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What does it mean to be a spiritual person? How can one truly find freedom for their spirit, and allow their soul to take flight?

It is almost counter-intuitive, how simple spirituality really is.

You need not look any further than your own two hands, the Earth you walk upon, and the air which you breathe.

We often believe that if we do not say the right things, worship God in the right way, are not grateful or giving enough, and get angry... that we are not "spiritual". We are made to feel doubt, when others tell us that this way or that way is the "only" way to grace and God. Often, we have images in our minds of what it looks like to be a spiritual person. Forgetting the point of why our hearts desire spirituality in the first place, we begin to compare ourselves to people we perceive as 'more spiritual' than ourselves. In doing so, we tend to look at the "symptoms" of these spiritual people, rather than the "causes". This can cause us to forget that each unique person will manifest their own fabulously unique spiritual symptoms.

So what is the essence of spirituality, the spark of it that seems to inspire that nameless quality of those people whom you would wish to mirror, to emulate, to become more like?

Well, the truth of spirit is extremely simple. At the same time, it is more profound than anything. It is not a belief, an idea, a thought, or an ideology. The word 'spirit' comes from the Latin word 'spiritus', meaning breath. If you think beyond the human meaning of the word 'breath', you can begin to think of it as an impulse, rather than a physical mechanism involving lungs and blood cells. Breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out. It is a rhythm. Breath in, breath out. It is a beat. It is a song. Spirit in, spirit out, spirit in, spirit out. It is a universal jive, sun up, sun down. Waves pull in, waves pull out. Animals wake, they sleep, they wake, they sleep. Spirit is the song to which all of life dances. It is the pulse of life itself.

The cherry blossoms welcome the spring with their scent of sweetness. The moon hangs in a crescent over the ocean. The sun rises and sets. The bees collect pollen from flowers, people get their morning coffees from Starbucks, and the wheels of time keep rolling.

To be spiritual is to simply recognize one's place in the rhythm of life. It is always there, and to feel the wind beneath one's wings, one must do nothing more than breath. Yes, church hymns and stone circles and sacrificing giant watermelons may help one to connect to their images of universal connectedness. However, they are not necessary, and religious rituals can sometimes even limit the impulse of life that wants to be expressed through us.

If you want to become a good person, you do not have to try to be a good person. All you must do is remember to breath, remember that you are life living life, and in remembering you will find a very deep joy. From honoring who you are as life, all other "spiritual symptoms" will follow naturally.

Learn more about this author, Erica Kitner.
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