Hi there and welcome to my blog. Here is a brief introduction to me and to what kind of content you can expect.
To look at the state of society today and see that there is a swing towards spirituality and its various practices warms my heart.
If you read my about me page, it has been a long process for me to get where I am, from strict religious backgrounds to self-exploration and somewhat covert learning. I may have found and used primarily shamanic practices in my path for 12 years, but I have been learning and experimenting for, at this point, well over 20 years.
The reason I wanted to state that is not to “credential” or “glorify” myself. I want it to be a point of reference. I started exploring, experimenting, and learning in the late 90’s through the early 2000’s. My first attempt at, and luckily successful, shamanic journey was in 2011.
Back then the information for spiritual practices was very limited and difficult to find. And the internet wasn’t as fleshed out either so you couldn’t just type in a term and find a million links on the subjects. Google started in 1998, and even then it was obscure to use. Meaning you needed to know specific web addresses and the exact search terms.
Or you went to your local library hoping there would be new books on the subjects. Scoured the one four-foot section of shelves at the bookstores for anything new. But, we understood it was all labeled under “New Age” or “Witchcraft.” This further deterred people from picking up those books.
Today you can go into the bookstores and find information that relates to any type of path you are on. You don’t even need to grab a computer to do research. We can just pick up our phones. And that has become a bit of a double-edged sword because now there’s an information overload. That means a person wanting to begin their journey of self-discovery or a spiritual lifestyle has too many options. And all the options are screaming at us, “TRY IT MY WAY!”
Quick recap:
In the past-We had to dig into what information was available. We would try out things and decide what worked for us and what didn’t. We would then gravitate more towards the teachings we resonated with. WE ALSO taught ourselves a lot of things and then taught those to others. Things were harder for us.
Today-Information is readily available, but it's overwhelming. And with that, we are seeing all of the different practices coming through. But the con is a HEAVY emphasis on the “RIGHT” way, the “TRUE” way, or “change your life in 15 minutes.” That last one is my personal favorite to see.
How does all of this relate to this post?
I want you to know where I come from when going through my blog posts. I want you to understand that spirituality as a whole does NOT have a right way or wrong way. Some of my posts will discuss healthy vs. unhealthy but none of it is law.
All of it DOES take time though. You will not become a master of any practice in a day, a year, or even two years. We who have been walking these roads realized that there is no such thing as a “master” level. Once you hit a point considered “mastery” you begin to innovate and create and push that path to continue growing. We are students until the day we die. And at our time of death, life becomes the only thing we can truly master because we master it the moment we can go no further.
Spirituality is not owned by any religion or tradition. Since it is freeform, it can be used within any religion or tradition. And, if we are being honest, that is probably why most “religions” today are “losing followers” because the emphasis on rules and dogmas is higher than the emphasis on the spiritual aspect of the belief system. And that’s key to spiritual lifestyles, the lack of emphasis on rules. We get hung up too much on them and we forget to just be.
I want my Stories to inspire you. To challenge you. And to push you to seek out your teachings and insights. Because that is how we, as a community, a society, and a populace, will continue to grow. With healthy discourse and communication. The sharing of ideas and methodologies.
I want my Foundations to be a helpful toolset to propel you into developing a deep, meaningful, and enriched spiritual lifestyle. These will not be laws or rules. Just things that I have found to be the foundation of my practices. When something feels out of alignment or as though I am not progressing, I return to my foundations first to see if something is out of place. Without a solid foundation, any path you are on will become unstable and potentially fall apart. Again though, these would be my foundations and you would be free to adapt anything that resonates with you to your ways.
Ultimately though, I hope that my words can help you to figure this stuff out more easily than I and others had to. I believe that spirituality and spiritual lifestyles are already hard. Embarking on them doesn’t make life easier instantly but more fulfilling and navigable over time. Just getting started shouldn’t be hard anymore. We have the technology, platforms, and openness now to be able to share teachings. The idea of, “figure it out like I had to,” is to me….counterintuitive and counterproductive to the global outcry we are experiencing.
In my camp, I believe I went through all that "figuring it out" nonsense so that I can teach in a way that no one else has to also experience it. Because again, being spiritually driven is already a hard road to walk. If I am already well past 20 years of learning and practice combined, why should I look at a child, teen, or young adult and say, “That’s the way it is, kid. You have 20 years of “figure it out” before it's going to be worth anything.”? No, those days need to be over. No more gatekeeping and obscuring the information. I hope to help demystify the mystical.
Thank you for reading. And I hope you continue reading as I make more postings.
Have a great day!!
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