What the Tide Returns
On caregiving, restoration, and gathering ourselves again
Happy Mother’s Day to all who fill that role in someone’s life and for our Mother Earth and how she continues to care for and nurture us even through our own ignorance and neglect. I also include any men who are fathers and have had to take on the role of both mother and father to their children for whatever reason.
Although we choose to celebrate motherhood on a single day throughout the year in my country, the act of mothering is of profound significance and vital to the wellbeing of humanity. May we awaken to the sacred significance of the roles we hold in each other’s lives through the simple, daily expressions of care and nurturing.
I did not intend to write today as I have still been slowly working on the next ‘e-zine’ style Substack post. For the past week, I did not have much time for my creative endeavors as it was my week to serve on-call as a nurse for our company in addition to my regular schedule. It has been a long time since I have had to do it (three years!) and a whole new app and way of doing it then we were before. My on-call shift ended at 8 am this morning and I was grateful to be able to settle back into the luxury of having freedom over my time again.
I was reflecting on my daughters as mothers of young children and the fellow nurses and clinicians I work with in home health; how the responsibilities of caretaking in today’s world while juggling full time jobs, families, relationships, and responsibilities can leave one feeling so depleted.
I recently painted something for one of my coworker nurses who wanted a beach scene in pinks and blues as pictured at the beginning of this post. Afterwards, I wrote the following and gave to her to go with the painting as she often juggles more than full time at work and a family at home. It was my way of saying, ‘I see you’ and all that you do to serve those around you. It was also my way of creating an invitation into the painting itself whenever she looks at it as a way to give herself permission to allow the ocean tide and waves to metaphorically gather and restore the pieces of herself, she has scattered about in service throughout the day.
What the Tide Returns
There are places we return to without ever leaving.
The tide comes and goes, as it always has, carrying what is heavy back into the vastness, and returning what is ready to be seen. Nothing is rushed here. Nothing is forced. The water meets the shore in its own time, just as understanding rises when it is ready.
The horizon holds a gentle kind of promise. Not the promise of something new to chase, but of something already unfolding; a reminder that endings can glow, that even the closing of a day can be filled with warmth, color, and grace.
The palms stand at the edge, steady but not rigid. They bend with the wind, rooted yet free; a reflection of strength that does not need to prove itself. They remind us that resilience is not hardness, but the ability to remain open and standing, even as life moves through us.
And in the sand, where water and earth meet, there is reflection. A soft mirror. A place where the sky touches the ground, and where we might catch a glimpse of ourselves, not as we strive to be, but as we are.
This is a place of crossing.
Where the inner world meets the outer one.
Where feeling becomes clarity.
Where what was once carried alone begins to settle into something lighter.
And for all that is given throughout the day, for every moment of care, attention, and presence that feels left behind, the tide remembers.
It gathers what has been scattered.
It carries back what still belongs to you.
Not all at once, but gently, in rhythm, in time.
Nothing essential is lost.
May this shoreline remind you, especially on the longest days, that you do not have to hold everything at once.
The tide will carry some of it for you.
And in its returning, it restores.
The light will find its way, even at the edge of day.
And there is a part of you, steady as those trees, that knows how to stand, soften, and remain.
Return here whenever you need to remember.
………
To celebrate the Wild Woman (read Women Who Run with the Wolves) who still lies within each of us even though she may be stifled and repressed, I offer some music in honor of Her. And each one of YOU.
Let Her voice find you, deep within your bones. Let Her begin to mend what is broken, restore what might be lost, and help you restore the threads of your soul left scattered across space and time…
Dare to explore…