Last night was my first night as a meditation teacher in training ~ I was thrilled. I enjoyed it more than I anticipated I might.
My class has some 12 students; one of which is a 10 year old boy. Watching this kid sit through multiple meditations and answer questions about his experience totally confirmed my aspiration to teach kids. My heart just went through the roof; teaching anyone anything is a unique privilege - teaching someone how to meditate and thus be in communication with themselves is an honor.
Additionally, I'm learning about the basics of meditation all over again. There's some saying - we teach what we want to know - well yeah, that's for sure.
This might just be the coolest meditation class I've had thus far!
Friday, May 16, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
American Hardcore And Gender
Finally saw American Hardcore last night; very interesting film and sentiments expressed. A lot of the commentary about living in California during the Reagan administration I found to be an accurate reflection of what I was experiencing as a very young kid living in California during that time. There was absolutely nothing mellow about this place - there were underlying tensions and frustrations - a latent hostility that at the time I didn't really have a vocabulary to express.
At that time, musically speaking, I was studying classical form and likely just starting to get into jazz; I was vaguely aware of punk rock and hardcore but they weren't music that I got into at all.
When the question of where women showed up in hardcore the answer was 'keeing the books' and 'behind the cameras'. I could have guessed this and it made me very sad.
One of the 2 women interviewed who actually played music, Kimm Gardner,said something along the lines of not really ever being aware that she was a woman - this is very much how I felt growing up studying and playing jazz. I never considered my gender as part of the equation. That said, I definitely felt somewhat isolated from the people that were then my peers but I didn't ascribe those feelings to the fact that I was female at least not until I got to be a bit older and the idea of sexism was introduced to me.
Lately I've been giving gender and sexual orientation a lot of thought; I consider myself to be relatively heterosexual and certainly female. That said, I do not relate to typically heterosexual American lifestyle and the gender role that straight women take on.
On the flip side I never related to the riotgrrl movement or the whole era of 'women in rock' - it just seemed wrong to me that gender was a part of the equation of the expression of people. I think I simply see myself as a creative person - period.
Not fitting into a category of subculture has often left me feeling really isolated - there have been times in my life when I have yearned for the feelings of belonging that I imagine folks who are firmly planted in one group or another feel. I imagine everyone does.
At that time, musically speaking, I was studying classical form and likely just starting to get into jazz; I was vaguely aware of punk rock and hardcore but they weren't music that I got into at all.
When the question of where women showed up in hardcore the answer was 'keeing the books' and 'behind the cameras'. I could have guessed this and it made me very sad.
One of the 2 women interviewed who actually played music, Kimm Gardner,said something along the lines of not really ever being aware that she was a woman - this is very much how I felt growing up studying and playing jazz. I never considered my gender as part of the equation. That said, I definitely felt somewhat isolated from the people that were then my peers but I didn't ascribe those feelings to the fact that I was female at least not until I got to be a bit older and the idea of sexism was introduced to me.
Lately I've been giving gender and sexual orientation a lot of thought; I consider myself to be relatively heterosexual and certainly female. That said, I do not relate to typically heterosexual American lifestyle and the gender role that straight women take on.
On the flip side I never related to the riotgrrl movement or the whole era of 'women in rock' - it just seemed wrong to me that gender was a part of the equation of the expression of people. I think I simply see myself as a creative person - period.
Not fitting into a category of subculture has often left me feeling really isolated - there have been times in my life when I have yearned for the feelings of belonging that I imagine folks who are firmly planted in one group or another feel. I imagine everyone does.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
The Two Ends Of My Life
My life has always been odd if you looked at it from a certain angle. The current configuration may very well be the best example of said strangeness. As of this coming week, I will officially be on my way to becoming a meditation teacher. This has been a goal of mine for some time and the time has come to do it!
So by day I am a senior project manager working in adult entertainment and a by night a soon to be meditation teacher. Technically I am already a Reverend - I wonder how many Reverends work in adult entertainment - the Reverend title has always left me a little uncomfortable and at some point I will likely scrap it altogether but for now it's yet another identity that I possess.
I've debated how 'out' I want to be regarding my working in adult; I feel really strongly that we in the US need to get over our prudishness about sex in general. Bringing sex out of our closet and onto the table for discussion is probably the healthiest thing we could do for ourselves. It's everywhere already and yet we still seem to shy away from it.
As for spirituality - well sex can be a very spiritual thing - it seems natural to me as a spiritual practitioner to also be involved in the business of sexual expression.
On one level these two ends of my life are really one in the same.
So by day I am a senior project manager working in adult entertainment and a by night a soon to be meditation teacher. Technically I am already a Reverend - I wonder how many Reverends work in adult entertainment - the Reverend title has always left me a little uncomfortable and at some point I will likely scrap it altogether but for now it's yet another identity that I possess.
I've debated how 'out' I want to be regarding my working in adult; I feel really strongly that we in the US need to get over our prudishness about sex in general. Bringing sex out of our closet and onto the table for discussion is probably the healthiest thing we could do for ourselves. It's everywhere already and yet we still seem to shy away from it.
As for spirituality - well sex can be a very spiritual thing - it seems natural to me as a spiritual practitioner to also be involved in the business of sexual expression.
On one level these two ends of my life are really one in the same.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
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