At various times in my life, I’ve drifted into spirituality: sometimes dragged there by circumstance, clinging to greater meaning as a means of rescue, sometimes sheerly because I’ve had more time to reflect, and other times, just because I seemingly woke up from the spiritual side of the bed. I still remember locking myself in my cupboard as a kid, in pitch darkness, inspecting my body for any sign of an “aura”. I wasn’t alone in that, with my best friend doing the same in his cupboard that night too! We’re still good friends, and we still haven’t found our auras!
The essential theme I’ve found with all forms of spirituality is that feeling connected to the things around you is amazingly powerful. There may be many times each day where we reach a fulcrum, feeling alone and detached, and these feelings can really hurt. However, every time, we move through that by opening up to people around us, the stronger in fact we become. There is much strength in shared experience and connection.
Of course, taking this to the “nth” degree, we get to a form of thought described as “nondualism”. Perhaps the simplest way to consider this is by way of example. It’s likely that you have at times looked out at a landscape, breathed in the view, and reflected that over “there”, “that”, is beautiful. Perhaps you’ve walked through a forest and felt the same as large trees envelope you. The next step is looking out at those same things, the ocean, the mountains, the trees, and feeling a sense that you are actually those things and those things, all of them, are actually you. That you are totally connected with your surroundings, in such a profound way, that you recognise yourself in everything you see and interact with. Of course, it can go wrong. In meandering over conversation, I mentioned this once to a patient of mine. The next day, she returned with her chewed up medical certificate. “Doc, I really connected with my dog, but he took it too far and started to bite into my medical certificate, I need another one please.” The spiritual met the practical indeed! I’ll stop there, without hopefully already having gone too far. The theme is ripe for the taking though – stay connected, by deliberate choice, for wellbeing. It’s a central and essential concept which has stood the test of time.
Finally, on this note, I must say, I just love stumbling on more and more local clubs. Gardening clubs, sports clubs, writer’s clubs, craft clubs, fishing clubs – you name it, chances are there’s a club close enough to you for your specific interests. There’s so much potential to find connection with a group of people this way. These clubs are often free to join, or come at a minimal cost. They really are important to the fabric of communities, weaving their way through people’s lives, strengthening connection. If you have a club that you’d like us to mention in this newsletter please email community@atticushealth.com.au, and we’ll happily spread the word. Needless to say, I personally wouldn’t recommend my “find your own aura in your cupboard club”.
I hope your start to November is a good one
Floyd Gomes
Founder of Atticus Health
