The Motherlode

For the first time, Jamie is developing a book of short stories, poems and pithy sentences, that capture some of the essences of what is passed on from our ancestors. What is alive and well inside of us as well as what is lost.

He will be listening to people, in all body and gender forms, from around the world tell stories about their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, paternal grandmothers and other mother figures. Exploring through questions the legacy of our motherlines. This listening will follow a systemic line of enquiry (the patterns of motherhood and archetypes of motherhood) and orient towards what is alive in the speaker, as well as what is between the storyteller and the listener. We listen for parts that are told easily and for the ways in which we stumble into feelings. We may also seek what is missing or misunderstood and the unexpected repercussions.

We notice in systemic work that the things we are facing as a culture and a world are not always as they seem, and we seek ways of addressing repeating patterns and old forms, through the deeper understanding of our ground, of reality and the stories we tell ourselves.

Mothers are where all life comes through, so it seems a good place to continue being curious. As a father, man, and primary caregiver of two young people, I have had an unusual experience of expanding out of conventional systems of nuclear families and gender based roles that enable and support thriving. There are times where stuckness occurs in our story of life and the work I do seems to keep orienting towards a larger frame of life, which honours what is unseen and unknown.

This inquiry and work is a received gift, in the same way that poems, stories and unexpected experiences are. It is not financially funded by a benefactor (yet) and in stepping into this path, I am trusting that the time spent will also meet the financial needs of our lives. Having lived in this way for many years, I also know that gift work has many forms of exchange between givers and recipients. This can include collaborative creative work, community support, healing movements in the wider field, and other resourcing capacities.

If you have the capacity and desire to contribute financially, please do so using paypal here or using the I Am We Are Collective here

If you are joining as a storyteller, each of the sessions will be audio recorded (there will be video when we are together) and guests will receive a copy of the recording, alongside a copy of any insights that emerge through our conversations. These recordings will be private and not used in detail in the final work unless agreed, and some other creative outputs may emerge that will be part of the book. These recordings also offer participants a chance to listen back for themselves and hear their stories through another kind of listening.

This work is ritual work. Before we begin and in the middle of conversations, there may be some drumming, some meditation or movement. You are invited to create your own space at home before the call, which honours you and the women in your ancestral lines. This may be through photographs, names on paper, items that support and resource you, or it may be other elements that have resourced you so far, archetypal, or spiritual/faith based forces. Everything is welcome, and I will invite some conversation about what you bring with you in this journey of our conversation.

The intention of this work is multilayered. It is in service to my daughter, and to all the future daughters that may come into being in the future. It is in service to the mothers, the grandmothers, the great grandmothers, and all the ones who didn’t get to take part in their children’s lives as much as they hoped and wished. It is in service to you, and your maternal lines, and it is in service to the work of seeing things in ways which enable humanity to find a greater understanding of our common ground. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to email [email protected]

Book a 90 minute ritual conversation here https://calendly.com/jamiecolston/90min