Earlier than we get to the e-book, let’s discuss concerning the journey . . .
Early on, earlier than any of my colleagues printed their books on social media saying that the megaphone was open for the plenty and everybody had a voice with a button click on, I might have written a e-book about this digital explosion. In truth, many individuals anticipated me to. For some purpose, I held again regardless of figuring out it might have simply boosted my profession. It felt overdone even earlier than it was “executed.” 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 individuals 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.
After I wasn’t working tirelessly for purchasers, I used to be consumed by different passions: journey, pictures and meals. Fortunately, I made time for nature because the marvel of Her has all the time been a precedence in my life. Gaia stored me grounded and nonetheless does to this present day, a good nearer good friend than you expensive weblog.
Someplace alongside the best way, TravelingGeeks was birthed after which this web site: We Weblog the World. Journey additionally started to take over and I can’t say that I minded. I’ve traveled to 96 nations and lived in eleven of these. Life was all the time fascinating and so have been my purchasers. My mates, communities and their worlds have been riveting.
Re-Visiting Spirituality and Consciousness
Amidst all this, the nagging subject I confronted in childhood often reared itself to be considered in a unique mild once more: faith and spirituality, besides that I spotted they have been two various things very early in my life. If you happen to’ve ever learn Yann Martel’s Lifetime of Pi, then you definately’ll perceive a little bit little bit of my backstory. My household couldn’t resolve the place to go along 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 non secular. I might sum up his deeper beliefs in two phrases: self-discipline and love, though they have been typically at odds with one another. My great-grandmother Bertha insisted I attend Lutheran Sunday Faculty courses as a result of it was the strictest faith and the one church that was positive to maintain me straight and slim. This was ironic since there was nothing straight and slim about me or Bert (Nice Grandma’s shortened nickname), whom I even lived with for brief durations of time. She was married a number of occasions, together with to a politician and story has it that she threw one in all 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 she or he all the time spoke her thoughts regardless of how her directness bothered individuals. In truth, 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 positive that outdated Bertha was Jewish since her household had modified their identify and would by no means reply the query why. The get together line was that they have been English, however their options regarded a helluva lot extra like Japanese German Jews, which is what a little bit digging uncovered. Which may clarify why my grandfather applauded me once I joined the JCC in highschool. He appeared to resonate with Judaism though we not often spoke of it.
The remainder of the household was equally confused. To stability 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 Faculty (and even sang in its choir), and went with my almost-adopted dad and mom (that’s a narrative for an additional time) to a Baptist Church for a few years, which led to a few-year stint educating 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 non secular trauma that a few of you studying this may increasingly have skilled, however fortunately, it didn’t linger. Good, old style purpose and many years spent in science and know-how helped treatment me of the Concern of God recreation. Touring to (and dwelling in) different nations 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 concept simply how entrenched the patriarchy was embedded into the very cloth of our every day lives till years later, due to the work of Merlin Stone, Gerda Lerner, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sarah Penner and others. And likewise its connection to the written phrase from Dr. Leonard Shlain.
That mentioned, I all the time 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 though I really trusted my instinct . . . that innate figuring out 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 know-how trade altogether.
Disillusioned by the At all times 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 learn how to launch start-ups by to acquisition, write a funding proposal, and navigate my private model in an trade that was largely dominated by males. Probably the most urgent difficulty was the largest catalyst: I misplaced a way of objective. I wasn’t launching merchandise that will change individuals’s lives. Dragon’s speech recognition software program helped 1000’s of individuals in vital methods, however over the subsequent ten years or so, I wasn’t seeing life-changing services float throughout my desk. Apps, apps, and extra apps. Platforms, platforms, and extra platforms. After which the Web of Issues (IoT) pattern took over and I wasn’t subscribing to the concept that the whole lot (and everybody) needed to be linked.
I really like serving to individuals succeed, communicate their reality and grow to be profitable. Philosophical discussions that explored the that means of life actually juiced me up. I had all the time imagined that my life could 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 gadgets that felt like they have 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. Huge information had grow to be the brand new smartest thing — am obsession actually. Earlier than you assume I changed into a naysayer or luddite, I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge massive 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 can’t 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 step by step, I noticed individuals changing into robots to their gadgets, not the opposite manner round.
Know-how could be a lovely enabler when its utilized in stability, however I wasn’t seeing that stability. Folks have been spending extra time with their gadgets than committing to non-public connection and being current with that connection, which is the true healer. Once we really feel out of stability, maybe we haven’t taken time for us to only sit and BE with ourselves. It’s a scary concept for a lot of to decelerate and simply hook up with our internal self, our soul self, our Larger Self, no matter identify you select to offer it. Be current with oneself, love oneself after which open up that presence and like to others, as the good Buddha and plenty of different religious masters throughout millennia have taught.
You see, know-how 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 guffawing 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 communicate her reality to assist different girls have the identical braveness additionally makes my coronary heart sing. Seeing girls in locations like Afghanistan and Ukraine display the resilience and take cost of their destinies towards all odds makes me weep however then there’s the story of 1 lady who breaks by and tells her story, shifting the taking part in subject for thus 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 power to forgive. The braveness. The love. The internal 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 associate Anthony: Magdalene’s Journey.
The turning level got here when Mary Magdalene surfaced in our lives. Anthony and I weren’t looking for her out; you may say that she discovered us. We started to find that her life could have been totally different than the one faith dictated about her and Yeshua of Nazareth who the world most is aware of as Jesus. Who have been they actually? A part of me feared going there. In any case, why discover names which have all the time been related to Christianity and Catholicism, the very issues I ran away from due to the dogma?
We requested: “Why have been non-Christian and non-Jewish mystics writing about Mary Magdalene and Jesus?” In any case, Adyashanti (whose identify 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 have been rising exterior of non secular circles, which made me curious.
Performing some analysis didn’t present clear solutions, nevertheless it led us to the Gnostic Gospels, the Nag Hammadi Library, the Kabbalah, the teachings of historic mystics and past. What number of pivotal girls 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 girls’s rights in a couple of 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 girls have been CEO’s. Cognitive dissonance was far too robust.
So again to Mary Magdalene. Why her? I suppose my first reply is, “Why not?” Nevertheless it goes a lot deeper as you’ll uncover while you learn the e-book. By way of her narrative, most of the solutions to life’s most paradoxical questions I’ve all the time wished the solutions to are mentioned.
The Guide’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 learn how to perceive historical past, the Abrahamic religions, and girls’s pivotal roles throughout that point. This account is a big improve to an outdated paradigm and patriarchal storyline.
Tossed apart like an inconvenient reality by the powers behind patriarchal Roman thrones and later the Catholic hierarchy, she was largely unknown. Individuals who took the time to probe deeper nonetheless regarded by that tainted lens, main them to misconceive and devalue her position as a healer and instructor. This position, 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 entails understanding not simply Miriam’s essential position, but additionally the important, never-recorded roles girls 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 positioning combines the magic of an internet tradition and journey journal with a world weblog community and has contributors from each continent on the planet. Having lived in 10 nations and explored practically 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural variety.
She can be the CEO and founding father of Magic Sauce Media, a brand new media companies consultancy centered on viral advertising, social media, branding, occasions and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped corporations from 12 nations get traction out there. Identified for her world and natural method to product and company launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an energetic consumer of social media, she helps purchasers navigate digital waters from around the globe. Renee has been running a blog for over 16 years and usually writes on her private weblog Down the Avenue, Huffington Publish, 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 recreation 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 Prime 20 Checklist.
Her ardour for artwork, storytelling and pictures 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 be the co-founder of Touring Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to different nations to share and be taught from friends, governments, firms, and most people as a way to educate, share, consider, and promote progressive applied sciences.
