Hi everyone! How are you all doing today?

Today I am going to be talking about spirituality and its importance in my life. First, let me get one thing straight: I am NOT a religious person at all. I am of Catholic faith, yes, but I do not practice it regularly. Meaning – no, I do not go to church every Sunday. I have not been in months. I hardly ever pray.

You see, being religious and being spiritual are so far apart in meaning, but it seems to me that a lot of people aren’t actually aware of this. In my very own opinion (yes, it can be contestable!) religiosity is the strong upkeep of beliefs, faith and continuous practice of a certain religion. Spirituality, however, is your depth of connection with yourself, others, and the world around you; and whilst it most definitely falls under the category of religiosity, it can often be found in people who do not necessarily believe in God (or any other gods of our time.) I am included in this circle.

Now for a little backstory on my part. As I’ve said, despite being Baptised and regularly encouraged to follow my private school’s Catholic faith, I am not, in the sense, a religious person. I am respectful of my school’s celebration of mass and Eucharist, and see the worth in it, but the past few years of my life, it’s got me thinking – IS there a God? Can all the stories I’ve been told really justify this?

Trust me – I WANT to believe. I think everyone does, really. We all would like to think that some bigger, protective force is watching over us, guiding us throughout our lives. We all would like to think that we were put on earth for a reason, that our lives are meant for some predetermined purpose. We all would like to believe that there is a place for us after death. But the thing that’s got me is my natural scientific outlook on life. Yes, I am a very emotive, deep-feeling person, and it is often my heart that guides me rather than my head. But after all that I’ve learnt over the years about how the world works and how our very existence came to be – in scientific terms – it is hard for me to believe that there really IS a God.

Despite all of this, I do believe that I am an extremely spiritual person. It is one of my strongest core values, and I take high pride in it. I guess that’s one benefit of going through the struggle of mental illness and difficult times: my pain has strengthened my compassion, understanding, kindness, and connectivity with others, animals, and myself. Well, I’m still working on myself. Self-compassion is difficult; trust me, I get it. But we’ll get to that another time.

So, what do you think?

Can we be spiritual without holding religious values?
Do you see yourself as being spiritual, both spiritual and religious, or none at all?

I’d love to get to know your experiences with spirituality and religiosity! So please, comment below or shoot me an email!

Love to you all ❤