The Cost of Absence

Holistic values are a pillar of our community, no? In the way that Aethiests do not assemble, there is a space in this community for us to not entirely agree with even the materials of our foundation. Acknowledging that, however, most of us would probably agree that we are here to create inspiration and ideas to live out more holistic lives.

We are concerned (mostly) with matters of our personal understanding of the world (mental self), matters of our impact and live-able sustainability (physical self), matters of our relationships (social self) and so on. These are the discussions we are having now here on Evolver. We are engaging with one another about how we can enforce our values in all aspects of our own lives, together. The essence of holistic consideration.

While we try to embody these values in our lives we may fluctuate and take our time to learn these new ways of being better. Some areas of our lives may swing in and out of balance, but it is when we do our best to continue learning and practicing our ideas that we actually accomplish something. Our power does not lie always in choosing what comes along the road for us. If it ever has it was likely back when we drank the water of forgetfulness prior to our incarnation. There are, of course times when our creative powers are strong and we are able to master our circumstances, but the mundane is still as important as the unusual and we are still responsible for that as well. Our power lies in our ability to respond with our entire selves, holistically.

We have largely mastered, as a generalization, some of these aspects of ourselves, such as the mental self, the physical self, even the social self. The emotional and spiritual self, however are still parts we are in early development with.

The spiritual self is a higher octave of the emotional self, as our emotions are actual messages from our spirit. The spiritual self is also of incredible value to us when we are responding to our mundane lives, as it can keep us moving in a satisfying direction. Whilst life and the Universe admittedly have an incredible way of being exactly as they should, no matter the outcome, we also have the ability to spiritually participate and therefore prepare ourselves for that which comes our way. Spirituality gives us grace. It gives us protection. It gives us strength. It gives us the ability to transcend our perceptions of our circumstances.

Spirituality is not religiosity either. It is a thing in and of itself that is entirely different from religion. If religion is a home, then spirituality is the inhabitant. What matters most is not the inanimate home, but the living inhabitants, after all. Spirituality is within us and it travels within us, never separated from who we are. We can , however, choose to ignore it, and many of us do.

Through my own current experience with extremely inconvenient and uncomfortable circumstances for dismissing my spiritual self and its intuitive messages, I am learning this facet of holistic living. Refusing to be broken by it, I am taking that which is golden in the matter. This, too is the essence of the spirit within us.

Author and teacher Caroline Myss often speaks of the spiritual journey as being one which is not meant to be easy, and in fact "will keep you praying." That is exactly what it does. It asks us to take risks, stay in touch, keep the lines of contact alive.

In this time of change, and, hopefully, awakening, we have both the luxury of flowing with life and trusting it to be as i t should as well as the responsibility of convening with our spiritual selves daily about our choices, attitudes and best courses of action.

Food for your divine self to digest.