Motherhood
Its (motherhood’s) demands are so compelling,
so clearly important, and also so proudly satisfying.
….. You give up yourself, and finally you don’t even mind.
You become your child’s guide to life
at the expense of that swollen ego you thought so immutable.
I wouldn’t have missed this for anything.
It humbled my ego and stretched my soul.
It awakened me to eternity.
It made me know my own humanity,
my own mortality,
my own limits.
It gave me whatever crumbs of wisdom I possess today.
so clearly important, and also so proudly satisfying.
….. You give up yourself, and finally you don’t even mind.
You become your child’s guide to life
at the expense of that swollen ego you thought so immutable.
I wouldn’t have missed this for anything.
It humbled my ego and stretched my soul.
It awakened me to eternity.
It made me know my own humanity,
my own mortality,
my own limits.
It gave me whatever crumbs of wisdom I possess today.
Erica Jong, b. 1942, from Fear of Fifty
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