New Age Speak

Did anyone see this story about John Edwards’ mistress, Rielle Hunter, on the MSN homepage? I found it rather interesting. The whole New Age thing always makes me giggle because it takes me back to my days of living in NM where there were plenty of strange folk and women from other parts of the US who had moved to Taos looking for inner peace in outer space. New Age Speak reminds me of being in a dress store in Taos with my aunt and uncle one summer. While my aunt was trying on clothes, my uncle and I were hanging out in the front of the store. The sales lady struck up a conversation. Similar to what the reporter said of Rielle, this sales lady had no idea what small talk was. She went straight to her personal story as if we were old friends. She told how she had been a businesswoman, a singer, a dancer, married, divorced, moved to Taos,etc. She mentioned Buddha, several other religions, and all sorts of New Age talk. I was torn between being horrified or just giggling because my uncle is as conservative as they come, and he was hearing all this crazy talk. I remember the look on his face – his brown eyes were serious, his brow was furrowed, and he seemed to be totally interested – as if he could really follow her wild conversation. But when she finally took a breath and let him speak, he said, "Ma’am, do you know Jesus Christ?" I am sure my mouth fell open – now I was horrified. I had no idea what would happen next. But the woman just laughed and said, "Why yes! He is my best friend." My uncle was satisfied with that answer and conversation moved on. That Edwards would have an affair with one of these women is just mind-boggling.