I’m diving out of the spiritual closet. The closet of misused labels such as scientologist, hippie, atheist, cult. That’s not spirituality. Spirituality expands far past any label and is personal and intimate. Maybe for others they may feel that the definition of spirituality is simple, but spirituality comes from within. To open that part of my life is to bear my soul; It’s a part of me that transforms me to become who I’m meant to be and always have been. This statement is not an argument nor a witness to my belief system. It’s solely an explanation and an opportunity of education for others to understand a group of people that live in this diverse world.

Nevertheless, this piece of me is a vulnerable part of myself that I have always felt that I needed to defend. My spirituality believes in God, though this entity doesn’t always need to take the name of God. Sometimes I call it “The Universe,” “Life,” or “The Divine.” These are just a few of the terms I personally use, but others are also free to call It what best resonates with them. My spirituality believes we’re connected and a part of God. Almost like we are all a drop in the ocean, so that ocean is what we call God. We’re all connected. My spirituality believes in the power of positive thinking and the gift that can come from gratitude. We learn from many spiritual teachers such as Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi, and spiritual teachers of today. We place importance on self-improvement, self-care and are always striving to make ourselves and the world a little bit better than we left it; for we believe in the good in people and that “bad” is an illusion. I could never fully explain this dear possession of my spirituality to you because it is experienced rather than learned; however, I feel that I need to give a basic definition because sometimes a person can become blind by a label and the bigger picture falls on deaf ears.

I believe/follow a practice called Science of Mind and Spirit discovered by Dr. Ernest Holmes. While that statement sounds completely normal to me because I’m used to attending Sundays at Mile Hi Church in Colorado with thousands of other like-minded people; when I moved to the bible belt of Knoxville, Tennessee I learned that the phrase “Science of Mind” will only get you some weird stares and an array of miscommunications. When I first moved to the south my sophomore year of high school I started dating this guy, let’s call him Knox. Well, in the typical dating but not really dating because we’re 15 fashion, we went on a couple of dates and right away he complimented my optimism, my smile, and my overall love of life. Then, he invited me to church with him. That’s when I shared that I didn’t identify as a Christian, but as more of a spiritual person; more specifically under a teaching called Science of Mind. He then decided that our “relationship” wasn’t going to work out because he needed to date another Christian. Now, as my 19-year-old self, I see the bigger picture, and honestly don’t hold any resentment. As a 15-year-old girl, I was completely confused. What Knox didn’t understand, and I feel people in general don’t recognize, is the reason I am such an optimist, have a bright smile, and love life is directly related to my spiritual practice as a Science of Mind follower. Thus, when I share with people that I follow Science of Mind and they immediately assume that it is a synonym for scientology and begin to question my practice and the validity, I feel as if they are questioning the validity of my soul.

I see this struggle not merely just with my faith; I see it with Muslims, Atheist, and even Christians. We’re all victims of labels caused by societal misunderstandings. Maybe we don’t all believe in the same principles, but all faiths/teachings can relate to the fact that we have been misrepresented at one time or another. Thus, what I hope this article inspires you to do is listen. Don’t argue, but listen to each other. Arguing over the fact that we don’t believe in the same religion will never change our first amendment right. Thus, we might as well try to openly understand one another. I recognize that we can never listen to each other without speaking up first, and that is why I’m starting with myself.