There is theory and then there is practice. What you think or the meaning that you make from what others think and express is different from what will actually come into being when you start doing or putting form on that thought. Which is why there are lineages to Buddhism and Reiki, a rich tapestry of Hinduism throughout regions as well as centuries, libraries of scholarship for Judaism, a couple thousand years of lived experience in Christianity which has brought about schism and reform and entirely new religions, as well as all of the versions of Islam out there today and that’s just a quick run down of things on the spiritual side.
Books and websites and classes and conversations can only give you so much. At some point you have to take that step to actually practice what you’ve been learning. At first that may look like doing chemistry experiments in a lab situation. Very controlled, very simple, with a clear result that can be measured. There is a point at which adding salt to water no longer creates salt water, but instead creates very wet salt. After that, things become much more personal, more enlightening, and more empowering. Because you move away from the theory, to the application and no two people do the same thing in exactly the same way. You will need to find out your practice works for you, what your gifts are, your innate skills, your challenges, your gifts, and what just doesn’t work for you. Because not everything does. And that’s ok too. Knowing what you aren’t is just as valuable as knowing what you are. It keeps you from wasting time and energy on things that won’t give positive results and allows you to focus on what supports your becoming.
So once you’ve read and learned and got an idea in your head, start working with it. Just a little bit each week or each day. Try something that works with who you are. You don’t need to cast an entire circle each day and do prayers for whirled peas, pull one tarot card in the morning and meditate on it, then allow that card to be part of your day and see how it helps inform the days events or opens up insights for you. Dedicate yourself to working with one element each month. Pick and element and sit with it each morning, then see how that element is involved in how the world works around you every day. Wind blows through everything as we breath, as we talk, as we communicate via electronics. It dances with water to create music. Water helps us connect with other people through empathy, through commonalities, through sitcoms that make us laugh, through dramas that stir our hearts to action. Water mixes with earth to move structures, to change the substance we reside on. The combination brings revolution changing how we think and feel, changing our stance on issues and moving us to act. Earth supports us in helping us create a nurturing life, building connections that last a lifetime. Fire stirs us to break new ground, seek joy, and reach for what is possible. Earth and fire combine to create dancing, which is influenced by air and water’s combining into music.
It’s not difficult to open up to a deeper understanding, but it won’t be handed to you. It requires stepping out to put what you think you know into practice. Because the only way to truly know is to become through doing.