Title: Help me figure out WHAT I am LOL
Post by: Kandlelight on August 18, 2010, 06:23:56 PM
Post by: Kandlelight on August 18, 2010, 06:23:56 PM
I have never really known exactly WHAT to call myself since disagreeing with the belief in a god.
Here's what I feel in my heart..... that there is no supreme being called a god, that everything is energy therefore there is no beginning or end to anything it merely changes form. I do believe we live more than one life. I practice Reiki and truly love it. I love using essential oils and herbs, etc for their health benefits.
I feel as though I'm just a mishmash of so many different things that I can't be labeled simply with one title.
Ok... now... can anyone tell me what I am? LOL
Here's what I feel in my heart..... that there is no supreme being called a god, that everything is energy therefore there is no beginning or end to anything it merely changes form. I do believe we live more than one life. I practice Reiki and truly love it. I love using essential oils and herbs, etc for their health benefits.
I feel as though I'm just a mishmash of so many different things that I can't be labeled simply with one title.
Ok... now... can anyone tell me what I am? LOL
Title: Re: Help me figure out WHAT I am LOL
Post by: Sophus on August 18, 2010, 06:31:08 PM
Post by: Sophus on August 18, 2010, 06:31:08 PM
A Pantheist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheism)?
Title: Re: Help me figure out WHAT I am LOL
Post by: Thumpalumpacus on August 18, 2010, 06:31:51 PM
Post by: Thumpalumpacus on August 18, 2010, 06:31:51 PM
Why worry about labels applied by others?
Title: Re: Help me figure out WHAT I am LOL
Post by: Kandlelight on August 18, 2010, 07:04:46 PM
Post by: Kandlelight on August 18, 2010, 07:04:46 PM
Re: labels...
I guess I'm not worried about labels but I would just kind of like to know where I fit.
When I first registered here, it asked what my "world view" was. I really didn't know what to put there... hence the decision to create this thread.
I guess I'm not worried about labels but I would just kind of like to know where I fit.
When I first registered here, it asked what my "world view" was. I really didn't know what to put there... hence the decision to create this thread.
Title: Re: Help me figure out WHAT I am LOL
Post by: Jac3510 on August 18, 2010, 07:07:21 PM
Post by: Jac3510 on August 18, 2010, 07:07:21 PM
Sophus is probably right. Some form of pantheism.
Title: Re: Help me figure out WHAT I am LOL
Post by: Tank on August 18, 2010, 09:22:14 PM
Post by: Tank on August 18, 2010, 09:22:14 PM
Human? Me? Everything else is just an affectation brought about by others expectations of you. I wouldn't stick on too many labels as peeling them off can be painful, as you have undoubtedly already found out. 
Title: Re: Help me figure out WHAT I am LOL
Post by: Thumpalumpacus on August 19, 2010, 12:06:12 AM
Post by: Thumpalumpacus on August 19, 2010, 12:06:12 AM
I think free-thinker, which is what you have listed, is as good as you can ask for.
Title: Re: Help me figure out WHAT I am LOL
Post by: McQ on August 19, 2010, 04:17:07 AM
Post by: McQ on August 19, 2010, 04:17:07 AM
Well, since you asked about a label...
hmmm....some thought on this one is required, because I don't know what label to pin on you. See, like all of us, you're not just any one thing all at once. You're a free-thinker some or most of the time, a skeptic of organized religion, but not of spirituality. So I don't think atheist applies. You do believe in Reiki and other things that most general skeptics and scientists would not follow, so that's the reason I wouldn't pin a general skeptic label on you.
Maybe free-thinker isn't a bad one to go with for now. Or Free Inquirer. Or, as was suggested, pantheist. Spiritualist? Happy Wanderer?
Labels are tough, and even though I often use the blanket label atheist here to describe my worldview, it's probably just as accurate to say Humanist, or Naturalist. No easy labels, really.
But hang out, poke around the forums, and have some fun!
hmmm....some thought on this one is required, because I don't know what label to pin on you. See, like all of us, you're not just any one thing all at once. You're a free-thinker some or most of the time, a skeptic of organized religion, but not of spirituality. So I don't think atheist applies. You do believe in Reiki and other things that most general skeptics and scientists would not follow, so that's the reason I wouldn't pin a general skeptic label on you.
Maybe free-thinker isn't a bad one to go with for now. Or Free Inquirer. Or, as was suggested, pantheist. Spiritualist? Happy Wanderer?
Labels are tough, and even though I often use the blanket label atheist here to describe my worldview, it's probably just as accurate to say Humanist, or Naturalist. No easy labels, really.
But hang out, poke around the forums, and have some fun!
Title: Re: Help me figure out WHAT I am LOL
Post by: Gawen on August 20, 2010, 02:18:36 AM
Post by: Gawen on August 20, 2010, 02:18:36 AM
Quote from: "Kandlelight"I practice Reiki and truly love it. I love using essential oils and herbs, etc for their health benefits.Not skeptical enough?
I feel as though I'm just a mishmash of so many different things that I can't be labeled simply with one title.
Title: Re: Help me figure out WHAT I am LOL
Post by: Kandlelight on August 24, 2010, 04:13:31 PM
Post by: Kandlelight on August 24, 2010, 04:13:31 PM
Quote from: "Gawen"Quote from: "Kandlelight"I practice Reiki and truly love it. I love using essential oils and herbs, etc for their health benefits.Not skeptical enough?
I feel as though I'm just a mishmash of so many different things that I can't be labeled simply with one title.
Could you explain why you replied as you did? Especially highlighting my Reiki comment in red.
Title: Re: Help me figure out WHAT I am LOL
Post by: Martin TK on August 24, 2010, 04:40:54 PM
Post by: Martin TK on August 24, 2010, 04:40:54 PM
I will label you, it isn't fancy or threatening, or even all that surprising... you are.....
Human
As we all are. Life is a journey, it isn't just a beginning and an end, as some would believe. All along the way, most of us take little detours to explore what feels right, and what just isn't our "cup of tea." There is NOTHING wrong with that, some of the GREATEST minds in our history have done this and advocate that you do it, too. As a psychologist, I encourage it, so long as the journey is one that brings you some form of happiness, contentment, or stimulation. Not all detours are happy ones, some are fraught with what I call the "great wake-up call." These can be anything from the realization that you need to grow, that your spouse is a jackass (or in some cases NOT a jackass) that you have issues with anger or a pain that comes from a place so far down you didn't even realize it was affecting your life view.
Some of these detours are simply FUN, like a day at the beach, an unexpected joy, and sometimes even one that seems spiritual in nature. I am an atheist, but I can't help but feel something akin to spirituality when I walk on the beach, see the smile on the face of my new grandson, watch a sunset, realize the love I feel for my wife, or just sit quietly and ponder my existence among the cosmos. So to make a LONG ramble make sense: Be who you are and be proud of it. If your belief system does no harm, threatens no one, and makes you happy - good for YOU. Remember life's a journey, enjoy it.
Human
As we all are. Life is a journey, it isn't just a beginning and an end, as some would believe. All along the way, most of us take little detours to explore what feels right, and what just isn't our "cup of tea." There is NOTHING wrong with that, some of the GREATEST minds in our history have done this and advocate that you do it, too. As a psychologist, I encourage it, so long as the journey is one that brings you some form of happiness, contentment, or stimulation. Not all detours are happy ones, some are fraught with what I call the "great wake-up call." These can be anything from the realization that you need to grow, that your spouse is a jackass (or in some cases NOT a jackass) that you have issues with anger or a pain that comes from a place so far down you didn't even realize it was affecting your life view.
Some of these detours are simply FUN, like a day at the beach, an unexpected joy, and sometimes even one that seems spiritual in nature. I am an atheist, but I can't help but feel something akin to spirituality when I walk on the beach, see the smile on the face of my new grandson, watch a sunset, realize the love I feel for my wife, or just sit quietly and ponder my existence among the cosmos. So to make a LONG ramble make sense: Be who you are and be proud of it. If your belief system does no harm, threatens no one, and makes you happy - good for YOU. Remember life's a journey, enjoy it.