On Moms

When my mother was terminally ill, I asked her, “Can you imagine anything worse that what you are going through?” 

Without having to think, she responded, "If any of my children were going through this instead of me."

And in that moment I began to understand a phrase she had mentioned many times.  Nothing compares to a mother’s love.

Pure. Unconditional. Love.

I am not a mom.  I don’t fully understand this quite yet.  But I hope to someday soon.

As I get older, I realize, my mom was often right.  I fought with her rules and constantly challenged her direction.  I didn’t enjoy growing up in a strict religious home. And I rebelled. 

Now I see.  Now I understand.  That mom’s are often right.  She wanted what was best for her children and she knew more than we did.

Although my mom lived to only 61, she did what she loved most.  And that was loving her children.  She sewed us clothes at Christmas. 

She sewed us bedspreads and prom dresses and she made us our favorite home cooked meals.  Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. She painted us pictures and wrote us letters when we moved away.  She bought us second hand clothes.  She passed away in March, but had already prepared our Christmas presents for December. She listened to us when we were down and out, and she didn’t take our shit.  She stood her ground and although she was 5”2’ with soft green eyes, she was a spitfire.  She took care of us, and she loved us to death. She was a mom before anything else in life. A mom. Her greatest and most meaningful role in life. 

So this blog is for Mom’s. Mom’s of all sorts. Because you are, above all, mothers. You might be moms who gave birth, moms who've lost, moms who adopted, moms who married into a family, moms of dogs and moms of cats, moms and mentors to children.

To all you moms. I bow in gratitude and I am inspired by you all. 

The Idea Graveyard

I started writing this post 24 hours ago (Day 1)

My mother had amazing ideas.  She had ideas for funny movies, she wrote music and poetry, and she would CREATE the most interesting contraptions.  She invented games and was always thinking (and living) outside the box. 

 She was the kind of person who kept all the milk bags (washed and reused them in interesting ways) and could have created a blanket to warm the whole world with the amount of fabric she kept in her closets.  She painted pictures, drew portraits, and she wasn’t afraid to share her ideas, no matter how “out there” they were.  (Day 2) In 2002, my mom had an ileostomy to remove parts and pieces of a very invasive ovarian cancer.  She decorated her ostomy pouch with colorful fabric so that it was more than just a collection bag.  She painted the entire floor of her basement so that it looked like cobblestone, and my mom never stopped marveling at the little things. 

Each time I blog, my mind travels to places unplanned.  The brain is such a playground!

I remember the way my mom’s eyes lit up when she shared these ideas.  Her lips would form the grin of a little girl who had just found a weathered diary in a dated chest.  Ideas change the world.

Ideas.

I was reading Journey Into Power  (this might be the best $6.20 you ever spend) by Baron Baptiste last night.  He passes on an idea his father once shared with him.  He suggests that graveyards are the richest places on earth because so many people are buried with their gifts still protected within.   More on fear later.

I think one of the coolest places in the universe, is the idea graveyard.  It’s the place where ideas aren’t realized, forgotten, or not fully mature and therefore believed to be “not good enough.”  They go to the idea graveyard (with all the others) and we might even recognize bits and pieces of this magical place, as some of the ideas are sure to be our own.

Diane Michelle Clement: Guilty (insert sound of gavel here)

Today I was wrapping a gift for a friend in Colombia and I was using a gift bag that had been previously used.  I remembered an idea that I had years ago.  It was to create a gift bag that was cloth and you could write on certain parts of it with a pen.  You would give a gift in it with a little message, and some details about yourself.  Everyone would keep doing this, and this little gift bag would travel around (the world and back) lighting up people’s faces.  I would like my sisters Caroline and Sharon to start making these bags.  They have the skill and creativity. 

Yesterday I was full of ideas.  They (the ideas) were pretty much dancing a perfect tango in my mind, and I was afraid to go bike/run because I thought I might miss a great breakthrough.  None-the-less, I biked through the mountains here in aquaria finding trails and challenging downhills and then I laced up and went for a run.  Just as a new idea wedged it’s way onto the dancefloor, I bailed and sprained my ankle. 

Isn’t life funny!  My mom would have MacGyvered a Velcro icepack to wrap on my ankle. … probably full of beans so that it could be both hot and cold. 

My mom's would be floral, maybe even with a pocket on the side, maybe a compression strap around the joint as well.

The point of this entry dear readers, is to encourage you keep your ideas thriving.  Write them down, give them to a friend (does idea hoarding exist?) and make them real.  After all, our ENTIRE life was/is a culmination of ideas (most of which we can’t take the credit for). 

I am all for ideation; the creating of ideas.  In fact it is one of my “Strengthsfinder 2.0” strengths.  If you need an idea, pick my brain will ya!

Peace,

Diane

Some of my favorite ideas:

1.     A maxi-pad strapless bra my sister made me for my wedding day.  Can you believe these don’t  exist?  It’s no secret – boobs sweat!

2.   The bicycle

3.   The apple cutter (this is Gui's favorite, and I think it's pretty amazing too!)

4.   Exploration

5.   The General Lee cut out for a "Dukes" party theme

I love these people!

5.   That everything is a miracle, or that nothing is a miracle (I am still not sure which one I believe)

To do: schedule meeting with God