By Lisa Marie Lindenschmidt
Mo has been asking me The Deep Questions. I’m not talking about the ones you get from every kid like “Why is the sky blue?” or “When it rains, is that the Goddess peeing?” (Yes, Mo asked me this as a toddler.) I mean questions like “Do you think God feels shame?” or “How do I know when I’m doing what the Divine wants me to be doing?” These questions are really getting at the root of spirituality and ethics. So, how do I deal with them?
Usually, when Mo is asking me a question like this, I don’t immediately answer. I take a second to think about what’s going on with her right now: is she stressed? Worried about something else? Thinking about the future? Concerned over past actions? What drove her to ask the question is, I would argue, more important than the question itself. Oftentimes adults will simply seek to answer the question presented without thinking about the possible contexts. These are heavy questions - for anyone! - and all deserved to be answered… but not always directly. (more…)
My whole family had to work with me and my new schedule to assist me and so it was really a learning curve for us all. There were missed bedtimes and school drop-offs and pick-ups (we walk through the forest to school and I wasn’t able to for much of those months) so some independence was gained! And there were some really strange dinners a few too many nights- thankfully I find it easy to keep to my GREEN SMOOTHIES daily for the family, and on weekends a green juice, plus a salad every day!
And Jean Liedloff. Her book THE CONTINUUM CONCEPT was one of my first parenting books I ever read- I actually read it when I was about 20 long before my babies…I had always wanted to hear and read about mothering with wisdom, and this book is a classic. And Jean was such a generous guest to interview. In my excitement I interrupted her with questions and personal anecdotes, and she was so gracious about it all! Her information is SO PRACTICAL, and that is exactly what we moms so badly need!
I could go on and on- Victoria Boutenko and Vayla blew me away with their wisdom.
My call with SUSUN WEED was perhaps most controversial as Susun is known for her anti-raw ideas- but people misinterpret that I think. She really just doesn’t advocate any diet over any other as she embraces everything in the tradition of the WISE WOMAN WAY. And she doesn’t believe we are ‘toxic’ and need to constantly ‘cleanse’ and purify- she believes we are already perfect and whole. I honestly feel that is wisdom, because we need to NOURISH ourselves as she says, and we tend to over-indulge and then cleanse which can be so depleting. There is so much to be gained by embracing different perspectives, and just taking what works for you at any given point on your journey.
Sometimes it really feels like it is a ‘big, bad world out there’. I don’t know if I subscribe to that world-view, but what I do know is I want my home to be a refuge, a beautiful place to go to, and just BE. We all have such busy lives these days. And not everyone is on the same path trying to make the world a better place… As my son Landon said when he was 6, “People aren’t really bad, they are just lost”. WOW! That is profound. So it is and we may have experiences that are very challenging and unpleasant along the way. No matter where my family goes to visit or holiday or whatever, we always collectively sigh a relief of ‘IT’S SO GOOD TO BE HOME’ whenever we step across the threshold of our front door. It is important to think about what kind of ATMOSPHERE you wish to have and therefore must generate, inspire and protect in your home. Is the freedom to be oneself, in an atmosphere of love and acceptance important to you? Do you want your home to be a place of peace and calm and relaxation and serenity? Do you want your home to be a place of fun and excitement and adventure? Whatever flavour or color do you want the tone of the home to be, remember this- the woman sets that tone. Sorry, this is not sexist, it just happens to be something women do better than guys who are amazing at following the tone we set. In the home, we are the Coach, and the rest of the ‘team’ will get on board if you clearly hold that space. How is this done? Set up certain routines or rituals around main daily happenings-
Mealtimes - do you all say grace? Who lights the dinner candle? Does everyone help prepare or set up for the meal?
Steiner said the whole point of education and parenting is to raise ‘free individuals’. What he meant is people who are conscious, and therefore able to make choices dictated by their own hearts and souls, infused with purpose for the greater good, and not enmeshed in self-loathing and doubt, tying to be significant in outrageous and ridiculous ways, struggling without any sense of inherent value and purpose. Some people mistakenly believe ‘having to do whatever one wants whenever one wants’ is freedom. But they are short-sighted, for how can one achieve something like win a medal, or buy a sports car, or live in a beautiful mansion, or raise a loving family, or have glowing health, etc if they have never learned how to do what it takes to accomplish those achievements? One of the easiest ways we can instil in our children the freedom to be themselves, with all their potential, is to help them remain unencumbered by destructive habits. A parent handicaps a child’s freedom if they fail to provide certain disciplines and structures into daily life. For example, if a child were allowed to eat whatever she wanted, where would the ultimate freedom be when eventually she is sick, overweight, pimply, lazy and full of disgust?
Losing my family young seems to have created a strong desire in me to create family again. It has instilled a passion for motherhood in me that I can only describe as ‘ferocious’. 
” and “THE RAINBOW BRIDGE”) .
I once saw a movie about 15 years ago that I cannot recall anything of other than the ending, yet I will never forget it…it burns in my memory like a beacon of light guiding my way with the same inspiration and power as the moment I saw it. The scene was of a woman, I cannot even remember if she was young or golden…it didn’t matter- she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Sort of…I mean, conventionally speaking, her nose was rather long, her eyes perhaps too small, her lips on the thin side…you know what I mean. But there was SOMETHING about her that was literally breathtaking. She mesmerised me. Her face was lit up from within. Her aura, her soul, shone through her eyes. I loved her. I understood her. I knew I wanted to be like her. 
even though everyone chooses their life and even their death long before they are born that some are very afraid to die. They ask me why is this? I answer with conviction that it is because they have so many regrets, that they lived with their hearts closed and so that is how they must die…and therefore their hearts are full of fear instead of love. It is the same with BEAUTY. We are born with certain features and complexions etc, but we make our own expressions over time. The habitual attitudes and dwellings of our thoughts etch out what our faces will become.
And, in college, when I made sure to eat my green peas and such, a friend often commented of how proud my parents would be to know I was on my own yet still eating my greens. 
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