What is Spirituality? More importantly, what is it to you?
by: Moony Maris
Ever since I was little I would collect rocks wherever I went. Flat ones, round ones, heart-shaped ones, brown, black, gray, rough, smooth, sharp. It didn’t matter. I would dance around in my bare feet in my grandma’s backyard thinking of fairies and horses while playing with rocks. I would slip and splash around the creek in the woods as I tossed slate across the water, trying to get it to skip. Just like these memories, each stone was from a different place, a different time, and a different matrix. However, as I got older, I slowly stopped collecting them, I stopped dreaming of fairies and horses; my fascination remained, but for that stretch of time I felt the use of them did not. Up until about two years ago.
I stepped into the Diagon Alley of Hollidaysburg, PA with my sister full of excitement, mystery, and even a little unease. Three bricks up and two across, we twisted the knob to Crystal Clear Wellness and entered through a portal towards my personal internal exploration. At the time the shop was only a little larger than my bedroom, but we stayed for two hours nonetheless. I saw crystals, symbols, tools, and words I had never known existed. I asked questions that I had never known were within me. And when it was time to leave, I felt struck with awe and possibility in a way I had never felt. My sister and I sat in the car for a spell, jaws to the floor, curiosity brewing in the cauldron of our bellies. What just happened?
On that night I began to research. I took a mental note of the objects I saw that I did not recognize and that sparked an interest. Within a year I had a collection of books, websites, YouTube channels, and online communities that provided for my insatiable thirst for knowledge. However, it seemed that I was merely at a puddle not fit for toe-dipping when I was in search of the Holy Grail that held the vastness of spiritual oceans in a single cup, a single sip.
It has taken those two years for me to realize that there is no Holy Grail of spiritual knowledge. There is no single source or path, nor will there ever be, simply for the reason that we are all individuals. Utterly and beautifully unique. Intricately intertwined, connected energetically in a Universal web, yet free to choose how we wish to view and weave ourselves within that connection. For that reason, I choose to create. I choose to express. And I choose to connect. I opened my eyes willingly to my journey, an infant and tender-footed, crawling, stumbling, and learning how to walk it. Through those resources, I gathered on my own and by asking others, I have begun to step into my spiritual power.
The most significant factor in my adventure and education has been taking note of all of the questions that I have and finding ways to either answer them or to ask more questions from them. What interests me? Why was I visually drawn to that symbol? To that crystal? To that color? What lesson is this experience or this person teaching me? How can I incorporate my spiritual practice into my day-to-day? And so on to more specific questions about personal beliefs. Start with what you know/believe and branch from it, question it, explore it, learn from it. So much of our practice is already within and around us without us even realizing it!
In the fall of 2019 (about a year after my journey started), I was able to delve deeper into seeing these factors through learning about the chakras during the Eight Week Chakra Course by Shannon Shine. I was asked to look both within and without myself. I was asked to wander deeper into that portal of internal exploration. Why do I do what I do? How do I feel and react to scenarios? Etc. Each element presented in the course brought me back around the circuitous, infinite loop of asking questions. To this day I continuously go back to the course materials and tools (both the physical objects I received and the mental toolkit I accrued during those weeks) when I need a little extra guidance.
Along with the Chakra Course, connecting with nature through meditation and outdoor adventures has been, and I believe will always be, the one thing that holds me with unconditional love and nurturing guidance. I cannot help but go back to my roots, to my soul existence as a part of the earth whenever I need grounding, enlightening, or just a breath. I feel the pulsing of the Universe in the way my blood beats through my veins like an ocean current. Feel the breath of life as it leaves my nose like the gentle or vigorous tickles of the breeze against my limbs as those of a tree. Listen to the music of a moment in the lightened twitter of a bird, buzzing of a crocus, or rolling of thunder. And even during those times that I am unsure, during those times that I cannot go roll around in the grass, I have these simple yet infinitely intricate pieces of myself that are of this Universal essence. When I sit in mediation I can feel my blood, my oceans, my breath, and my breeze, my music, and each moment.
I do not know all of the answers, nor will I ever, and nor would I ever want to because then my journey would no longer be a journey.
I walk this path because I choose to ask questions, I choose to listen to myself, to that intuitive nudge of the Universe. I walk this path because I know that it is a part of me and I a part of it. One day I may have more answers than when I started, but I will also have more questions. So for now, be open, be wise in your search for wisdom, listen to the rhythms of nature, and most importantly, listen to the rhythms of yourself.
What is Spirituality to YOU?
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