The spiritual existence of an extra ordinary man.
The spiritual existence of an extra ordinary man.
Contrary to popular belief its not all burning incense, ritualistic chanting and yoga poses. Its not always the stereotypical Sharman, the dread locked day dreamer or the moon worshipping women, these are the outward projections of something, that for eons, well before our time, has existed. The personification of spirit, the identification with another aspect of reality, a perspective on life that looks beyond what is materialised for us to experience, the other side. I am an extra ordinary man, I work as a landscaper, I dig holes, I plant plants I lay pavers. I come home to my cat and my dog, I watch YouTube, I make dinner, I go for runs. I participate in an existence that I understand to be one side of the coin. But for as long as I can remember I have been acutely aware of something else, a gnawing feeling that there is an existence beyond this, a world that we may not see hear or sense, but is there, painfully intangible at times, frustrating, little hints at what may be, but never really exposed. It is this sense that I would define as spirituality and I don’t only believe, but I know, that it exists for all of us.
Its a tale as old as time, God, an almighty power that acts as a north star on the moral compass. An upward aim for one to direct their life in accordance to principles and beliefs that will lead you to a fulfilled and prosperous life, the personification of the spirit. Whether you believe in God, Allah, Buddha or the universe does not matter, it is an acknowledgement of the other. It is a nod to the existence of a greater power, a guiding Force that we are acutely aware of just not able to touch. To argue against it is infallible, religion would not be so wildly recognised without this notion, it is not the ideology that people follow it is their knowing, it is the undeniable awareness of something else.
To put this into perspective, I am a psychological science student, to acknowledge the existence of an outside force and its impact would go against everything I was to be taught, evidence based, science backed methods to understand and treat people and their difficulties, to even insinuate the presence of spirit would be grounds for expulsion from the field. But I acknowledge both, and I believe this to be the ordinary mans spiritual existence. At times I feel like going off the deep end, growing my hair and beard out, and disconnecting from this reality, but I understand the importance of both this life and the other, their existence rely on each other, the veil is not the veil without a realm to be hidden from and the power of the spirit relies on its mysterious pull, its undertones that permeate just enough to let you know they are there, but never too much as to reveal the true workings.
The beauty in life lies within this mystery, lies between the two planes where the conscious meets the unconscious, where the mundane and the magic intertwine to give hope, where the undertow of spirits invisible bridle guides you through the paddocks as you let go of the reins. It is the balance between bills and believing in something that fascinates me, as if by design the reality we exist in and its systematic order holds us together, its what stops us, not all of us, from going too deep, it allows us to progress without getting lost in a world so unbelievably powerful that the conscious brain could not compute. The order in chaos is why we are here now, 2025, i’m typing on a laptop that gives me access to the rest of the world, it allows these thoughts of mine to reach you, without this order, without the veil we would be lost in a world of magic, there is a reason you must eat your dinner before the dessert, your fruit before the sweets, as Shakespeare said, too much of a good thing is bad.
Im interested in this balancing act, the yin to the yang, i’m interested and admire the dreamers who, unlike me, have said ‘fuck it, I’m going all in’, the world needs them, they are a portal to the other side, a perfect reminder and often misunderstood by those who fail to recognise the spirits existence, those that enjoy the rigidity of reality, those that cant afford to aknowledge a force other than their own will. I respect their rejection of the order that is so powerfully present in every aspect of our lives, that society for the most part tries so hard to impart on us. It takes courage to not only acknowledge it but to embody it boldly and without constraint, to take the unseen and materialise it for us to wonder at, I watch from a distance with a smile and tip my hat to these people. But I’m also interested in the other people too, the atheists, i’m interested to know if they experience strange coincidences, if they see patterns in numbers, if deja vu is a thing for them. Do they have this gnawing feeling too, an intuition that this is not everything, that what they see touch and taste is an infinitesimal part of life, or have they merely stuffed it down for so long that it is hiding in the recesses of the mind somewhere, they have numbed it with life’s responsibilities, there is no time to wonder when you must pay the bills. This I also understand, we are all somewhat a prisoner to societal norms and expectations, to fear of judgment from our neighbour but this is also the reason we have the creature comforts we enjoy, people chose to ignore the whispers of the other side and focus on science, technology put their nose to the grindstone and work as society expects us too, what we all enjoy and benefit from today would not exist if we chose to ride the wave of the other side.
And then there are people like me, people stuck in the middle, the extra ordinary individuals who sit on the fence, who watch both sides from afar, who maybe lack the courage to chose, who are not fantastically intertwined with the divine, nor impressively perched a top the corporate juggernaut, who feel the pull both ways, arms outstretched tugged back and forth, come hither, come join us. This may be the hardest spot to navigate, incorporating both ideas into this reality, like making the perfect cocktail, not too much alcohol as to be over powering and not too much juice to drown out the effects of the intoxicating potion, a balance of that wondrous tipsy sensation vs. the head spinning messiness of being drunk. I am envious of those that have committed to either side, sometimes I wish I had the gall to either way, the stomach to say fuck it, I’m a wizard now, or fuck it i’m a suit. To dedicate myself to something, to embody fully an identity rather than be a chameleon, to jump off the fence and run into the arms of the unknown either way, ignorant to the other side.
But then again, I feel we are just as important, we exist at the veil, we peek behind the curtain on occasion, the mediators in the middle, acknowledging that both are necessary, providing a space for everyone to ‘be’ with acceptance, an ear to both sides, Switzerland, neutral to the extremes of both. I think the spiritual experience relies on us, whispering quietly to us, messengers dressed as civilians, accessible to both sides, a conduit relied on to keep the balance. Inquisitive to the lives of both, inquisitive to the logistics of living on both sides. I can only talk about how I feel in regards to all of this, this is merely one ordinary mans opinion based on 37 years of this reality. I base my perceived place in all this upon my lived experience, upon the guttural feelings that I cannot deny, the patterns that I see, the synchronicity in life.
Perhaps this is all a romanticisation, maybe this is just conjured, fanciful bullshit to escape the responsibilities of the world, an excuse to let it all go, but perhaps it is not, perhaps with every step you take in life there is something else there, something else that watches you from afar, that dictates the path you tread and adjusts your course slightly. Scientists believe the human eye can detect 0.0035 percent of the entire electromagnetic spectrum, most of the universes energy is completely invisible to us, there are things happening constantly all around us that we are physically just not able to see. This alone should provide some insight for the sceptics, I know that for me, an extra ordinary man, this defines my spiritual experience, the happenings of the unseen. An understanding that while I go about my mundane daily life there is so much more going on on behind that curtain and ill probably never fully grasp what that means.
