Loves,
Welcome here!
We are moving into the heart of Mother season here on A Year & a Day, and also harvest season here in the north. Along with a bumper crop of peas, greens and beans from our garden, there is this offering here of a harvest of birth stories.
These stories courageously shared by seven women from America to Australia, ring with tenderness, vulnerability and the initiatory awe & challenge of birth; of being born and of giving birth.
As humans, along with all of creation we share this. We are all born from someone, some animate being all the way back to the birthing of this galaxy in an infinite universe. As humans we all share the alive, magical reality of being born from the womb of a woman’s body. Wow!
The day we were born (in my realm) is way, way more than cake, candles, parties, avoidance and, keeping it real, sometimes deep isolation & loneliness. Our Birth Days are extraordinary events, profound initiations when our singular expression of miraculous life arrived into this living world. Wow. Wow. Wow. ( i geek out about this hard) And not everyone makes this journey intact, or even alive. It really is a big deal. The carrying, telling & receiving of these stories is also a big deal.
Whatever your relationship is with your biological mom, your birthday, the telling/retelling of our birth stories (both being born & giving birth) matters. Because your life, your being alive matters! To hear and receive your birth story, to tell a child their birth story, a story of such wonder and of such labor is such a tender, soft and maybe even ouchy-in-the-heart blessing. Both the telling and receiving of these stories can also be deeply healing.
And because birth stories often involve struggle, hard stuff, even traumatic experiences, as you listen to this audio, you’ll hear how powerful re-storying your birth and/or giving birth story can be. Tis brave work for sure.
As you listen you may have some big feels come up. Be gentle with yourself and feel free to share in the comments.
As always, this is an offering of the heart, labored from love and free for all, for now. If you have the means, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Thank you for your bright listening, for your presence here.
Tracy
Deep Gratitude to these Story Carriers & Tellers:
Adriana Forte is a cultural architect, philosopher, and writer dedicated to bringing the cyclical nature of women’s minds into collective awareness. She aims to create spaces for provocative thinking, reflection and transformation through dialogue, writing, workshops, retreats, online group work, and one-on-one mentoring. Above all, she’s a mother to two amazing girls, a partner to an awesome guy, and an apprentice gardener living off-grid in a community in Australia. To tap into some of my written work, please visit https://theclab.substack.com/ To watch some of the conversations I’ve had that brought the cycle into culture, visit: https://www.youtube.com/@thec-lab/videos |
Erin Tenny is a mother, midwife, doula, doctor, teacher, writer, photographer and lover living on the shores of Gitche Gumee on Anishinaabe lands.
Nina Smock lives in the Iowa Driftless Region
Debrae FireHawk, spiritual counselor/psychic communicator. Artist, choreographer, singer, performer. www.debraefirehawk.com
Cielle Backstrom lives in Fairfield, Iowa, and supports folks on the path of embodied awakening. Her awakening in 2003 opened multiple inner doorways revealing just how "whole" life is and the huge range that it includes. This led her to study several tools which she uses as aids to assist her students on their path of awakening. These tools include compassionate listening, Focusing, Breathwork and energy healing. https://www.ciellebackstrom.com
Tracy Chipman (she/they) weaves the strands of language & healing arts. She is an oral storyteller, TRE provider, poet and an author, who feels most alive when creating space for deeper connections with herself, ourselves and life. She resides in the traditional territories of the Ojibwe peoples, near Lake Superior in Northern Wisconsin. www.tracychipman.net
Julie Hill is an educator, artist, and writer who lives in South Minneapolis.
More gratitude to Laura Rovi for this image of her in labor. June 2025.
And to Tim Britton for sound editing.
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