My Amish Blood
So, the title is a bit of a misnomer, but it serves the purpose of an easily identifiable label that most people can attach meaning to. My ancestors weren't technically Amish, or even Mennonite, but a different Christian sect that had quite a similar theological perspective and lifestyle as the Amish. Known to others as the German Baptists, referred to often as the Dunkards, my ancestors had a very similar lifestyle as the Amish...So, I'm coming out of the closet here, and revealing a big part of the undertow of my subconscious self and my programmed, patterned self here. In many ways, as an adult, I have gone incredibly far in the opposite direction of everything I was raised to model my lifestyle behavior after. Studying Massage and Reiki, Exploration with erotic bodywork, exploration with Indigenous shamanism, exploration with psychedelics, ecstatic dancing, huge hippie festivals, drinking and smoking - all these things fly madly in the face of everything I was encouraged to live my life as, as a child.