The following article was originally posted by calensariel. It made such a powerful impact on me that I wanted to share it with my readers. I hope that you enjoy this, the first "guest post" on my Eclectic Spirituality blog. I encourage you to subscribe to calensariel's blog for more thoughtful spiritual reflections.
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The woman in the mirror
The beginning of the year is always an introspective time for me, though not for the reason you may think. Yes, there are the usual New Year resolutions and intentions, but, for me, January begins the inevitable descent to my next birthday, which is in April. Throughout the years, that descent has generated a myriad of emotions, particularly if the upcoming birthday was a major milestone.
Is New Age spirituality bad for young people’s mental health?
I recently happened upon an article entitled DIY religions: more harm than good, which opens with the following paragraph: Meditation, crystal therapy, self-help books – think they’re making you happier? Think again. A Brisbane academic has found a strong link between new-age spirituality and poor mental health in young people. While I contend that New …
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Resolutions, intentions and vision boards
Habit is habit, and not to be flung out the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs one step at a time. -- Mark Twain According to a December 11, 2016 Static Brain poll, 45% of Americans "usually make New Year's resolutions," despite the fact that 24% "never succeed and fail on their resolution each year." …
Everyday Gratitude
Gratitude makes the ordinary extraordinary. -- Judie Sigdel In April of 2016, my corporate job, among many others, was "discontinued." I had been there 17+ years. I was totally blindsided and absolutely devastated...for about a week. I quickly decided to turn the situation into an opportunity. I had started writing a book in January, but, …
The Power of Myth*
"Mythology is what we call someone else's religion." -- Joseph Campbell Like many Americans, I was raised Christian. As a child, I accepted Christianity as... well, gospel...since it was the only religion to which I had been exposed. Everyone I had ever met was Christian -- or professed to be -- with the exception of one …
A tale of two [kinds of] Santas
This weekend, New York was invaded by thousands of Santas, elves, reindeer and at least one Sugar Plum Fairy courtesy of Santacon 2016. I had all but forgotten about the event, until I spotted the first crowd of revelers as I was walking to the bus from a shopping excursion. It was around 4:00 p.m., and …
The smaller the world the greater the suffering
The first of Buddhism's Four Nobel Truths is that "Life is suffering." Whoa! Harsh! What a downer! As someone who lives with chronic pain, this key premise scared me terribly and kept me from studying Buddhism in a sangha (spiritual community) for many years. I was happy to meditate at home alone thank you very much. …
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What the heck is Eclectic Spirituality?
When people learn that I've written a book, their first question is always, "What is it about?" I reply, "Eclectic Spirituality," and they inevitably nod, smile and say, "Oh! That's interesting," as if they know what that is. Of course, they don't. Not many people do. After all, Eclectic Spirituality has no founder, leaders, congregations or organization. It …
Eclectic Spirituality 