This is about us, me and you, our human condition and looking at all of ourselves and how that fits and flourishes with all that life brings us. My hope is that in picking and choosing these posts you might find something of interest, wisdom and use that will help you, maybe, become more aware, see things a bit differently or re-member what you already know deep down - but may have buried.
It is drawing on my experience of a life spent in making mistakes, struggle and trauma and learning- first to survive, and then to thrive. It is also a life spent in asking questions and challenging some of what we take as truth. You will not like all of it. Some things you may dismiss as nonsense or 'just' common sense. Nowadays we seem to have lost a lot of common sense, relying as we often do on information from sources other than our own wisdom.
There is no agenda. I am putting post into 3 categories so you can pick and chose. . Yes, I will reference world religions and belief systems, especially Christianity, because those are what have influenced most of us, but not to try to convert you or to try to get you to sign up to something or undertake any sort of practice and discipline. More to try to find out how some teachings might be taken differently from the way in which we have been taught in our churches and our schools. I am going to unpick and question. See if there is anything that resonates with you and if maybe my 'take' on things might give you permission to ask questions and challenge too.
The over arching hope is that some of this writing may be a catalyst for you to release yourself from all sorts of false narratives and damage that may be limiting you, and for you to take up your space in this life and become more of who you are.
I have studied, researched, reflected, trained and practiced over decades and of course all that is in here - but my most valuable tool is my experience. By that I do not just mean the things that have happened to me but how I feel and respond to them - what I experience inside and how I grow more aware of that.
So to start with the title: Spirit Matters. It is , of course, a play on words. Affairs (matters) of the Spirit are explored and, Spirit is important (it matters) . There is also that little extra layer that often 'spirit' and 'matter' are taken as opposites. Things of the spirit being good and things of matter being gross. Well, I don't believe that. We are embodied beings living in time. And our bodies, our matter, are an important part of who we are. And our, Spirit, all spirit flows in and between all things. This is about both spirit and matter.
I believe that spirit is energy, is life force, is that which flows through everything. It is the source of life and creativity. It is Sophia, goddess of wisdom. So, to talk of things of the spirit is to talk about everything but to do so in the knowledge that what you and I know is only partial. It is to challenge the supremacy of our cleverness and to work more with our instincts and feelings - and our truth.
Our truth is something that is very often hidden, even from ourselves sometimes, being so duped or seduced by the false narratives that assail us daily. We have to be 'successful', look a certain way, do certain things, have a lot. Add to this the insecurities that come from our upbringing and environments and you have a mess of flawed magnificence - the recognition and acceptance of which is where our truth and our wholeness lie.
It has taken me a long time to get here so I am taking the plunge and must trust that if I write from the heart and say what I believe then maybe someone will find it interesting and useful.