Oran: a song, a melody; Oran mor: the ‘Great Song of life’; Oran Graham, my wee boy! I am lucky enough to be able to have a day off in the working week to be with him, take his sister to school, do Mum things, without trying to fit it all in in the weekend. Today, we danced and danced to lots of different music, some quiet, some jumpy, but all of it definitely fun. As we spun and birled and jigged and jumped, I had one of those ‘mum-moments’ when I pictured my fair-haired boy as a man, a Scottish man, and all that that would mean. Would he be part of the early years of an independent land? What would that look and feel like – to be an integral part of something his parents have spent all their years working for, and their parents before that? We are in the midst of truly ‘interesting times’ here in Scotland, with debates raging and political sides being drawn over the independence question. We will be given the chance to make our voices heard in a referendum in 2014, and while we already have the ‘Yes Scotland’ team on one side, and the ‘Better Together’ group on the other, I have been left pretty cold by much of the conversation so far. It seems to be an awful lot of men (sorry, guys!) talking about business and the economy. Where are the voices of the women, the sisters and aunties and grannies and mothers of our nation? Where is the vision for what we want Scotland and her people to be? I have two young children and what happens in 2014 will affect their lives more so than mine, so I want to look to the bigger picture and make our voices heard, on motherhood and nationhood.
Hello Scotland, hello world!
19 Tuesday Jun 2012
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Alasdair Reid said:
Nice post, nationhood is a bit like motherhood, it requires vision, perseverance and courage. I don’t think it can be left to the men, and I say that as one of them 🙂 So keep making your voice heard and add to the debate. And at the end of the day when the time comes to vote, I’ll remember that nationhood is exactly like parenthood, it comes straight from the heart or not at all.
caledonianmama said:
Thanks, Alasdair. You are absolutely right; these things must come from the heart. It is a constant fascination to watch our children picking up the social and cultural messages which surround them, and trying in our own wee way to enrich those messages about their own country.