To me religion is a personal experience, at least it is for me. But Ash Wednesday is the one time of year that I can't escape wearing my faith on my sleeve, or in this case, forehead. Especially since the ashes I received were so dark this year.
After a client meeting at their offices, I stopped into a church (and the Mamas & The Papas song California Dreamin' which recites similar lines and LA too was playing on the radio just as I was parking, freaky, no?) for the last half of mass and to receive ashes before going back to work to give an educational session on Chris Andersen's economic theory The Long Tail.
As usual, I received a lot of stares in the lobby and in the elevator. I felt like the ashes were making others uncomfortable, or maybe that's how I was feeling. I also got the joke, you have something on your face bit. The last two years getting ashes in NY was worse though, since people would openly stare at me on the streets and subways. Anyway, I'm lucky the Catholic church doesn't require women to wear babushka's and the like, so I think I can deal with the one time of the year that I have to stick out a bit for my faith instead of just celebrating the fun holidays like Christmas.
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Client quote of the week:
"I don't want it to seem like we are putting lipstick on a pig." Um OK, got it, me either! lol
