In our modern Western culture we often hear the phrase “lone wolf” and think about a person who does their own thing without submitting to a certain “group.” However, the reality is, there are no lone wolves. In nature sometimes a wolf leaves the pack but only when they are finding a mate and starting their own pack. So, they are not leaving to be alone, but to start a new family that will soon be working together to survive.

Sounds familiar doesn’t it? This sounds like motherhood.

There are intricate and sometimes difficult relational dynamics that play into being a part of a pack, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that every mom needs one.

There are some people in my pack I communicate with daily, and there are others who have been in my pack for decades but I only communicate with them a few times a year. We each have our own strengths, and at the end of the day we wouldn’t survive without each other.

The law of “the jungle” we are living in can be hard to navigate on the best days. “Raising our pups and hunting for food,” gets more and more complex as we are inundated with information at rates like never before. We cannot open our doors to each other like we used to, thanks to a global pandemic; but we need each other more than ever before. Our kids and communities need us to stay in the pack even though sometimes it might feel easier to be a “lone wolf.”

There are seasons for solitude but even in solitude there is sacred space for solidarity.