I recently left a 30-year career in finance-first as a banker, then a few years in public economic development. It was a respected and sometimes influential career. Some people proudly called me "their" banker. Many of them still come to me for advice and counsel.

So,why did I leave a well-paid, well-dressed career? Because I came to understand that it was time for people to know who I really am. I am a spiritual being on a path of service which includes teaching and healing. Pause with me for a moment and realize what a shock that last sentence would have been coming from your gray-flanneled banker. Thirty years ago it would have been impossible to express that thought in any corporate setting. Twenty, ten or five years ago it would have been awkward, and even today it is surprising. Have you ever thought of your CPA as a spiritual person? Your mechanic? The clerk at Safeway? I see a shift as, one by one, people allow others to know who they really are.

Today, many spiritual seekers try to infuse their daily lives with a heightened consciousness of the sacred, striving to act as if each of their attitudes and actions expresses their spiritual essence. Spirituality in the work place, in business, in government, often goes no farther than basic ethics of right and wrong. I propose a new openness. I believe that as we learn to use words like "heart," "spiritual," "love," "gratitude," "meditate" or "heal" openly, we give others permission and the courage to do the same. Some of the elements of spirituality that can be introduced and amplified are quiet introspection before discussions and decisions, expressions of gratitude and respect for intuition. Someone - perhaps you? - can be bold and say, "I'd like for us to take a quiet moment and pray or meditate on that before we continue." Someone can be courageous enough to say out loud, "I am deeply grateful to the city council for the tough issues they address on my behalf." Someone can say, "My intuition tells me we should try it this way."

I have said, "I am a spiritual being." You can say it too. Judith McGinty and her husband David own Consider the Alternatives, a bookstore at 300 Second St., in the heart - and soul - of Old Town, providing tools for growth and healing of body, mind and spirit.