Reflections on Birth and Rebirth
Living through a time of rapid transition and radical emergence
Greetings, friends.
Amid the daily barrage of chilling news, I have been pondering the prospect of the US government paying women to have children.
For one thing, the amount offered is laughable: a one-time “baby bonus” of $5,000 to a mother who gives birth—in the same America that is slashing the already weak social safety net for families: cutting funding for child care, Head Start programs, housing assistance, medical coverage and even food assistance for children.
It’s been known for years that the US is one of the worst countries in the world to be a new parent, unless you are independently wealthy. I remember when the Family Medical Leave Act was finally signed into law in 1993, when my first child was a year old. After years of concerted effort by advocates, the law succeeded in guaranteeing mothers (and in some companies, fathers) the right to a measly 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a newborn, subject to many restrictions.
In the US, the work of being a parent is not considered “real work”—outrageously, it does not count towards one’s Social Security retirement pension, for example. I considered myself fortunate to be able to work part-time throughout my two kids’ childhoods; but it certainly cost me in terms of my career trajectory, and my future ability to provide for myself in retirement.
The US government has long resisted supporting families.
But now the birth rate (not just in the US, but in all industrialized nations) is falling dramatically, and suddenly there is a Handmaid’s Tale-like official interest in reproduction. The infamous social blueprint “Project 2025” envisions a return to a 1950s-style nuclear family, with the dads as breadwinners and the moms staying at home to raise as many kids as possible.
Good luck with that. Global statistics show that the only place the birth rate is projected to rise in the 21st century is in sub-Saharan Africa.
Why? There are many factors, but one that catches my eye is not social, but environmental: as Scientific American reports, there has been a huge increase in “the presence of hormone-altering chemicals (a.k.a., endocrine-disrupting chemicals, or EDCs) in our world. These hormone-hijacking chemicals, which include phthalates, bisphenol A, and flame retardants, among others, have become ubiquitous in modern life. They’re in water bottles and food packaging, electronic devices, personal-care products, cleaning supplies and many other items we use regularly. And they began being produced in increasing numbers after 1950, when sperm counts and fertility began their decline.”
These environmental toxins are affecting all life on Earth—birth rates are falling among all species, part of what is somewhat cavalierly referred to as “the Sixth Great Extinction,” a huge planetary reset that may take many thousands of years to stabilize at a new normal.
It’s taken less than a century for human industrial chemicals and fossil fuel emissions to wreak havoc that we in the 21st century will be dealing with for the rest of our lives.
Just as I can see that the tariff debacle will be a good thing if it ultimately reduces waste and shipping, and relocalizes industry, I can also see that it will be a good thing if the human population goes down, as it will give the more-than-human world a chance to regenerate.
Gaia always aims to create conditions conducive for flourishing life, and she is doing that in her own way now. These times are hard to live through, but I take comfort in knowing that for our Mother Gaia, there are no ends; only temporary setbacks that lead to new beginnings.
So it is with us too, as intelligent creative emanations of Gaia. As Adrienne Maree Brown likes to say, following Octavia Butler’s principles of emergence: “never a failure, only a lesson.”
I want to face these troubled times with my eyes wide open, bearing loving witness to all that is suffering and passing away, even as I set my face to the future with the intention to do all I can to midwife a better human civilization into being.
This is a task that will take all our ingenuity, creativity and caring; all the tenacity and perseverance that allowed our ancestors to live through many extreme hardships, sending their fragile bridges—woven of DNA and instinct, education and apprenticeship, intuition and spiritual guidance—forward into uncertain futures.
It is our turn now.
And no matter what delusions of grandeur and control the US government may possess, Gaia knows what she is doing, and she’s not going back…only forward.
Yours in the endless emergence,
Jennifer
Come Riding & Writing in Iceland with me in June!
Because we have to get away from our desks and screens and have some fun in these challenging times!
Riding & Writing in Iceland!
June 2 - 8, 2025
The creative tonic of Iceland has to be experienced to be understood.
Come experience the body, mind and spirit glow that comes from Riding & Writing in good company in a beautiful place, warmly hosted by our friends Gudmar and Christina at Hestaland.
Click here to find out more and see beautiful photos from my past Riding & Writing trips to Iceland.
Friends, it’s my pleasure and my passion to support you as we stretch towards living our lives creatively and to the fullest.
The motto of my author consulting business is “Writing to Right the World,” and the motto of my book publishing business, Green Fire Press, is “Books that Make the World Better.”
If these intentions resonate with you and you are working on a book, or have one in mind, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Supporting creative people bring their work more strongly out into the world is one way I try to make the world better.
