Maria Grace's Page

Hometown:

Sedona

Relationship Status:

Married

About Me:

I came to America in 1997 with four suitcases and my little daughter Kaitlyn who didn't speak English. I started all over again, having sold all my belongings except some books in my grandmother's attic, although I doubt that I will ever read Freud again… I started out as a teacher of Anthropology (M.A.) at a private high school here in Sedona, then cleaned houses for a couple of years, made sandwiches in a health food store, managed an art gallery, sold real estate, grew a successful wedding business (married about 350 couples), and am now selling timeshare, which surprisingly proves to be the most intense spiritual growth path I have been on.

My heart sings when I read or write poetry and my goal is to memorize 100 poems by the time I am 50. This will come in handy if I ever get stranded on a deserted island or have to go to prison.

There is an undercurrent of melancholy in my being that I tried to get rid of for many years and now acknowledge as a part of me and as a source for writing poems.

My life goal is to become a licensed poetry therapist and work with children who have terminal illnesses, inmates in institutions or prisons, school children, and to conduct workshops to guide people to the core of their being where poetry lives, and heals.

I am a good friend, loyal, loving, and protective, and I believe in helping others fulfill their dreams.

For most of my life I have tried to follow a path (Tibetan Buddhism, Native American traditions, Christianity (fundamental for one year), Urantia Book, four weeks of Mormonism, New Age) and have felt sorry for myself that I always had doubts about certain concepts, dogmas, etc. My friend David has helped me see that my doubts are my strength, because I question everything. Now I am at a point where I do not look for answers anymore but am fairly comfortable not knowing what truth really is. It's okay.

Website 1:

http://www.TwoHeartsOneLifeWeddings.com

Website 2:

http://www.mariakgrace.blogspot.com

Favorite Music:

* Oman Ken (my husband),
* Wailing Jennys,
* Beatles,
* James Taylor,
* Tim McGraw,
* Josh Groban,
* Mozart,
* Vivaldi,
* James Blunt,
* Sarah Brightman
Celtic, Fleetwood Mac, Sting...



Movies:

Favorite Books:

* A Book of Luminous Things by Czeslaw Milosz (my absolute favorite book of poetry),
* The Siege by Helen Dunmore (I gained eight pounds reading it),
* To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (a classic),
* Writing down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg which opened me up to claiming that I am a writer,
* The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann (I read it two! times right after another when I was 19),
* The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (I cried numerous times),
* Eva Luna by Isabel Allende (if my husband had been up for it and we would have had another child she would have been named Eva Luna),
* When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron saved my butt,
What Happy People Know, by Dan Baker (saved my spirit at a cross roads)
Lonesome Dove
Blackbird, Jennifer Lauck (memoir)
Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (novel)
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers
* and so many more....

Favorite Movies:

* Braveheart,
* To Kill a Mocking Bird,
* Sliding Doors,
* Amarcord (Fellini),
* Lonesome Dove
I know there are more but I can't think of them right now...

Favorite TV Shows:

Grey's Anatomy
PBS shows

That's about it with just 6 channels and an antennae on the roof...

What do you do to make a living?

Lots of different things. I have a thriving wedding business, do counseling, trade and barter to save money, and am reconstructing my life as we speak to move toward a more focused purpose that involves writing a lot.

What kind of hobbies do you have?

I take that to mean, what do I like:
Reading, writing, reading and memorizing poetry, watching birds, collecting abandoned nests, finding eggs, photography, kissing, art on my walls, cutting out things and keeping that stuff in a box, finding things, NOT cooking, sleeping in, having breakfast outside the house, picnics, surprising myself....

In a world where you were pursuing your deepest, most heartfelt callings, what would you be doing?

Helping people deeply connect with who they are through the art of poetry and writing, i.e children with cancer, prison inmates, school children, people in crisis.
I would also spend time in Italy every year.

What is the most important thing you have learned in your life?

There is a core of me that seems to always bounce back from the black bottom.
My values carry me through life.
Friends are important and need to be cherished.
There is no limit to love.
It's okay to not know the answers.

Describe a belief that you previously held and then subsequently changed. What caused you to change your mind?

Several years ago I tried to be a fundamentalist Christian. I devotedly read the Bible, listened to Christian folks ushering me along the "right" path, and felt it was extremely sexy to be determined, opinionated, and to know the truth. Well, I tried. My nature is to challenge beliefs, even my own, and I have hardwired doubts about most things in life. I came to the conclusion that my effort to live without doubt had to fail because it wasn't me. As I said, It's okay not to know the answers.

Who do you admire most in the world (past and/or present) and why?

My grandma, because she raised two children with nothing to call her own in and after WWII, when her husband was shot down from the sky. Her hard work, discipline, values of honesty and integrity are my inspiration. She is also stubborn, curious, a great cook, and has a gigantic and generous heart. She is 87 and has never learned to drive a car. Until 84 it was all bicycle.

At this turbulent moment in history, what do you think is the most important thing a person can do to help humankind (and the rest of the planet) survive the many dangers that confront us?

Stop the crusade against the ego. It is time to integrate heart, body, mind, and soul, and not to separate and label parts of us as illusions. It is time to be authentic, listen to our intuition, help each other, praise each other, be kind, learn about things that frighten us.

What are your answers to the big questions: Who are we? Where are we from? Why are we here? Where are we headed?

I am still in the process of figuring that out. Our stint here is short and we were before and will be after.

Why did you decide to join this community?

Because I like the big questions....