My Mom

My mom’s name was Hilde and she was a special woman in my life. While she was still alive I didn’t honour her as much as she would have deserved. Therefore, I am using the launch of my first business website as one way of making up for missed opportunities, and I dedicate my website ClearDirections.ca to her. Mom, this one’s for you!

As I’m stepping out into the world as a female entrepreneur I am discovering more and more how much my mom’s influence and example contributed to me being the person I am today.

Clearly, my mom was a role model for me, who introduced me to major values and current skills in my life: Honesty, compassion, an attitude of service, joy, gratitude, trust in the good in people and the world in general, respect, active listening, creativity, musicality, and most importantly, love.

We always had an “open door policy” at home, which meant that I could bring my friends home at almost any time, and I could count on my mom welcoming and feeding us all in her usual warm, generous, and endlessly giving manner.

When I talked to her about conflicts with my friends and other people in my life she used to offer a perspective that allowed for greater acceptance of others, giving them the benefit of the doubt. Not always easy to agree with as an adolescent – however, looking back, it served me in establishing greater compassion for others, and myself.

I always knew that I could count on my Mom’s support and her unwavering belief in my potential and me as a person. Had I only possessed a portion of her belief in me I’d be a second Oprah or Sarah McLachlan by now.

Of course, as probably with most parents, there were aspects that I observed in my mom, which I chose to not adopt. Thank you, Mom, for offering me a point of contrast.

In her late years my mom seemed to gain a new understanding and appreciation for the power inherent in self-appreciation and self-love. She also started to see the potential for richer interpersonal experiences that were rooted in the unshakable equality of men and women. Unfortunately, I wasn’t close enough to her at the time to share this shift in perception with her. I was living here in Vancouver for the first time around and was very much caught up in my own life and I was not being very present to these changes in her. To the day it makes me quite sad that we never had an opportunity to talk more about this and explore and share what it might have looked like in our lives.

Knowing that my mom had opened up to the possibility of being a woman in an enhanced and possibly healthier way, I think she would be quite pleased to see me follow my calling, do what I love doing and express myself as authentically and joyfully as possible in all areas of my life.

Through her gift of love and the example of her life my mom has contributed so much to who I have become and who I’m about to be – and for that I am so very grateful. May “Clear Directions” be an adequate expression of our joint visions and may it be of service to others!