Passover is one of my favorite holidays. I have always loved the messages of freedom and possibility in the Exodus story, which is retold each year around a table with family and friends. I don’t like living without bread for eight days, but that’s another story. Freedom from bondage–well, that’s a subject that fascinates me and appears in some form in everything I write. In this sense, whether you are religious or not, Jewish or not, the Exodus holds for us a sense of possibility for our lives.
Several years ago, I conceived the idea of a small book of meditations. I would list a verse from Exodus, write about what it means to me personally, and then offer some ideas on how others could ponder these essays to find their own inner freedom. I set the book aside as other projects emerged, but periodically came back to it.
As with all of my writing projects, I experience a level of fear about putting the words “out there.” Who am I, after all, to tell others how to experience life more fully? Lord knows, I have my share of neuroses. But then, maybe the fact that I’ve manifested many dreams despite all my foibles makes me more relatable to others. I don’t really know. I do know, however, that when I act on all of my ideas, without judgment, my own life frees up even more.
In this latest form, I’ve removed “meditations” and replaced them with “musings.” As someone who taught yoga for a few years, I discovered that people are often intimidated by the concept of meditation. They think they can’t do it, or that they are always “doing it wrong.” Creating “musings” felt more playful, less daunting, more realistic for busy people who don’t have time to contemplate their navels for hours on end. I am, for better or worse, a practical woman.
Passover starts March 29 this year. I thought that in honor of the holiday, and in preparation for the Passover time of year, I would start posting segments in their current form (which means unedited) in order to share them. I have always felt strongly that this work needs to be shared without charge, that it needs to be a gift.
As I post these musings, I hope to hear from you. Do they resonate? If so, how? Did something else pop out at you that I didn’t address? What does freedom mean to you?