Meeting Up With The Spirit Junkies

You're in a trendy coffee shop or sitting on a park bench getting in tune with your surroundings. A leggy, not quite middle aged, yet attractive woman approaches and asks if she can sit with you. You get interested for some reason but somewhere in the back of your mind a warning bell goes off. Just why has she made contact with you? Is it a desperate bid to get into a relationship, sell you something or maybe she wants to get you involved in the latest spiritual trend.

It would be the latter choice form an article I read from last October in the Vancouver Sun. It involved Gabrielle Bernstein, who on a dark and stormy Vancouver night, spoke on her journey from hot mess to cool guru. She spoke to an all female crowd, maybe a women's equivalent of the Promise Keepers, about how she felt gutted at age 25, after years of climbing the corporate ladder and being a party animal. Then came the born again experience when Bernstein found meditation.

Since then Bernstein has been marketing spirituality as "sexy" and selling it to a younger generation of women. Apparently, at least for the time being, it's catching on, as the new spiritual junkies are talking about "forgiveness, prayer and divine alignment as they are talking about marketing." I just hope it lasts with the women involved and it's not another bandwagon to climb aboard then jump off when they get tired of it.

I don't find anything wrong with being rich and seeking a spiritual life at the same time. No one has or should have to give up any of their possessions, renounce materialism and lead a life of poverty. There is a time that all things need to be set aside for quiet meditation and self exploration. With Bernstein's gatherings, it gives women a chance to connect with each other plus combine "spiritual seeking with real world achievement."

Spiritual practice is more than just superficial cosmetic makeovers. It's a cornerstone for a person to build on from the inside of them that reflects on their outward life. It's a method where one gives up on controlling their circumstances in life and changes their perception of it. Real spirituality is more than wishful thinking or speculation. I know from personal experience how hard it is to change my own thinking patterns and mindset.

But it can be done. People are transforming from the old ways of doing things. What would it be like when this happens on a global scale? Being spiritual is about being better than what one used to be and letting Spirit flow through ones life. Everyone has a gift(s) in them to make the world a better place. Real spirituality keeps one grounded yet motivates a person to search for and connect with something bigger.