It seems these days everyone is a ‘former’ something and I’m no exception.
I’m a former wife, former landscape designer and former, well technically, a recovering workaholic. But the aspect of my past that seems to be coming back around for examination, is the 15+ years I spent somewhere out in the badlands between agnostic and atheist.
To provide context, I was raised in a liberal and inclusive Lutheran church in Oregon. I had a great experience with the Christian faith as a child, was very involved in our youth group and my parents allowed me to choose whether to be baptized. Our church community was very welcoming, and my family felt we found our spiritual home.
I also had an innate knowing as far back as I can remember about my connection to All That Is. My natural energetic openness led to some profoundly transcendent childhood experiences as I remembered my Divine origins. At age ten, I remember receiving a book on Taoism and promptly dove in. It was way beyond my comprehension, yet fueled my curiosity as a spiritual seeker.
When we moved during my teenage years, we never really found that same type of community again. I graduated high school and went off to art school, where I stepped into a radically secular environment.
