Several months after having moved into my new apartment in Tiburon, I had returned from a trip to Ikea, another venture in furnishing my new lovely home. I sat washing the recently purchased kitchen items. I felt a warmth of happiness resound through me as I allowed myself to soak in the goodness of the return of my altar items, the return of my plants, the return of Halloween costumes sewn by my hands all of which had been held hostage over the previous 6 months by my ex-husband. It was one of those messier things that couples go through in a divorce where you are trying to divide things up, and also mad or irritated with the person who wants or needs the items and so withholding them for time never ending seems to be an amusing pastime. How I managed to call these items back into my space was a serious miracle, and I was allowing myself to enjoy this precious moment.
All the items that had been randomly strewn around my old desk still at his house had been returned…Questions written on notecards, “Is it kind, Is it necessary, is it true?’ Notes of “I love you, I love you, I love you” from my daughter…pictures of Los Gatos and sacred objects that had propelled me to the place I am today. The tarot and goddess cards I had last placed in my intention frame in my office/bedroom. All of these things, here in my new apartment, MY apartment. My space, my things. My plants, here with me, all dried up and missing me. I watered them all. So happy to greet them, like old friends I hadn’t seen in so long. So pleased they had made it back to me. I was truly speechless. And I looked up at the beautiful words my children had colored in for me on the wall. The original sign post outside my office/temporary bedroom in the old house, the words that spelled THE MOTHER RISING. These words had guided me along my journey and provided inspiration especially since they were colored by my children.
Then I looked up from my dishwashing. I saw in my hands another symbol of connection but this one was a connection to my fellow women on this journey. Women with a Mother Rising spirit within them (the essence of Mother energy, not necessarily being a Mom). It was an item possessed by women around the world. The brightly colored plastic Ikea bowls, plates, cups and utensils. I was washing a new set that I had purchased. One that would be kept in my car for snacking items. Always a good thing to have. It sunk deeper as I washed. How many women are washing these exact same Ikea items right now? or putting them in the dishwasher? We are one with these. We are connected in an intangible way… a rainbow thread across cultures. It is the symbol of some of my first solo purchases that were acceptable as they were cheap enough. I could buy them in total freedom without getting “in trouble.” I can’t be the only one. They are the backdrop for bowls of goldfish as well as plates of veggies and hummus, cups of smoothie and frozen pizza. Organic or non-0rganic, recycled or not, many of us use these Ikea settings…it is a fabric in our lives as women, as mothers, as sisters with each other. We are united by our Rainbow Ikea Connection.
