Mama, You’re Like Ferdinand

on sweetness and facing our fears

How cool is it that sometimes, at the end of a tough day, all it takes is some kind words and our mood is lifted? My 10-year-old daughter delivers this kind of sweetness on a regular basis.

Today’s share is short ‘n sweet. May it motivate you to share kind words more often. 

Flashback to last week. I’m driving my daughter to a friend’s house for a playdate after school, so I can go to yoga class. When we reach the front door of her friend’s house, she turns to me and says, “Mama? There’s a movie called Ferdinand, and in it there’s a bull named Ferdinand.” 

I’m thinking, Where is this coming from?

She goes on, “And you know how bulls like to fight and be bossy? Well, Ferdinand doesn’t fight. He’s gentle and soft and he likes flowers. When I saw that movie, I thought of you. You’re like that, Mama.”

I stop thinking.

Now I’m just feeling… loved.

Doesn’t get better than this, right? 

“And Mama, when we were just listening to that Michael Jackson song about ‘the girl is mine’ and he said I’m a lover not a fighter? That’s how you are. That’s how I see you.”

Day done. My daughter expressing kind words with some MJ & Paul McCartney music on top, with yoga up ahead. I could die happy. 

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Sweet moments wouldn’t feel so special if humans didn’t experience fear. In order to awaken to the Light within us, we must greet and heal the fear within us first. Here’s a recent Living Myth podcast (35 min) from Michael Meade, Facing Our Fears. 

Meade says, “At each turning point in life, we must face our deepest fears in order to grow. The path of discovery will inevitably raise the exact fears that hold the heart captive. Fear is a message to the instincts and the intuitions of a person to move towards a greater awareness… As things fall apart all around us, we have to find the center of the deep self within us.” 

In fear and in freedom, may you feel loved~ 

J e s s

Jessica Rios, writer + mother + founder, Leaning into Light