…the teacher appears. This book is just what I want right now.

In chapter 9, Dr. Connie Zweig lists the many teachers who have been among my inspirations and guiding lights, who are now spiritual elders or who have recently passed from this world. Just seeing their names fills me with gratitude and delight; I’ve added and subtracted from Dr. Zweig’s list, but we share many: the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Ram Dass, Roshi Joan Halifax, Alan Watts, Joanna Macy, Joseph Campbell, Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzburg, Ken Wilbur, Pema Chodren, Richard Rohr, Joan Chittiser, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Matthew Fox, Thomas Berry, Starhawk, Bernie Glassman, Wendell Berry, Brother David Stendahl-Rast, Jack Kornfield, Reggie Ray, Father Thomas Keating, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Jean Houston, Mary Catherine Bateson, Marianne Williamson, Reverend Michael Beckwith, Thomas Moore, Cynthia Bourgeault, Rick Hanson, Mary Oliver, Natalie Goldberg, Julia Cameron, Anne Lamott…and there are so many more — I’m listing here spiritual teachers, a few poets and writers, but there are so many artists, activists, performers, thinkers who have influenced my inner life; I love every moment I’ve spent with these wise voices in my head, so fortunate that they live here, within my own lifespan, and that seeking and serendipity brought them to me.

I haven’t spoken publicly much about my spiritual life before. I guess I’m coming out.