Hello, my name is __________

Ah, labels. They are rarely, if ever, a good thing.

Ironically, my biggest obstacle to living spiritually since I began this portion of the blog is the fact that I gave myself the temporary label of a spiritual seeker for three months. I boxed myself into a particularly identity - which is exactly the opposite of what living spiritually actually involves. I think I thought initially that being vaguely aware of the possibility of that happening would have prevented it from taking over...but noooope. It definitely has impeded the whole purpose of this phase of the project significantly. I've even found myself at times in a weird inner struggle because I'm trying to handle various things that have happened as I think I should as a spiritual person - and it's actually led to less self-acceptance, less wisdom, and less insight. (Hah...life has the weirdest tricks up its sleeve sometimes!) Well, this may be the most important lesson I learn (and hopefully maybe even impart) along this rather strange paradoxical road..and if so, hey, I can be at peace with that.

So where will I go from here, with three weeks left in the spiritual living phase? Good question. Maybe I could try not to think of myself as a person who's trying to be spiritual anymore. Maybe I could try to remind myself how being spiritual involves not intentionally trying to be spiritual. Maybe I could try to release myself from the spiritual identity by doing things that are not typically thought of as being very spiritual (ooh, kinda like that idea...)

But perhaps the best idea of all, is just to let myself be.

;-)

xo Janine