Spirituality, friends. Just spirituality.

I'm beginning to realize a lot of the times when I'm inspired to write it's because I'm frustrated with the way some things are going and I feel a need to overhaul it all and rewrite it. I realize at the end of the day going, “No, no, no, you've got it all wrong, rearrange it like this...” is not entirely the correct attitude. But really, my argument may be valid at the end of the day. Dear reader, hear me out.




Often times, during readings, I find myself wanting to bury my face in my palms by a common mistake I find is made concerning spirituality, and I know I, too, have made that mistake. This is about spirituality in general. Now, I do not have all the answers, and no one does. The only constant in this universe is change because somehow, someway, something will change.




Concerning spirituality, there are many different paths and many different faiths. To respect them all, I ask you to please understand when I say Spirit, I may use many different terms. The Sage, God, Goddess, Lord and Lady, the Divine, but I will default to Spirit most times. Whatever it is you conceive Spirit to be, I will seek to respect that to the utmost of my ability.




Now, faith and spirituality, to me, are two different things. Spirituality, to me, is a way of life. To live-spiritually. Faith is a set of beliefs and/or ideas. I can have faith in Divinity, but feel spirituality is how I walk through this world. It is my morals and principals. It is my connection to that Divinity, in what I see it to be, and to the world around me. To my fellow humans.




You do not have to force it. You do not have to feel ashamed if you are not “living up to it”. You do not have to feel like if you are not like this or not like that you are not spiritual. That is judgment, my friend. You are saying you, or the way you are, or the way you do your best is not good enough.




We all slip. We all make mistakes. Is there really a right or wrong? No, I find myself saying there really isn't, not in the traditional sense. There is a right and wrong for us, and I have a moral scale of right and wrong, but many people may not agree with what my morality is. Many people may not agree with my ideologies and beliefs, and that's okay. I may get miffed if I get slack for it, but it's personal and kept close to my heart most of the time because I don't want it poked and prodded at. Some people are like that. Some people don't share their spirituality loud and proud, on what exactly it is. Some people go into a dark room and pray their heart out. Some people go to church. Some people sit and admire the sunset.




The most important thing to me is this ever-present feeling. I get it now. I'm not alone because in my heart there is love, even when I'm mad, even when I'm irritated or feeling defeated or hopeless or have doubt... If I go there, inside my heart there is a feeling that everything's right where it should be. Faith is of the mental realm. Spirituality is the spirit, or the soul, and the expression of our Selves . Relax, my friend. If you cannot feel it, go outside. Breathe. Feel the sunshine, even if it feels dull. Feel it. Smell a flower. Feel the grass beneath your toes. Draw breath into those lungs, and remember you are alive. And RIGHT NOW everything is okay.




Everything is not necessarily okay, but this moment, away from the hustle and bustle there is only the sky and you.




And in that moment of stopping, you'll find Spirit. Center. If it doesn't work right away, work at it. Attempt it again. And again. Don't stop at getting yourself to stop. Practice.




Stop while you're getting a cup of coffee.




Stop while you're driving (on the inside, of course) and notice the people going to and from wherever they are headed. Pull yourself out of yourself and notice the world around you. It's buzzing and alive. And you are too.




Spirituality is, to me, about getting out of our heads and into our hearts and into our spirits. It's about being an expression, the expression, doing our best in every moment to be our best, even if our best isn't always “our best”. You're not going to be running a marathon with the flu. (Not necessarily, anyway. Haha.) Your best with the flu is getting better. And the same can be said of sickness in the soul.




Being sick and tired of being sick and tired, and being spiritual and being an expression of love can mean loving ourselves enough to stop and get well. That takes time. Spirituality being love, sometimes our love is a little messy. And that's okay because it's our best at that time because we just don't know another way.




Sorry about the italics but it's to get a point across. Emphasis on the internet only goes so far. Bold seems a bit excessive, though it's a good way to say...







STOP.




You're okay not being okay. Want to be spiritual? Get back to your spirit. Your spirit calls out to you.




We're all children, and we're seeking love. Your soul is a child, even if your mind is an adult. Consider the way you treat yourself. Would you treat an innocent child that way?




The answer most likely is no. At least, I hear that answer more than I care to. And it breaks my heart. See my frustration? No reason to be frustrated, they tell me.




Well... I hear you. I hear some of you crying behind smiles. I cried behind a smile too.




So I stopped.




Don't get me wrong, I forget sometimes. And I have to remember.




Please, for yourself most of all, don't forget.




Love you, too.







Thank you, and blessed be my fellow human beings.




Kat-