About a year ago I set about the task of defining my own spirituality in three words; three and only three. It proved an interesting, somewhat difficult, but in the end fulfilling exercise. Doubtless spirituality is more complex, deeper, and less manageable than three words. But the task concentrated my mind, made me pick and choose among options, and provided a useful vehicle for self-examination. It also revealed something about myself. A year on, having shared the exercise at two retreats for others to engage in, I revisited my three words today. Would I change any of the three:? Not at the moment. I'll stick.
Without further ado here they are. My spirituality is:
natural
rhythmic
integral
Of course, words are meaningless without content and context. What's behind them? How did they arise? Why are they important?
To do the exercise I took a blank sheet and wrote down things, ideas, words that were meaningful to me., I made connections between the ideas and words, grouped and re-grouped them loosely, until I began to see three meaningful, connected sets of ideas. The three words emerged from a very messy page.
Here's what I learned about myself.
Natural. My spirituality is connected with nature. I suppose I have become a naturalist rather than a supernaturalist. For me, spirituality is not about the "out there," but rather the here, now, a natural part of being human. Spirituality is mundane, everyday and connected. Spirituality is relational in being connected to all that is. Philosophically, I have become quite fond of the pragmatic naturalist tradition. One of its basic thoughts is that in terms of ontology (being) everything is constituted in relationship to something else. Nothing exists in isolation. Spirituality is an aspect of this interconnected of all things in nature. As such spirituality is an encompassing phenomenon. In theistic terms the divine is not out there beyond, super-nature, but rather in all that is. The divine too is natural. To discover our spirituality is to find the divine in nature, and that includes within ourselves.
Rhythmic. I discovered that I love the rhythm of the seasons. The movement from winter to spring to summer to fall nourishes my soul. The movement from dusk to night to dawn to day is sustaining. The rhythms of nature resonate as deep calls to deep. Yin and yang. Life and death. Nature is rhythmic (back to word one) and so spirituality too is rhythmic. I think it is no coincidence that the world's spiritual traditions mirror this rhythm in their rituals and practices. Different times of the day are important. Times of the year have meaning. In the Christian tradition we make significance in winter festival (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany) and in spring festival (Lent, Easter, Pentecost) and in many minor ways. The day has its rhythm in offices said or sung at different times, and in weekly Eucharist. My spirituality is sustained by the rhythmic rituals of time and season.
Integral. In sifting through ideas and words that were meaningful to me, I found that for me spirituality is not about some kind of other-worldly "spirit" but is the integrated wholeness of body, mind/emotion, and spirit. Spirituality is not a denial of my intellect, nor a rejection of my feelings, nor an escape from my body. Spirituality is the integration of everything that makes me human: a conscious, feeling, thinking, embodied animal. It is why, for me, somatic (bodily) practice is such an important part of spirituality. Sadly, in much religion the body has been denigrated and denied. The somatic practice of taijiquan and qigong (daily, rhythmic body play) helps connect me to nature, mind, body, spirit, and the divine in harmony.
So, for what they are worth, those are my three words. They are personal to me, and should you engage in the exercise, doubtless your three words will be different. In the retreats where others have engaged in this playful exercise the variety and beauty of each participants words is astonishing. Here's a few of the many:
Earthy, Edgy Intuitive
Silence, Centered, Sacred
Cerebral, Physical, Relational
Breath, Being, Beloved
Pie, Pastries, Bread
Christlike, Balanced, Grounded
Doubtless, over time our words will evolve and change as they express our own evolution and growth. Still the exercise is I think worthwhile.
Enjoy the rhythm of today,
+Ab. Andy