Earlier than we get to the e book, let’s discuss concerning the journey . . .
Early on, earlier than any of my colleagues revealed their books on social media asserting that the megaphone was open for the lots and everybody had a voice with a button click on, I might have written a e book about this digital explosion. In reality, many individuals anticipated me to. For some purpose, I held again regardless of understanding it might have simply boosted my profession. It felt overdone even earlier than it was “accomplished.” For all of the authenticity (buzzword on the time), I didn’t really feel it. I’ll admit, it was a paradigm shifter to make sure, one that folks capitalized on simply as so many are doing now with the AI explosion. However I by no means wrote that social media e book everybody informed me I ought to pen.
Once I wasn’t working tirelessly for purchasers, I used to be consumed by different passions: journey, images and meals. Fortunately, I made time for nature for the reason that marvel of Her has at all times been a precedence in my life. Gaia stored me grounded and nonetheless does to today, a good nearer pal than you expensive weblog.
Someplace alongside the best way, TravelingGeeks was birthed after which this website: We Weblog the World. Journey additionally started to take over and I can’t say that I minded. I’ve traveled to 96 international locations and lived in eleven of these. Life was at all times attention-grabbing and so had been my purchasers. My associates, communities and their worlds had been riveting.
Re-Visiting Spirituality and Consciousness
Amidst all this, the nagging subject I confronted in childhood sometimes reared itself to be seen in a distinct gentle once more: faith and spirituality, besides that I noticed they had been two various things very early in my life. If you happen to’ve ever learn Yann Martel’s Lifetime of Pi, you then’ll perceive a bit little bit of my backstory. My household couldn’t resolve the place to go together with faith or what to do with it. Though we not often talked about God, my household’s personal structured background (French, English, German, Welsh, Japanese Europe) taught them that some religion was higher than none in any respect.
My grandfather fell asleep within the church pews—the again row naturally—though he subscribed to having religion in one thing, a God I suppose, however he was removed from spiritual. I might sum up his deeper beliefs in two phrases: self-discipline and love, though they had been typically at odds with one another. My great-grandmother Bertha insisted I attend Lutheran Sunday College lessons as a result of it was the strictest faith and the one church that was certain to maintain me straight and slender. This was ironic since there was nothing straight and slender about me or Bert (Nice Grandma’s shortened nickname), whom I even lived with for brief intervals of time. She was married a number of occasions, together with to a politician and story has it that she threw one in every of her husband’s belongings on the curb someday within the Nineteen Thirties. Bert owned her personal property, a rarity for a girl born in 1892, and he or she at all times spoke her thoughts regardless of how her directness bothered folks. In reality, I keep in mind her hitting a policeman along with her purse as soon as as a result of she disagreed with him over her driving skills.
What makes the Lutheran connection even odder is that we’re fairly certain that outdated Bertha was Jewish since her household had modified their title and would by no means reply the query why. The celebration line was that they had been English, however their options appeared a helluva lot extra like Japanese German Jews, which is what a bit digging uncovered. Which may clarify why my grandfather applauded me once I joined the JCC in highschool. He appeared to resonate with Judaism despite the fact that we not often spoke of it.
The remainder of the household was equally confused. To steadiness Bert’s strict guidelines on one aspect, I used to be baptized Episcopalian (the opposite grandparents insisted) and Presbyterianism (undecided the place that got here from) and later went to my stepmother’s Methodist Church. In the midst of all this dancing between religions, I used to be despatched to a Catholic College (and even sang in its choir), and went with my almost-adopted mother and father (that’s a narrative for one more time) to a Baptist Church for a few years, which led to a few-year stint instructing canoeing at an area born-again summer time camp. Sure, actually. I did all of it and all of it did me. Fortunately, the dogma didn’t do me in.
Relaxation assured, I went by means of spiritual trauma that a few of you studying this will likely have skilled, however fortunately, it didn’t linger. Good, old style purpose and a long time spent in science and expertise helped treatment me of the Worry of God sport. Touring to (and residing in) different international locations additionally helped. Merely put, I used to be uncovered to far too many different cultures, religions, perception techniques, ideologies, science, and philosophy to get caught in an archaic patriarchal perception system, no matter whether or not it was religious or secular. I had no thought simply how entrenched the patriarchy was embedded into the very material of our each day lives till years later, because of the work of Merlin Stone, Gerda Lerner, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sarah Penner and others. And in addition its connection to the written phrase from Dr. Leonard Shlain.
That mentioned, I at all times believed in a lot greater than what science might show or clarify and had my very own mystical experiences, lengthy earlier than I used to be launched to Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra and Tony Robbins and I don’t imply simply their work. I really met all three of them and a number of other others of their ilk alongside the best way.
I went to seminars, workshops, silent retreats, ashrams, meditation facilities, and temples and even lived on a kibbutz close to the Gaza strip for some time. I used to be a seeker even supposing I really trusted my instinct . . . that innate understanding all of us have entry to. I suppose you possibly can say it was stronger in my twenties and thirties, however the disillusion with Silicon Valley’s path and obsession with flipping start-ups brought on me to second guess that innate-ness, a lot in order that I stepped again from the expertise trade altogether.
Disillusioned by the All the time On World
This isn’t to say that I didn’t have loads of magic moments (as Tony Robbins calls them) on the planet of tech. Fact be informed, I met awe-inspiring entrepreneurs, realized how one can launch start-ups by means of to acquisition, write a funding proposal, and navigate my private model in an trade that was largely dominated by males. Essentially the most urgent difficulty was the largest catalyst: I misplaced a way of goal. I wasn’t launching merchandise that will change folks’s lives. Dragon’s speech recognition software program helped hundreds of individuals in important methods, however over the following ten years or so, I wasn’t seeing life-changing services and products float throughout my desk. Apps, apps, and extra apps. Platforms, platforms, and extra platforms. After which the Web of Issues (IoT) development took over and I wasn’t subscribing to the concept that all the things (and everybody) needed to be related.
I like serving to folks succeed, converse their fact and grow to be profitable. Philosophical discussions that explored the that means of life actually juiced me up. I had at all times imagined that my life can be spent filming otherworldly experiences (and issues) from helicopters, mountain tops and small distant villages, not sitting in board rooms or strolling the chaotic halls of COMDEX and CES sifting by means of units that felt like they had been draining the soul, not feeding it.
It was within the wave of the Web of Issues that I walked away from all of it. Massive information had grow to be the brand new neatest thing — am obsession actually. Earlier than you suppose I become a naysayer or luddite, I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge large information’s advantages on humanity, notably associated to our well being and well-being. I perceive that when this information is utilized creatively and strategically, it cannot solely assist us grow to be proactive co-creators of our well being, however the collective content material can really save lives. I don’t deny any of that. However regularly, I noticed folks changing into robots to their units, not the opposite means round.
Expertise is usually a lovely enabler when its utilized in steadiness, however I wasn’t seeing that steadiness. Folks had been spending extra time with their units than committing to private connection and being current with that connection, which is the true healer. Once we really feel out of steadiness, maybe we haven’t taken time for us to simply sit and BE with ourselves. It’s a scary thought for a lot of to decelerate and simply hook up with our interior self, our soul self, our Greater Self, no matter title you select to provide it. Be current with oneself, love oneself after which open up that presence and like to others, as the nice Buddha and plenty of different religious masters throughout millennia have taught.
You see, expertise had stopped making my coronary heart sing. It was on a prolonged journey to Iceland that introduced again the marvel in my life. Yup, Gaia once more, bringing me again to nature the place I belonged. Hanging out with puffin birds did make my coronary heart sing.
Capturing somebody’s private story in a small South American village did make my coronary heart sing. Rolling on the grass with laughing Rwandan youngsters who had by no means seen white pores and skin earlier than did make my coronary heart sing. Seeing a girl overcome bodily abuse after which converse her fact to assist different ladies have the identical braveness additionally makes my coronary heart sing. Seeing ladies in locations like Afghanistan and Ukraine display the resilience and take cost of their destinies in opposition to all odds makes me weep however then there’s the story of 1 lady who breaks by means of and tells her story, shifting the enjoying subject for therefore many. Holocaust survivors who share their tales and are in a position to forgive when rational logic says they by no means ought to is astonishing to me. The energy to forgive. The braveness. The love. The interior peace. Gandhi had it. Mandela had it. Rosa Parks had it.
The Beginning of Magdalene’s Journey as a Story
The marvel of the human potential is what lights me up and makes my coronary heart sing. This brings me to the e book about Mary Magdalene’s life, co-created with my accomplice Anthony: Magdalene’s Journey.
The turning level got here when Mary Magdalene surfaced in our lives. Anthony and I weren’t searching for her out; you would possibly say that she discovered us. We started to find that her life could have been completely different than the one faith dictated about her and Yeshua of Nazareth who the world most is aware of as Jesus. Who had been they actually? A part of me feared going there. In any case, why discover names which have at all times been related to Christianity and Catholicism, the very issues I ran away from due to the dogma?
We requested: “Why had been non-Christian and non-Jewish mystics writing about Mary Magdalene and Jesus?” In any case, Adyashanti (whose title means “primordial peace” btw) even wrote a e book about Jesus. Why had Harvard scholar Meggan Watterson written a e book about Mary Magdalene? Each of them had been rising outdoors of non secular circles, which made me curious.
Doing a little analysis didn’t present clear solutions, but it surely led us to the Gnostic Gospels, the Nag Hammadi Library, the Kabbalah, the teachings of historic mystics and past. What number of pivotal ladies had been written out of historical past and so-called holy books? Additional digging into the origins of Patriarchy resulted in lots of sleepless nights. I couldn’t get it out of my head.
How had I—a well-read lady who studied Girls Throughout Cultures at a London-based college and who had marched for ladies’s rights in multiple nation—missed the roots of patriarchy?
Certain, I knew concerning the Goddess religions and pagan traditions, however what I didn’t see (couldn’t see?) was how deeply entrenched patriarchy was in our society, even in trendy Western circles the place ladies had been CEO’s. Cognitive dissonance was far too sturdy.
So again to Mary Magdalene. Why her? I assume my first reply is, “Why not?” But it surely goes a lot deeper as you’ll uncover while you learn the e book. By her narrative, most of the solutions to life’s most paradoxical questions I’ve at all times wished the solutions to are mentioned.
The E-book’s Premise
Magdalene’s Journey shares Miriam’s relationship with the apostles—each female and male—and her experiences with Yeshua (Jesus). The narrative challenges a much-filtered and archaic narrative that has dictated to humanity how one can perceive historical past, the Abrahamic religions, and ladies’s pivotal roles throughout that point. This account is a big improve to an outdated paradigm and patriarchal storyline.
Tossed apart like an inconvenient fact by the powers behind patriarchal Roman thrones and later the Catholic hierarchy, she was principally unknown. Individuals who took the time to probe deeper nonetheless appeared by means of that tainted lens, main them to misconceive and devalue her function as a healer and trainer. This function, one might argue, was equal to that of Yeshua’s because the yin to his yang—complementary and interconnected forces that collectively amplified the facility of their skills.
In response to the distorting energy for a lot too a few years, the e book additionally shares the necessity to rebalance the masculine and female power on the planet, beginning inside every of us. This activity includes understanding not simply Miriam’s vital function, but in addition the important, never-recorded roles ladies have performed over millennia. It makes an attempt to seize a common message about their lives, now recreated in a interval that may present us a fuller, extra tangible understanding of it.
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Renee Blodgett is the founding father of We Weblog the World. The location combines the magic of a web based tradition and journey journal with a worldwide weblog community and has contributors from each continent on the planet. Having lived in 10 international locations and explored practically 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural variety.
She can also be the CEO and founding father of Magic Sauce Media, a brand new media companies consultancy centered on viral advertising and marketing, social media, branding, occasions and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped firms from 12 international locations get traction out there. Identified for her international and natural method to product and company launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an energetic person of social media, she helps purchasers navigate digital waters from world wide. Renee has been running a blog for over 16 years and repeatedly writes on her private weblog Down the Avenue, Huffington Submit, BlogHer, We Weblog the World and different websites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Journal and is listed as a brand new media influencer and sport changer on numerous websites and books on the brand new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed because the sixth most influential lady in social media by Forbes Journal on a High 20 Checklist.
Her ardour for artwork, storytelling and images led to the launch of Magic Sauce Pictures, which is a visible extension of her writing, the results of which has led to producing six picture books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee can also be the co-founder of Touring Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to different international locations to share and be taught from friends, governments, firms, and most of the people with the intention to educate, share, consider, and promote progressive applied sciences.