July 17th, 2008Hudson Valley Life Magazine features Sheila Pearl
The title of the article in the Hudson Valley Life Magazine is “Pearls of Wisdom”
It’s nice when you’ve lived long enough to have earned the status of “wise woman”… In this article, the writer refers to “The Holy Woman of the Hudson Valley”–that’s me! How does one get that reputation? Well…”holy” isn’t what you may think. To me, “holy” is another way of saying that something or someone has depth to it; in order to have “depth” and be willing to constantly go deeper and deeper, one discovers all the nooks and cranies of a person, a situation or a book.
“Holy books” are books filled with depth: depths of thought, meaning, and experience.
“Holy people” are people whose lives are characterized by taking risks, falling down, surviving difficult obstacles, learning from life’s experiences and challenges.
Sooo…having lived 66+ years to date, I think I qualify: I’ve taken lots and lots of risks, continue to do so, don’t take the safe road, am constantly seeking to grow and stretch as a human being, and am unafraid to admit my faults and short-falls, am excited about new opportunities in life, as long as I have breath.
A great spiritual teacher and one of my husband’s mentors was Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel; he described “holiness” as “going deep” and the opposite of holiness as “superficial”.
So for me, being dubbed the “Holy Woman of the Hudson Valley” is a great compliment: some people out there have acknowledged that I am a woman of depth, vulnerability, a seeker of wisdom, and lifelong learner, and a human being who is constantly passionate about life in all its aspects–the physical, the emotional and the spiritual.
Could you describe yourself as “holy”? And if not, why not? Would you like to be? Would you like some guidance on living you life more deeply and with a sense of deep inner satisfaction? To me, that’s what living a “holy” life is all about.
Let’s talk!
Sheila