INSIGHT
MY SPIRITUALITY IS AS MUCH A PART OF ME AS THE BODY I DANCE IN AND THE AIR I BREATHE.
necessary part of the great interwoven tapestry of existence. Also, that in honouring connectivity, it’s necessary to acknowledge and embrace the connection between seemingly contradictory things. There is no metaphysics without physics and vice versa. There is no such thing as faith without doubt, certainty/mystery, night/ day, left brain/right brain, yin/yang and so on. Two sides of the same coin, as they say. Life IS paradox. And lucky me, I got
an education in the poetry of paradox from a young age, and an appreciation of more than one perspective on how this whole cosmic conundrum fits together. Consulting the dictionary again,
fair, that response extended pretty well right through my 20s as well). But in more recent years, I’ve begun
to glean the benefits of my charmed and curious upbringing, and to find appreciation where once I may have held frustration and resentment. A few things have prompted this. One key turning point came when
I read Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance about ten years ago. This is also one of my dad’s favourite books. After 30 odd years of trying to communicate my belief that it’s all about interconnection, and that some highly important elements of existence can’t be scientifically quantified (like love and quality, for example), I discovered with glee that dear Robert Pirsig had comprehensively expanded on all of these elements in his genius manifesto, even at the expense of his own sanity, bless him. Suddenly Dad and I had a wonderful middle ground in which to meet, relate, and debate philosophy. Also, when I started regularly
practising Tantra and ecstatic dance, I developed an appreciation for the wisdom of my physical body that I hadn’t previously had. Suddenly the whole ‘Where’s the proof?’ question took on a different slant for me, as I found that oftentimes the proof was in the resonant experience of my own body.
12 JULY | AUGUST 2017
As hard as that may be to scientifically substantiate, I found that in trusting my body’s wisdom, I have less need for others to externally validate my experience, and a greater awareness of ‘truth’ as a subjective and dynamic thing. This sentiment is echoed strongly by a physicist friend of mine who was unquestionably on Team Rational until an involuntary Kundalini awakening gave him cause to consider some less empirical data in his contemplation of reality. Since my work has taken me into the
personal development field, I’ve found great benefit in having been instilled with a desire for things to be relatable, tangible, and not overladen with jargon. I still don’t use the words ‘spirit’ or ‘spiritual’ in my copy or my facilitation. Clearly this is not because I’m not spiritual (hopefully we’ve cleared that one up by now). Rather this is because I believe we each have all the resources we need inside us to experience profound connection and empowered self- expression, regardless of whether or not we believe in past lives, God, unicorns, UFOs or the existence of the soul. If I’ve learned anything at all from
all this colourful exploration, it’s that ultimately, everything comes back to connection; to our intrinsic desire to feel like a welcome, unique and
‘spirituality’ is defined as “The quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.” With all due respect, Mr Oxford,
to this I say phooey. Personally, this spiritual little black duck is concerned with the human spirit and soul as well as material and physical things. They’re not mutually exclusive, in fact, they’re interdependent. I don’t want to be spiritual at the
expense of being physical and real. My spirituality is as much a part of me as the body I dance in and the air I breathe. When I signed up for this being human gig, I’m pretty sure I asked for the full kaleidoscopic spectrum of fascinating things. Yep, I’ll take the lot, thanks. With a
cherry on top. That’s the spirit. n
Connect with other readers & comment on this article at
www.livingnow.com.au
Jules is a presenter, performance artist, dreamer and realist who passionately believes that humans are actually awesome. Her work
through Perpetual Mojo is the lovechild of her lifelong affairs with human connection, embodiment and self-expression.
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