Take Your Mama to the Theatre!

On May 9, 2024May 9, 2024 By Anna EastlandIn Arts and Entertainment, motherhood2 Comments

As Mother’s Day approaches, I’d like to recommend a lovely alternative to flowers and scented bath bombs, nice as those things are. For me, as a busy multitasking mom, the best gift is to escape all the swirling chaos and to just focus on one thing: namely a live performance. It could be a play, a musical, an opera, a symphony, or a concert. There’s something so special about spending a few hours totally present to the scene in front of you, without being pulled away by your phone, planning, cooking, cleaning etc. Also, watching other people express themselves creatively is just magical… especially if one of those people are your children!

So I’m really excited to go see my daughter perform in the funny and fantastic musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat with Smash Theatre. I saw it for the first time last weekend and was so impressed. It was a colourful kaleidoscope of song and dance, with great sets and impressive costumes, right down to the sparkly golden sneakers! Now I want some…

If you live in the lower mainland of BC, hope to see you there! Shows are this Friday evening, Saturday afternoon and evening, and the finale is a Sunday matinee.

Tickets can be found here: https://www.simpletix.com/e/joseph-and-the-amazing-technicolor-dreamco-tickets-164404.

For $30 for adults or $25 for kids, you are getting way more than your money’s worth for this very energetic, professional and enjoyable show! So come on, y’all, take your mama to the theatre!

Lava Burns by Starlight

On January 12, 2024January 12, 2024 By Anna EastlandIn Marriage, motherhood, PoetryLeave a comment

✨

It’s unusually cold tonight;

the wind has blown away the clouds

to reveal a crisp star-scape

glittering down on a thin layer of snow.

❄️

The cedars on the back yard

wave and dance to the tune

of our wooden wind-chimes

as they point up at the sky.

🌲

Inside, I cradle our sleeping baby—

her fever burns so hot,

I dream of a woman

who keeps falling into fire.

🔥

She carries molten lava

in a metal box, glowing golden-red,

and she keeps falling into the magma

yet somehow staying alive.

🔥

I dream this terrible dream,

until it wakes me up in a sweat

with only the burning baby

beside me in bed, but not you.

🛏

You are working down in California,

where the weather’s simply lukewarm—

no wind-whipped snow

making the ground clench it’s jaws.

🌊

Instead, wind whips the waves

along the sand-covered beach;

I wonder if the palm trees

outside your hotel are dancing.

🌴

Never-ending Love—A New Book on Infant Loss

On September 28, 2023September 28, 2023 By Anna EastlandIn Maternal Health, motherhood, Poetry, Stillbirth6 Comments

Hi Everyone,

I’m excited to share with you the publication of a book that I wrote a chapter for, called Never-ending Love: Sharing Stories, Prayers and Comfort for Miscarriage and Infant Loss

My chapter is called “Flurries of Stardust.” I wrote about how grief fuelled my poetry, and how writing helped me heal my heart after my Josephine’s stillbirth. My best friend Monique Leblanc and her husband Ryan wrote with honesty and grace about how their faith helped them through the experience of losing their son half way through pregnancy. We contributed to our first book, Love Rebel:Reclaiming Motherhood together years ago, shortly after losing our babies.

Now our words are together between the covers again! Here’s an excerpt the back of Never-ending Love:

“In this long-awaited resource, a range of voices offer their perspective on how faith can be a source of support, hope and healing for those grieving the loss of a child before, during or soon after birth.

Words of experience and wisdom from various perspectives – several women, a married couple, a medical doctor, a pastor, a theologian, a team of liturgists offering rituals to mark the loss, and approaches parishes and dioceses can take – are complemented by prayers and resources for working with grieving couples.

St. Paul tells us that “Love never ends” (1 Corinthians 13:8). As a Christian community, we can help couples express and remember their never-ending love for their beloved child, who will always have a cherished place in their hearts and their lives.”

Never-ending Love will be a helpful companion for families who have lost babies, as well as friends and pastors who’d like tools, ideas, and prayers to support them better. Here is the link:

Never-Ending Love

As it will be Josephine’s ninth anniversary this Saturday, September 30th, I’m happy to have this book to offer in her memory.

Rainy Sidewalk Fireworks

On May 8, 2022 By Anna EastlandIn motherhood, Writing6 Comments

Morning comes to the sidewalk. The long green grasses stretch their stalks in front of the grey cobblestone wall behind them. They tilt sideways, holding their pose in an elegant still-life ballet—perfectly confident—adorned with nothing but dewdrops.

The wildgrasses primly hold their brown tuft faces still, ignoring the rush of traffic on the wet pavement a few feet away as they perform their morning yoga.

People trudge by, clinging to their red Tim Horton’s coffee cups, their minds swirling with tasks and unaware of the zen moment occurring near their feet.

Amid the viridescent grasses, the dandelion puffs are tiny white fireworks, exploding with enthusiasm for the new day. Drunk on fresh rainwater, a perfectly organic energy source, the little lions laugh at the Starbucks across the road. No need for a cuppa joe here. They greet the world with bright-eyed grins.

The transformation of their blond manes to bursts of white worries them not a wit. They know nothing of paperwork, or headaches, or housework; nothing of gas prices, or housing markets, or wars.

I want to lie down in the grass with them, the invigorating rain water soaking into my skin. If I shed enough worry, perhaps I’d become light enough to fly away with the dandelion seeds. Perhaps the little spinning helicopters and I could land somewhere softer than the harsh sidewalk under my feet.

A Witch’s Children Seldom Sleep ✨

On January 19, 2022January 19, 2022 By Anna EastlandIn Family Life, motherhood, Poetry4 Comments

A witch’s children seldom sleep;

they stay up in their rooms

conjuring up mythical lands,

building kingdoms and castles,

✨

or run through the house—

all wide-eyed wildness

once the full moon comes up,

and mirrors itself in their round, blue eyes.

✨

They dance, cackle and fly about the room

until a crash into the wall—or each other—

signals the doom-bell of bedtime.

✨

The later the louder;

the more tired the more terrible,

until their witch-mother’s exasperated hair

shoots out in all directions like flames.

✨

Finally, she has to resort to softly chanting spells

to soothe her tiny witches and warlocks to sleep.

✨

When their dark lashes lay on their cheeks at last,

they almost look like ordinary children,

but the witch grins to herself…

she knows better!

✨✨✨

Spell Weaver ✨

On January 17, 2022January 17, 2022 By Anna EastlandIn Family Life, motherhood7 Comments

Her hair is askew;

she has the rakish look of a wild one

who has been up with the werewolves,

swaying under the 3 o’clock moon,

chanting spells to lure the world to sleep.

✨

She can often be seen muttering over her pots,

consulting her glowing spell book

and adding one by one to her potion

pinches of hope, dashes of courage, and handfuls of strength.

Her bittersweet sacrifice of love

rises like incense from her steaming cauldron.

✨

She has a healing touch

to soothe the brows of feverish toddlers,

comfort crying babies,

and reassure the young witches in training,

as they begin to see shapes in the darkness around them—

the fears they must face and fight

on their journey to take flight.

✨

But even the life-giving, spell-weaving woman

gets worn down at times,

and caught up in the storm around her,

she shoots lightning from her eyes

and thunder from her terrible mouth

so that all things might cease!

✨

She longs for a moment’s solitude,

to untangle the lightning from her hair;

refill her well with starlight

and the song of flowers

to weave into spells the next day.

✨

In the hush of a deep breath she remembers

that her most important spells do not decorate

life’s struggles in sparkling cobwebs;

rather they reveal to her children the deeper magic

that was around them all along,

and help them draw life from it,

even in the darkest moments before dawn.

✨✨✨

The End of the World

On January 8, 2022 By Anna EastlandIn Family Life, motherhood7 Comments

She knew it might be bad, but she hadn’t expected it to be this bad. It wasn’t like she had done it violently or without warning. Nevertheless, it had plunged her daughter into the depths of despair.

“I will never eat again!” she declared, lower lip trembling as her eyes began to redden.

“That’s too bad; you’ll get pretty hungry.”

“I won’t open my presents. I won’t come to Easter or Christmas.”

“Really? How sad. That’s a lot to give up.”

“I won’t ever let you help me!” she threw out this statement like a well-aimed spear, sure it would conquer her enemy and bring victory.

“You’re only hurting yourself, babe,” her mother deflected the spear with a shield of serenity. “I’m sorry you’re so sad.”

The girl thrust out her jaw and glowered up at her mother with narrowed eyes.

“I’m not sad, I’m angry!”

“Ok, I’m sorry you’re angry, then. But why don’t you go up to bed, honey? It’s time to sleep.”

“I will never sleep. I will just stand by my bed with my eyes open. I will never shut my eyes again!”

“Oh, really?” the woman sighed. Determination was a great trait. To be sure it had helped her daughter finish the steep, two hour hike up the mountain with her Dad the other day, chattering the whole way up. But when it was bedtime, determination to have one’s own way was a distinct disadvantage in a child of three.

“Sweetie, you can play more Reading Eggs tomorrow. I had to turn it off ‘cause it was 9:30. Now it’s 10:15. You have to sleep.”

“I will never sleep!”

The woman rubbed her head and sighed. You can’t fight crazy. She climbed into bed and nursed her baby to sleep. Eventually, the war-weary toddler climbed in under the blankets and hid. That way no one would see her eyes close.

Our New Pregnancy Book: A Gift From Moms To Moms

On May 11, 2021 By Anna EastlandIn Maternal Health, motherhood, Writing9 Comments

Beginner’s Guide to Growing Baby

Happy Belated Mother’s Day everyone! I hope you all had good days…whether you have one child or ten, you deserve wonderful things! It’s a big, full-time job nurturing life.

My mom blogger buddy Bonnie Way and I have written a book on pregnancy, birthing and early days with a newborn and are offering it free this week until Thursday on Amazon kindle. With 14 kids between us both, we have plenty of experience, and hope our tips, experiences, and birth stories can help support you on your journey to motherhood!

You don’t need a Kindle device to read it—you can get the free Kindle app on your phone, iPad or tablet as well. Here’s the link:

Beginners guide to growing baby: tips to help you through all four trimesters

You may wonder why we say tips for all four trimesters, instead of three, but this is not a typo! During the first three months of a baby’s life, they are still so completely dependent on their mothers to keep them alive, safe and secure. There is nowhere my nine week old son prefers to be, than snuggling on my chest, sleeping to the drum of my heartbeat.

At the same time, a mother’s health and happiness depends a lot on her baby. If he is nursing well, sleeping well, and generally content, so will she be. That means her snacking lots to keep up her energy for nursing, eating well, and napping with the little one, because newborn days are pretty exhausting—but with gentle care—happy baby, happy mama. This is why we call it the fourth trimester…not so much a time to rush into getting “back to normal,” but a time to move slowly while you continue to nurture fragile new life, grow into this new role of being a mom, and find the rhythm and support you need as well.

Huge hugs to all my fellow mamas! I hope you enjoy reading our birth stories!