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CHAPTER 9

The Insanity of Parenthood

hile acknowledging the wonderful aspects of the parenting
journey, the conscious approach to raising children also
embraces the madness of this journey, with full awareness
of the level of psychological, emotional, and spiritual commitment it
takes to raise a child—and the potential this has to alter forever a parent’s
self-understanding.
Because the parenting journey is one of extremes, it can bring out both
the best and the worst in us. For this reason, it behooves us to face just
how difficult this can be for many parents, especially the mother. While
recognizing that not all parents face the severe challenges that others do,
it’s nevertheless the case that all parents go through a profound
emotional and psychological transformation.
As we began seeing in the last two chapters, no one really explains to
us what a life-altering event becoming a parent will be. No one tells us
that the love between a parent and child has the potential to tear open our
heart, leaving us at the mercy of the destiny of our children. No one
explains that if we are going to parent consciously, life as we know it
will no longer exist, and the individual we believe ourselves to be will
evaporate before our eyes. No one tells us we will have to endure the
death of our old self and that we will have no clue how to develop a new
sense of who we are.
Parenting is one of the most difficult endeavors a person ever takes on.