A New Vision for Spirituality
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Last week, I posted the picture below on my Instagram, and it received many comments and re-shares, so there is clearly something there that resonates with people. I want to use this opportunity to build upon my thinking and share ideas for the next steps.
This caption accompanied the picture:
I love my tarot cards, and crystals, talking about spirit guides, psychic development and all the other fascinating aspects of spiritual growth. So that is not going anywhere.
At the same time, that is only one facet. A large focus also needs to be on how we can be of service to others and be helpful to our community.
And to show up in the world with integrity, humour, tactfulness, honesty and other important ways of being.
A new direction is needed with less focus on “I” and “navel gazing” and more focus on being helpful to others.
The last few decades
I’m confident it was like this before too. Still, since the 1970s and until today, it seems to me that spiritual and personal growth primarily focuses on how we can be the best version of ourselves to attract the perfect partner and have the money to buy whatever we fancy.
To me, that depicts an image of spiritual and personal growth that contradicts what I think it is all about.
Spending time working on ourselves is really important. Otherwise, how do we grow to become kind partners, the best of friends and encouraging colleagues?
Having financial stability is also vital. We cannot be at our best when worrying about having enough money to pay our bills. For most of us, this is a growing concern with the rising cost of living.
So, I think we can all agree we need to work on ourselves to be the best partner, friends and colleagues possible. To choose (not attract) the correct partner and career for us. You have the agency to select the best partner and job for you. Even though we have a spiritual lesson to move through, we have some choices when it comes to romantic partnerships and work.
Moreover, even though we are spiritual seekers, it will certainly not always be rosy all the time. That is a fallacy. As a part of our spiritual lesson, we are meant to have challenging partners and jobs. Nothing is ever perfect. Even still, the more self and spiritually aware we become, the better we choose, and the more we accept that it is a part of life.
Having enough money in the world that we live in is important. Living a relatively frugal life in a place like London is expensive enough. Saying that I’m also an advocate for learning to be content with less. I believe that so much of our incessant need for more largely comes down to socially conditioned feelings of lack within ourselves.
Clever marketing has convinced us that we need to experience more and buy more stuff to have value.
If we could come to terms with our flaws and weaknesses and learn to validate ourselves as we are, we wouldn’t need to fill those holes within ourselves with new stuff and new experiences all the time.
I’m significantly influenced by this quote by Victor Papanek:
“Advertising design, in persuading people to buy things they don’t need, with money they don’t have, in order to impress others who don’t care, is probably the phoniest field in existence today.”
I used to study marketing and digital design, so this is very close to my heart.
That quote points to again how much of our desires result from clever marketing, not our authentic selves, from an industry that does not care about our well-being.
All they care about is increasing their profits at all costs.
Tim Kasser says in The High Price of Materialism:
“I can think of no wiser financial investment than in self-knowledge. It is the path to freedom, at many levels. By sorting through painful past experiences, irrational beliefs, and unacknowledged fears, people can become free of these chains and find healthier ways of coping than making money and consuming things.”
Spiritual materialism
I am bringing forward these quotes because spirituality has definitely been co-opted by consumerism, materialism, clever inauthentic marketing, and socially conditioned feelings of lack.
I am all for investing in crystals and Tarot cards.
Crystals can help to make you feel better spiritually, and Tarot cards can be the road to connecting more authentically with your intuition.
At the same time, if it does not improve the way we show up at work, in our relationships and family, then what is the point?
Acknowledging our privilege
I wholeheartedly include myself in what I’m about to say next. Still, it seems that most people with access to the wisdom of spiritual and personal growth also benefit from some privilege. I’m not putting that argument forward as a stick to shame or guilt-trip anyone. It is more about accepting reality and then thinking about the good we can do with that privilege.
If we can afford to attend meditation classes and buy tarot cards, crystal, and high-end beauty products, it means we are privileged, and I then do think it is our responsibility to, in some shape or form, help those who are less fortunate in the world.
Where to begin is TBD, but in the meantime, if you have time for volunteering, it is an excellent place to start. I used to do a lot of it, and then it fell away. I’m working on this myself to pick it back up again.
Character development
So, instead of focusing only on connecting to the divine to improve our material outcomes, it should also be about developing our character to be at our best.
For example, instead of asking The Guides and Power of Spirit for positive material outcomes. Ask them for the strength, presence, fortitude and calm to cope with your life in whatever shape it takes.
Ask them to help you develop characteristics and virtues such as kindness, curiosity, humour, honesty, integrity and tactfulness.
Beyond working closely with my spiritual teacher and spirit guides to improve my character, which still needs much work, two books inspire me the most.
Better Boundaries: Owning and Treasuring Your Life
Better Boundaries focuses on articulating your boundaries, purpose, values and mission wholesomely. With this self-awareness and inner strength, you can learn how to be of service.
The Promise That Changes Everything
The Promise That Changes Everything by Nancy Kline talks about how to hold space for other people’s thoughts and feelings excellently and authentically. The book also touches on The Ten Components, which I have found very useful in my life.
Next steps
I encourage you to start your spiritual journey, which will likely include starting with meditation, attending spiritual sessions, and acquiring a few crystals and a tarot deck.
In addition to that, I want you to consider the questions below:
How can I use my spiritual journey to become a good person?
How can I use my spiritual journey to hold space for other people’s healing?
How can I use my spiritual journey to learn to listen without the need for fixing?
How can I use my spiritual journey to serve people in need?
How can I use my spiritual journey to increase my self-awareness?
How can I use my spiritual journey to create more calm for myself and others?
Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below!