For those who don’t know me, my upbringing isn’t the most traditional or linear in the sense of family structure and parental roles. My mother essentially raised my sister and I (with quite a few moves and relocations in between) and although this was perfectly normal to me, my parents had a long-distance marriage!

What I always admired about my mother is her fearlessness and strong sense of identity which was displayed through her independent nature–something she wasted no time in teaching my older sister and I. My mother has watched me make questionable decisions that she inherently knew would be detrimental in outcome but always remained neutral and kind, and is always my first supporter in helping me come out stronger from such contentious behavior on my end. I remember sitting in my downtown San Diego apartment last summer, not sure how I was going to manage my rent and personal expenses, battling severe health problems and abruptly jobless, and as naive daughters do, we complain and bicker and hold ourselves victim when life isn’t going our way. Although I’m sure I articulated a beautifully composed message that captured my depression and suffering at its most literary finest, my mother chose to put her energy into shifting my awareness to create change, not simply shoot back words to remedy my state of mind for that 5 minutes. And for that, I am ever so eternally thankful. I will NEVER forget her response–she replied:

“Darryn, I want you to watch a documentary called The Secret. It’s on Netflix, and it’s important that you find time to watch this immediately.”

And as an obedient daughter, I did what I was asked.

At the heart of it all, my mother is the TRUE inspiration behind the person I have blossomed into today from that sad, weak, insecure girl that never held herself accountable for some of the unfortunate events that were occurring in my life, to a powerful manifestor that is conscious of my thoughts and creating EVERYTHING that I want into my life right now.

My mother, God bless this woman is unstoppable. And her mother was unstoppable. And I am sure my grandmother’s mother was even more of a badass. Even though my upbringing wasn’t traditional or like that of the movies or what society says it should, I feel so blessed to be surrounded by powerful women that are fierce, strong and inspirational. How my mother raised two equally crazy girls (7 years apart) and worked God knows how many hours a week as an engineer and business owner, I have no idea. My mom is like this androgynous entity as she embodies the role as both patriarch and matriarch, (and that’s probably where I get my extreme masculine influences astrologically and psychically, and that’s totally fine–I own it).

I am well aware that Mother’s day was months ago, but my mother is flying out this Saturday from Columbus, Ohio and I am just reminiscing on my experiences as I am so excited to be united with her! I live in San Diego, California so it’s a pretty big deal when I see a family member since I am very isolated out on the West Coast–all of my family is back East which is where I am originally from.

I’m naturally quite private about some aspects of my life, but I really felt compelled to share this very important person to you all–if you don’t get anything from this, take my mother’s advice and either go read, or watch The Secret!

Love and blessings and as always, be + lifted!

Darryn