Matrescence

https://makersplace.com/product/matrescence-1-of-1-482157/

There is this poem by Catherine Pierce - it says, "How becoming a mother is like space travel".. I read the poem and thought "yes". I think this is the first time I read something that resonates:

Many things,
he told us, were different
than he’d once expected.
There’s no space ice cream,
he said. That’s a big hoax.
His vision blurred.
His body became a study:
blood, appetite, cognitive function.

He took many pictures.
All of them were beautiful.
None of them showed
what it was like to float.

When the astronaut returned
to earth, more tests were run.
Scientists discovered that
seven percent of his genes
had changed in space.
He left the planet
as himself. He came back
as himself, rearranged

Yes - because it is a journey into unknown and complete transformations - there is so much you have to let take its course, there is so much you want to shield yet know you should not, or you cannot - and at times so, so much faith that you have done what you could, to the best of your ability. There is no training and no manual :)

It is a “giant step for humankind” every single time.