coincidentally read this as i a professor’s words from casual conversation resonated with me, “what is being a mother, if not caring for others?” and i feel like this story encapsulates that concept so wholly. humans are social creatures, we cannot live alone and we cannot survive without the care of others. so it only makes sense that mori’s moms is everyone who took care of him along the way — yes, the story communicates how it takes a village to raise a child but also, on a more fundamental level, that what it takes to be a parent, a mom, isn’t blood relations or anything fancy. all it takes is the urge to care for a child. you don’t have to be perfect at it, as seen by the clumsy ways ryder and miria try to give mori a home, you really do just have to try. i think that at a time when children’s needs are being ignored more than ever (the sexual exploitation of children around the world, man-made famines, wars, genocides, just to name a few) that this story couldn’t have come out at a more appropriate time. this story reminds me and challenges me to be more compassionate and empathetic towards children, especially when they have yet to wield an adult’s tool of speech and articulation yet. my hope is that children never have to feel loss or loneliness, which is reflected quite heavily in this work
coincidentally read this as i a professor’s words from casual conversation resonated with me, “what is being a mother, if not caring for others?” and i feel like this story encapsulates that concept so wholly. humans are social creatures, we cannot live alone and we cannot survive without the care of others. so it only makes sense that mori’s moms is everyone who took care of him along the way — yes, the story communicates how it takes a village to raise a child but also, on a more fundamental level, that what it takes to be a parent, a mom, isn’t blood relations or anything fancy. all it takes is the urge to care for a child. you don’t have to be perfect at it, as seen by the clumsy ways ryder and miria try to give mori a home, you really do just have to try. i think that at a time when children’s needs are being ignored more than ever (the sexual exploitation of children around the world, man-made famines, wars, genocides, just to name a few) that this story couldn’t have come out at a more appropriate time. this story reminds me and challenges me to be more compassionate and empathetic towards children, especially when they have yet to wield an adult’s tool of speech and articulation yet. my hope is that children never have to feel loss or loneliness, which is reflected quite heavily in this work