#reflection What does it mean to be spiritual? “They’re not spiritual, like us.” My friend declared nonchalantly. While it was common knowledge that we were in a circle of 'spiritual people,' the spiritual label wasn't sitting right—something about categorizing and quantifying my spiritual nature seemed distinctly unspiritual to me in that moment. It felt too self-aware—too much like what David Foster Wallace called 'hip sincerity,' where even authenticity becomes a brand.” Yet, despite this incongruent feeling, If a survey or in-take form asked me, "How spiritual would you say you are?” - Not at all spiritual - Slightly spiritual - Moderately spiritual - Very spiritual - Extremely spiritual I'd have to check off, "Extremely Spiritual" because either you are or you're not, right? Many things about me fit the bill—from meditating in monasteries, to Ayahuasca Ceremonies in Costa Rica. I've spent my entire 20's teaching power yoga, while still today gemstones adorn my house, mini-altars occupy small corners, and a framed picture of His Holiness himself—the Dalai Lama—sits on my counter. Sounds pretty spiritual, right? I wasn't in denial yet something was causing resistance. Of course, that's not the whole picture—just a coarse glance at one fractal contained within "many multitudes," as Whitman put it. Another glance reveals me working on rowdy construction sites with the boys, eating three desserts a day, and unwinding by watching crude and raunchy reels of Family Guy. Doesn't exactly match the spiritual aesthetic of mala beads and incense burning through the night, but prayers nevertheless. For a long time, these seemingly different sides of myself clashed: a sensitive star gazer mixed with a 90's suburban/Italian whose grandparents were from Brooklyn. My spirituality was wedged somewhere between tranquil moments of meditating in the rain with my journal and mixing mounds of cement that Uncle Louie just pissed in. Surely both couldn't belong under the same spiritual label. "They're not spiritual like us," triggered an aggressive curiosity in me. Why was my spirituality so assumed? What makes a person spiritual to begin with? Is it organic shopping and paraben-free shampoo? Is it seeking contrarian fullfillment? Could it be the earnest desire to surrender to a higher power? Is it repenting on Sundays beneath the crucifixion? Or wearing lots of tie-dye and taking psychedelics? I don't think the answer is in a ritual or cliche but rather a choice of perception. Our human nature implies our spiritual nature or at least it must be a prerequisite. What you find to be sacred or holy is personal and doesn't need to fit into any broad categories or charlatanian standards. Your spirituality exists without needing validation or a clever meme to sum it up. If you find nothing in this world to be sacred and find God to be a farce, then may you frolic proudly like a Paige in the land of 'nothing-sacred,' exalting your beliefs nevertheless. No one escapes their spiritual nature. Even if you loathe the modern-day crystal junkies or Lululemon-wearing 'yoga-letes,' your very loathing is your sainthood. May you be a beacon for those who loathe the same as you. If the only way you know how to meditate is having another whisky, then cheers mate - this one's on me.  Do you want to know who I think the real spiritual people are? It's anyone who recognizes our interconnectedness to each other and the world...tethered to the fabric of reality and nothingness simultaneously while perpetually mending broken hearts and gradually waking-up to the illusion of a separate self. Each of us born with a destiny to die and during the in-between we write our bible. At the end of the day, I'm as spiritual as my mother, and as virtuous as my father. They too, resemble their parents, and their parents before them, all the way back to the beginning of time before being 'separated-from-source' was even a thing! So my real question is: Are we growing further apart or finding our way back together? And I'm willing to bet the answer is a spiritual one. As Ram Dass once said, 'We're all just walking each other home' BLURB "They’re not spiritual like us." Was a comment that instigated a distinct gut reaction that made me question everything I thought I knew about myself and led me on a search for clarity about my own spiritual nature. This piece is about the inquiry into the sacred and the profane, the polished and the pulverized, the churches and the construction sites that live in all of us. It’s a reflection on what it means to be spiritual in a human life—and the less-than-perfect standards we give to our gods. May it resonate with both your inner priest and your wild beast. See you on the threshold.