Blossoming Values

I have spent the week immersed in writing the book I am working on and so my mind is swirling with thoughts that I am anxious to make sense of in a way that others can understand. One of the concepts I am unraveling has to do with the ways we instill values in our children when they are surrounded by a society that is devoid of them.

How do we teach children what’s important - the real meaning of value? In our current society, value is associated with the dollar store. Value means getting a good deal by ripping someone else off in another country. In essence, there is no “value” in value at all. It’s just another of one of the many things we have paradoxically devalued. It is the way in which we take things that are precious, like the earth herself, and destroy it. We see a beautiful beach and we envision building condos on it so we have access to the beauty whenever we want. We do this with things, destinations, cultures of people, all for the sake of convenience.

Looking back, one of the things I was able to successfully do with my children is provide them with a sense of values. I realized the other day as I watched my youngest child race across our yard to get a closer look at the blossoming of her magnolia tree (each of my children has a tree planted in their honor from birth). She has been anxiously awaiting the green buds on her tree to pop open. Finally, this week they did and she was squealing with excitement.

As mothers, we can teach our children to be thrilled by the simple pleasures in life. It important that we infuse an appreciation for the food we are fortunate to eat, for handmade gifts, the rediscovery of a special game or outfit that was put away for a season, unforgettable moments during a private performance and the endless series of variations displayed by Mother Nature.

I, myself, have piles of pictures, presents made out of recycled objects, special stones, shells, tree limbs, flowers, handmade cards, personalized love letters – little treasures that remind me that I have instilled some sense of meaning into their lives. I love that my nine year old did not think twice to gather some “recycled” items from her room to gift another little girl from dance for her birthday.

Spring is the time when the world is in bloom. It holds the potential for new beginnings. It is time to re-establish the ways we want to live in the world and do it by starting first with our own families. Join mothers across the nation in a revolution. A revolution of mothers initiating the de-evolution of our species. The MAMALUTION is born.