If I had to assess myself honestly, I would say that my life is rife with pragmatism. Yet, something I've always advocated and believed in are the concepts of spirituality and soul. Here are excerpts from a letter that I had written to a friend:
Is it a little too new-age, too self-indulgent narcissistic meaningless search for transcendent experiences, too Oprah-remembering-your-spirit craptacular for you? I like the amorphous quality of spirituality and soul. Can we really define it, pinpoint it down to a few words, do we even want to? Realistically, wouldn’t it mean different things to different people, it’s so damn elusive and subjective. The idea of a soul is not that puzzling to me, perhaps, my own ideology is very simplistic. Spirituality involves the non-physical, non-biological, the soul, the need for a deep connection with life and others. Damn, that’s a pretty dismal attempt at articulating what I mean.
Ok let me try again. The derivation of the word is from the Latin “spiritus”, which literally means "breath," so I equate spirituality as a metaphor for the breath of life. You know all those feelings of awe, joy, wonder; things that manifest the spirtual such as love, sunsets, music, stars, poetry, the arts, literature, freedom, or whatever takes your fancy. Science provides us with knowledge that these experiences are triggered by the release of endorphins but that knowledge doesn't change the experience itself or make it any less meaningful. We are seized by the power of that experience. And while religion dictates that the spiritual is actually beyond humanity, demanding that we need salvation (pooey to that), I don’t buy it. I think spiritual experiences are grounded in humanity, they may be the most profound experiences, but it is human nonetheless. So our spirits are decidely human, just not in the biological sense.
Does that make sense? I don't know but I feel (albeit rather abstractly) that it's impossible to deny our spirituality as we would be denying our humanity?
Man, I'm like.... deep :p
In other news, last night I went to the best Korean BBQ restaurant in Sydney. It is hidden in the most obscure location. When you step in, you're transported to another world.
