We celebrate Mother's Day this month, and while I was working on our May theme of Women's Wellness, my mind kept coming back to the mother of us all, Mother Earth, and the origins of the name. Our planet is magnificent—multifaceted and perfectly tuned—reflecting the master creator, God. So why don't we call our planet Father Earth, Lord Earth or something else? Why is the name Mother Earth so perfect and suitable?

To find answers to my question, I started where all scholarly searches begin: I Googled it. What I learned wasn't surprising, but it reminded me why we should cherish and respect Mother Earth as we do our own biological mothers. In the articles that turned up in my seach, there was almost a universal focus on the lifegiving and supportive aspects of nature, personified in feminine form. Earth gives birth to many sources of life—plants and animals, as well as people. Just as a mother does for her children when they're young, Mother Earth nurtures us and gives us what we need to live. In this case, though, she continues to do so all our lives, even providing us a final resting place.

Like all women, Mother Earth reserves the right to change her mind, hair and clothes as often as necessary and still arrive on time. No one can hurry perfection; when she's ready to make her debut, everything miraculously comes together. As one writer remarked, she's 75 percent water, has a fabulous change of seasons, sustains trillions of life forms, both human and nonhuman, yet manages to maintain her fabulous figure.

There is much to be learned from nature's lessons. Mother Earth knows what to do and when to do it. It's not our job to question her or tell her how to run her life. We cause harm and create chaos when we interfere with the natural order of things by adding our two cents. If we're all re going to share this place harmoniously, we need to love our mother, embrace her order and authority and seek our answers from her—and never, ever forget that she was created to be self-sustaining, along with all that is in her.

Here are some things we can do this Mother's Day to honor Mother Earth:

*   Learn more about local environmental issues. Some good places to start are Healthy Living Healthy Planet Radio (HealthyLivingHealthyPlanetRadio.com); the Dallas Sierra Club (DallasSierraClub.org); Texas Campaign for the Environment (TexasEnvironment.org); and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF.org).

*   Share a helpful article or discuss a topic with your family, friends or coworkers.

*   Identify an issue that you're passionate about or that directly affects you, find out who's working on it, and then join the conversation or organization.

*   Call your elected state or federal representatives to make your opinion known.

*   Sign online petitions through groups like Change.org to make your voice count.

*   Make every day Earth Day.

Here at Natural Awakenings, we celebrate Earth Day every day, too, but May is a special opportunity to recognize not just Mother Earth, but all the important "women" in our lives, including the wonderful women making our communities stronger and healthier. We profile several in this month's feature article, "North Texas Women in Wellness Lead the Way," featuring some of the top integrative, holistic and functional medicine professionals in our region. These providers have long labored toward the shared goal of making North Texas one of country's the top spots for excellence in wellness.

This Mother's Day, show all the women in your life that have loved, nurtured and provided for you—including Mother Earth—how much we appreciate them. Then, nurture yourself by checking out this month's offerings on how to reduce stress in your life, a top wellness issue for women.

Our heartfelt thanks to you, our readers, for all you do to make to make Dallas-Ft. Worth and all of North Texas a better place to live. We hope you'll continue to support Natural Awakenings, your go-to resource for green, healthy and sustainable living.

Mother's Day blessings to my Little Mother and Mother Earth!