My Spiritual Journey
Growing up as one of five children in a working-class family, I always had food, shelter, love, and care. But I never really received sustained help in expressing myself and developing my talents. As a young adult, I knew I was intelligent but I was shy and had little self-confidence. I was really scared of new situations and I saw them as threats rather than opportunities. Because of that I avoided new situations and challenges.
I had weak inner resources. I was always looking to others to give me what I needed and I was always disillusioned when I felt that they let me down. I felt pity for myself and didn’t understand why I was so unhappy.
All of that began to change when I discovered meditation. Through the concepts in Creative Thinking I began to understand that my scared personality was just a small part of who I actually am. I began to know that I am (as are all people) a spiritual being put on earth to grow in understanding and to serve others. The meditation techniques allowed me to apply spiritual energy to heal my ineffective and damaging patterns and to create new, positive, productive patterns. Through meditation, I began to re-program my deficiencies into strengths and to live those strengths.
Because of my increased confidence I was able to complete several academic degrees. The most important one is my California Teaching Credential. Becoming a teacher was a very scary and challenging thing to do because I had to be in front of so many people and be a leader. And yet that is how I discovered that I have natural empathy with others and always seek to understand their point of view. I experienced the joy of conveying an idea to another person and lifting up their expressions and experiences. And teaching high school English and ESL for 32 years in the LAUSD has given me the attitude that the student comes first and that their achievements are supreme.
My Bachelor degrees in English, Psychology, Human Services, and Marriage and Family Therapy have given me a greater understanding of the human condition and of the patterns that can hold a person back. Through this understanding I can help the student gain insights that will make more progress possible.
Meditation makes it possible for me to connect with my spiritual self every day and to invoke Light, Love, and Purpose into my life. Through that spiritual connection, I am able to help my students to be connected too. Although there is always room for growth, I know that I have journeyed further because of meditation and the Creative Thinking class.