Learning to Receive: A Spirit Weavers Lesson Amidst Motherhood

When I arrived yesterday at Spirit Weavers—an all female gathering devoted to earth-based traditions and ancestral skills —my prayer was to be of service—to offer what I could to the collective womanhood.

But the truth this gathering is already offering me is something else entirely.

I’m being asked to receive.

The lesson I didn’t expect, is this - without receptivity, there can be no reciprocity.

And I sigh, because that’s not always easy for me.

I receive so much already—from my partner, my community, the earth, our garden, the support that surrounds my mothering. And I’ve felt deep gratitude for it all. But lately, I’ve also felt the edges of my own capacity to receive. The places where I’ve unconsciously set limits. The places where I try to give in order to feel deserving of more.

But true service doesn’t come from depletion. It comes from abundance.

And right now, in this chapter of life—eight months into motherhood—my energy is going toward nourishing a growing little being. Toward listening, attuning, and learning.

And as a mother, I’m discovering : this is a season where I’m meant to receive more than I give.

Not forever. But now.

And in receiving, I am creating the conditions for reciprocity.

Because the moment I say yes to the help that’s offered… the moment I let someone carry something for me… the moment I soften and admit that I’m tired… I open a channel. And that channel is what eventually allows life to move through me again and reach others.

So I’m practicing something new here:

Saying yes.

Yes to the offer of help.

Yes to the invitation to rest.

Yes to the question: “Can I support you?”

It brings tears to my eyes just to hear it.

Because this is the opposite of what I was taught.

I come from a long matrilineal line of self-sacrifice. Women who carried everything. Mothers who gave without replenishment. And I know many women can say this about their family line.

But I want something else.

For myself.

For my daughter.

For my own mom.

For all the women I’ll serve one day in my life’s work.

So I’m starting here.

At this gathering of women.

Where generosity overflows and I’m learning that receiving is sacred.

That letting others give and receiving whole heartedly is not the same as selfish taking (perhaps I could come into better relationship with the “selfish parts” in me anyways). It’s wisdom. It’s reciprocity in action.

This is the new imprint I want my daughter to receive.

Not just how to give—but how to receive too.

To be full, and from fullness, to serve.