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I'm passionate about memoir writing as an agent for radical social change.
Particularly memoirs written by women.
Women's voices have been suppressed by the patriarchy for the past 4,000 years* and at this point in our planet's history—a time of global climate change, a global pandemic, and war—we are in desperate need of cultural change: it is time to swing the pendulum back towards honoring the energies of the Divine Feminine and our Mother Earth.
These are some of the themes explored by the memoir I'm in process with:
TREETOPS AND THE BUDDHIST MONKS ACROSS THE ROAD: A Memoir.
I'm also the author of The Mini Book of Mindfulness (Running Press/Hachette, 2016).
The central questions infusing my writing are:
HOW DOES ONE LIVE THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE AS A SPIRITUAL BEING (without getting hung up on religious dogma) and
HOW DOES ONE TRANSMUTE ADVERSITY INTO SPIRITUAL GROWTH?
My own spiritual yearning for mystical unity, along with eschewing what I observe in religious institutions—crumbling patriarchal hierarchies, dogma, hypocrisy, deadly earnestness, judgmental attitudes—inspired me to read deeply.
The most significant influences in the awakening of consciousness within me include the work of:
- interfaith minister, Reverend Doctor Stephanie Rutt
- Tosha Silver, astrologer and author of 'Outrageous Openness: Letting the Divine Take the Lead,' and 'It's Not Your Money'
- Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema Chodron
- Anne Baring, PhD, Oxford scholar and Jungian analyst*
- shamanic practitioner Sandra Ingerman
- vulnerability and shame researcher Brené Brown
- Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hahn, and
- spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle.
For two-years, (2012-2014) in the Tree of Life interfaith seminary program, I studied the world’s faith traditions in addition to committing to a daily spiritual practice. Through my own direct experience of mystical unity in addition to my studies, I have been made aware of the deep wisdom available in ALL faith traditions.
From the spiritual traditions of our earliest indigenous cultures, such as Shamanism, the Dreamtime of the Australian Aborigines, and Native American Indian spirituality; to Hinduism—the oldest religion with a recorded written text, and third largest religion on the planet—to the Abrahamic traditions including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, (as well as the Baháʼà Faith, and other smaller religions) to Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Sikhism, and more: I’ve come to understand how EACH RELIGION IS A LANGUAGE.
And EACH LANGUAGE USES STORIES TO CONVEY SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES. And so many stories from the patriarchal and hierarchical religions have created conditions where men have dominated and women were suppressed. It is only the oldest, indigenous faith traditions that have never ceased honoring the Divine Feminine and Mother Earth—perhaps the reason why the patriarchy has made every effort to stamp out all of the indigenous faith traditions.
Now more than ever we’re at a point in the evolution of human consciousness, where we desperately need to recognize, honor, appreciate, and value the DIVINE FEMININE and MOTHER EARTH.
My intention is for my writing and stories to embody this energy of mindfulness and speak to your inner divinity, also known as the awakening consciousness within you.
***
Born and raised in Australia, from her early twenties to her early forties, Camilla worked in the publishing industry while living in Greenwich Village, New York City with her American husband Jamie Jones.
In 2011, after Jamie recovered from cancer, they both quit their jobs in Manhattan and moved to TreeTops, a log cabin in the woods of Southern New Hampshire.
In November 2014, a Thai Forest Buddhist monastery happened to take root on 250 acres of land across the road, bringing much loved Buddhist principles, ideas, and practices into the local community: http://forestmonastery.org/
Camilla has also worked as a memoir writing coach, and taught 'Writing Personal Essay and Memoir as a Spiritual Practice' through Tree of Life Interfaith Temple.
Jamie creates hand-crafted maple syrup, and connects with his own spirituality in nature and through friendships with our Buddhist monk neighbors.
* https://www.annebaring.com/a-crucial-time-of-choice/
An inner spaciousness around my heart, I have glimpses of. And I want more. I first experienced this state of being after learning how to "observe my humanity from my divinity" with a spiritual teacher...
by Camilla Sanderson: a 10,000 word mini-book published by Running Press
I subscribe to the camp of "writing can be joyful." Yes, a gentle discipline is required. But because my experience shows me that creativity is inextricably linked to spirituality, and I'm not always in control of what may want to flow through me, I don't berate myself if I'm not "producing."
PDF Excerpt of only Sanderson's pages
I write because I need to. I spent two years studying world religions in interfaith seminary school, where Reverend Stephanie Rutt advised us that a daily spiritual practice was the most important element in the program.
My older sister Penny saw The Spice Trip on SBS, an Australian TV show that featured chili in Mexico. She especially loved watching the Mexican kids-she said that they loved hot chili.
I want to know If you contemplate death- Not in a morbid way, But in a way that determines how you will live your life.
This began as an apology epistle to my husband, which he was happy to read. I shared it with my older sister too and her response was "Apt." Huh! My ego didn't like that.
But I find my daily spiritual practice is like the keel of a boat---it helps me right myself and find my center again after being blown over in the wind. The inner work required for spiritual growth and evolution of consciousness is not easy, but the rewards of the work are profound and have led me to the blissful experience of Divine Love.
Working from home as a writer, I was already social distancing and physical distancing. My husband also works from home. We live in a log cabin in the woods so we don't get many visitors, except from a few friendly Buddhist monks from a monastery that took root across the road five years ago, and some Buddhist friends we've made through the monastery.
I wonder how this world will be after people have experienced enforced stillness. I wonder if humanity will have an awakening. I wonder if the human species will use this global pandemic as an opportunity to heal ourselves and save our planet. I wonder how this will look in each person's life.
Instead of asking, "To what religion should I belong?" we ask, "How does the Creative Force/the Divine Beloved/God want to flow through me? What is my unique soul print? What is my treasure?" From our deepest knowing we may discover we are, in fact, drawn to an existing faith tradition, or are drawn to forge new paths within an existing faith tradition or, perhaps, forge a new path altogether.
We are all called. Some hear and hesitate. Some hear yet turn away unable to imagine the possibility. Sadly, some never hear. And then, there are the few who hear and answer, "Yes!" This program was designed for you!
Laughter is a dividend of forgiveness. I confess I stole the title for this piece from a recent talk I attended by the author Steve Almond. It's a subject I love, and the talk was fun.
Never in our wildest dreams could we have imagined that in 2014, a Thai Forest Buddhist Monastery would take root on the 250 acres literally across the street from us in Temple. My husband's family bought Treetops, a log cabin in the woods of Temple, in the 1980s as a retreat they could escape to for family holidays - most often Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Why do we believe we need to hide aspects of our true, whole selves to be loved? As a woman, throughout my 20s, 30s, and 40s, why did I feel it necessary to hide my intelligence to get along with people and be accepted by them?
I recently engaged in a debate with a Buddhist monk friend who was visiting the Thai Forest Buddhist monastery on 250 acres across the road from us here at Treetops, our log cabin home in Southern New Hampshire.
I think it vital for every world citizen to have an understanding of our world religions and where they came from and how they evolved.
I've become wary of telling people I'm an interfaith minister or a reverend. If I do, it's as though an unspoken expectation is hatched that I must then be this "perfect" role model of a human being. Does a "perfect human" even exist?
When my husband and I gave up our 20-year stretch of corporate-working-lives in Manhattan In April 2011, and moved to a place of soulful-wilderness-living in a log cabin set among the trees in Temple, I began to read an endless number of books on spirituality.
I hadn't even heard of Aramaic before I studied world religions, but I learned that Aramaic is the ancient and metaphoric language in which the the Lord's Prayer was originally written, before it was translated to Greek and then to English.
Before I studied world religions for two years in interfaith seminary, I hadn't really spent any time contemplating exactly what a spiritual practice is, nor what its purpose may be. But very early on in our program, our spiritual mentor advised us that a daily spiritual practice was the most important element of any seminary program.
Joining a CSA can be a spiritual experience- After submitting our name to a waiting list several years ago, late last month I received an email from Anthony Graham of the Temple-Wilton Community Farm to say they were taking in new members for their CSA, and to contact him if my husband and I...
"There are many paths to the top of the mountain but the view from the top is the same." I love the truth in this sentiment, and I think of interfaith in the same way. There are many spiritual truths and profound wisdom in all of the world's religions.
I recently engaged in a debate with a Buddhist monk friend who was visiting the Thai Forest Buddhist monastery on 250 acres across the road from us here at Treetops, our log cabin home in Southern New Hampshire.
When we lived in New York City for 20 years, being able to visit the Monadnock region provided the opportunity for my husband and me to get a much needed nature fix at various points in our lives. I didn't fully understand it then, but our time in nature was much needed food for our souls.
Thanksgiving is not only an opportunity to celebrate the practice of gratitude. It's also an opportunity for personal growth and learning about projection, all of which are food for nourishing our spiritual natures. When my husband and I moved from living and working in New York City for 20 years to our log cabin in the woods of Temple, I felt drawn to take some spiritual classes.
When cancer came knocking, Camilla Sanderson and her husband gave up lucrative NYC careers for a life of simplicity and love. Here is a guy who swapped a Manhattan high-rise corporate office, and an 1890′s parlor level brownstone apartment with high ceilings and a wood burning fireplace located on the gold coast of Greenwich Village, New York City; for a maple sugar shack, a barn, a tractor, and a log cabin all located in the wilderness of New Hampshire.
But all pasta, as with human beings, is made from the same ingredients-in the case of noodles, flour and water.
Before moving to our log cabin here in the woods of New Hampshire, I lived and worked in Manhattan for 20 years. I had direct experience with toxic corporate hierarchical leadership, which was mainly dominated by men.
With all my gifts, and all my muck, knowing that like the lotus flower, I will blossom because of, not in spite of my muck. No mud, no lotus.
Spiritual Life consists of: Showing up, Paying attention, Telling the truth, and Remaining detached from outcomes. So does writing.
I worked in the publishing industry in Manhattan for twenty years before I found the courage to write. And I would not have known how to cultivate that courage, had I not studied world religions for two years first.
Via Camilla Sanderson on Oct 13, 2017 get elephant's newsletter Author's Note: This was written in response to Elephant Journal's founder, Waylon Lewis' note in a recent newsletter. To get Waylon's daily note of inspiration (free), sign up here: www.elephantjournal.com/best "The most important question in the world isn't how to be happy.
My husband and I have conversed in depth on the difference between observing versus being judgmental. A few years ago, we counted our blessings when a Buddhist monastery took root on 250 acres across the road. The community of Thai forest Buddhist monks practice the art of observing without being judgmental.
get elephant's newsletter These synchronicities occur when I remember to surrender and swim with the flow, instead of constantly pushing upstream, and when surrender into the energy of how the divine beloved intends for it all to unfold. It's not up to me. However, my ego might like to think it is.
Ever since I moved to this country from where I grew up in Australia, I've looked forward to the winter solstice on Dec. 21 to 22, as it signifies the days will begin to lengthen again, slowly providing more light each day.
Michael Pollan is a fine investigative journalist who writes musical prose. In The Omnivore's Dilemma, he writes about the danger of ridiculing something that is not necessarily measurable with the scientific method...
Thank you Jeroen Langendam for writing this ej article about the trials and tribulations of writing personal essays: https://www.elephantjournal.com/2018/09/i-havent-written-for-elephant-journal-in-two-years-heres-why/ This is so true: "sensitive topic + personal story = vulnerability = scary" I also adore Brené Brown's work.
When Camilla Sanderson read that the Pope decided to embrace homosexuals, female priests and atheists, she was shocked but hopeful. - This article below came to my attention recently. "For the last six months, Catholic cardinals, bishops and theologians have been deliberating in Vatican City, discussing the future of the church and redefining long-held Catholic doctrines and dogmas.