SPIRITUAL SELF

Unfolding the Spiritual Self

Spiritual self includes the topics about The inner soul, Connections with nature and Discovering life's meaning.

The Inner Soul

THE INNER SOUL

This part of the Spiritual self tackles the nature of spirituality, how is it different from religiosity, the factors that shape one's spirituality, and it's impact on one's self. Spirituality is the concept of the "whole person" which is usually associated to the idea of human beings as having physical and psychological aspects and learning about the spiritual aspects. This topic highlights the mind-body-spirit connections. The spiritual self is an ongoing, personal life journey, it cannot be easily defined into words. It involves beliefs in the higher being, culture, nature, relationships, and the discovery of the meaning of life. Religiosity is defined as the adherence to a belief system and practices associated with a tradition in which there is an agreement about what is believed and practiced.

I learned in this topic that spirituality doesn't equate to religiosity, because people have different religions but everyone has their own spiritual self, this topic focused on the believing that there's a supreme being, and as a Roman Catholic that supreme being for me is GOD, but just like what I've said that spirituality doesn't equate with religiosity, even if I am not a Roman Catholic I would still believe in God or the supreme being which is higher to any beings. I learned that the inner soul is the connection to the supreme being, to out of this world phenomena and to deeper understanding of one's soul. I believe that having deeper understanding about the inner soul could help us to have a much deeper understanding about our purpose in life.

WHO AM I BY CASTING CROWNS

Connections with Nature

CONNECTION WITH NATURE

Having a connection with nature is another aspect of the spiritual self. It helps us embrace God's creation which is the nature, to have natural affinity with nature emotionally or physically. This topic also tackles the factors that contribute to such connections, how we manifest our relations to nature, and how we can enhance it in the context of spirituality. Having connection with nature is also called nature relatedness. Our connection with nature matters because nature is good to us, therefore we should also be good with nature. Nature gives us maintenance for survival, it is only natural that we keep the nature alive and having emotional affinity with nature could help us understand more about our inner souls, other connections and relationships and our main purpose in life.

I have learned in this topic that without the nature there's no human, yet lots of people doesn't care about the nature and only cares about their personal needs and wants. I believe that taking care of the nature would prolong the life on Earth, a lot of horrible things are happening now on Earth, and it is because of human's selfishness and obsession with innovation that they blindly destroy the nature just to discover something good without realizing that having connection with nature is better than seeking for something greater. For me, sometimes it is more appropriate to remain ignorant about some things and just enjoy the moment with nature. If only people could get contented and could care with one another more than themselves then I believe everything could be peaceful in this world, people would plant trees, do their part of labors and live a happy life, an ideal peaceful world with nature and people loving the nature should be something that people seek rather than innovation with technology that might further destroy nature and humanity itself.

Discovering Life's Meaning

DISCOVERING LIFE'S MEANING

This aspect of the Spiritual self highlights the concepts of well-being and life satisfaction, exploration with different facets of well-being and life satisfaction, the meaning of being an individual, and the factors contributing to it and its consequences to daily living. This particular topic is very nostalgic to me, questioning about the meaning of life, my life's purpose, my goals in life, and the life I have live so far. As we grow older we understand that there's always something beyond anything, that there will always be something greater, there will always be someone greater so the essence of it is to learn on how to be contented in life. The essence of life is having contentment and satisfaction with the little things that life could offer. Not everything expensive in this world is valuable, and not all valuable things in this world is expensive.

Practically speaking, it would be hard to live in this world without money, because money keeps the world going, and gives economical value to something, but I realized that rich people couldn't still get contented no matter how much great amount of money they get, they could never get contented and happy with it, money might make the world go around, but that is not the most valuable thing in this life. For me, the most valuable things in my life are all of the moments I've spent where I felt so alive, overwhelmed by any kind of emotion, treasuring people more than their economical status, being contented in life, learning to adapt and be flexible in different kind of situation, learn to accept things you can't change. The only constant thing in this world is change, everything changes relative with time but there are things that doesn't change no matter how long it takes, and that's bond, with family, friends, love ones, strangers, the moments you spent with those people might not last forever but the memory of having that moment is a treasure, I hope that bond would never change, include the fact that you have your family will never change through time and for me that is the most valuable thing in this life, more valuable than the most expensive item in this world or any material things that money can buy.

Spirituality is a broad concept with room for many perspectives. It is a connection with something bigger than just ourselves. I have understood in this topic that having connections is great and necessary whether it's a connection with another human being, a connection with animals, a connection with the nature, a connection with the world, or a connection to my inner self. Being connected to a whole as one singular being is overwhelming, being a part of something greater or something bigger. The meaning of life, the essence of life is not easy to understand because the essence of life is the way you live your life so if you end up living your whole life finding what's the essence of life then the essence of your life would be redundant so best way to cherish the essence of life is to live a life with a purpose, being a human, having connection with everything, to your inner self, to your own universe, and to the world itself.

"I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still you hear me when I'm calling
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling
And you've told me who I am
I am yours"