Universal Mental Health Care

I am reading Mommy Wars

A book of essays about working mom's vs. stay at home mom's and their struggles and judgements of themselves and others.

We all have our thoughts and judgments of how others raise their children while we struggle to make choices and find a balance that works for our own family.

Since most days we all need to transform into a Cirque de Soleil performer to twist and balance in the ways necessary to get through the day, it boggles my mind that we have teh energy or time to worry about what others are doing.

Sure, our definitions of 'family', 'parenthood' and 'raising children' differ, but if we would all learn to close our mouths, listen, and refrain from judging others even for a few minutes, we might see that despite the different verbage we use, we are all doing what we think is best, and our goals are the same; to raise well adjusted, smart, inquisitive, and responsible children who will go out into the world with their gifts and leave it better than they found it.

Though people, and often the societies where we live, want to ask us pointed questions about our life choices just to put us in a box so they can move on to devour and compartmentalize other people and ideas and spread their universal knowledge of 'the truth' on many issues, I don't think things are that simple or black and white.

No one I know fits into just one box.

(Except perhaps my son who is currently obsessed with climbing into boxes- I wish someone would have told me not to buy store bought toys when boxes, tupperware, and household kitchen objects do the trick just fine.)

Despite all the messages we are 'fed' from our TVs, and radios to divide us, I search each day for common ground despite conventional wisdom and many in the media hoping that we never find any.

Perhaps those of us with the same goals can create our own language, music and version of Cirque Du Soleil that celebrates the common ground so many of us feel but never hear about.