MOTHERING AND CAREGIVING.

On Overwhelm. 

To be responsible for anothers life is one of great privilege and also one that is accompanied by a sense of magnitude. Caregiving is a deeply felt and complex role that navigates the unknown; where in its light overwhelm can be encountered.

Overwhelm that piercing and paralysing experience, is one that maybe layered in itself. It can be a symptom of a greater human culture that sees human beings as analogous to machinery, that values productivity over presence. A symptom of a human culture that wears the veil and prizes control, when in actuality life and perhaps most especially caregiving is a practice in uncertainty.

Overwhelm can be a response to the gravity of choices and responsibilities that comes alongside life giving and its unknown and ever evolving elements.

It may also reflect the deeper needs of mothers and caregivers to be honoured and validated in the complexity of their roles, not only in its cognitive load, but also the invisible load carried in navigating the unseen and unarticulated aspects of caregiving. To acknowledge all that is carried, all that is held.

By H Coutts.

13 Jan 2016.

Image Via Lottie Hampson.