So, this is my first real blog. I keep thinking that the first blog has to be perfect and somehow start at the beginning. But that has caused me frustration and time keeps going by so . . . “perfect” or not, here it is.
I live in suburbia. Always have. I grew up in a typical development in Westfield, NJ where all of the houses looked the same. When I got married, we moved into a home in North Caldwell, NJ, another nice suburb and have been here 28 years.
My view of life then: go to college, get a job, get married, have kids, plan vacations. I am Jewish and although not that religious, loved the traditions. Holidays have always been important. I loved Hanukkah with the candles and presents for the kids and Passover. We would just hope that the Seder wasn’t too long!
I was a nice person. A great gift giver. A good listener. I always offered to help. I am a good mom, wife, daughter-in-law and friend. This was life.
I would hear people who were considered “spiritual” and an image would come to mind, which was not me at all! I saw them wearing Birkenstocks and camping, being vegetarian (although now vegan seems to be the “in” thing.) I saw people who were calm and boring. Okay, I probably just lost the few readers I have, but I made a commitment to share with you the person I was, so . . . here we go.
These spiritual people always used these phrases like “holding the space for you”. I mean, space is intangible, so how can you hold it? What the hell does that mean, anyway? Or words like: your inward journey, or spreading your light, or the best one, “this is all an illusion”. Words like soul, spirit higher self or Self with a capital S. It was like learning a new language.
With technology, I already feel like I am in a foreign country. Seriously. I went to a Social Media workshop at Columbia and instead of a Hello My Name Is tag, they had the @sign and a space for your Twitter name. If you asked a question, you had to introduce yourself as your Twitter name. Can you imagine if I really wanted to ask a question and I had to say, “Hi, my name is @thesuburbanmonk?”
Anyway, during my time of transition after quitting a 30-year career in the corporate world, I had to sit in the quiet, not knowing what the future held (you can read more on my About page). Now I look back and see that it was the beginning of my “journey”.
Okay, yes. I used that word. Journey.
These past 4 years have been wild and, at times, downright hard. But I would not trade any of it. Life is so much richer and cooler — and magical, really. I have created a life that makes sense, feels good and is so much fun to live. I can’t wait to share it all with you.
Live. Laugh. Monk!
What does being “spiritual” mean to you?
Please share. I could discuss these things all day.
#BigSyd #BigMagic
