Spiritual Wellness

Before we dive into spiritual wellness, I want to look at well...ness. Separated, it could read as the state of being at the well. Consider the images through the millennia of women at the well. They have gone there and dipped into the well's cool life-giving waters from deep inside. They spend time with each other, then carry with them water for cleansing, nurturing their families, for life itself.

Women at the well reminds me too that each of us is overwhelmingly water.

As Lao Tse so brilliantly and succinctly put it, water resists nothing and overcomes everything.

Our world view is infused with metaphysical and allegorical images, stories, and myths of water. I'm a mermaid myself and my heart always feels full when I am near, at, on, or in water.

From water the turn to spiritual wellness is easy. Spiritual wellness has no barriers of religion or path. It's all open, like a vast lake. Like the well, we have inside of us a place we can reach to find the life-giving nourishment of spiritual connection.

Here's what spiritual wellness is not:

• Negativity - toward others or of other religious or spiritual beliefs
• Alienation - from oneself, one's ethics, one's beliefs, the world, the mystery of life
• Disgruntlement - about others, ourselves, our existence
• It is also not any particular path, religion or spiritual belief. From my perspective it doesn't even have to entail a belief in a higher being.

Here's what it is:

• Connection to something larger than ourselves
• Appreciation of and openness to the vastness and diversity of life
• Curiosity of the mystery that surrounds us and some authentic attempt to understand our place in it
• Gratitude

Personal growth writ large

Spiritual wellness is personal growth writ large because it transcends the emotional and the intellectual dimensions of being. It goes beyond personality into something more deep and more vast. It entails intent - the intention of connecting oneself to a profoundness that permeates all of life.

It is the belief that life - all of life - matters. It is a seeking, of unity within oneself of body and soul. It is a consistent effort to bring purpose and meaning to our actions.

It is the ongoing attempt to experience positivity - love, peace of heart and mind, happiness, contentment, understanding, transcendence, joy.

You like it, you love it, you want some more of it... But how?

There are as many doorways into spiritual wellness as there are people. I don't believe any two people experience it exactly the same way. That's good news, because you can carve out a path that is comfortable for you. It's also a burden because it is individual and therefore entails personal responsibility. No one can force it on another. No one else can ensure that you are on your path. It's yours and it's up to you.

A few things can help, like making a few minutes each day to relax physically and mentally. Or taking time to meditate, pray, feel gratitude, or smell a rose. Being nice to yourself and others. Keeping the desire to understand open. Remembering the beauty of the women at the well.

If you check around this site you will find suggestions and supports. You will also find links to outside resources. The options are many. As always, my friend, the choice is yours.

Nelson Mandela is my hero. His spirit was never broken. During many years of hard labor in prison he remained inspirational for his fellow inmates.