By Grace Acosta

Other Voices

I am a closet New Ager. I have a lively interest in alternative medicines, disciplines and philosophies, but don’t tell friends and neighbors that I do. If asked outright about my beliefs, I would answer honestly; but the question never arises in everyday conversation. It is awkward to segue from “How are the kids?” to “Do you believe in reincarnation?”

I once consulted a pet psychic (animal communicator, according to his business card) about my dog’s panic over being left alone in the house. My husband, whose boyhood dog was simply thrown a couple of aspirin if it started looking droopy, continues to roll his eyes over this. Obviously, my whole notion of pet care starts on an altogether different playing field than his.

I had a house psychic clear out undesirable energies from a townhouse that we had put up for sale. I attended a lecture presented by a Tibetan Buddhist master who announced during his talk that he brought with him recently obtained healing energy from another planet. (He was speaking through an interpreter, who might have goofed the translation, but I actually prefer to think that I heard correctly.)

On my last birthday, I was torn between asking for a Vedic astrology natal chart or a facial and a massage.

I have also read the works of a wide variety of teachers, from best-selling authors like Deepak Chopra and Donald Neale Walsch to people whose names are only familiar if you are into this kind of stuff. I find everything fascinating, but not always applicable to my own life. However, ideas that remain a staple of the New Age diet - creating your own reality, and the integration of mental, physical, and emotional health - resonate with me because they give me a sense of empowerment that is not predicated on a particular career path, socio-economic background, or income and educational level. Success and happiness are based in my own, deep sum total: the good, the bad and the ugly.

Embracing these concepts, I feel unburdened from a system - a society, a culture, an outer environment - that picks you, as it were, rather than the other way around.

I do, however, live among decent, church-going people, and want to be liked and respected in my community. I may be wrong, but I don’t feel that this comes by announcing that you are planning to attend a lecture entitled, “Past Lives of Your Pet.” My presumption is that many people view alternative ideas as misguided, flaky notions of how the universe works, sprouting from delusional or manipulative prophets who make a fast buck off some weaker fool’s journey to self-discovery.

I understand these doubts. However, if I borrow a question from American politics and ask myself, “Am I better off today than I was four years ago?” I would have to answer yes. I am happier, more confident and more purposeful. I credit much of this to the discoveries I have made along the New Age path. I still cringe to think what the principal at my kid’s school may think if she were to ever read this, but who knows? Maybe she, too, is a closet New Ager, and wiil simply breathe a sigh of relief that she is not alone.

Acosta is a Los Altos resident.