Erica Wallace Moore

Let me start by saying that since I began this series, the idea of change has been the most challenging concept not only to think about, but also to articulate. Change is one of those big, abstract words like love, birth, or death.

I believe it’s because change is mostly uncomfortable, and yet even without spiritual practice is always a constant in life. I also believe that change in conjunction with spiritual practice can still illicit trembling fear.

Why is change so hard?

How can change and the unchanging spirit co-exist?

Well, for years now, I have come to accept that what we collectively fear most is not death, but life. And what I mean by that is that we can make so many changes, make transformation real, make curiosity flourish, and make creativity at the center of our living, but when it comes to change, we tend to keep ourselves in the cage afraid to unlock the gate and set ourselves free to fly.

What would happen if after all the curiosity, after all the awareness, after all the consciousness, after all the creativity,  you end up meeting yourself at the gates of change, the gates of the unknown? What will happen to you? What risk lies on the other side?

What if you face death? What if your relationships change? What if you have to speak up about things that are new to your boundaries and your integrity? What if you don’t look the same? What if it’s too cold or too hot on the other side? What if you get noticed? What if you get power you didn’t have before? What if you end up doubting everything? What if you become depressed? What if you experience loneliness? What if never-experienced joy shows up for you? What if magic happens? What if it’s just too much?  What if everything you thought had happened to you, your spirit actually made happen for your change to manifest?

The answer is yes!

Absolutely yes! There have been so many times when I have become so comfortable in my surroundings, so complacent that I became uncomfortable and that’s when I knew change was on the horizon. And holy crap! Some changes have been so life altering that I’m still in awe.

For instance, I dared to return to Minnesota after a decade of living in Atlanta, and three months later, I found out I was going to have twins.

Or at the beginning of this year, my husband I began reading together Money: A Love Story by Kate Northrop, and somehow we began the spiritual journey of changing our mindset and experienced a huge change from being renters, to being homeowners.

I could go on and on with evidence of trust becoming the catalyst for change…

I’m in no way saying that faith always equals twins and homes. After all, there is micro change and macro change.

What I am saying is that trust answers doubts in the form of yes.

I have died to my old beliefs. My relationships have changed. I have had to speak up. Surely, I don’t look the way I used to before twins. Minnesota is colder than Atlanta. I am noticed (lol @ the time I took my kids to the park and another mom noticed my children and commented that I must be mom of the year, which made me really uncomfortable). I have power…since having twins I’ve completed two marathons. Yep, everyday I doubt my ability, especially when I’m low on sleep. And yes, I have experienced depression, loneliness (my children keep growing up), and there are times when I feel like it’s all too much. Without a doubt, the experiences that “happened to me,” were actually the doings of my spirit for me to wake the heck up.

I am not who I was before change. My curiosity, my creativity, and all of my changes have lead me toward a richer existence. An existence to be so incredibly grateful for.

Change has re-shaped my thinking, my feelings, my actions, my having, and way of being. And looking back at my changes, I know that the discomfort came from the unknown answers to all those above questions.

And I don’t know… I have declared that change occurs when the desire is greater than the risk. But now, I am thinking that the embrace for change requires trust. That it may be true that I may not know the outcome, but the trusting myself and life through the change is essential to my spirituality, and essential to my evolving spirituality is change.

Here’s the thing… I promise this truth: Beginning a spiritual practice sparks your curiosity, opens space for your creativity, and ultimately guarantees your change. Change in your mind. Change in your body. Change in your creativity. However, if the spirit is, was, and always will be… then change only brings light to your spirit. Change sets your spirit free.

Lastly, what have been your changes, and what has been the unforeseen outcome of your changes? How did you worry about the unknown, or resist it? When did you begin to trust the change? What change or changes are currently calling out to you that might feel like discomfort or impossible? And how can you through the spiritual practice of curiosity and creativity, embrace, accept, and set your change free?

Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this series.

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My goodness was Thanksgiving week absolutely wonderful! I spent time with family, took lots of naps, and avoided the craze of Black Friday shopping. I also got to watch the movie Collateral Beauty starring Will Smith, which leads me to this Part 3 of my series: How to Begin a Spiritual Practice. Today’s focus is creativity.

I won’t give the whole movie away, but there was a 2-minute scene that for me turned out to be really profound. In this scene, a woman speaks about the memory of losing her child. She describes how distraught she was when her very ill child in the hospital packed their bag and declared that they were going home. The woman assumed that one of the hospital staff irresponsibly told the child that they were going home when in fact, the child was dying. When the child awoke from a nap, the woman demanded to know who told the child that they were going home, and the child answered, “no one told me. And I’m not going back to our house. I’m going home.”

I watched the entire movie and went to bed soon after. I dream A LOT, but on that particular night I had more of dream declaration about home.

We are all going home. We’ve all come from home and we will all go home. So this life, all the joy, pain, and suffering in this life is temporary. Thus, I truly never have anything to worry about because I am going home. 

Soon after this declaration came to me, I woke up and just wanted to lay with it, be with it, let it really hold space in my body so that in the morning I’d remember and be able to get curious about what that declaration meant.

So, here goes: I’m going to be vulnerable and share with you my journal reflection about going home and how this has anything to do with creativity as a spiritual practice. But let me first say that I have no idea of what “home” means to you, let alone what it means to me. But I am curious.

Life is Temporary

Instead of life, let’s just call it what it truly is — a temporary. And in this temporary, I can be free from worry, free from doubt, and free to create. Yes, I watched Collateral Beauty and yes, I was moved by the story of the woman’s child who said they were going home. That from this perspective of home, this temporary life happens in the blink of an eye. And if I still have a spiritual practice in this blink-of-an-eye-existence, what am I going to create?

How does my creativity manifest in this temporary and why is my creativity so important in this temporary?

Life is the Spiritual Essence of Creativity

It feels like this temporary is my creative step on the way to going home. We create because this is preciously temporary, and we create for the others after us who will need this same temporary dwelling to create as well. Every physical manifestation in this temporary, really dense physical plan is a result of someone’s creativity.

It’s temporary but sometimes feels like a time loop of deja vu where I am trying to fully integrate my spirit with my creativity so I’ll be ready when the time comes to go home. But what is it about home that requires my creativity as a spiritual practice in this life?

And here’s what I came up with: I believe it’s about overcoming the fear and fully embracing the freedom to create. Wherever this “home” is, I must be 100% spirit, 100% creative. So, I am here, and you are here in this temporary life that happens in the blink of an eye to overcome the limitation of creativity.

How can you make your life more creative?

My Reiki practice, in essence, my spiritual practice has become so much about creativity in the way that Reiki and spiritual practice both create connection. Furthermore, my spiritual practice including Reiki therapy has opened so many doors of creativity that I am emotionally grateful for. Whenever I place my focus on writing as my creative being, I feel more meaningful, I feel filled with more light, and I feel whole. When I trust my creativity, doors open.

Wouldn’t you love to dig deep into your body and your consciousness to discover the ways that your spirit asks you to transform into a creative being?

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I’m still jumping with excitement (I literally have ants in my pants) about this 4-part series, How Do I Begin a Spiritual Practice? Today is Part 2, simply called Curiosity.

If you’re new to the Weekly Pearl or you missed Part 1, you can check it out HERE.

What is curiosity?

CURIOSITY – the desire to know more about anything; inquisitiveness, from the latin word “curiosus,” meaning “careful” from cura “care.” It also means “careful, delicate construction, fine workmanship, delicacy of building.”

Curiosity implies intention, “the tendency to ask and learn about things by asking questions, investigating, or exploring.”

We all know the cliche “Curiosity killed the cat.” But the original proverb is “care killed the cat,” and the actual meaning of “care” was “worry” or “sorrow.”

I want to take a moment here to to acknowledge that curiosity, the act of investigating, asking questions, or exploration while not the same as worry or sorrow, does carry with it risk. Curiosity is risky.

Last week I said,”as you breathe, your spirit dwells inside of your body for a reason, a purpose, and a plan. Your life, your very breath, is your spiritual practice.” If the very act of breathing and living is taking a risk, what are we risking?

I also said that Reiki is my spiritual practice, and this last week I learned this truth:

The greatest risk in life is to love.

Yes, I’m saying that curiosity in a spiritual practice is a risk, and that risk is love.

Here’s an example: You’re attracted to someone either romantically, professionally, or by way of friendship. You’re curious about the potential for this relationship, but you stop short of approach, of asking the first question, introducing yourself, or even getting to know the other person because you’re afraid of the risk. What if you’re rejected, ignored, hurt, or humiliated? What if you find out something about yourself that you have been avoiding? Or what if your curiosity will lead toward a really painful outcome?

This same risk can be applied to the self and the risk of beginning a spiritual practice. What if my pain is exposed, or my anger? What if I find something out about myself that’s uncomfortable? What if my curiosity leads me to take great risks? What if it’s really hard to love myself?

Curiosity is a spiritual spark.

Curiosity really is the spiritual spark that creates a connection to yourself, the deeper desires of your spirit as well as the spiritual purpose and plan of your life. The things we are most curious about are the soul’s clues leading us toward a spiritual practice.

My Reiki practice was born out of curiosity with multi-layered experiences, but I particularly remember one day when I asked my father what had led him as a young man in college pre-med to decide to go to divinity school and become a minister. His abbreviated answer was curiosity.

So, once you accept that as you breathe, your spirit dwells inside of your body for a reason, a purpose, and a plan, then you begin to get curious.

What are you or what have you been most curious about? Penney Peirce in her book The Intutitive Way suggests that curiosity stems from a need and our needs direct our paths. Try this exercise from her book:

“List your curiosities and feel your true desire to learn about them.”

Have you been curious about…

• your dreams
• how stars are born or die
• your desire to create art, music, food
• your habits
• what annoys you
• your religious affiliation
• your body
• the career you wish for, or the career you love or don’t
• your emotions
• your relationships or family dynamics
• nature
• that person you can’t stop thinking about
• why you’re so talented at that thing you do
• the unseen
• your childhood

Make your list and as you keep thinking add more things to the list. Make an effort to choose one thing from your list one thing at a time and make an intention to go on a personal exploration. Find out why you’re so curious and what this curiosity means to you and only you.

From curiosity to exploration, then from exploration to discovery. From curiosity to creativity.

Perhaps your own curiosity about Reiki therapy has landed you on this website. If you’re interested in Reiki as a way of exploring your body in a relaxing, safe, and caring environment, then I would love to work with you!

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I’m so excited to share this  4-part series called:

How Do I Begin a Spiritual Practice?

Lately, I’ve connected with people experiencing Reiki for the first time. It’s pretty cool to hear what has brought them to Reiki. A friend’s suggestion; curiosity; a work situation; a loss; a new beginning; research; a chronic or debilitating health condition.

And people ask me, “What does Reiki mean to you?”

Well, Reiki is my spiritual practice born out of my curiosity, my creativity, and my desire for change.

So I’m wondering if anyone out there is asking or has asked themselves, “how do I begin my own spiritual practice?”

Because a spiritual practice is so important to me, I’m breaking it up into 4 parts: Curiosity, creativity, change, and am beginning with the focus on what spiritual practice itself even means.

I’m not going to give a step-by-step handbook for spiritual success. I simply believe us as people have a desire to know and understand that our lives have a purpose and a plan.

When I was a little girl, I’d often go to bed and lay awake overwhelmed by the longing to know why I was here. What was the purpose of life and why was I even alive. I’d feel so huge, so expansive, and yet so tiny at the same time. Have you ever felt that kind of overwhelm with the unknown? Looking back, I believe I yearned to know my spirit.

Spirit comes from the Latin verb “spirare” meaning to breathe and from the Latin noun “spiritus” meaning breath. Another definition of spirit is the “animating or vital principle in man and animals,” and another is “the nonphysical part of a person regarded as a person’s true self and as capable as surviving physical death or separation.” And some religions have made spirit synonymous with God.

The word “practice” also has Latin roots from “practizare,” which means to perform or carry out.

One way of looking at the question of “how do I begin a spiritual practice,” then is to ask:

How Do I Breathe?

Have you ever taken a moment to think in pure wonder and awe about yourbody’s ability to continuously breathe and how easily it breathes especially when you are not conscious of your breathing? I’m breathing as I create this Pearl and you are breathing as you read it. Or how the first thing a baby does after being born is to breathe?

How about this… All spiritual practice begins with the realization that you exist, you are here, and you are breathing. Your breath, your inhales and exhales are the “animating principle” within you. As you breathe, your spirit dwells inside of your body for a reason, a purpose, and a plan. Your life, your very breath, is your spiritual practice.

Now, here’s what I absolutely love, appreciate, and cherish about my breath: it is quiet. It never speaks. It never tells me what do do, how I should do it, or how wrong I am. My breath has no color, no shape, no form. And throughout all of my life’s experiences my breath, my spirit, simply and unconditionally breathes in and out, in and out. And yet, every natural aspect of this world, all spirit, breathes in and out just like I do.

Next week, I’ll be writing about curiosity as an aspect of beginning a spiritual practice, but for now I want to leave you with a question to reflect with:

In what ways is my breath cycle (my inhales and exhales) connecting me to life, my career, my creativity, my relationships, the natural world, my desires, my healing, the sacred?

Okay, so here’s the thing… I would absolutely love, love, love to work with you! I would love to sit with you, connect with you, offer to you loving touch and care, and to be with you on your journey to connecting to your body and your desires, your healing potential, and the whys to how Reiki just might bring you closer to your spirit and your spiritual practice.

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