Your mood, angels & booze: how to connect with something greater

Even where I live, it's still a little early for snow.

But as I write this, the first flurries of the season are flying sideways past my window.

It reminds me that the holiday season is fast approaching.

I love the holidays—even though, if I'm honest—they bring feelings that range all the way from joyful connection and nostalgia to deep isolation and sadness.

It's the same range of moods that can come with everyday life, but amplified.

Depending on your circumstances, maybe you can relate.

Either way, stay with me on this related riddle: what do your mood, angels, and booze have in common?

Regardless of your perspective on the holidays, they're all things we seem to reach for in an oddly consistent way, during times of celebration and sadness.

They’re different forms of spirits.

But whether you’re inclined toward the secular (“getting into good spirits”), the ethereal (connecting with “Great Spirit"/"the Holy Spirit”), or straight to an ample-shot-of-rum-in-your-eggnog kind of spirits, don't you find it interesting that humans have a tendency to reach for every kind of spirit, regardless of what kind of spirits we're in?

Feeling joyful and connected? Celebrate with a glass of spirits and/or give thanks to whichever Spirit you deem central.

Feeling down and lonely? Use the same glass of spirits in an attempt to self-soothe (side note: I definitely recommend healthier ways), and/or turn to prayer or meditation to connect with Spirit for guidance and support.

Over the course of your life, maybe you've gone down every single one of the paths related to every single one of the definitions of 'spirit': exploring your spiritual beliefs; examining what impacts your emotional spirits; experimenting with your body and mind's responses to liquid spirits...

I know I have. In fact, I spent a number of years working personally and directly with two of this week's guest experts in the Optimal Living episode, "Healthy Spirit", where we explore the many facets of 'spirit'.

Whatever your 'spiritual' inclination might be, I think we can all appreciate the value of having a healthy sense of spirit when it comes to well-being. 

If you've ever:

• felt you want to connect with something greater—whether you refer to that 'something greater' as “God”, “The Universe”, “Allah”, “Brahma”, “Great Spirit”, "Consciousness", or any other name—but you don't feel quite aligned any more with the spiritual tradition you grew up with (if any at all);

• felt the tension in a room as soon as you walk in, even though nobody's said a word;

• felt the powerful, palpable energy at a major concert, sporting event, or other large gathering;

• had any spiritual inclinations or not—

—this episode will be powerful food for thought on your journey to spiritual well-being.

Watch "Healthy Spirit" now:

In these three intriguing interviews, you'll learn:

☑ how your personality type influences your feeling of alignment (or misalignment) with the religious tradition you were born into

☑ the ways you’re affected by energy fields, including those of others, that of the collective human spirit, or by the energetics of 'something greater'

☑ fifteen perennial themes identified by scholars that unite the widely varying world religions, and how they contribute—again, whether you're religious or not—to leading a happy, fulfilling life

While the topics covered in this episode are timeless, they feel particularly important now, at this particular time in history.

There's not been, in my lifetime, a period of greater unrest, upheaval, and uncertainty. It's true that every generation experiences some form of these-are-times-of-change vibes—we are always evolving, after all—but everyone seems to sense that this particular cycle of change feels especially BIG.

To help you prepare for whatever might be in store, watch "Healthy Spirit" now, and see the show notes for more resources to help you explore your relationship to spirit(s).

Cheers to building a healthy spirit...at the holidays, and always.

xo

Kelly