I am pushing back the chakra series one week because today is Labor Day!!!
As promised, I’m giving away 5 copies of my “Goddess Delivers” Giclee Art in honor of what Labor Day means to me and women around the globe.
Because Labor Day isn’t just a day to rest and recover from long hours on the job… it’s a chance to turn around society’s concept of what “birth” is and a chance to change how your own daughter grows up and anticipates the birth process.
I was watching Good Luck Charlie the other evening with my daughter on The Disney Channel, and the mother of the sitcom went into labor as part of the plot line.
As predicted, the following scenes were full of screaming and panic.
I leaned over to my daughter and told her, like I have many many times before, that real birth is not like this. That giving birth to a baby is one of the most natural things we do as women, in fact, it is the reason that human being have survived and continue to thrive on this planet in the first place!
Women successfully birth babies, and it is a wonderous thing.
The show made it into a very scary and very alarming ordeal to be desperately survived, not enjoyed.
Yet, I said with absolute sincerity, if I could relive a day in my life and have the joy of experiencing it over again, the birth of each of my children would be in my top spot… followed by any time that I nursed… followed by dating my husband… followed by the rest of my life.
What you experience on the day that you give birth is nothing short of wonder and magic and awe and it is the closest most of us ever come on earth to witnessing a pure soul looking straight at you.
Being handed the soul of my daughter and the soul of my son right after I birthed them… well, there just aren’t any words.
And when we allow it to be, when we mentor our daughters to remind them that birth is not something to fear but something to celebrate… that birth isn’t experienced as pain but instead as a rite of passage… that birth is a meaningful journey that I would do over again in a heartbeat… we change the future for our daughters and for mankind.
Even if your birth experience was less than ideal, do you really want your children growing up only knowing about birth from the scary images seen in movies and on TV?
I distinctly remember as a child being very afraid of having children and telling my mother I didn’t think I could ever do it.
That is laughable to me now because I know the truth is that becoming a mother is the only thing I am certain that I have done well.
But it wasn’t laughable to me as a young girl, it was horrifying.
I want more for my daughter.
I want her to make a choice to become a mother out of joy and the desire to have a family if she wants one… not weighing fear and pain against outcome and nervously going forward with it despite her fears.
That is what I did, but that is not at all what I want for our future generations.
So this Labor Day and all week afterwards… Sept 3rd through the 7th… is Empowered Birth Awareness Week (EBAW) and is celebrated internationally. I blogged about it last year too, here.
If you have any way to contribute, either on your own blog or media outlet or in your own neighborhood or even just privately in your own home… perhaps lighting a candle or having an open discussion with your own daughter, please do.
I would like to make a small contribution of a give away: five archival quality (200+ years without fading) professionally printed Giclee Art Prints of my original canvas artwork “Goddess Delivers”… a $250 value.
Because young girls are constantly surrounded by scary invasive images of the birth process, I just HAD to paint a calm, grounded, loving, joyful and EMPOWERING image of what the birth process is really all about.
I wish I could surround young girls and women everywhere with the comfort of this image, replacing all the soap opera drama with this truth.
About the artwork:
I painted this painting with lovely indigo and violet hues to reflect the sacred spiritual aspect of giving birth as well as to honor the woman’s own divine intuition. As the goddess in the painting feels her body begin to ready for birth, she allows the waves of her contractions to lift her higher and higher in grace. Grounding to the earth, she steadies herself physically by rooting her feet into the edge of the massive ocean, feeling her connection to the earth spiral and swirl, mixing into each oncoming series of waves.
Turning her gaze upwards, she connects with the joy of the souls, loved ones who gather in celebration all around her, as she feels the soul of her child coming into its own with love, happiness, and eager anticipation of life.
Riding the crescendo of contractions that come to her aid and help her deliver her child, she raises her arms in welcome of the surrender she is experiencing and the rhythm of this precious event.
Here is to all the light workers, birth workers, doulas, midwives, woman and children who experience the divine in childbirth every day.
- If you would like to support EBAW, please forward this post to your friends and family, and find out more on Barbara’s website here and on her FB page here.
- If you would like to enter the giveaway for a print of Goddess Delivers, leave a comment below!
- If you already commented during my post about EBAW back in May you can leave a second comment here as well to be entered two times to win!
xoxo, Laura
Gorgeous painting! I have three girls and they are ALL afraid to have children because of how they have seen it portrayed! (Despite my reassurances)
Thanks Ann! I hear ya! Thanks so much for your comment… xoxoxo
For some reason it’s not letting me comment normally, so I hope that this “reply” counts!
I love, love, LOVE this piece!
Beautiful painting….I have had four children and giving birth is the most beautiful event God ever created. It is such a rewarding miracle. You forget about all the pain the moment you see your child. God bless you.
Charlotte
Your post~ words and feelings completely captivated me. I felt every word and emotion you expressed. Thank you. Your artwork is new to me… very beautiful and powerful.
Blessing you.
Namaste Kim
How beautiful. I love your post to this one too! (As always). We have talked a lot about this too with our girls, tv has a way of making everything overly perfect or overly scary, painful etc. Right now Kaia (our oldest) doesn’t want any children, and our youngest wants somewhere between 2 to 12 lol.
laura over and over again I am so glad that lexi was with me for so much of rory’s labor but especially his birth. she was my beautiful observer and the second hands to touch the baby. she knew before i knew that he was a boy. we have the same discussion every time we see a birth in a movie or tv. when lexi gets the “what do you want to be when you grow up?” she often replies with an artist and a midwife. I love that its so fitting of my little mama who has cared for us so much over the years. I am forever grateful that my children have grown up seeing birth & nursing as norms and not something to be hidden away!
I love the painting. This has been a topic that has weighed heavily on my mind. Being a doula, I hope that I will be able to counteract the media and teach my daughter to love and care for her body in every way – including childbirth.
Love this message Laura… you are so right. I had an amazing experience (at Bethesda Naval no less!) Because of an intern who was learning about hypnosis on his own initiative and offered to help me relax. Pain free birth is actually possible if you open up your mind!
Don’t have the words for it. The painting brings up different emotions for me. I cannot even imagine what it must feel like to have a child. But see evidence of the miracle in the looks of a mother holding her newborn. Will certainly forward this post to many. Thanks.
I would love to win one of these prints to have in my house inspiring my daughter and her friends.
I have never had trouble with labor. I, too, think it is over hyped. Of course, I also have kidney stones without pain.
I have tried to tell my daughter what a special experience birth is, and she doesn’t get it. Perhaps I will try personalizing it to her birth.
Sarah
I have a daughter and would love to share this gorgeous print with her!
Hi Laura, I would love to win a copy of such a meaningful painting! I took hypnobirthing classes with my first pregnancy and learned the invaluable aspect of birthing without fear. While i was in labor, my hubby shared a line from the psalms he was reading. it read “man goes forth to his work, and to his labor until eveing. how abundant are your works, Lord, with wisdom you made them all. The earth is full of your possessions” he interpreted this to me while he watched me labor for my first time. He said it was with wisdom, I knew exactly what to do, no one had to teach me or the baby how to birth. My body was created with the ability to birth naturally and instinctively. I am now planning my homebirth with my second
Two water-births and many brilliant memories later – can’t wait for my 7 month old daughter to grow older so I can hopefully instill the confidence in her to have her children naturally as well.
Thanks so much for all the wonderful comments! I’m so extremely thrilled to hear so many positive sentiments about birth… this is what it’s really like! Powerful and uplifitng! I feel that here when I read your words. Thank you guys so much! Comments are still open for the giveaway through this Sat, the 8th! xoxo
Absolutely beautiful and amazing! I love it and would love to win!
Lovely portrait and information.
I am currently 23 weeks pregnant with our first child and we are expectong a girl. This print would be wonderful to have up on our wall!
Love and blessings,
Rayisha
That was the most moving story! It brought me to tears. The bond you have with your daughter means the world to you and that birth connection-woman to woman, is so precious! Hold onto that! My mother doesn’t understand why I do what I do as a Doula and Birth Advocate. She trusts her doctors explicitly. And she hates controversy and confrontation. She is from a different era. One where you didn’t question the government, doctors, hospitals, or the need for every new test or vaccine … And it breaks my heart that I can’t share my passion with her.
When I look at your painting I see all 3 of my very different birth experiences in a new light. I can view them together now, collectively and see more positive connections between them than ever before. I can feel those creative Birthing feelings again. And connecting with that energy is inspiring and can only enhanced my dealings with other women! I hope I win! Thank you for sharing with me!
-Gin
Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful inspiration. As I read through each comment I almost second guessed whether I should leave one at all. I never thought of labor in this way. Needless to say, I did not have an empowered first labor and I was very afraid. I haven’t done much to subside my daughters’ fears of childbirth either because to me it was a way of preventing them from having children at a young age as I did. I had my daughters at 17 and 18 and my son at 23. After reading this blog, it gave birth a new meaning for me and I hope to pass along this wisdom to my daughters. I have come a long way to heal all the negative feelings I had about being a mother (old ancestral karmic wound). I want my daughters to really feel the magic and wonder of bringing in new life to this world in a way that I didn’t. Thank you so much for sharing this Laura.
What a lovely painting!
You are so right about tv depictions of birth being needlessly frightening.
What a beautiful image! And it’s so true. There was no panic or screaming at either of my births and I loo forward to another beautiful, natural experience as I welcome my third little Goddess into the world.
Hi Laura!
Continually amazed at your “bionic” natural growth and continued openness and forthrightness!
Love,
Wendy
Hi Laura,
I’ve already fallen in love with this painting on your etsy store! I just love looking at it, it is so soothing. I completely agree with your sentiments about how birth is depicted and am shameless in pointing this out to my daughter. I then tell her stories about my births, and make sure to tell my son too. We need both men and women who see birth as a natural, wonderful event. Love your blog, I just discovered it.
blessings,
Portia
Beautiful work, beautiful message. As a woman, mother, and birth worker to be, I hope my two daughters will grow up trusting their bodies and trusting the process of birth. Thank you!
I am 31 years old and I have been saying that I do not want to have children for as long as I can remember because of the images that I’ve seen, or things I have been told over the years. This is such an awesome blog post Laura and the artwork is absolutely STUNNING. As soon as I saw it I felt instantly calm and found myself asking “maybe it’s not so bad after all?” I think that your paintings would be wonderful hanging on walls in birthing clinics etc. Thank you for this post
xo
Jessica, I love that you shared this comment here — I can TOTALLY identify! And I feel very honored that my artwork helped you release some of that stress for a moment in time. Thanks so much for your lovely words…. xoxoxxo, Laura
Okay peeps, thank you all so SO much for the comments… I truly appreciated and was moved by every single one.
If you didn’t win the giveaway, I have been so touched comments and community here that I want to offer each and every one of you the artwork, so I am adding a coupon code “BIRTHPOWER” and if you purchase the print through my Etsy shop, I will ship it totally FREE… WORLDWIDE!! Worldwide free shipping on this print and anything in my shop with this coupon code. https://www.etsy.com/listing/69825949/goddess-delivers-giclee-print
Without further ado, the names my kids drew at random for the 5 Giclee Prints of “Goddess Delivers” is: Alice, Gwen, Melissa, Charlotte and Merideth! I’ll be emailing you each for your shipping info. Thank you all and let’s keep raising awareness and creating a safer, more powerful birth experience for our daughters!!!! xoxoo, Laura