One Angry Night

One Angry night
Lennie Hobbie

My three-day-old daughter taught me more about anger in one night than I had learned in all 31 years of my life. As she raged and hollered and demanded to be heard, I responded as I had learned all good mothers should. I patted, I walked, I rocked, I soothed, I massaged, and I “It’s OK, baby” –ed until utter helplessness overcame me. She was healthy, strong, dry, warn, safe . . . and still she raged. I meditated with her in my arms; I visualized; and I cried. She, all the while, continued to holler.

In a desperate burst of inspiration, I held her in front of me, cradled in my arms. I looked deeply into her eyes – not as a mother trying to soothe her babe, but as a fellow human being trying to find her way on this planet. Suddenly, I began to feel her anger, I gave up my search for causes and solutions, and simply acknowledged her feelings: “Right on. Sister! Tell it like it is! Yes, Sister! Word up! Speak out, Little Sister!”

She stopped, stunned. Starring at me with red-rimmed eyes, she looked deeply into my eyes. She shut her puffy lids and let out one more powerful yell. Felling her rage, I offered encouragement once again. Then, with abandon, she sank into the haven of my arms. No more stiffness. No more resistance.

We became one in understanding. She knew she was appreciated and could count on being heard. I knew we were more than our roles implied: we were two human beings united through compassion and respect. Ever since that night, we have both slept peacefully through the hours of darkness.

Lennie Hobbie (32) lives in the mountains of West Virginia with her husband Pete, their son Eli (4), and their daughter Dakota (1), Lennie is a freelance writer, full-time mother, and copublisher, along with her husband, of a bimonthly home-based newsletter promoting creative simplicity as a viable alternative to consumerism. For a free issue, write to One Earth Trading Post, HC 60, Box 81E, Points, WV 25437.

-Date unknown.