Re: trying to find myself.. dar mplscelt@yahoo.com Fri Feb 16 16:25:09 2001 No, it's not a dumb message. This is why many of us turned to spirituality.*p*I can only speak for myself, of course, but there were two things that sent me on this path: first, the feeling I got from the earth when I took the time to sit under a tree, go on a hike, or swim in a lake. I felt a healing presence there, an understanding presence: a non-judgemental presence. No matter how bad I felt about myself (and boy did I feel bad about myself), or how much trouble I felt I was in, Mother Nature helped me to feel better and more hopeful, if I gave her the time.*p*The second thing that kept me on the path were the people I met when I went to local Wiccan and Druidic gatherings. I liked them. They were open, honest, and seemed more focused on learning what they could than on converting me. As a matter of fact, although the first folks I contacted were Wiccan, I follow a Celtic path that is not Wiccan because it felt more compelling to me. *p*A word of warning: just because someone calls themselves a pagan doesn't mean they aren't a creep. Tread cautiously. Be careful that you do not feel coerced by anyone, that you are free to make your own choices and decisions, and that you get a good "vibe" from a group or a person. Don't let the feeling of "belonging" to someone or something make you ignore signs that someone is using you.*p*Luckily, I do not say this from personal experience; however, I know a few folks who tried to follow Wicca or Druidism who found themselves mislead by people who wanted to use them. So, forge ahead fearlessly, stay close to nature, keep your eyes and heart open, don't let anyone take advantage of you, and you'll find yourself. I guarantee it.*p*Now, how to find folks: look for pagan bookstores in your area, or look on Witchvox, which has an index of pagans all over the world, so you can contact some in your area with questions. Here's their URL:*br*http://www.witchvox.net/xwotw.html*p*Brigit Bless and good luck!*br*- Dar.*br*~DrewSylla^420~ wrote,*br*: *br*: hehe just a warning, this is gonna be a DUMB message*br*:*br*: I'm not even sure this is the place I should be posting it *br*: actually*br*:*br*: I've just noticed no matter what problems I've had in my *br*: life..and there are always a lot...in the end it always *br*: comes back to ME. ya know? And what the hell do I do about *br*: it? Get drunk all the time, cut, throw up, etc...I hate *br*: myself too..I looked up "Spirituality" kidn of out *br*: of boredom, but it had me thinking I need to start looking *br*: toward some sort of higher power, something beyond myself. I *br*: need to "save" myself, basically*br*: I don't go for organized religion, so christianity is out, *br*: but I've always been intrigued by wicca. I've read up on it *br*: a few times, but I don't know much.*br*:*br*: I guess I'm asking for yall to tell me what got you started, *br*: kind of..what was that point where you felt something that *br*: inspired you enough to get into this stuff..maybe something *br*: about self discovery...I don't know...later*br* trying to find myself.. ~DrewSylla^420~ 723 Thu Feb 15 00:00:58 2001