Becoming a Mother – Energetic aspects of crisis, transformation and mothering
This research suggests a shift in paradigm not only in the debate on the value of raising and caring for children, but also in its intuitive approach towards transformative writing which makes self-reflection and vulnerability its core. Through Elicitive Conflict Mapping and the “hero’s journey” I present pregnancy, birth and mothering as a calling into a rite of passage which, through crisis, allows transformation and creative unfolding. The intuitive approach in my thesis has opened up a door for me, to not only physically but also mentally take the place of a mother. Since this is a state which is reached more than once, I now refer to a feminist mother as a ‘becoming’ or ‘unfolding’. This process is an ongoing healing process from the internalized patterns of domination. In this sense I think of mothering as an informal education that leads me into a greater awareness of the necessity to educate myself in self-determination.
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My thesis is about the struggle and search for balance between the vision that I have for my life and the responsibility that I choose to carry as a mother. From that point, and along that personal struggle, I perceive mothering as a potential for personal unfolding and learning that I wish to be recognized as work, education and peacework.