Instead of spending our lives running towards our dreams, we are often running away from a fear of failure or a fear of criticism.– Eric Wright
I think one of the hardest things about being out
spiritually is fearing that people will assume right off the bat that we must be psychotic, deluded, brainwashed or simply ignorant to believe the things we do. I can think of no greater taboo at this point in history than a belief in spirit, but I do believe the tide is shifting, and that we may have reached a turning point. For example, recently, revolutionary scientist Rupert Sheldrake gave a TED talk on the dogma of science, and some fundamental atheists were so threatened by it that they asked TED to take the talk down. Amazingly, TED agreed! This censorship sparked major outcry from the public, who defended Sheldrake and condemned TED for censorship. It seems that questioning science has become as heretical as questioning religious teachings was hundreds of years ago. Of course, most of us aren’t censored on this level: instead, we censor ourselves because we’re afraid that others will reject or judge us if we tell the truth about our spiritual beliefs and experiences. I’ve been a chicken about this plenty of times in the past myself, but I would rather stand with pioneers like Sheldrake than be silenced due to fear of rejection by people who lash out whenever their current worldview is questioned. If, like me, you tend to keep quiet about your spiritual experiences, I want you to know that there are people all around you who are censoring themselves too. Be brave and come out with me: the more we simply tell the truth about our experiences, the faster this taboo will crumble, and the more we will connect with kindred spirits and realize that our experiences aren’t as strange as we’ve been taught to believe.