Episode 2: I'm not religious, I'm spiritual.

With this one, I wanted to freestyle on the topic of spirituality without the strict frameworks of religion. Religion tends to push so many of us away from actually discussing the metaphysical topics contained within. It poisons the well. I know that the very mention of the subject causes many of us to bristle due to deep-seated PTSD and trauma and just generally bad experiences we’ve had with religion that leave a lingering bitterness in our collective palates.

So we see fit to throw it all away and invalidate it. In doing so, we throw so much wisdom away. And that’s a shame. The zealots keep the good stuff to themselves by flying their religious flags and making the rest of us feel like we aren’t entitled to that knowledge unless we assume membership in their organization—and think exactly as they do—as well.

But that is an illusion. If you can read, you have every right to access the religious wisdom of this world without tying yourself to the associated institutions. And I think you should. It would give us all such a better understanding of why we think the way we do about each other.

We all see things from different angles and through different lenses. So, too, with the world religions which have taken deep root over millennia. We tend to go in circles as humankind; we are predictable. It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that ancient wisdom from nearly 2,000 years ago would have applicable guidance for us in the present day.

So I’ve become a student of religion and spirituality. I take Alan Watts as a particular inspiration in his comparative religious approach to the world. We learn and grow by connecting and interacting with one another. That includes by comparing and contrasting our various beliefs to find what lies in the common area between them.

My hope is that we’re on the precipice of no longer circling around, but finally spiraling out. We’re capable of so much more than this.

This one is a little rambly, but that’s how I talk naturally, so I just let it be. I’m practicing the art of allowing imperfections to simply be as they are.

Thanks for listening.