I’ve noticed for a while now that people are increasingly adopting a more spiritual way of life, and for reasons which I can only assume(maybe whatever they were doing before wasn’t working out for them, or maybe they didn’t believe in anything, but came to some sort of conscious awakening). However, I feel like the term “spirituality” is becoming overused, and it’s slowly losing its essence and adopting a new one…okay, to put it simply, it’s becoming a hipster term. Really. And I’m not about to label anybody or be prejudiced, but let’s just deal with the fact that some stereotypes are generally true, and the characteristics associated with those stereotypes are all very true too. Hipsters exist just as fashionistas, potheads, and geeks do. “Spirituality” has become a hipster trend. Ok.

People are calling themselves “spiritual” and are doing things that have sacred purpose—such as burning incense for example; everyone is burning incense in their college apartment/dorm nowadays—to several ways of life (Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Sumerian, Buddhism, Taoism, Shintoism, etc.), but when these practices are done by someone who claims they’re a spiritual person, yet they haven’t taken the time to fully comprehend the importance of that practice, then there isn’t much “spirituality” in what is being done. Spirituality is not about burning dozens of incense sticks a day. If you enjoy doing it for the simple sake that you love the fragrance, great. But, if you’re saying you’re “spiritual” and don’t know much about anything really, you should know that incense isn’t merely for your home to smell nice.

A while ago, a friend of mine and I were reading her Facebook dashboard and a girl we both knew was on a roll spamming peoples’ feeds with her statuses. They were all about why the whole world should be vegan and how she feels so good about taking a class on Zen Buddhism at school. Well, if you want to do that, that’s fine, but spirituality is not about paying a minimum of 600 dollars for an academic course on Zen Buddhism, or being bitter about everyone else not being vegan and forcing your world views on us. Because, while you’re convinced you’re learning all there is to know about Zen Buddhism, it’s possible your instructor knows as much as what has been written in your textbook, which is most likely written through a Western point of view. If you’re serious about a spiritual way of life (like Zen Buddhism for instance) or you just want to learn, then pick up a book written by someone who practices it, or find a temple or a meditation centre nearby and start your journey there. Or Youtube! Point is, Western academic institutions feed us highly biased information on history and other cultures, so some things may be left out, or some facts may actually be untrue, and some assumptions, done through “research”, might be disguised as fact, so you have to be very careful of how you’re interpreting everything.

I’ve also noticed that there’s a fashion and lifestyle associated with spirituality, which some people like to sell or portray: many people like to rock dreads, wear patchwork clothing and accessories, smoke weed, be vegan/vegetarian and maybe do yoga. And if you like all those things, great! But, you don’t have to be into all of that. Not everyone who is spiritual is into all of that. Your clothes don’t define your conscious sense of Self, smoking weed doesn’t deepen your practice. Yoga is an amazing experience, but you don’t have to force yourself into it; meditation is yoga too. As for your diet, it’s very important to learn what your body needs, and what it can and can’t handle. I used to be vegetarian, and in the process I learned that my body needs a lot of Iron, fast. I’ve experienced the painful consequences of ignoring my health issues to keep up my vegetarianism, but my health isn’t something I want to gamble and take for granted anymore, so now I’m back to eating meat. My entire experience only helped me deepen my appreciation for animals (I like to bless my food). It isn’t only them that need to be appreciated though—it’s the plants too, and whoever cooked your meal, even if that person is you.

Spirituality is a journey within yourself, to find your Self. And you don’t have to restrict yourself to one practice. Soon you’ll learn that many cultures have the same values and do things similarly or exactly the same; everything is connected. Don’t worry about what anyone else is doing, and think twice about what some might try to sell you.