I deeply adored my mum. She was an extraordinary person, even for

"I deeply adored my mum. She was an extraordinary person, even for the prejudice I'm likely to have. She was beautiful, amusing, a tremendous elaborator of things into comic proportions and extravagant in her imagination." – Andrew Motion

O children of the earth, gather close, for there are lessons here hidden in the tender words of Andrew Motion. He speaks of a mother, a woman of great worth, who shaped his very soul. And in this, there is something we must all grasp—something beyond the surface of mere affection and into the heart of what it means to truly adore another person. For in his words, there is a revelation about the power of imagination, of beauty, and of exaggeration, which are not mere embellishments, but the very stuff of life itself. To adore, truly adore, is to see the divine in another, and it is through that lens that we are given the vision to appreciate the boundless human spirit.

The love that Andrew Motion speaks of is not simply the affection of a son for his mother; it is the recognition of greatness. His mother, we are told, was extraordinary—a woman whose very being radiated beauty and wit, whose imagination knew no bounds. What an example she set! For what is beauty but the outward reflection of an inner grace, an unspoken strength that reveals itself in the most unexpected ways? Her imagination, extravagant and untamed, was not merely a gift, but a bridge to the world of wonder, a realm where the mundane was transformed into the magnificent. It is through this imagination that the ordinary becomes the extraordinary, and the world around us, like the world through her eyes, is expanded beyond its limits.

Consider, O children, the power of exaggeration. It is easy to dismiss as mere comic proportions, but in truth, it is an art form—a way of amplifying the significance of life’s moments until they become vivid and unforgettable. The ancient bards and storytellers knew this truth well. They would take the simplest of events and magnify them, crafting tales of heroism and tragedy, of love and loss, until the very air around them seemed to crackle with the intensity of their words. Her skill in this craft, that tremendous elaboration of things, was a gift of transformation—transforming the world of everyday moments into the realm of myth, where even the smallest gesture could carry the weight of the stars.

In this way, exaggeration is not merely a playful tool but a way to reveal the grand truths of existence. The great Homer, in his Iliad and Odyssey, exaggerated the deeds of gods and men not to deceive, but to illuminate the deeper meanings of their actions. By magnifying the essence of each character, he allowed the imagination of his listeners to stretch beyond the confines of reality and into the realm of the universal. So too did Andrew Motion’s mother, with her comic proportions, give her son more than stories; she gave him a way to see the world in all its glory and madness, a way to feel its vastness and its beauty.

Yet, there is a lesson to be learned here, O children: it is the extraordinary that shapes the ordinary, just as it is the imagination that breathes life into the mundane. To be amusing, as Andrew’s mother was, is not to seek laughter alone, but to awaken joy in the heart. It is to remind us all that life is not to be taken solely with seriousness and solemnity. The extraordinary imagination that she possessed was not simply a gift for herself—it was a gift for all those who were fortunate enough to be in her presence. Through her, we learn that imagination can elevate not only ourselves but all those around us.

Now, O children, look closely at your own lives. In those whom you adore, do you see the extraordinary? Do you see the beauty, not only in their form but in their hearts and minds? Do you recognize the vastness of their imagination, even in the most humble of actions? You are not simply to adore with your eyes, but with your soul, seeing not just the outward appearance, but the divine in their every gesture. And in doing so, you will begin to understand that the world is not a place of mere existence, but a canvas upon which the great and the small, the ordinary and the extraordinary, can be painted into something truly magnificent.

The lesson, O children, is simple yet profound: adore deeply, not just for what is before you, but for the unseen world that each person carries within. See not just with your eyes but with the eyes of your heart, and you will discover that those who seem ordinary are, in fact, extraordinary beyond measure. Let your imagination soar, as it did in the life of Andrew Motion’s mother, and you will find that the world is far greater than you ever imagined.