You Don't Have to be Good

So much of the puritanical ways have seeped into modern day spirituality it blows my mind. The idea of being pious. Being holier than thou. The angel of the household. What if I told you that you were already born with your divinity? What if I told you that the way to truly access it is through your brilliant, powerful humanity. 

And I have found that so much of modern day spirituality is riddled with still trying to be “good” and “saintly.” 

It impacts the way we see our spiritual lives. It stops us from seeing that every single thing we do is an act of divinity. Like when we choose to go to a club and dance in the most primal sexual way ever, or like a total goof, it makes us too thirsty for attention. Or that when we belly laugh at a meme that is a little raunchy, it somehow makes us less evolved. Or that when we buy something lavish for ourselves, like a set of cotton undies that are bleached painted with magical herbs and flowers and moons,(maybe that’s just a me thing), it somehow means we are not totally aligned with giving up everything to be a saint. Or when we are dolling ourselves up, we are feeding into our ego and insecurities. Or that if we desire anything, we are egomaniacs to obsessed with worldly things?

Why can’t we see that when we are dancing at the club, we are shaking away stagnant energy, activating our root chakra, releasing trauma from the central nervous system, and honoring our bodies and reclaiming generations of repression of the movement of our sacred vessels? Or when we belly laugh at a raunchy meme, we are making light of things that have been seen as so shameful from back in the day, and we see that we’re a little less alone in what makes us weird and wonderful? Or when we buy something lavish for ourselves, we are supporting the people who made it and poured their heart and soul into it, and advocating for creators in a direct way, while also celebrating and honoring our bodies? Or when we spend an hour on our hair, makeup, and getting dressed, can it not be a way to celebrate our beauty? An opportunity to eye gaze and create intimacy with ourselves? A time to drop into a meditative flow with every pass of the curling wand or straightener? Or put on makeup like warpaint and consecrate our empowerment with the final touches? Why can’t we see that it is okay to have desires, even if they are coming from a superficial place, because eventually it will lead you to your truth? 

Let’s drop the idea that you have to be so good, so pious, so saintly that you cannot enjoy the gifts that are around you. We are constantly being blessed with opportunities to celebrate ourselves, each other, and life. There is a sacred balance of worldly and otherworldly. Or give and take. Of self and others. 

At the end of the day, so many spiritual practices focus on shaming the body, shaming our humanity, telling us that it is impure, unholy, and something to rid yourself of. I say, we are all alchemists. We can transmute and transform anything. We were put on this Earth by some force, and if they wanted us to hate this sacred body vessel they gave us, then they wouldn’t have blessed us with it to begin with. If they wanted us to not be human, then they wouldn’t have made us human. I think we were all equipped with lessons and blessings, and our job in this life is to know ourselves, our come from, and heal slowly and deeply so we can rewrite the paradigm. 

In the world that I envision, it means seeing our bodies as holy. As the vehicles that allow us to be here, that we nourish and that sustains us. It means finding genuine connection on a dance floor, equipped with feeling free and good and loads of belly laughs and hyping each other up. It means that we all celebrate our individual beauty. It means that we honor where everyone is at in their growth and not be judgmental or think we’re holier than thou. It means that we show up authentically and communicate honestly with each other. And it means not taking it all so seriously, and enjoying our time here. Because life is short, precious, and powerful. And I think whatever brought us here wants us to dance in the delight of self-discovery and living every step of the way.