Sep 4, 2023Liked by Katie Hawkins-Gaar, Rebecca Coates
I also play this game with my daughter! She likes to be wrapped up like a gift after bathtime. She’ll curl up on the bath mat while I cover her in a towel and then act surprised: “What could this be? Someone left me a present!” And when she pops out I exclaim, “Oh look, just what I’ve always wanted!” And it’s true.
Also, I completely relate to the feeling of not relating to the complexities of organized faith groups (though raised in a church-going household), but I still feel there is something missing. And I don’t want my children to miss out on the beauty of spiritual inquiry and communities of seekers.
I loved all these little nuggets in your newsletter this week! I appreciated the reminder that you are not your work. I'm the happiest I've ever been since I chose to go freelance. But it was and sometimes still continues to be a little disorienting to not be barreling down the career path at full speed as I had been for so many years. I'm so much happier now than I ever was, so it is absolutely worth it and I feel really lucky that I could make this choice. But it's still taking some getting used to!
I'm about to read the article you linked to about not having a religious affiliation. I grew up in a very religious evangelical family. I took a few years off from church, and now my family attends church at a really lovely progressive little congregation, mainstream Christian , they use a lot of the same language as more conservative churches, but they seem to mean different things. The older women meet together for Bible studies and then also show up in rainbow t-shirts to march in the Pride parade and things like that. I'm very intrigued by them. And I recognize the value of having community and a space to pause and reflect and think about spiritual things and have someone tell you that there's a being out there who made you and loves you unconditionally no matter what. But I have a very complicated relationship with religion because of my upbringing in a pretty toxic, unhealthy/emotionally abusive church, and I sit in church and ask myself, do I really believe any of this stuff? Anyways, if you do choose to write more on this topic, I would be very interested!
“You are a gift” would make an excellent T-shirt. Just connecting some dots 😁 (also might have welled up ever so slightly ... 🥹)
Haha, thank you for making that excellent connection! 💝
I also play this game with my daughter! She likes to be wrapped up like a gift after bathtime. She’ll curl up on the bath mat while I cover her in a towel and then act surprised: “What could this be? Someone left me a present!” And when she pops out I exclaim, “Oh look, just what I’ve always wanted!” And it’s true.
Also, I completely relate to the feeling of not relating to the complexities of organized faith groups (though raised in a church-going household), but I still feel there is something missing. And I don’t want my children to miss out on the beauty of spiritual inquiry and communities of seekers.
"The beauty of spiritual inquiry and communities of seekers." Yes! That's exactly it.
I loved all these little nuggets in your newsletter this week! I appreciated the reminder that you are not your work. I'm the happiest I've ever been since I chose to go freelance. But it was and sometimes still continues to be a little disorienting to not be barreling down the career path at full speed as I had been for so many years. I'm so much happier now than I ever was, so it is absolutely worth it and I feel really lucky that I could make this choice. But it's still taking some getting used to!
I'm about to read the article you linked to about not having a religious affiliation. I grew up in a very religious evangelical family. I took a few years off from church, and now my family attends church at a really lovely progressive little congregation, mainstream Christian , they use a lot of the same language as more conservative churches, but they seem to mean different things. The older women meet together for Bible studies and then also show up in rainbow t-shirts to march in the Pride parade and things like that. I'm very intrigued by them. And I recognize the value of having community and a space to pause and reflect and think about spiritual things and have someone tell you that there's a being out there who made you and loves you unconditionally no matter what. But I have a very complicated relationship with religion because of my upbringing in a pretty toxic, unhealthy/emotionally abusive church, and I sit in church and ask myself, do I really believe any of this stuff? Anyways, if you do choose to write more on this topic, I would be very interested!
Always love seeing your newsletter in my inbox. It's a gift I cannot wait to unwrap every week. :)