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Well, I think I finally found something that I can be passionate about blogging. I want to document my attempts to live a compassionate life in this insane, materialistic, every-man-for-himself type society that I live in.

I had a very interesting childhood. First, my mother comes from a very conservative Church of Christ home. She was so sheltered that she didn't even know what a bagel was until she was in college. I am not kidding. When I heard that story my first thought was, "So that's why we always had bagels in the house." :) Bagels were a big part of the day growing up. She loves them and now it makes sense.

When my mom went to college she went a little wild, like most sheltered girls do. She raised me very differently. She gave me experiences and let me decide for myself what I believe. She may have gone a little too far to the other side in terms of religion, but I was raised even so to be a "good girl." I like to joke that if I came to her and said, "I believe fairies rule our world and we must placate them in every way," she would have said, "That's a valid idea, but let's talk about it a little more."

In my own way I was very naive. Looking back on high school, I realize now that there were things going on around me with my own circle of friends that I was completely oblivious to. It was through my own experiences in college that I figured out what exactly was going on in those situations. Everyone thought me such a good girl that they didn't dare pop the bubble of naivety that I was living in.

On the other hand, I was allowed to explore religion with a freedom that most people are not given. I went to church with friends and never questioned why my mother never went but sent me along on the church bus or in a my friends' parent's car.  I was interested in Wicca from a very early age (junior high) when most people go through that phase in college. I became interested in Buddhism in college. I eventually found all of these to be too limiting. Now my main philosophy of compassion in everything I do is essentially a Buddhist one but I love the elements of other religions too. I simply don't believe there is one or more beings physically affecting the lives of human and animals. But I will get into what I believe another time...maybe. :)  I don't think it's very important to describe one's beliefs in order to live compassionately. Anyone can do it no matter their religion. In fact, most people like to claim that their own religion's purpose is this very philosophy and if that is true, then compassion should be everyone's main goal in life.