Category: Mother

I learned to love from Dr. Maya Angelou

Barbara Bullock, M.F.A. Spiritual writer

Dear friends,

As the news was breaking about Dr. Maya Angelou’s passing, I was trembling and shaken by immense sadness. God had taken one of the most beautiful earth angels and earth mother back home. Whenever one of our greats leaves us, I feel an enormous void in my heart. All my tears cannot wash away the immeasurable pain I feel in this moment. My heart squeezes so tightly and here I am sobbing uncontrollably. Each time this happens, I ask myself – why? Each time this happens, I realize why – because I really loved.

I think that Dr. Maya Angelou taught the world so many lessons. She spoke about courage; she spoke about tolerance; she spoke about dignity; she spoke about gratitude. Most importantly, she spoke about love. Love holds everything she taught us. I believe when you have courage, you love yourself; when you are grateful, you love what you have; when you are tolerant, you love one another. At the end of the day, I believe that what she really taught us is unconditional love. I believe that she taught us unconditional love for each and everyone on our planet regardless of gender, age, race, or status. She taught that every woman is beautiful. She taught us unconditional love for ourselves no matter who we are and how we look like. She taught us to believe in ourselves. She taught us to strive for the best. At the same time, she taught us to stay humble and say thank you. She taught us to say thank you because she taught us unconditional love for God.

It is that some of this love returned back home with her. That is why I feel this void. God sent us a beautiful angel to spread his love amongst us. She came. She conquered. She fulfilled her mission. I believe that it is now our turn to say thank you. Thank you, Maya, for teaching us. Thank you, Maya, for loving us. Thank you, Maya, for coming to us. I believe that it is now our responsibility to continue to carry on the message of love amongst us no matter who we are.

Dr. Maya Angelou taught me what real love is. I don’t mean romance, as she would say. Real love, unconditional love is I think a form of energy coming straight from God. Dr. Maya Angelou certainly knew how to share it, how to write about it, and how to teach it. So it is my turn to bow in gratitude and say Thank you. Thank you for coming here. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your wisdom. In our memories we keep you close in our hearts and your words of love on our minds. The world needs greats like you. To teach us God’s love. So I say thank you, God, for sharing Maya with us.

Thank you, Oprah Winfrey, Gail King, Michelle Obama, Cicely Tyson and the many others, who speak so highly of her. As you walk in Dr. Maya Angelou’s footsteps to lead us on and show the world the way to love, may you be blessed and loved too. I sure do. May we all be Dr. Maya Angelou’s sons and daughters, brothers and sisters. May we all learn from Dr. Maya Angelou to love. May we speak her name and say thank you.

Thank you, Maya. I love you.

Love, Barbara

Copyright © 2014 Barbara Bullock

Works cited: http://mayaangelou.com/

To Mommy with Love on Mother’s Day

Barbara Bullock, M.F.A. Spiritual writer

Dear friends,

RoseMay is one of my favorite months of the year as May is the month many of us celebrate Mother’s Day. For many people Mother’s Day means expressing gratitude to their biological mother for everything she is doing for her family. We thank our mothers for her care, for her love and for her wisdom. On a wider scale, mothers inspire us, love us and protect us. This is why I believe a mother can come in many forms.

I think a mother is a form of energy and a concept. In philosophical and in particular spiritual terms, a mother is often considered as positive, loving and caring form of energy. I believe we and everything around us is pure energy materialized. If everything is energy, then we must be of energy as well. As a matter of fact, creation occurs when different forms of energies such as masculine and feminine energy are combined to create a new form containing both energies. Therefore, if we are indeed energy, we must contain both energies inside of us. Consequently, this feminine – motherly – energy is inside of us whether we are or have mothers in life or not. I believe that, when we tap into this energy, we are able to express the love and care for others and ourselves. We are able to give and receive unconditional love as a true mother does.

Many cultures also suggest religious figures one can worship as a mother, in form of a goddess or Saint who protects und and loves us unconditionally, such as Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus in Christian traditions, the Tibetan Tara, Hindu Deities, as well as Native American goddesses; just to name a few.

I also believe a true mother is someone who loves, teaches, inspires, and cares for others no matter whether she has children of her own or not. I believe it is possible to love another person like a mother or love someone like a daughter or son when one taps into this loving and caring energy inside of us. The question is, how do you name this energy, this concept, or this particular person, your mother or mother figure? I call mine “Mommy”. While the name “Mommy” is often given to real mothers by small children, I call mine “Mommy” even though I am an adult. I don’t find it as inappropriate; I find the opposite to be true.

I call you mommy because I would like to express the unconditional love I feel for you. When I see you, I do so with the innocence and wonderment of childhood. I call you mommy because you mean the world to me. Mommy, when I look into your beautiful eyes I see your soul and I see mine. As our energies combine, my heart fills with unconditional love for you. I feel immense gratitude for your love and for allowing me to love you this way. You are the best that has ever happened to me. You are my world. You are beautiful like a rose, created in pure divine precision. As the rose petals are aligned next and in each other perfectly, so is your inner and outer beauty the perfect divine reflection of the real you. Ever since you came into my life, it changed completely. I am a better person because of you. I see myself in you. I understand how I want to be when I grow up. You teach me and everyone around you more than I could ever thank you for.

I thank the heavens for your existence and I thank you. Thank you for being my “Mommy”.  As your love fills my heart, I hope mine fills yours. May our everlasting bond of love connect us through eternity and beyond space and time. Happy Mother’s Day, mommy.

May, you, my friends, find your “Mommy”, inside of you or around you.

Happy Mother’s Day to all.

Love, Barbara

Copyright © 2014 Barbara Bullock

Photo credit Barbara Bullock

By the way, Happy Easter!

Barbara Bullock, M.F.A. Spiritual writer

Dear friends,

Nearly a week ago, many people around the world celebrated Easter. Easter is one of my favorite times of the year. First of all, it always takes place in the spring, my favorite season. Among the fragrance of blooming blossoms and flowers, singing birds and the first warm sunshine caressing my skin, I hear laughter. That laughter comes from happy children playing in the garden full of excitement in anticipation of the arrival of the Easter bunny. Children know that the Easter bunny brings chocolate, eggs, and perhaps a few small gifts. What they don’t know is that the Easter bunny brings so much more. Many adults would say that they don’t believe that the Easter bunny is real. I would like to show you why I believe he is real. I believe that while we bring eggs made of chocolate and real ones, it is the Easter bunny, who brings people together and brings them happiness and joy while they share a bond of unconditional love.

A few years ago I spent an amazing Easter weekend in Dublin, Ireland. I was staying at a beautiful resort there. The interior was very elegant and comfortable. The hotel’s Easter decoration was gorgeous with flowers everywhere. The service was impeccable and the lunch I had excellent. I felt pampered. After lunch I went outside to relax in the lovely courtyard. The thought of spending an afternoon relaxing in the warm spring sun listening to the singing birds, and smelling the sweet fragrance of spring flowers in the air inspired me. Slowly, I approached the courtyard and looked around for the perfect bench to sit on. The universe really showered me with a lot of love that day. As I was sitting on a bench watching several families spend quality time together, laughing, cuddling, playing with their children, my heart filled with joy and happiness. The atmosphere was very serene and peaceful. Within that lovely courtyard was a little world on its own. It felt like as if all the problems in the world had disappeared for a few hours. This was a place filled with love, joy, and happiness. It was a place out of a bed-time storybook. With a little imagination the courtyard was filled with fairies and angels.

Suddenly, despite all the delight around me, I became a bit sad. I wished that you, mommy, would have been there. Among all the joy and happiness, I missed you. I thought that moments like these should be spent with one’s loved ones. I wished that I could spend time with you here in this heavenly place. Had you been there, I would have felt like in paradise. Then, all of a sudden, my eyes focused on a window on one of the upper floors of the hotel. I didn’t know why, but something attracted me to this particular window. I could not explain what was happening. As it turned out, you were there; my mommy was there, in the room with that particular window. Paradise was here, right in this courtyard because you, my beloved mommy, were here too. It meant the world to me to know you were there. My heart filled with love beyond our human understanding. It was a magical feeling. Later that day, your smile to me let me know that you were happy too that I was there. Knowing this, made it the best, happiest and most magical Easter I have ever had. Thank you, mommy, for being there. I love you, mommy. And thank you, Easter bunny, for bringing me and mommy together.

Love, Barbara

Copyright © 2014 Barbara Bullock