The mother wound

Is deep and wide, but the mask is good at hiding the ugly stuff.

Sometimes, the gap is raw, a nagging pain I can live with. Some days it’s a trickle, a sliver - a papercut of pain; other days, it churns, a more immense chasm than I can ignore.

That gap should contain soft filling against the harshness of life. We’ve been unguarded from life’s challenges for a long time, but that doesn’t mean the absence isn’t felt.

It’s difficult to imagine a world where this could be any different. It’s something I’ve never had, but I understand I should. There’s that word again.

Should.

The word ‘we use to hang or shackle ourselves’ (as someone once described). Whenever it features in my writing, I know there’s negative pressure.

In a world of ‘shoulds’, perhaps the real journey is learning to navigate the slivers, the chasms, and the paper cuts without them.