This morning I was wondering just how I could have a lasting relationship with a nondenominational God. Most folk have a church they go to, for prayer, and celebration. I choose not to be part of organised religion. In most of these practices I would not be allowed to serve God, because I happen to be lacking a Y chromosome. I do want, however, a lasting relationship with God. So I am creating my own religion, or more so, my own personal relationship with a high deity. As this is a relationship, I first look to my earthly relationships to know how to start. When I am in a living arrangement with a partner, I wake up and say Good Morning to the person sleeping next to me. Today I choose to say Good Morning to God. As I thank this hypothetical person for cooking me a beautiful feast of French toast and soy bacon, I therefore thank God for my breakfast. I call up hypothetical partner throughout the day, “Hey,” I’ll say, “how is your day?” I will keep in contact with this partner throughout my day, checking in at various points, asking for help with different duties, and letting this person “see” me, the good parts and the ugly parts. I will practice honesty with this person. These little practices with my hypothetical mate can be used to form a lasting partnership with a higher power. Hypothetical Person, Higher Power, both relationships need to grow, and both need an energy expenditure from me. I have to do the work in order to get the French toast.
● About Me
I wrote and published my first blog post on May 26, 2009. I was about to turn 36 and had been accepted to Mount Holyoke College as a non-traditional student, on my way to completing a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Medieval Studies. I had managed, finally, to know what general direction I was traveling. As a self proclaimed voracious reader I knew that I needed a vocation that would allow me to engage daily with words: reading words, writing words, and hearing words. I also needed to eat, so I navigated my way to a teaching position and I began to fine tune my craft. I love to teach and I love my students, but I also needed to continue to hone my own literary technique, voice, and style. I continued my education in order to delve deeper into literature, making connections, and most definitely, writing. I gained more confidence as a reader as well as a writer of both creative and analytical text. That first blog post in 2009 is short, the writing average, and the topic mundane, but as I continued to learn from other writers I began to understand that to become a better writer I needed to write more. Each time I write and release a poem, a post, or a story, I hone my skills. I invite you along for the ride, for this journey of mine as I attempt to wrangle a wealth of ideas and competing directions into an organized freshly paved path to publication. I might get distracted along the way, but sometimes those detours lead us to amazing views and new friends.
Laura Smith Writer 
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