Within every person exists a crucial field, a field of beliefs that sculpts each of us.  To most, this field of long, flowing grasses and beautiful flowers cultivates religion.  Coming to terms with your beliefs manifests and influence throughout your life.  When you realize this, you can experience happinss—a happiness that spreads to others who know to which field they belong.  Sometimes friends or acquaintances bring about this realization within you; other times it may just happen without you really knowing or contrarily this realization can be forced upon you.  A special friend, Stacy—yes without an "e"—planted this seed of belief for me.  She graciously harvested a seed from her field and let the wind carry it to mine, where it could die in my negligence, or thrive under my prudent care.

        More than just a friend to me, Stacy and I share a bond that extends beyond any human terms of explanation.  We cannot explain this connection, but we know that it keeps us very close friends.  We are part of a group—something crucial to the well being of teenagers like ourselves.  Also populated with long, flowing grasses and beautiful flowers, the neighboring fields differ in the types of flowers that blossom there.  No one flower from any field grows more beautiful or plentiful than another even though one naturally believes he grows the most splendid flowers.  With no importance to proportions, formation, or coloration, my flowers bloom year-round, bringing joy and laughter to each moment.  Perhaps you live in one of these fields or in no field at all.

        Less figuratively, my entire life appears different: a different style, a different attitude, a different world view, even a different foundation.  Always separate from the crowd, possibly more now than ever, hair processed, eyes wicked, wardrobe variegated—I am me.  I consider myself neither black nor white, always a different shade of grey.  I am neo-pagan: a modern witch.  Eek?  Nothing scary about it, only one's ignorance of my beliefs.  My field thrives and blends with nature: a harmonious coexistence.  The elements cumulate to create and sustain life.  I am no more important than a squirrel, nor the squirrel more important than I.  My world did not end with humans as the final product, destined to rule the Earth as their own.  I believe in a superior force, God, possibly split into male and female aspects, or even further into an array of deities.  Abracadabra!  Witches do spells—a well-known fact; however, the spell frequently misunderstood, operates no finer a role than a prayer, a wish or request for a thought to come into being.  These three fundamental concepts create the focus of my field, remaining the simplistic foundation from which my entire existence extends.

        Generally misunderstood, my field lays open to perpetual stereotyping and ridicule.  Modern culture fears the unknown.  People often fear witchcraft, not understanding it and misconstruing its true identity with Hollywood's portrayal of an evil monster.  This Hollywood monster occupies no place in my field for witchcraft does not foster evil.  Only society's ignorance creates this evil monster, one that generates the vicious cycle of misunderstanding, hating, and stereotyping.  From the stereotyping spreads the evil responsible for the plague of ignorance that destroys countless fields, flowers withering, grasses burning.

        I know that my field grows very prosperously, each component of nature remaining at peace with one another.  Realizing my field of belonging created such turbulence inside of me!  I finally felt that I understood myself.  With this understanding, I reached an inner peace, an inner peace that covered me, spreading to the horizons of my field.  More understanding, more accepting, more expressing, and most importantly, I know how to genuinely live my life and within that lies the importance.  Ultimately, you will find a field where you might live most comfortably, but until you reach this belonging, remember a good neighbor respects differences and refrains from mowing down another's field.