I've been on numerous sites over the years. I have profiles on everything from impnow.com and livejournal.com to yahoo 360 and myspace. But in the past year I'm finding more that I need a bit more connection on the spiritual level than what I've found elsewhere (perhaps with the exception of the girls on my yahoo 360 account). My husband and I have put up a profile on Witchvox in the past but we've not had much response from that effort. I've tried forums like Cauldron Living in the past as well, only to be met with virtual silence. I think that this has more to do with the area we live in than anything.

We're all looking for those closer to us. People in our local area that share our belief systems and basic moral rules are essential to life and friendships. My husband and I got married in a small "traditional" ceremony in early October. By traditional, we mean that it was a version that suited my traditional Christian family. That's part of the problem for us. Both of us come from Christian backgrounds and we live in the bible belt. So, it is a bit vexing that we are, for the sake of keeping peace, forced to remain in the broom closet. This is at least the case until we move out of this area where our family isn't so affected socially by our decisions. I think of it as a compromise. I don't want to cause my family undue stress and surely if I were more open about my beliefs they would come under a great deal of scrutiny. The fact that I'm a novelist and writer is bad enough for them.

My husband and I have no plans to remain in this area. We both love to travel and find this area to be far too stifling both creatively and spiritually. However, in our present financial position we remain here to be close to his young daughter. She needs her father and I am not about to tell him that we have to move away from her without the ability to bring her to us on a fairly regular basis. He spent two and a half years away from her while he was working in Iraq and dealing with the legality of divorce from his ex. I think his influence on her is a very important thing and so we stay.

That decision makes profiles and online networking like this important for us. It is a way for us to connect to our spiritual community, a way for us to make new friends, broaden our horizons, and stay focused and grounded on our path.

My blog will contain anecdotes about our life, essays that I write on spirituality, and likely will contain some degree of information about the spiritual book that I'm working on called Bible Belt Witch. It should all prove to be insightful and entertaining at least and I hope that with this new profile and tool, I shall be able to meet people who share my passions and my somewhat eclectic path. We could all use some new friends and it is going to be fun meeting new people for a change.