This week’s FK article can be read here.
I needed this entry. I really did. I could go so far to say that I need to reread this entry every day for many many years so that it sinks into my thick skull. This article really could permeate all aspects of my life. I really need to let go. To quit looking at what everyone else is doing and to quit comparing notes. You can’t save everyone. You can’t be everything to everyone. I don’t have enough spoons for all of that. This article nicely sums all of that up.
It’s very easy to get caught up into a comparison game. Who is more spiritual? Who’s getting the most out of this? Am I getting what I “should be” out of this? The truth, though, is that all of that is completely irrelevant. You get what you give out of your spiritual life. It’s personal, and it’s your own work that matters. You can’t do another person’s work, and they can’t do yours.
Wait, what kind of bone does he have?
How many times in the Kemetic forums have many of us told each other that we are ‘doing it wrong’? I know I’m guilty of it. Even now, despite my best efforts to ‘let go’, I look at what others are doing and seriously question what they are thinking. This has to stop. What they are doing is irrelevant to me. Their practice doesn’t affect mine. And just because I think what they are doing is stupid, dumb, or whatever other judgmental crap I can come up with doesn’t mean that I need to step in. I can suggest other ideas, but as Helms tells me, after two responses, if things aren’t clearing up or progressing, I need to stop.
Stop it, Devo. Stop it. Drop it. Put it down.Walk away.
My therapist tells me that in order to help with letting go, I should take a deep breath, and visualize the bad stuff leaving my body. That I can tap or massage my muscles to force myself to physically let things go. That as I do this more, I will get better at it. God knows I need to get better at it. Many times in my life I am too busy comparing my bone to someone else’s bone (which is always larger and better, or completely malformed and I wonder what they are thinking wanting that bone). In the end this behavior is destructive and counter productive. It often makes me angry and frustrated and ends up bogging my brain down with negative thoughts. This in turn worms it’s way into my working and personal relationships and makes people irritated with me (I will be proactive in finding solutions to things that irritate me…). If anything, this is one of the biggest things I’d like to work on this year. Letting go.
Questions:
What do you put into your spirituality? What do you get out of it?
I put quite a bit into my spirituality (I think). I feel like it permeates all that I do. Even when I’m not actively practicing ritual every day, I feel like it seeps into everything. I try to always keep the Kemetic, Shinto and FK mindset in mind as I go about the day. I try to always stay grateful, respectful and compassionate (despite the fact that I often fail at it). Even my therapy serves a purpose in my spiritual life.
I think that I become a better person for my spiritual life. I feel like everything I put into it comes back to me as the ability to better manage my moods, my mind, my life. It makes me calmer. It makes me happier.
What do you think of people that treat spirituality as one more weekly meeting? Do you do that? Do people you care for?
It bugs me. I really get irritated by people who sign onto a religion, and then only treat it as a social gathering or something they ‘have’ to do. And then you have the groups of people who don’t know anything about the supposed religion they are following. That bothers me, too. You’d think that people would really want to do more with their religion. It’s their religion after all. You’d think they’d take it more seriously. But I know that not all of us do. Not all of us have The Itch. I need to learn to ignore this stuff, to let it go.
Why are you a FlameKeeper? What do you bring to it? What does it bring to you?
I am a FlameKeeper because it calls to me. It lines up with my mindset and worldview and gives me a more active and applicable structure to work off of. FK lines up with my therapy. It lines up with my Shinto practice. It lines up with my Kemetic practice. And at my core (When I’m not bogged down with this extra, stupid mental crap) it lines up with me. I’m hoping that by following this path, it will help me be more true to my core. To myself. And to help me better myself. To make my halves whole. I have no clue what I bring to FK. I have offered to do art, but I’d like to do more than that. I think in time I will figure out what I can bring to the table that might be of value. Currently, I’m considering writing a post on UCL and FK. Because the two are similar.
So what about you guys? Do you get caught up in looking at what others are doing? Do you have issues letting go?
The Twisted Rope 