Focal Point, used by CC Permission Mykel Roventine
It may sound odd, but I’ve always had a problem being in a niche. Even though everything I do seems to be a niche-focus. Every time someone has said that I should choose, I’ve said, “no!” My work with the concept of sustainable spirituality is one of the ways I’ve tried to work with this. This practice helps me put a container and focus around my diverse interests. What I do know is that I’m finally becoming comfortable with having and being in a niche. I don’t know how long this will last, of course.
I thought, a year ago, that I wanted to try and balance public priestessing with my artwork and writing. This meant leading public rituals, working as a guide, officiating weddings/life-cycle events, and somehow writing and creating art — oh and managing a demanding job and keeping my marriage on track. Needless to say, I’ve had to make some choices.
I’ve realized that where I really want to put my energy for the time-being is in my writing, artwork, and work with Becoming. I enjoy and find “public priestessing” rewarding, but since there are so many hours in the day, I need to focus that more on the community that supports me. I still have a vision of being a Jewish priestess to the unaffiliated, but until that (or artwork/writing) is able to provide my income — I have to let that go.
I suppose for the readers of this site, little will change. I will still keep writing, because that supports what I wish to focus on. I’ll still be teaching the occasional workshop and most likely be making space for an Elul Torah Study again this year. I’ll continue to publish the Wheel of the Year Guides.
I would also like to find a way to deepen my connection to the Jewish community, but I don’t want to create something new. I often am asked if I’ll create a Havurah of some kind or lead more rituals, but I know now that what I wish to do is work within an existing framework for a while, instead of trying to create another group. I would love to see this site, which has been in existence for some time, be a locus-point for a geographically diverse community. I know a lot of people visit the site, but the engagement level has always been fairly low, overall. But again, that might be me fighting against a focus and just finding a new way to spread myself to thin!
A couple of years ago, I removed the artwork aspect of this site to http://embroidery.peelapom.com. I did this for two reasons. I knew a lot of the art community I talk to might not be thrilled about visiting a spiritually focused website, and a lot of the spiritual folks weren’t excited about the ins and outs of fiber art! I think I need to find a way to bring these more together, even if I leave the sites separate. Maybe here I’ll talk about the spirituality of the work and there I’ll talk more about the technique.
I know from my job that choosing a focus does not mean leaving other things out, and if you highlight everything — you actually highlight nothing. I wonder how other people deal with this? Do you have niche you are comfy with or do you struggle with managing a wide-range of interests?
