Practical Spirituality

Practical Spirituality: Identifying the spiritual element in everyday life

When we think of spirituality, we conjure images of fantastical settings and beings, gilded halls of religious worship containing exotic artifacts, studied and eccentric holy men and women who are far removed from society and everyday life. When we think of spirituality, we think of prayer, devotion, ecstasy and suffering. This is because when we think of spirituality we tend to think in extremes. These concepts not only limit our understanding of what spirituality is or should be, but they also limit our experience of it and what it could be in our own, personal living. To find spirituality in everyday life, one must take it out of the realm of extremes and begin to identify it in the seemingly insignificant.

The sheer significance that is implied in the word ‘spirituality’ may make the aforementioned statement sound like an impossibility. How can something be both spiritual and common? How can something insignificant carry spiritual significance? The answer lies in you. You are the connection between the ordinary realm and the spiritual realm. You are the one who perceives significance where it might otherwise be overlooked. You are the one who deems whether or not something is considered spiritual in your own life. If you decide an ancient cathedral with gold mosaics is spiritual, then it is. Or, it could simply be an elaborate yet empty building. If you choose to consider your afternoon cup of tea a spiritual experience, then it is. To someone else, it’s just a beverage. When you view something from the perspective of the human spirit, then you are assigning and finding the spiritual significance of it.

If spirituality is merely in the eye of the beholder, then how does one apply it to everyday living? Take the places, people and routine tasks of your everyday life and look at them from a fresh, spiritual angle. Specifically, start by choosing one or two of the more obvious. For example, it might be easier to consider bathing as a spiritual experience than a subway ride. So pick a couple of these basic, otherwise insignificant elements of everyday life to transform into something more spiritual.

Let’s explore the example of bathing to this end. Most likely, a bath or shower is a part of your everyday routine. If you’re like the rest of us in the world, it’s something you rush through hurriedly on your way to work, out, or before bed. It is probably one of the more insignificant parts of the day. Yet, when considered in a spiritual light, bathing is very symbolic. Meaning can be hidden behind or ritualized in almost any action, even bathing. The idea of cleansing, washing away of the unwanted, purifying oneself, and being renewed through the element of water are all essential concepts in spiritual experience. Make your bath spiritual by considering these things while you bathe or shower. Maybe a little study or internet research about water in spirituality or ritual bathing would help. Add additional elements to your bath routine to deepen the experience. Candles, fragrance, and prayer are all things that can take bathing from the ordinary to the extraordinary. The best part, whatever enlightenment you receive didn’t have to occur in some sanctified structure or with the guidance of a specially trained and devoted member of a higher order, it happened in your own bathroom.

There are hundreds of little ways like this that anyone can use to find the spiritual in the mundane. Your spirit is a part of you. It’s portable; it goes with you wherever you go. Like a sixth sense, or an extra organ, all you have to do is apply it. Whatever you apply your spirit to becomes a tool of your spirituality. When you begin to use your spiritual perception in your everyday routine, that routine will be uplifted and you will begin to reap spiritual rewards from something as simple as taking a shower.

by "Alex" Caroline Robboy, CAS, MSW, ACSW, LCSW