If I should have a daughter, instead of mom, she’s going to call me Point B,

because that way she knows that no matter what happens,
at least she can always find her way to me.

And I am going to paint the Solar Systems on the backs of her hands,
so she has to learn the entire universe before she can say ‘Oh, I know that like the back of my hand’

From “B” (If I Should Have a Daughter) by Sarah Kay

This poem reminds me of the work of psychologist Martha Beck. Beck writes about finding our North Star and steering our lives by starlight. We must paint our solar system. We must find our North Star. We must steer our lives by starlight.

In this way, a Point B is part astronomer mapping constellations to keep us from bumping into things, part artist creating a solar system from start dust and scar tissue, part chess master moving pieces with logic and precision, part cheetah equipped with fierce courage.

We all need a Point B. We all need a mom, by any name that fits, to help us learn and grow, fail and reconfigure, dream and achieve. If mom, or Point B, does their job, we arrive to life ready to handle the falling apart and coming together. We arrive to life understanding birth and death. We arrive to life welcoming impermanence and flow, rather than insisting on certainty and singular truth.

Perhaps we even need a lot of moms, by many names, to be many Point Bs. In the way that a constellation needs many stars. In the way that a community needs communal wisdom. In the way that truth, and self, and source are all multitudes.