The Guru Within
As a young girl still growing into her awkward frame, with hormones racing and a newfound desire for the attention of boys, what I needed most was to know how to be ‘cool’. So I found the guidance of Sally Socialite, the most popular girl in school. Sally became my social Guru. I wanted to be just like her. I put her on a pedestal as the bringer of understanding on all matters related to boys. But, as always, there was an eventual breakdown of this paradigm when I realized I could find this understanding on my own.
Everyone seeks a Guru at one time or another in their live. Whether it be as a young child seeking help accommodating their awkward integration as a social being, a student seeking a mentor, a woman healing the emotional wounds of a painfully detached father in the arms of the ‘knight in shining armor’. We all seek inner understanding, a bringer of joy, a bringer of peace, a bringer of healing. When I was a young girl Care Bears were my Guru, the bringers of great joy to my life. As I got older it became the company of horses and their strength and the solace they provided me during my awkward years. OK, so horses never left their lofty pedestal, but they had to make room for my first crush who clearly was my Guru for the first 10 months of our charade. Everything he liked became what I liked for I felt that if I did what he did, that he would love me as I felt I loved him. It did not work however, and the pedestal shortly made room for the next recipient.
We will call him Coach Knows All, my high school track coach. With his ‘un-cool’ spandex pants and his dislike for TV or anything that was about ‘following the herd’, this coach provided me with a basic foundation upon