Joanie moved to Southwest New Mexico last November and is finding that life here is everything she hoped for. She says she loves the gorgeous countryside as well as the people here; the environmentalists who work to protect the delicate ecosystem here, the artist community which brings cultural and creative diversity to our town, and especially the spiritual communities. She is impressed by the variety and depth of spiritual activities here; “The things that we have access to here on a regular basis are incredible! Zikr, dances, dance leader training, retreats, Sufi music, classes and wonderful lectures are available constantly”.  

Joanie became a Sufi while living in Northwest Arkansas for 15 years and participated in the Sufi communities at Heartsong and the Sufi Center of the Ozarks as often as she could. She feels a deep appreciation for the many teachings she received as part of those communities as well as during the Midwest Sufi Camps, “they helped me grow so much as a spiritual seeker!” Joanie helped to run the monthly Dances of Universal Peace in Fayetteville for 4 years and since here she has become an official certified dance leader trainee.

Joanie is a member of the Rifai Marufi Sufi Order headed by her teacher Sherif Baba. While she is committed to deepening her work with Baba’s teachings on Ashk and Hak (Love and Truth), most of her regular spiritual practices have been with Ruhaniat and Sufi Order communities, so she is very comfortable here.

Joanie was first brought to the SSC in 2002 by Wakil Jerry Conway, during a driving trip to the holy places of New Mexico. She fell in love with the area and was drawn to move here right away, but thought that was too irrational and stayed in Arkansas for 3 more years. Then, one morning in February 2005, at 3am, she was woken up by a dream that clearly told her it was time to come to Silver City.

It took 9 months for Joanie to disentangle herself from life in Northwest Arkansas, but in November 2005 she finally moved into a little house in downtown Silver City. Since arriving, she has been working long hours to remodel her 80 year old adobe house and she longs intensely for life after remodeling. The adobe house is a temporary home for her as she plans to join one of the communities forming in the area in 5-10 years.

Joanie’s career is as a group and relationship psychologist and she has studied both in traditional academics and in nontraditional ways. She has worked as a psychotherapist for 25 years, and as a university teacher for about 14 years. She is now teaching part time for Western New Mexico University and hopes to get some writing done while she lives here.