Because Being Human is the Hardest Path There is
Resources for Spiritual Dis-eases
Linda Clark-Borre
How to define spiritual wellness? Anyone who's ever felt "dispirited," unbalanced, or discouraged can know it based upon what it clearly is not. Spiritual wellness is the opposite of feelings of absolute despair, unrelenting grief, and endless loneliness. Though it mysteriously encompasses painful emotions, the durable spirit is not limited by them. It can encompass "religion" - or not.
Regardless of personal belief system, anyone can benefit from spiritual support and nurture. Spirituality is less about rote precepts or rules, than how one is able to relate to everyday living. It's about being faithful to the ideals and beliefs that matter most to you.
We rarely have a chance to speak of such things outside traditional formal pastoral office settings. It's not common to open one's heart this way in community life. This, despite the yearning to release our pain, or consider our deepest questions safely and without judgment. We may have been encouraged to "have faith" by well-meaning others, but it's the rawness of our unique experiences that comprise the essential spirituality from which any sort of personal faith emerges.
With that intro - welcome to these pages, which offer the basis of my lifelong care and research on spiritual wellness, or spiritual durability.
Please know that spiritual support by any name - offered by guide, counselor, advisor, mentor, or blogs like these - is not intended to replace professionally qualified mental health and/or other practitioners when such expert care is needed. Any spiritual companion who takes the role seriously is prepared to offer referrals as needed by any seeker, that they might obtain the wholeness they seek.
That said, sometimes all we really need is to travel the path of deep self-awareness and the knowledge we carry within us, but have yet to access fully. It's an art that comes naturally to some, less so to others. Either way, it's a journey of a lifetime, leading to a rich inner life that is both solace and refuge.
Join me in my latest effort, The Hidden Legacy Project!
Let's Help Our Children Grow Into Their Best Selves at Any Age and Stage of Life.
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I'm currently at work on what is Known as an "Ethical Will" for my children.
The process is teaching me how to feel comfortable sharing myself personally. I share much, but...stop short of offering strong advice. The framework of the ethical legacy enables me to offer a little more of what I'm really thinking.
I wish I had begun the formal effort earlier!
Soon, I'll begin to share brief essays that form the basis of my final messages...my legacy.
Whether done for others oneself, I hope my sharing encourages others to do something similar; and just maybe appreciate themselves as they are, today.
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Sometimes I'm asked how I can do the work of supporting others spiritually, especially through loss, and not become depressed myself.
This deserves an answer - here it is, in two parts.urrentl
First - After several decades of living real life, I've come to terms, for myself, with the fact that "the unexpected is bound to happen, the anticipated may never come." This enables me to live focused primarily in the present.
When I feel overwhelmed, I ask for help from those I trust to listen. I also "write it out." I just started collage and watercolor as a means to explore my head and heart. I encourage all to explore with artists' tools, without judgement. All its forms open new doors to insight and understanding. Live as freely as possible!
Listening, to yourself, and to others, is a practice - here is a video about that, from Spiritual Directors International, of which I am a member. Please note this is NOT a solicitation, because I never charge for spiritually supporting others - some do, but I am not "paid /practicing clergy." I'm a friend.
Watching this can help you understand the nature of the work of deep listening in a world where many have become "dis-spirited." It will take a little time to upload and be scanned, but it's worth the wait. Perhaps you will feel immediately empowered just knowing what you have to offer those around you.
The Art of Spiritual Caregiving
Spiritual Health professionals are trained to provide comprehensive spiritual health care and emotional support. They address the cultural, emotional and spiritual needs of individuals, families and health care staff.
Twenty-five years ago while working in the medical field, I learned of a Hopi healer living in Arizona who was deeply respected for his compassionate "interfaith" service to patients at a hospital near the reservation where he lived. I'd heard stories of people in pain who, upon encountering the healer, were able to rise from their beds with renewed spirits.
I assumed he had some kind of miraculous and other-worldly gift. On a trip to the reservation area, I found his son, Lance, a Hopi cultural interpreter. Through him, I was able to discern the nature of his father's work, which he described in the simplest terms:
"Doctors, nurses, families and others call on me to bring presence, prayers, and rituals as needed or desired. Whether a patient survives, or is in the process of leaving this world, is not up to me. I look into a person to locate discomfort at the level of their soul. A sense of integration or wholeness of spirit is essential for the patient and for the family at any point in the cycle of their lives...
"I help people recover the lost parts of their souls."
I'd never heard a better description of a spiritual caregiver's work.
That day I understood that simple presence, a listening ear, discernment, and a sure sense of one's own inner grounding was more than an inspiring life goal; it was essential, the effort itself, life-changing.
Click the menu at the very top of this page for more selections. I'll be adding more to the menu soon. Feel free to contact me with specific questions or inquiries. My work is a labor of love - just that.