Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Creative Sisterhood


Monday night was our Creative Sisterhood group and it was interesting. We had a lengthy talk about many things, touching on religion and belief systems. For the first time in three years, I felt like I could not communicate with the group. We weren't speaking the same language, so there was no way I could explain my views. And without a lot of background they wouldn't make sense anyway.

It was a very different Creative Sisterhood experience for me. But it was good to have this insight into others. I finally just determined it wasn't important that I share. No one is really that interested in anyone else's background, and I'm not sure I could explain it anyway. I quickly figured out I didn't even want to try - and certainly not in a limited time - so I just chalked it up to a learning experience.

I should not involve myself in such conversations. My views are so very different than anyone else I have ever met that there doesn't seem to be much common ground for communication. And I'm a big believer that religion should be a private matter anyway.

My spirituality is something I've devoted many, many, many hours to over the years. I've written about it in more journals than I can count. I've pondered it on long drives. I've had a lot of a-ha moments. I've had a lot of confusion. I've found some answers and even more questions. I've come to my own conclusions, which are from multiple faith traditions, with a healthy mix of things not tied to any religion that I'm aware of. I sum up my spirituality with the phrase, "Your Life is Your Prayer."

At the last place I lived, I painted that on the wall in one of my rooms. It was interesting to hear what it meant to other people, if anything. No one ever thought of it in the same way I do, and I guess that means it would be a poor thing on which to base a religion. But, I'm not interested in starting the Church of Patsy anyway, so I don't suppose it matters.

My original topic last night was that I have no sense of the norm and it was all the more clear to me by the end of the evening. As always, it was enlightening.