About a year ago on a Wednesday evening I was looking for something to do that wasn't drinking - it was a sort of 'spiritual' event, but actually run by bhaktas (Hare Krishna followers). I was reluctant but it looked interesting so I gave it a go, and I came away from that experience feeling genuinely high, like ecstatic - it was honestly one of the best things I've ever done and I nearly cried on the way home (lol). I can't really explain WHY it was so amazing, but it was this space where no one was judging one another, everyone was SO open and eager to learn about each others' beliefs and experiences, we were singing and dancing and chanting and eating together - as strangers but leaving as somewhat friends.

I'm not religious. I often call myself 'spiritual' - I don't know if I really am but I meditate and journal and do what I can to make my soul happy. But that experience really opened my eyes to how limiting my views on religion had been previously. I've always feared religion in a sense and I think that's a theme with non-religious people - it's foreign to us so we're scared of it, we blame it for world wars and we belittle its teachings. I'm not sitting here saying all religion is good and there's nothing wrong with it, and it's also such a generalisation to just say 'religion' when every single person's relationship with it and God is different.

But today's episode is essentially about being more open to other people's beliefs, taking what resonates and leaving what doesn't, and not fearing what we don't know. I go to quite a few services and events despite not following any religion or belief, and I can honestly say I come away from every event feeling filled with love and gratitude, and somewhat jealous of the community that I'm not fully part of. Religion encourages community, it encourages kindness, it encourages not harming living beings, it encourages helping other people, it's often lots of singing and dancing and hugging and prayer, and in my experience can be truly magical.

If you're listening to this as a non-religious person, go to a religious service and embrace it fully - I really believe you'll come out feeling great.

Kisses xxxxxx

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