Debbie Baker: A Wife, Mother, Dental Hygienist, Cancer Survivor and Woman by Debbie Baker

‘I wonder if they know I’m Jewish!’ I said to myself as I entered the July 2009 workshop entitled Mary Magdalene Re-Visioned, led by Nancy Corbett and Carolyn Rivers. I was soon to find out that this was not a seminar on religion, but the beginnings of a new spiritual journey of my own.

After two episodes of cancer – one in 1995 with throat cancer and then again in 2009 with breast cancer, it was time for a new and re-visioned ME.

When you’re battling cancer, life pares itself down to the bare bones. You’re constantly on the edge of everything and nothingness. Fear eats into your soul, reveals the nakedness of your existence as well as of your body. You’re in a state of panic and there is no room for pretense, yet everyday life goes on. You have to make tough decisions in the face of uncertainty and anxiety.

Thanks to a grants from the Charleston Breast Center and the Sophia Institute Scholarship fund, I was also able to participate in Maureen Murdock’s October 2009 workshop entitled The Heroine’s Journey: Women’s Quest for Wholeness.

These were turning points. These workshops have given me the opportunity to see the strength and courage that I have inside. I have taken with me a sense of peace, contentment and remembering to listen to my inner voice. I am actively living the creative intention I set for myself at the end of the workshop: to be involved in activities that make me whole. I’ve realized that it’s up to me to create the life I want, and I want to do all that I can do, travel to all the places I’ve always wanted to go.

The spiritual journey is a work in progress, and something I will continue to work towards and learn from the Sophia Institute. I highly recommend attending any sessions or workshops that sound even a little interesting. If you can’t do a full workshop, Friday night sessions are a wonderful way to get a taste of what the Sophia Institute is all about.

I have met other wonderful women from Charleston and from different parts of the country. Everyone has a different reason for being there. Everyone is on a different journey. May they all continue their journeys and grow with the strength and wisdom that they have captured at the Sophia Institute. It is a warm, safe, calming environment that is nestled in a quiet corner of Charleston. It is a wonderful secret and it’s time for the secret to be out.