"MOTHERHOOD" - The Campaign Celebrating the Most Precious Love of All

Motherhood is so many new things. It almost feels like a whole new Universe opens in front of us the moment we become mothers. I became a mother four years ago and I experienced what I call today “the most precious love of all“. This little creature for whom I was literally ready to die without a second thought…

But I also experienced a lot of fear, of feeling “not good enough”, alone, sad and feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. With time I discovered that sharing our experiences with other mothers helped a lot. Shared pain somehow feels less painful, doesn’t it?!

Thinking about my next Photography Campaign, I decided to celebrate the mothers I know and those I will meet throughout my Campaign. I had in mind that I wanted to film a documentary, interviewing every mother and her children. A very quick side note - the women I photographed in the past know that during my photo sessions, we don’t only take pictures. We talk, we connect, we drink champaign often ;). We laugh and we cry. Connecting with the people standing in front of my lens is essential for me. It’s the easiest and frankly the only way I could ever capture their beautiful souls. Only when you feel safe, you trust and you let all barriers down. It’s the moment your light start shining bright.

So, to start a beautiful and truthful conversation about motherhood and film it in a documentary made so much sense. There was no chance I was only going to photograph those mothers and children and let them go without learning what they went through and what being a mother means to them.

We all have heard the sugary part about it, about how incredibly amazing it is to be a mother, making those who weren’t yet imagining an ideal reality filled with rainbows and butterflies once they become mothers. And what about the taboo of talking about how actually difficult and exhausting being a mother is. Of the sleepless nights, of those sick worried moments when your child has 40 C° fever, of the fact that you barely have time to have a shower and you never go to the toilet alone anymore. Basically, you, mom, you don’t belong to yourself anymore. And it is the most bitter-sweet feeling in this world.

I go on and on for a long time talking about motherhood :). This is a conversation for another time and a full bottle of red wine ;). I would like to wrap my speech here by expressing my gratitude for every mother and child who participated in this Campaign. I am truly grateful for your honesty, for your vulnerability in front of the camera, for teaching me so many lessons without even knowing. Here is the essence of what I learned in a few phrases, charged with the most precious love of all - the love for your child.

I learned that Motherhood is full of fear and doubts, of feeling not being good enough. But with time you learn that you are doing your best and it is good enough.

I learned that what our children need most of all is to be seen and listened to. And what they remember at the end is you being there for them along the way, making them feel safe and good enough. They need your unconditional love and it is really all they need to grow as happy human beings.

I learned also that a child needs his/her mom to be a powerful role model. And that there is nothing more destroying for a child’s mind, dreams and future than a sad mom, stuck in her unrealised dreams. Think about this before feeling guilty for not being a full-time stay at home mother, because you think that your child needs you to be this!

I learned that we often feel like a circus act, juggling between so many daily tasks to keep it all together and we all beat ourselves so hard when we fail. But we must learn self-kindness! Because no-one is perfect and we are all doing our best.

I learned that it is SO TOUGH to let your children fight their own battles. Your motherly instincts want to save them from every pain and it feels almost unbearable to witness their pain. With all our good intentions while we battle their own battles, we are actually doing them more harm than good. Because they need to learn independence and mostly, they need to feel that their parents believe they are capable children. We need to give them the tools and not to do the job for them.

I also learned that through experiencing pain, we all learn love and compassion. We learn to appreciate the good in our lives. We become respectful and grateful people and I want my son to be all that. Now, hi learning painful life lessons does not scare me to death anymore. It will make his a great man one day.

I learned that motherhood is a challenge every day, but it is a beautiful challenge. From the moment I open my eyes in the morning and they meet his eyes until the moment I kiss him goodnight in his sleep and I lay down in my bed feeling like it all makes sense.

I learned that your children will tell you, inevitably one day, thatI you are annoying :))), but they will also say that the most important thing for them is that they can always count on you when they need you.

I learned that our children thinks that we are the most beautiful mommy even when we look like a hot mess most of the time :). Don’t ever doubt this!

I learned that as a new mom, you need to be yourself and to remember that before being a mother you are a human being and as such you make mistakes and it is ok. You are going to love your children and they will love you with the same unconditional love despite your mistakes.

I learned that as a new mom, you need to follow your intuition and to not listen to much what everybody else is telling you. Because you know best how you feel and what you and your family needs. There is no recipe for good parenting, there is no right or wrong. It is actually the most difficult “profession” in life for which you don’t get any prior preparation ;), so do it your way and it will probably turn out right. You are learning with your children along the way and that is totally fine.

I learned that it is so important to stop the daily traffic and recenter to your heart and your child’s heart. To connect eyes and manifest your love by saying: “I love you! I am so happy you are here with me and here on earth!” It will always take away any pain. Children will bring you back to the present moment like anything else and we feel gratitude for this each time.

I learned that we, as mothers, need to take care of ourselves first. I know that society expect us to be devoted mothers and completely ignore our personal needs and feelings. I wanna say f*** this! It is ok to need time and space for yourself! You are not less of a mother of you practice self-care.

I learned to abandon the idea of wanting to be a perfect mother. It is impossible and so unhealthy.

I learned that as mothers we are all real life wonder women and we are truly powerful creatures. Nothing could stop us when we are driven by the love for our children…

Today, I celebrate myself and every one of you. I celebrate the power we carry in our hearts and all the sacrifices we will keep on saying yes to, always, for the most precious love of all - the love for our children.

Happy Mother’s Day!

With love,

Zori.