spirituality

Hello everyone!

I’ve talked about this a couple times on my blog before, but I haven’t grown up religious. My parents were both raised loosely Christian, but my mom now identifies as more “spiritual” and my dad is either agnostic or atheist (I’m honestly not sure, religion is definitely not a major topic of discussion in my household). I’ve kind of followed in my mom’s footsteps and loosely attached myself to some spiritual ideas, just to have some sort of faith and belief in the universe/a higher power. If you’re interested in finding something similar to believe in or just hearing another person’s perspective on this somewhat controversial topic, keep on reading.

I’ve found that by having some sort of spiritual connection between myself and the universe, I feel like there’s something more concrete in my reason for being alive. I’m not sure if it’s completely under the “spiritual” umbrella, but I’ve tried to put the Law of Attraction into practice (watch The Secret on Netflix to understand this) and that’s one of the major things I’ve tried to incorporate into my spiritual life more recently. I want to give off more positive vibes to others and be more positive towards myself as well, so it’s a win-win situation that aligns with my current goals for myself.

In the past, I’ve gotten really into crystals. I’m going to be honest and say I wasn’t sure of their specific spiritual significance, but my grandma had a healing crystal that she swore could tell you what part of your body was hurt and then you would know how to heal it. She also had a crystal where you could say “show me yes” and “show me no” and based on the way it spun, you could ask it (or the universe) yes or no questions. We’ve actually had a lot of the answers end up coming true, so do with that what you will.

I know that might sound crazy for people who don’t believe in those types of things, but it seemed natural to me since my mom’s side of the family was all into it. My great aunt does past life regressions (reading people and telling them who they were in a past life, how it relates to their current self/life) so I guess you could say we’re a crazy bunch if you don’t believe in any of this stuff. I know there’s a lot of different things that can be “spiritual”- just because you use the law of attraction doesn’t mean you agree with using crystals or psychics/mediums/etc.

There is no strict definition of spirituality, so you could honestly have a completely different idea of what that means to you and believe in completely different things than I do and still consider yourself a spiritual person. For me, it means crystals and belief in the universe as a higher power and using the Law of Attraction to try and manifest my goals, as I’ve stated here in this post.

Because I haven’t really grown up with any organized religion, religion fascinates me. I celebrate the “standard” Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter, but I don’t go to church and we don’t have actual religious celebrations- they’re more of family gatherings. I’ve often wished I had a more concrete belief system to hold on to, but I appreciate my parents not forcing anything on me and letting me believe what I want, while still getting the experience of celebrating holidays. There are definitely benefits and downsides to not having a strict religion. I feel like I’ve missed out on having that tight-knit church or temple community that emphasizes service and other activities that my friends do through their religion, but I’m also kind of glad I don’t have to be bound to an organization I might not fully agree with in principle.

I’m not sure if I’ll ever adopt a religion- I guess it depends on where I am later in life and if I end up marrying a religious person. As you can probably tell based on my spirituality, I’m a fairly open minded person. I would love to hear about your religious beliefs, traditions, and stance on spirituality, so feel free to share 🙂

Brooke

Hello everyone!

I’m always looking to discuss new topics on this blog and see what people are open to reading about, and today I realized I hadn’t talked about astrology, zodiac signs, or horoscopes before. It’s been on my mind the past couple days a little bit more than usual, since I received a book all about my zodiac sign (I cannot find the other signs, this isn’t even my sign but it’s the only one that came up) as well as a candle related to my birthday and zodiac sign for Christmas. I read the entire book before lunchtime on Christmas morning, and I was excited to learn a couple things about my sign that I hadn’t known before.

I would like to say upfront that I am by no means an astrology expert and I’m not a diehard believer in everything that horoscopes or astrology claims- it’s just like anything else where you have to take information with a grain of salt. That being said, if you’re interested in hearing my perspective on why I follow my horoscope and other astrology information or are skeptical on your own beliefs, I encourage you to keep reading and learn more.

To give a little background, my mom is a big believer in astrology, psychics, horoscopes, crystals, and lots of spiritual things that are often associated together. She has her own books on all of these things that she reads, and she’s been reading me my horoscope since I was little. It was only natural for me to become interested in my zodiac sign and learning more about astrology as well. I’m a Leo born on August 14th, and my moon sign is also Leo. It’s interesting because I don’t see myself as such a full-blown Leo; I’m introverted and quite shy at times. That being said, I think I see it more in my internal self and my goals/dreams for myself in life- I definitely have big dreams.

I think seeing that I’m not the “stereotypical” Leo is the main thing that’s deterred me from being a full-fledged believer in horoscopes and all things astrology, because right off the bat that’s a big shift in my personality that makes a lot of the horoscopes I read seem inapplicable to myself. However, there is still something for everyone to learn as you start reading more about your zodiac sign. In contrast to my mother, my father doesn’t believe in any of this at all. He says horoscopes are general things that could apply to anyone, and it’s just another marketing tactic. I read horoscopes from a variety of different places, and I think it depends- reading from an astrology website is different than reading the little horoscope slide on Snapchat’s news. Similarly, I have no clue where those accounts on Instagram that make little memes/posts about the different signs’ opinions on different topics get or come up with their information.

Since I’m not an otherwise religious person, astrology is a way for me to have some sort of belief in why I am the way I am (tongue twister!) and possibly learn more about myself. I know that may sound silly, but when I was reading the book I got for Christmas there were a few traits of Leos they described that I didn’t even really notice I had before, so it made me feel more connected to my sign and have a bit more faith in astrology. As I’ve stated before, it’s important to take everything with a grain of salt and know that not everything you read will apply to you personally, but it’s still fun to read and learn about. Also, if you believe in the Law of Attraction and manifestation, reading positive horoscopes and believing them might make them actually come true!

I hope this helped you gain a little bit more perspective on why some people enjoy learning about astrology and their personal zodiac signs. I apologize if there’s anything in here that was incorrect or offensive in anyway to what you might believe, but I tried my best to explain it from a neutral perspective. Keep in mind I am not an expert- I just read my horoscope and the occasional book or article to learn more about my sign, and I’ve searched up my personal birth chart a few times in the past. Other than that, I’m just another basic girl who likes having jewelry that depicts their sign 🙂

Brooke