WHAT IS MEANT BY "BEING"?

Webster’s dictionary (1998) defines being as: “fundamental or essential nature”. For example, to indicate an aspect of a given person’s fundamental or essential nature, we speak about them as being a man or woman of character. To indicate another person’s fundamental or essential nature, we speak about them being anti-social.

For a narrower and therefore easier example, we can talk about being angry. We could examine being angry from the comfort of our somewhat familiar perspectives of the science of psychology, or even neuroscience. While less familiar for us and therefore perhaps at first uncomfortable, it is also possible to examine being angry from an ontological perspective, where we are examining the being aspect of being angry (the fundamental or essential nature of being angry and its functioning). From this perspective we clearly see that when we are being angry, we are likely to act in anger. The same is true for both being a man or woman of character, and for being anti-social. From the ontological perspective, it is clear that being a man or woman of character, or being anti-social, or being angry shapes that person’s perceptions, imagination, emotions, thinking, planning, and consequently their actions.

The ontological perspective is particularly powerful when dealing with the being of being MOTHER, and the effective exercise of MOTHERHOOD. Who one is being when being a MOTHER shapes one’s perceptions, and one’s imagination and creativity in thinking and planning, and consequently one’s actions in the exercise of MOTHERHOOD. Like acting in anger when we are being angry, or acting with ease if we are being at ease, or acting with confidence when we are being confident, if we master the being of being a MOTHER, we are likely to act as a MOTHERS and exercise MOTHERHOOD effectively. And, this movie, game and teaching is about being a MOTHER, and acting in the exercise of MOTHERHOOD as a natural consequence of being a MOTHER.

Even if you are in a mothering position, if you are not being a MOTHER, in trying to act like a mother you will fail. That’s called being inauthentic, and inauthenticity (pretending to be a mother) doomed to failure in the attempt to exercise MOTHERHOOD.