Let You Lead

In recent years, mindfulness practice has become one of the most important aspects of my life, of my efforts to maintain and improve my mental and physical wellbeing the best I can. Naturally this has led me to be a more spiritual person; I love the feeling of being more connected to myself, the world, life, and the people around me. The simple act of purposefully taking notice of my thoughts, feelings and actions is immensely therapeutic in many ways, and I am thankful that mindfulness has become, for me, one of the best tools for managing the stresses and strains of daily life.

Spirituality comes in all sorts of forms

Spirituality is sometimes confused with religiosity, but whilst having a faith constitutes a form of spirituality – which is about feeling connected to something beyond oneself – the concept spans much wider than religion. For some it comes in the form of feeling more attuned to one's own mind and body, for others it is brought about by the experience of overwhelming natural beauty, for others it might be as simple as connecting with those around them through a shared hobby or interest. Either way, this sense of connectedness to something or someone is one of the keys to wellbeing, bringing joy to our lives and offering a coping mechanism during times of hardship.

Given the overlap between the two, it’s easy to see why spirituality and religion are sometimes thought of as synonymous. Although I can see the difference between the two clearly, I find it fascinating to consider the parallels between them, which have become apparent to me through various routes in recent times.

The first was last Christmas when I had what has become my annual catch up with a friend from school. It would make sense to note at this point that I myself am not religious; this particular friend, on the other hand, is devoutly Christian. She doesn’t preach or judge in any way toward non-Christians (which I am thankful for as I have very little time for that type of religiosity!), and is very open to discussion, questioning and debate about her faith. This led to a very interesting conversation about the similarities between her religiosity and my spirituality.

My friend had spent some time telling me about a large Christian conference / convention she had attended, one element of which was a workshop related to dealing with emotions. This was not the sort of thing she would usually partake in, but thought she’d give it a go, and found it a very powerful experience that generated some epiphany-like self-insights. She talked of how the prescribed activity involved thinking on a particular issue and silently asking God for answers; simply allowing these answers to present themselves in their own time.

I was struck by how immensely similar this was to an experience I’d had in my mindfulness practice: during a day retreat, I partook in a guided meditation involving inner inquiry about self-compassion, which lead to a poignant moment of insight that kick-started a powerful healing process around something that had troubled me for years.

For both myself and my friend, important personal insights were found by sitting quietly, focussing one’s attention on a specific issue and allowing whatever presented itself to be. I am fascinated by how the psychological process seems to be pretty much the same; the difference was in whether one’s energy was being directed toward God or toward self.

The other arena in which I’ve found congruency with Christianity is music: despite not connecting with the religiosity of the lyrics, it just so happens that quite a lot of Christian music is right up my street. Of course, not all songs from all Christian artists are about religion, but even when they are I enjoy seeing the alternative meaning in the lyrics. Indeed, this is one of the things I love about music in general; the way in which a song can tell a story and that each of us might relate to that story a little differently based on our own experiences.

One such album I have been enjoying immensely of late is Philippa Hanna’s Speed of Light. My favourite song from this album is the wonderfully uplifting and anthemic Let You Lead, through which Philippa seems to express her faith in God to take her safely through life’s course, and how she holds such faith no matter what happens. Despite my non-religious nature, I can really draw parallels with these sentiments from my own standpoint of mindfulness practice (which of course has its roots in the religion of Bhuddism, but has come to Western culture in secular forms).

Listen to Let You Lead on SoundCloud here 

“I like a straight line, without a left turn

But I keep on finding, that’s not how life works

…

I see one moment

And you see forever”

In religion, one has faith that God is implementing a lifelong plan; thus one can better accept what is happening right now even if it doesn’t feel good, safe in the knowledge that its all part of this bigger story that’s unfurling. Similarly, mindfulness teaches us to accept the present moment however it is, with one of its mantras being “this too will pass”, enabling us to recognise that everything is transient.

Hindsight is always 20/20

With every dark twist, you never left me

Forever faithful, no matter what I go through

Why would that change now?

I’m gonna trust you

I put one hand on your shoulder

Feel my faith grow bolder

Don’t have to know, don’t have to see

I’m just gonna let you lead

I like the allusion to life unfolding in mysterious ways, something I have experienced often over the years. How often have you been able to see the value in a difficult experience only after it’s happened? Or seen in hindsight that when it appeared a door was closing it was simply giving you space to find another door that led to a more delightful room? Whilst one person might see this as God working his magic others might see it as life itself just doing its thing. My own feelings ae really echoed in the religious notes of these lyrics, and I am fascinated by how two experiences can be so similar yet so different at the same time. 

I suppose this highlights how very similar we all are as human beings:  we may differ in religion and culture, but human nature is human nature regardless of these features. Whether one comes at it from a religious or secular perspective, accepting life’s ups and downs as they are, and not fighting against them too much, is a powerful coping mechanism.

Of course, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take action to change things when there is a need: there will always be a balance to strike between this and acceptance of that over which we do not have control (as a hint, nothing outside of ‘your own actions right now’ fall into this circle of control). Sensing that we don’t always need to know what’s going to happen next, that the present moment, just as it is, might be enough, can be a wonderfully powerful way to feel more at ease with life. I find that beyond offering comfort, this mindset can be is really life-enriching, encouraging us to live for the moment. For me this approach to life comes from mindfulness, for others it comes from trusting in the power of God, for others there will no doubt be a whole host of other influences. Either way, allowing ourselves to enjoy our moment-to-moment experience and ‘letting life lead’ from time to time feels like a great way to live.

Lucky Star

As I’ve commented many a time over the months, I often feel I should make the time to blog more often.  In the beginning I did really well with sticking to my once-a-fortnight rule, but have become pretty lax with this and post a lot more sporadically these days!  However, what I’ve realised is that rather than forcing myself to write more regularly, it’s more important for me to write quality stuff that people will (hopefully!) find engaging and enjoyable to read.  With this realisation, I also feel it’s important to go back to basics and remind myself and my readers of why I’m even bothering to blog in the first place!

As you can see from my introductory post, the main aim of the blog is to share my ideas and observations on life and the world with whoever wants to hear them or happens to stumble across my blog.  I hope to do this in an interesting and engaging way, as well as writing persuasively about things I feel strongly about (getting people ‘on my cloud’, hence the blog’s title!) and perhaps elicit some sort of discussion or debate on important topics.

The majority of my posts all follow the theme of being at least in some way to do with wellbeing or mental health.  Interestingly enough, I noted in my very first post that this was the case, and although my interests and aspirations have developed and refined a hell of a lot over the last couple of years, my passion for this field and my desire to be influential in improving people’s wellbeing remain strong and  constant.

Natural beauty is great for mental wellbeing!

People often ask me where my passion for this area comes from; why do I feel so strongly about it and care so much?  The answer is I don’t really know, and I’d imagine it’s a combination of factors, which perhaps I’ll write about in more detail at a later date.  What I do know is that through a combination of my studies in psychology, working in mental health, and general interest, I’m fairly good at being self-aware and looking after my own wellbeing. 

To me, self-awareness and coping strategies are the kind of skills that everyone should be empowered to develop from a young age, and that by building a more resilient population in this way we can in turn, ultimately, work towards reducing the number of people who experience difficulties with their mental health.  I’m not naïve enough to believe that this is the sole answer to the complex and multi-faceted mental health minefield, but I certainly think it’s a great place to start (I plan to elaborate further on this in a later post!)

We'd all be a bit happier if we stargazed more often; do you agree?!

At this point I find myself coming full circle with some of my original posts from back in 2012:  You Could Be Happy describes some coping strategies and tools for wellbeing, whilst in Staring at the Sun I make a case for education and schooling being used to enhance awareness and understanding of mental wellbeing.  The direction I’m taking my career in has totally changed two years down the line, and yet this is still exactly what I want my life’s work to revolve around!

I also find myself looking back at my post My Heart is Open and the Sky’s on Fire.    Odd title I know, but feel free to check it out if you haven’t yet seen it.  I wrote this post when I was feeling at my most amazing, and although now I read it back I feel it could have been better written, it’s still a piece I’m happy with because of the general messages I endeavour to convey.  It’s a real attempt to show the reader some of the essence of me, so to speak, and is a good reminder for me of how amazing the world is and how good it can make me feel.

With the above in mind, I realise that whilst (as noted earlier!) I do a pretty good job of looking after myself, as with most avenues of life there’s some room for improvement, and that I may need to address a few things to maintain my own wellbeing and get back to that feeling that the world is incredible.  I think I started to rectify this last night, when I was lucky enough to attend a wedding reception in a stunning location with little light pollution, providing the ideal opportunity for a spot of star gazing.  Seeing and feeling the beauty of the world is another factor that’s important in wellbeing (although I’ve not yet talked about this elsewhere in my blog!), so taking the time to stargaze, spend time in places of natural beauty, etc, is something we should all make the effort to do more of.  The piece of music I've featured here, Fractured by Lights & Motion, is what I consider the perfect accompaniment to a good stargazing moment!

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this, and if you’ve got this far, thanks so much for taking the time to do so.  I’ve reconnected myself with the purpose of this blog and hope I’ve done the same for my readers.  As always I welcome and actively encourage comments and constructive criticism!

Thanks for reading, and whatever you’re doing, I hope you’re having a lovely day and taking the time to appreciate the beauty around you :)