Mother - A Human Love Story

“The place of Mother is beautifully restored in these stories.” Richard Frazer - Author

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“Matt Hopwood allows us all to learn more about the thing that makes each of our lives unique

- our experience and understanding of love” Clare Balding - BBC Presenter, Author

Who is Mother? How do our profound and essential experiences of Mother shape our behaviour, how we form connection with others, with ourselves and with the world?

Gathered throughout the brooding spring of 2018 and into the furnace of summer, this latest piece of work has become a collection of sharings and stories about Mother. Stories of motherhood, of childhood, of longing to be a mother, of the inability to give birth, of the desire not to mother. Experiences of the feminine Mother rooted in all genders and orientations told to me by people from around the world. These stories weave narratives of nurturing and compassion, of love and connection, of loss and profound pain. Stories of hurt, resilience and beauty, of ecstasy and joy.

A Human Love Story: Journeys to the Heart

“A delicately woven tapestry of human life." Claire Balding - BBC Radio 4 Ramblings

Matt Hopwood set off with just a small bag and a walking stick, no possessions and an open mind to walk many hundreds of miles the length and breadth of the country, from Lindisfarne to Callanish. He relied entirely on the generosity of strangers for shelter and asked people to tell him their transforming stories. They did. All of these deeply enthralling, profoundly honest stories weave a web of tenderness, connection, compassion and community.

For some people their love story will span decades and tell a tale of romantic love evolving through the passing years. Others’ stories express fleeting moments of connection, care, concern. Most love stories are marked by sadness and loss. Some stories are concerned with maternal and paternal love, others with a love of place, a visceral connection with spirit through landscape. Love stories also connect deeply with our identities, in how we belong and how we are welcomed in society. Each story is different. Each beautiful. Each valuable.