Creative Arts Counsellor Tabitha Lee takes us on her pregnancy journey

A woman’s journey of pregnancy and giving birth is a rite of passage. A turning point in any woman’s life, where we have the potential to transform and come to recognize our true inner strength and female power. Every birth is a sacred act and a defining point in any woman’s life. With each new life brings new understanding and offers the ability to define who we are on a deeper inner level.

Too often this pivotal time in our lives can become lost amongst medical intervention, consumerism and the “right way” of doing and being. From the time we come to discover we are pregnant we become so inundated with expert opinion, (and while I appreciate the technological advances that we all have become to rely on) our innate wisdom as birthing women becomes muffled and sometimes even silenced.

My first pregnancy and birth told me I have the power. I did it all. I labored, I fought through, I pushed my son into the world. I did it all. Of course unwavering support helped me through too, but essentially all the work came from within me. The whole time I went with my body I never feared that my body would not support me and my baby. I was born knowing how to give birth.

Second time around I wanted to consciously go through the transformation armed with what I have already come to know and be open and allowing to the new that I am yet to receive. Becoming a creative Arts Counselor I saw it fitting that I uncover this journey through art processes that will deepen and strengthen my connection as a giver of life and mother. This is the journey so far…

The process... Reading, dreams conversation all can evoke subjects that strike something within me. I pose the subject to myself in question form and then allow the art process to uncover and define the answer for me. I rarely set out to create something constructed I just allow the art to evolve. Sometimes they turn out visually appealing, sometimes they do not. The end product is not the focus here; it’s what’s hidden amongst it that matters.

 “What do I need right now?”                                             10 weeks pregnant

Nurture

Returning to the sanctuary of love and giving to myself. A lot on my mind and the feeling of being overwhelmed is too easy to slip into. A place of nurturing is essential. Nurture and it will radiate through my being. Prioritize the essentials for right now and what is going on within me now, and stop trying to write the future. Allow my roots to be seeped in a soil of love that is vital and nutritious for my wellbeing. Practicality is vital right now. Dedicating tasks to certain days will allow me to stay focused attentive and on path. The stress of everything can wait. In my reflective times I can ask for answers to worries that keep coming up, instead of mentally controlling the outcomes I rely on my higher self to guide the way. Reflection – Love – Embodiment – Action. Breathe. Breathe and trust, remember where you are, be still and stand tall.

“Define the moment”                                                              Week 14

Descending the layers

Keywords

Warmth, light, earth, centre, boxed in, layered, confined, structured, caged, beacon of light , coming home, lighting the way, maze, hard to attain

They say that when you are pregnant everything becomes illuminated in a way that heeds your attention. Some say that this is part of the power of pregnancy journey as it heightens your ability to see truth. I have felt quite emotional these past weeks, in and out of a flux of low energy and then aggressive directed motivation. Hormones they say, or is it something bigger?

The art speaks of descending the confining layers that I put around myself, that I confine my warmth and light. At first I thought the warm beacon was my baby, but upon reflection that it is the love of this being that I carry within, showing me the way. The way back to my heart centre, the way back to the nourishment of my own mother love.