Safe Waters
A medium tells me that she sees an image of me standing on a rock, being swept out to sea. But keep swimming in the ocean, she says, “that was in a past life.” She tells me that I can ask my daughter where she was before this when she is three. Three is the age when you can verbalize your past lives. Some doulas will ask you what you remember about your own birth. And what they mean is: what do you remember about leaving your mother, meeting the world? The memories are there, they insist that they are there, you should feel them under your skin, lodged in your hips and whispering from the earth beneath you. What do you remember about your mother’s mood, her energy, on the day of your birth? Was she fearful, was she peaceful, was she enraged, was she even there? Are you fearful, are you peaceful, are you enraged, are you even here? You were swept out to sea and the warm, safe waters of your mother called to you and now you are here and how do you feel?