Hearing the Call

Dear Birth Peeps,
Today’s mandala painting update…. The fallopian flower hangs over the ovary represented by a life force in orbit with a golden egg bursting forth. The baby is falling into its world and life from a spinning galaxy representing Spirit…. which is also sending the archetypal Call into the Ear.

In her eloquent poem, The Call, by Oriah Mountain Dreamer, she begins:

“I have heard it all my life, a voice calling
a name I recognized as my own.”

The would-be hero is Called to make the journey “home,” to Love. There are three mini-phases of the Call: Hearing the Call, Refusing the Call, and Answering the Call. Today we will consider from where the Call comes and on Hearing the Call.

“Sometimes it comes as a soft-bellied whisper.
Sometimes it holds an edge of urgency. But always it says:
Wake up my love. You are walking asleep. There’s no safety in that!”
--Oriah Mountain Dreamer

From where does the Call come? The Call comes from Love--to Love; Love is constantly, relentlessly calling to us. We often fail to hear the Call over the chatter of our ego-monkey-mind; that's okay, it is persistent. Eventually we tune in to hear the Call that is whispered or the one that is embodied in a burning feeling that we must do something, know something, go somewhere—even when it is irrational. The Call may come in the form of a word spoken or written by another, through illness, accidents, accidental meetings, or dreams.

We often think of the Call as a call to action or a profession, for example, “I was called to be a doula,” “I suddenly had an overwhelming desire to be a mother,” or “I had a vivid dream I was birthing without hands.”
These Calls wake us up to use our work and life (as a mother, partner, professional) to realize the truth of who we are, to loving ourselves, to taking another step on the hero’s journey.

When you think of birth as a hero’s journey, what are the varied expressions of the Call? What is it you were, or are called to, as a mother? As a birth peep? (Hint: this Call is more about you, not a mission statement to change or heal others. In the hero’s journey, you are using birth work to grow your soul!) What is Calling you?

Hear Your Call,

Pam