[Kateri]

Hi everyone!

So great to find this community. Spirituality has always been a big part of my life. My parents were in "the Moonies" church/cult. They had an arranged marriage and were married alongside thousands of other couples in madison square garden. Fundamental to the church was the idea of creating holy families through these matched couples. And while my family is no longer in the church, i have always felt like spirituality is my life's purpose.

My Mom gave me a copy of the course in miracles for my 15th birthday. I am just getting back to it, and exploring other spiritual paths, now at the age of 28. My early and mid 20's have been what I only now recognize as the chaotic, volatile throws of mental illness. Call it what you will, the aftermath of childhood trauma. But very recently I have arrived at a tremendous amount of peace and acceptance that everything has gone exactly how it should. Parts of my life that used to feel extremely shameful, now feel like very intentional gifts.

My work lately has been to forgive myself for the shameful things I have done: something that feels radical and even selfish in our culture of shame.

These days I explore spirituality through the practice of medicine. I am a a physician assistant student. I love hospitals because they seem to be just about the peak of human vulnerability, where everything comes to a head. I hope that if I can nurture an ability to listen and to be around illness in a non-judgmental way, that it can be healing in its own way.

Thanks for reading!