there are other ways of telling stories. As my children get older I find myself telling them of antics when they were younger and they love hearing that. We talk to them about what times where like when we were younger. I laugh when I hear myself tell my daughter that "when I was your age we didn't have cell phones or i-pods". I talk quite a bit with other mothers about my dilemmas and how they are similar or different from theirs. We live and breathe the stories around us. It is a way of connected to those around us and finding meaning within our own lives.

Labor is just a part of those stories. For some good, for others bad. But it is a very potent story. And I believe one that should be shared. Not to put down others choices or experiences, but as a way to connect to others lives-; way to find meaning in the shared experience of bringing to our lives a beautiful child.