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Being a mother is one of the hardest and most sacred callings women will ever experience. It\u2019s an undertaking made all the more difficult by the mixed-messages and unhelpful advice parents the world over seem to be inundated with in today\u2019s culture of \u201cmommy wars,\u201d parenting blogs, and the pressure to raise Instagrammable kids.\xa0\nScientist-turned-writer Jill Doneen Clifton wants to take guilt and comparison out of the mothering equation. On this episode of The Sidewalk Talk podcast, Jill and Traci sit down to talk about Jill\u2019s book, Landscape of Mothers and how motherhood and nature are so intricately connected. Throughout their conversation, the two also debunk the myth of good and bad mothers, talk about painful mothering experiences, and discuss being a mother to everyone\u2014whether you\u2019re a mother in the biological sense or not. Jill concludes the interview with an expression of her deep gratitude for you, the Sidewalk Talk volunteers, and all you do to spread love and hope in the world.\xa0\n\xa0\nEpisode Milestones\n[00:07] Intro\xa0\n[00:58] Meet Jill\xa0\n[03:40] Landscape of Mothers\xa0\n[05:58] The relationship between nature and mothering\xa0\n[13:40] Different wisdoms in parenting and the idea of good and bad mothers\xa0\xa0\n[19:06] Painful mothering experiences and how to get on the same team\xa0\n[28:33] Hopes for mothers reading Landscape of Mothers\xa0\n[32:00] Being a mother to anyone and everyone\xa0\n[38:12] Jill\u2019s deep gratitude for you\xa0\n[42:10] Outro\xa0\n\xa0\nResources Mentioned\n\nLandscape of Mothers: Nature Archetypes as a Guide to Mothering\n\nStandout Quotes from the Episode\n\u201cThat\u2019s where Landscape of Mothers came from\u2014this sense of needing a map, wanting a way to move and a way to explore the things I just didn\u2019t know, and yet have it be cohesive and coherent and feel like I was actually going somewhere even though I was kind of in the unknown.\u201d \u2014Jill Doneen Clifton\xa0\n\u201cFor the most part, I don\u2019t really believe in the concept of a good mother or a bad mother.\u201d \u2014Jill Doneen Clifton\xa0\n\u201cLandscape of Mothers is really an invitation to bring it back to ourselves and to do it our own way. It\u2019s about finding out where we\u2019re at and what we\u2019re capable of and what we want.\u201d \u2014Jill Doneen Clifton\xa0\n\u201cWe perceive parenting a child as someone\u2019s individual responsibility, and I think there\u2019s a deep wound in there.\u201d \u2014Jill Doneen Clifton\xa0\n\u201cFor me, mothering isn\u2019t what women do with children. It\u2019s how all of us care for, nourish, and nurture each other.\u201d \u2014Jill Doneen Clifton\xa0\n\xa0\nConnect:\nFind | Sidewalk Talk Podcast\nAt sidewalk-talk.org\nOn Instagram: @sidewalktalkorg\nOn Twitter: @sidewalktalkorg\n\xa0\nFind | Traci Ruble\nAt Traciruble.com\nOn Instagram: @TraciRubleMFT\nOn Twitter: @TraciRubleMFT\nOn Facebook: @TraciRubleMFT