hi friend,
in the early morning light over the mountains of escondido, california, i just had the pleasure of listening to the coyotes yip and a pair of owls gently cooing in a tree overhead
the palm branches swayed ever so lightly in a breeze i couldn’t perceive down below
and the brightest stars clung to the dark blue sky as the sun neared it’s rising
here, i felt my body – grounded, a part of it all – truly belonging
but it wasn’t always like this…
i wasn’t always able to perceive my interconnection with life, or take pleasure in receiving the beauty of it all
i wasn’t always listening to the owls knowing that we are notes in the same orchestra
nope, i had to unpack some things before my awareness expanded in trusting life this deeply…
– growing up evangelical –
i am a little girl who loves jesus
i feel him and his love, and i feel god around me – in the birds, the trees, the stars
god is amazing!
and god is a male, i am told
as a woman, i need be extra careful
because god made eve, but she sinned, and took adam down with her
so women cannot be trusted, we need to rely on men to save us
and all of us need god to save us
because all of us sinned and let god down
i am a sinner
my body is sinful
but only through jesus’s sacrifice, i can be forgiven
i am a little girl who loves jesus
– unpacking the god wound –
the above is a summation of some of the programming i received growing up
maybe you can relate? whatever religion you were raised with, many of these themes persist around the world
or maybe your upbringing contained no religion, no mention of a higher power? that in itself can be wounding in other ways
i am not interested in a war against religion – there are some deeply beautiful traditions and many types of connection to god, even inside of christianity
but i am interested in looking at how certain belief systems may be shutting down our inherent ability to be connected, to trust, to breathe, and to create
because whatever we believe, whatever spiritual practices we engage with – all of it is colored by societal influences through religion
if we do not look at this, it remains in shadow, operating behind the scenes through shame, self-hate, fear, doubt, and on…
so, let’s shine light on the god wound ya’ll – it’s time!
here’s to your journey,
aria