Spirituality for Dummies

"Sing in me Muse, and through me tell the story of one woman's quest to figure out just what the hell she is supposed to be doing here." 

 Oh, and Muse, if you could tell it BEFORE I have to report back to wherever I came from, I'd be much obliged.

I guess you could argue the older one gets, the more in touch with their mortality they become.  You don't have a choice, really, I mean the clocking is ticking from day one, but most of us really don't have to worry about it through our immortal youth.  But one day, it hits you, sometimes softly like a touch on the arm, sometimes it more like a duel-challenging face slap.  You're not going to be here forever.  Then what?  Not only that, but what now?

I started my fascination with "then what?" when I got my first library card.  I remember checking out everything I could about death ("Bridge to Terabithia" horrified and fascinated me), and from there progressing through the years into ghosts,  near death experiences, past life regression, astral projection, spirituality,  a variety of religious beliefs,etc.  The more I read and expanded my search, the more I realized the commonalities in so many belief systems.

As an academic type person, I was never satisfied with the teachings of the religion I was born into.  I always found church teachings to be shallow, judgmental and sexist, which seemed to me to be opposite of what Jesus was trying to get through to us.  (Although, sometimes I wonder what he really said since so much of it has been edited and hidden and changed etc. BUT that's another rant entirely.)  My point being that reading so many different texts and points of view has been a great comfort to me as it has shown me evidence that there is purpose to what we do here and that there is a bigger picture after we die.

So, what is common between Buddhists and Christians and Jews and Spiritualists and etc?
1.  There is a universal being, source, universe, God (insert word here).
2.  We ARE this universal being, source, universe, God (insert word here).
3.  No matter what, when you die, you go back to the universal source.
4.  Love is the predominant emotion of the universe.
5.  If you accept your universal nature, you will have peace in your life.

I chose to share these five, (although I have found many, many more), because I feel these are the ones that offer us the most comfort.  I have tried to present them free of religious terminology (because humans have used that kind of language to impose fear upon one another instead of love), but call them whatever works for you.  

Life can be hard and death is scary to us in our mortal coils.  If there is any truth to be had, I believe it to be found in the commonalities of those who have had some experience or knowledge and shared it with us.  Read and listen with an open mind to everyone who has evidence to offer, regardless of whether their religious background jives with yours or not.  

In this, may you find comfort in life... and death.

Foothills...and other cool things about Ohio

As a teen growing up in Ohio, I thought it was the most uncool place in the universe to have to admit I

was from.  This was never more evident than when I spent summers with my cousins from New York.  New York! I mean, does it get any cooler than that?  I considered myself most unlucky that my dad, the baby of the family, decided to strike out from the center of everything to the middle of nowhere to seek his fortune.

Going to spend the summers at my aunt's house was a painful reminder of this every year.  "This is my cousin," my wise, cosmopolitan, self-confident, cousin Patti would say to her friends upon my arrival, "She's from Cornland."  As if this triggered some long-standing New York hazing tradition, reserved exclusively for hicks from the country , I would immediately be circled by a coven of girls with Long Island drawls, loudly demanding that I speak for their amusement.  "Say 'arrrange'!"  "Say 'cawffee'!"  (Holding up a can of Coke): "What is this?" "ORANGE! COFFEE! POP!" I would begrudgingly shout, to the sound of heckling jeers and comments about how funny I tawlked.
   
As if being a teenager in what I perceived to be "Hickville" wasn't bad enough, Ohio wasn't even very historically interesting.  Most of the native people here were relatively peaceful, so no cool stories there.  The settlers didn't even really start showing up until the mid 1800's -- that's practically the modern age!  No cool battles here, no cool castles, no famous larger than life heroes, no major excitement here!  "But Ohio means beautiful river."  "Enjoy the scenery!"  Whatever!  No beach, no mountains, just farms and fields.  And corn.  Lots of corn.

   Hallelujah!  Time is on my side and I am not a teenager anymore.  For the last few summers, I have tried to spend some time in my state to discover what is historically and visually redeeming about it.  To my joy, I have found quite a bit. From the lakes at the top to the mountains and river at the bottom and everything in between, Ohio really does scream "beauty".  And historically, well, 1850 is a little further away now that it's 2013 than it was in 1983.

  I went to a week-long workshop in Portsmouth earlier this month.  I haven't been to Portsmouth in a long time, certainly not since I have been an adult.  I had forgotten how tall the landscape was there; how high up in the sky everything went.  I commented to another teacher who lived in Portsmouth how astonishing it was that we were still in Ohio.  She said, "It's looks a lot different down here in the foothills."  That got me thinking that "foothills" really are mountains and what is going on in Portsmouth is the beginning of the Appalachian mountains.  Perhaps I should have made that connection after learning that in 7th grade Geography (thanks Mr. Haren) but at that moment, Ohio took on another face for me.

Having spent yet another summer eating my words about my home state, I thought I might share some cool things that Ohio has to offer:

Salt Fork State Park Lodge near Cambridge, Ohio is very family friendly 

with tons of outdoor things to do.

Shawnee Lodge near Portsmouth is another option for a fun get away, year-round, but nothing beats Mohican Lodge, just east of Columbus, for the grown-ups!

 

Lake Erie has historical monuments (Commodore Perry's monument from the Battle of Lake Erie) 

AND beaches!

 

Franklin Park Conservatory has butterflies (left)  

Learn more about communing with nature at Inniswood Gardens (right).    

In fact, the Columbus and Ohio state parks offer a lot of  different environments and activities.  

Try the Slate Run Historical Farm for a step back into the past.

 

Berlin, Ohio (above) is home to beautiful views of changing fall leaves 

and TONS of unique shops featuring Amish crafts and local artists.

  

Hocking Hills has unusual rock formations and ziplining

  

Who can resist a personal welcome from Smokey the Bear at the Ohio State Fair?

Cool amusement parks like Kings Island and Cedar Point have the greatest rides in the world!  

And historically, The Beast (1979) still ranks as the longest, fastest wooden roller coaster.

Indoor Water Parks like the one at Cherry Valley Lodge in Newark keep us busy in the winter. 

 

Let's not forget The Haunted Hoochie!  A one of a kind experience!

And, yes, we even have a castle (Loveland Castle, near Cincinnati)

Although we still have tons of corn,

I have come to appreciate the fields of Ohio.

The Tale of the Crisis Blog

Okay, so I have to admit that I decided to start this blog because everyone is blogging.  Blogging these days is like smoking was to my generation and the ones before it.  It's an accessory that says, "I am revolutionary." It makes you edgy, it makes you hip, it makes you sound smart even if you aren't. At the point in my life where I am passing middle-age with lightning speed, I need all the edgy and hip I can get.

But what to blog about?  After looking at a multitude of examples, apparently the topic doesn't matter, in fact any topic will do.  However, a topic you know something about can make you sound smart (even if you aren't).  I went through a wide range of ideas in my head:  road trips?  the meaning of life?  teaching tips from a teacher?  Every idea was rejected for fear of sounding too "middle-aged", in other words, far from hip and edgy.

I realized that since turning 45, I have a fear of being too "middle aged".  Perhaps this is my midlife crisis.  According to blogger, Keera Fox, a crisis is a moment of decision, a time to choose, a time to act.  It should cause us to re-evaluate our lives and the direction we are going.  We should have less fear and anxiety about ourselves after facing a crisis.  A crisis is a grounding event. Something worth sharing.  Something worth talking about.

I have decided to embrace my middle-agedness, to face it and to see life's events with new eyes.  From this blog forward, I will unabashedly put my middle-aged stamp on everything I see, do and think.,, and, like it or not,  I will share it with you in this blog. 

And now, from the perspective of my midlife crisis (crises?), I offer you my thoughts on everything,