Bellies and Babies: MamAmor Knows, Do You?

Bellies and Babies: MamAmor Knows, Do You?

happy mothers day to our Women's Room community!

until May 28th you can enter to win a handmade MamAmor birth and breastfeeding doll. tell them Birth Hour (89.1 BluFM) and the Womens Room told you about the dolls.

and the word for September is.....

Explore

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Mark Twain

Inspiration

Small Smile

Beauty of Small Things

waiting patiently

the beauty of small things

 treasures unending, unseen

the beauty of small things

without fanfare or fireworks

waits

for you to notice

Winter

winter

this doco was made by a blackheathen.
2 yrs in the making this beautifully documents the journey of one woman's choice to home birth during a time of protests against legislation which would make independant midwifery impossible and take this womans choice away from her. this month, JULY 2010, saw the implementation of these (out)laws. Rani will be screening the documentary for the first time this month, as we wade through seemingly endless anti-homebirth media reports, opinion pieces and "news", since Danii Minogue became the new poster girl for anti-homebirth.

so we end the winter, the *winter *of our patriarchal overlords- for when you hold down a labouring woman and take her cubs your need to be prepared to get bitten.

winter, the time we retreat to the glow of our television, (read fire in cave), and ponder the images it thrusts into our slumbering minds... only to talk with others about these strange things- oh yes- masterchef™ is a fine distraction, meanwhile oil is spewing into the US occupied waters, war rages, dr who is dead possibly dead, and banning homebirth is the focus of many journalist (read ignorant human replica). WHY do less than 2% of women who give birth choose to birth at home? why not more? when something so normal, so natural, is pushed to the point of unexisting, along with breast feeding and mothering, we will have the peak of patriarchal dominance.
THE REVOLUTION IS ABOUT TO ARRIVE 2012!

July word

winter

winter

winter

winter

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Thanks Amy xx

Homeless

home                                      less

Scenes from a home

Going Home

An Almost Broken Home

Home

Then
Dark, Cold, Alone
Spiderwebs and cold blue lino
white carpet in the good room
a piano with Beethoven's bust perched on the edge
A drinks bar tucked away in the corner
brothers disappearing one by one
leaving
violence, anger
teenage boys, loud music, Peter Frampton
Dog dead at 11
Mother gone at 6
New mother at 9
Alone with new mother and old father
border comes to live from Orange
A squeaky back door fly-screen
boyfriend sneaking in my window
Caught out in the morning
Footy on the tele Sunday night
Roast chicken
pancakes, lasagna
dark green carpet in my room
no more brothers - all gone
A new family-I am a stranger

Now
Polished wooden floors
white windows, cracked glass
half way done, never finished
leaky toilets
hot pink sheets and mirrors
white furniture bright
a curly chandelier
gaps
a wood fire
4 kids
school bags, old bananas
cups of tea
roast dinner on Sunday night
cold light
granite bench-tops
raw wooden floors
colourful paintings
love
a converted garage
clothes and washing never ending
constant crumbs on the floor
mismatched doors
trinket boxes
books, books, books
noise and peace
a hundred shoes at the front door
wet towels
3 litre milk
unsatisfied appetites
sport science music, art
spiders, bark and leaves
unmade beds, dirty plates
sawdust, tools and doors
an almost broken home

home is where the hearth

home is where i am with my beloved family, be that in a van travelling, or in a rented house in the 'burbs. we always set up a hearth. the fire is the heart that warms us, feeds us and connects us. we welcome our loved family and friends to share our hearth, our wealth and our warmth. material things do not matter to us, but they enrich our home.

June is Home

Home

What is home to you?
Where is home?
Where do you go to bring you back to yourself?
What reminds you of who you are and where you true self belongs? 
How long has it been since you've seen that place, felt that peace?
Come back home...just for a moment
Is it a chair by the window?
Is it an old coat you wear when you need to return home?
Are you transported back home when you smell freshly baked bread?
Does it envelop you as you close your eyes and hear your breath?
Do you feel home in the laughter of friends, in the arms of a lover?
Are you home when you dive into the ocean, or pick up a paint brush or listen to music?


Come home.....

Crave

my soul craves

a place for stillness

growth

an open heart

gracious gratitude

my soul craves love

ranting and raving, canting and craving.

ranting and raving,
canting and craving.

the lobbying seems pointless, the cause lost.
the fight for women's rights at your own family's cost.
now i crave to be a present mother and wife,
the political struggles no longer my life.

the children grow fast, as you know,
all time without them, is a seed i don't sow.
I crave to be with them, and learn their ways
To be present for each part of their day.

I want to look back and know i was there,
rather than sitting always in this chair.
Activism is great, we should speak out,
teach the kids what it's all about.

All this I crave

What is it about toe curling, heart thumping, exhilarating sex?

What is it about hitting the pillow after a long bizzy day?

What is it about a long chat with a dear treasured friend?

What is it with cuddling up on a winter's night with someone that you love?

And what about some rich, smooth, creamy chocolate that melts in your

mouth..mmm

All this I crave....

By Karen WA

and the word for May is......

Make a mask, draw, paint, write, carve, sing, make, dance, video, interview, knit, photograph, mosaic, cartoon, scrapbook, art journal, etcha sketch, sew, chalk drawing on the footpath, body paint, finger paint, collage, make a mobile, reuse and recycle, get the kids involved, write a play, use sticks and leaves, paper mache, create a portrait, write a poem.

Or...get out glue and glitter and foil and stickers and feathers and pom poms and tissue paper and gel pens and construction paper and fabric and stars and goggly eyes and flowers and throw them all up in the air and see what happens!

It could be the start of

something beautiful...

What do you crave?

Upload your artwork here or at the Creative Juices flickr pool

still distorted

dIstOrTed.
retoRteD.
AboRtEd.
ReOrderEd.

a final word from me on DISTORTION, the twisted society that leaves us bound to a meaningless life qualified by images fed to us by visual media, telling us what to think, feel and say. Our perception of ourselves is dictated by a distorted truth. Is there something Beyond the GroUndHog Day lifestyles, and the isolated family units within built up areas, the "Australian" Dream, making purchases to furnish our mundane reality with an element of fantasy?

the child is the mirror of yourself, distorted and amplified. what do you see?