MEET THE MISFIT.

SO, HOW DID I GET HERE?

I'm Tammy Theis-Satterlee, although most people just call me Tammy. Some know me as The Blessed Badass. And somewhere along the way, I've come to realize that I'm also a spiritual misfit. I don't know that I ever set out to become a spiritual misfit. It just sort of happened. I suspect I've been this way for most of my life.

I've always been curious about God, people, what makes us tick, what we believe, why we believe it, and why we sometimes get so worked up when somebody else believes something different.

The strange thing is, just about everything I've ever learned, I've learned by accident… And yes, I know that’s how Spirit works. One thing catches my attention, which leads to another, and before I know it, I'm somewhere I never imagined I'd be. My curiosity and imagination have taken me down some pretty interesting roads. And in more ways than I can explain, they've kept me going during the biggest challenges of my life.

I've also loved hard. I've had my heart shattered. I've experienced grief that changed me in ways I couldn't have anticipated. And somewhere in the midst of all that heartbreak, I've found my way back to myself. Not necessarily the person I used to be, but someone I've come to understand as a sovereign individual. Which, quite frankly, is probably the most religious-sounding language you'll ever hear me use.

I've spent much of my life working with people in one way or another. First as an educator, then as a minister and spiritual director. Along the way, I've explored different religions, faith traditions, sat with people through some of the hardest moments of their lives, and discovered that the more I learn, the less certain I am about a whole lot of things.

And I'm actually okay with that.

I love the Divine Feminine, sacred stories, ancient traditions, rituals, poetry, art, Jungian psychology, and occasional I laugh at totally inappropriate moments. I'm fascinated by the ways humans have tried to make sense of being alive, and I'm not particularly interested in deciding ahead of time where God can or cannot show up.

That doesn't mean I don't have beliefs. I do. Some of them quite deeply held. But I also believe there's a difference between having faith and needing to be right about everything.

So here I am. A minister. A spiritual director. A Blessed Badass. Still learning, still questioning, occasionally getting myself into trouble, and very much a work in progress.

And if any of that sounds familiar, you might be a spiritual misfit, too.