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Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Musings From Another Mother: Sherri.

Once a month, I've been making an effort to share musings from other mothers who inspire me.

January: Janelle 
February: Ashton 
March: Andrea
April: Allison + Annie 
May: Jen
June: Mallory 
July: Becky






For the month of August, I'm proud to showcase Sherri.  



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Sherri is the daughter of our family-friend, Al. Al is my biggest cheerleader and confidence-booster, and also my go-to car mechanic. We call him Lilah Grace's "Fantasy GrandDad" because he plays the role of grandfather, and spoils her rotten. He lives near us ((in Texas)), but his daughter lives in New York. Anytime Al talks about Sherri, he lights up and goes on ((and on, and on, and on...just kidding, Al!)) about what an incredible woman she is. As soon as I met her, I knew exactly what he was talking about. She has so much radiance, grace, poise, intelligence, compassion, and love for humanity ((and animals)) pulsing through her veins. 
 
Sherri became a mama one year ago, and her son, Dash, is one of the most adorable babies I've ever seen. I was beyond ecstatic when Sherri agreed to share her heart while participating in this monthly series. In reading her responses to these questions,
 I discovered way more about this amazing mama, and fell even more in love. Enjoy the inspiration! 


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What’s your definition of a feminist?
Someone who believes strongly in and fights for equality for women.

Do you consider yourself a feminist?

I actually consider myself a "people-ist". I know that's not a word but it best describes my feeling about it. I am always on the side of people in general not being treated equally. I get very upset and feel strongly when someone is being treated unfairly. Whether they are a minority, gay, a woman, the elderly, poor, misunderstood, etc., I feel the same for all.







Do you feel closer to whatever you call the Higher Power since having a “feminist awakening”?  Further from it?  Ambivalent? 
I have not had a feminist awakening exactly. I have always felt women should be treated equally. I grew up in a house with 3 brothers and I was the only girl. My dad would sometimes make references that seemed sexist and I would call him on it. Even as a young girl, I didn't really know that's what I was doing, but I was. He now laughs at things he says that are sexist and realizes he is being ridiculous when I point it out.  He's grown a lot!


Do you think feminism and spirituality are related, or have nothing to do with one another? 

I feel that spirituality is something that is so deep in your soul that you feel passionate about and makes you a better person. If feminism is that for you, then yes, I believe it's related for that person.

What do you do and what encouraged you to get into your line of work?

I am a makeup artist in film and television. I grew up doing makeup from the time I was 4 years old. I always loved it even though I don't currently wear a lot of makeup! My mother was also a hairdresser when I was growing up. This also influenced me.

What spiritual habits//practices//routines do you incorporate into your life?  How do you bring spirituality to your family life?

I would have to say that the most spiritual things we incorporate in our lives is church for my husband and sometimes me, music, love, and love of animals. Everyday when I'm feeding my child, I sing to him. The way we look at each other during this time feels very spiritual to me.

Do you want your children to have the same religious experience that you did as a child?

I am actually not a religious person. I did not grow up in a religious household, although as a young girl, I went to church with my best friend's family and became very involved. The church that I went to was very fanatical, in my opinion, and was very strict in its beliefs. It believed that this religion was the only religion that would go to "heaven" and any other person that was not "saved" by us would burn in hell and the blood of all of these people would be on my hands. It was so scary that I went to my father hysterically, who was Jewish, and told him I had to save him and I didn't want him to burn in hell as I cried. He told me that one day I would realize that I was being brainwashed and that he was going to be fine. This, in fact, is what happened.  I witnessed some very hypocritical things during my time in this particular church and it scarred me to the point that I was anti-religion for many years. My husband is a member of the episcopal church and has had many conversations with me to help me better understand what religion, when not fanatical, is really about. I have a new view on it now and have opened my eyes to the incredibly accepting episcopal church he belongs to in NYC. They are what I wanted to believe religion was really about. This church has women reverends, many gay members, transgender people as part of the procession, and is just, in general, a very open minded place of worship for many other reasons as well.

For these reasons, I have been attending this church and I am learning to trust religion again. This is how I want my son to be raised. He has been going here with my husband or both of us since he was born. I want him to be raised in the episcopal church and make his own decision about it when he is old enough to understand his decision.







What is the difference between religion and spirituality?
Well, to me, spirituality is anything that makes you feel centered, whole, and basically a better person. It can come from anything, ie: meditation, being at the ocean, going to church, music, or doing something that you feel passionate about. In addition to being a makeup artist, I also have a cat rescue in NYC. Saving these precious animals from the streets and getting them into their forever homes is a spiritual experience for me. Especially when it involves helping an injured or extremely frightened cat. Figuring out how to help the animal trust you and communicating with them to help figure out what they need and want is extremely spiritual to me.

Religion is a basic principle and set of ethics that you live by and how you worship. Religion and spirituality can be the same thing for some people and totally different others.


What do you think happens when we die?

I am not 100% sure. In my experience, I have definitely felt the presence of people who are close to me that have passed.

How do you talk to your kids about the big questions?

My son is only 1 years old so I haven't had to answer the big ones yet. I look forward to the challenge though!

3 comments:

  1. reading my daughter's comments makes me proud of her values .... mostly I'm happy as i married a Christian lady and i as a Jewish person (not religiously just born into the religion) so i didn't think it fair to impose on any of my children the religion I was born into, nor did i think it fair she or the other children be "indoctrinated" via the local church (culture) etc ... My preference was that she as would the other children grow to a level of adult maturity and then choose .... including NONE ... well that's EXACTLY what happened to all of them .... one decided on Judaism, one is liberal Baptist , and of course you just read about Sherri.

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  2. and I'm proud of Lindsay for many of the reasons I value my daughter Sherri, and you know what else ? I used to LOVE doing things to make my daughter's life easier while she was starting her adult life ,you know going to college, getting her own place to live ... fixing her car to avoid her going BROKE just to drive it and maintain it through ongoing repairs that seem to occur at the wrong times for young folks ...

    Well Lindsay is a deserving one too and I love my self imposed role of doing those things that make her life easier too .... 1 baby, 1 on the way we all went through that and hardly any of us were in the 1 % that could afford ANY unexpected financial experience .... like a CAR REPAIR ! So yes yes yes I'm happy to give my expertise to her too !

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