What It Means to Be Spiritual

It has always concerned me how people define what it means to be spiritual, often assuming that someone in a healing or religious role holds more spiritual meaning than another.

We are all spiritual. That expression can look very different from one person to the next. Someone may have no formal spiritual practice and yet live with deep spiritual meaning. A quiet example of spirituality in everyday life and living authentic spirituality without ever naming it.

Spirituality Is Not a Role

Realizing that some people’s hearts are more open than others makes a difference. Yet even that cannot be judged by outward appearance.

A client once shared that she wanted to do more “heart-aligned” work. But what does that really mean?

A Moment That Changed Everything

When I was a teenager, my mom labeled me “difficult” and sent me to stay with a friend’s family for a month. They were a Catholic family, and I spent much of that time in the kitchen with my friend’s mother, an Italian woman whose presence quietly changed me.

Years later, during a Sacred Vision Healing session, I regressed back to that time. I saw myself standing in front of her refrigerator. As I looked inside, she said to me, “There is nothing wrong with you. Your mom is just very busy.”

I had heard those words at the time, but in the regression I received them more deeply. My practitioner guided me to sit with them, and really take them in. In that space we saw something more subtle. Mother Mary had been present through this woman.

She held me in a way that set me on a spiritual path I did not consciously recognize at the time.

It was an even bigger track when I regressed back to that day as there were so many subtleties that I had missed. She passed the consciousness of Mother Mary to me and I embodied it in even deeper when regressed back.

I bring this up as this Italian Mother was seen as an ordinary person, a house wife. Her faith was outstanding and she was living with her spirituality in everyday life. 

The Spiritual Vaneer

In my work, I help people connect more deeply with their essence, cultivate a relationship with faith, and release trauma. Many come searching for spiritual meaning.

Yet I have never been entirely comfortable when someone refers to me or anyone as “spiritual.” We are all spiritual. This is simply one expression of that. Another person may live with deep authentic spirituality and never speak about it.

Over time, I’ve learned not to be guided by appearances. What we often think of as “spiritual” can sometimes become a kind of veneer: an identity expressed through how someone dresses, speaks, or presents themselves, rather than something quietly lived and embodied.

I say this with awareness of myself as well. I enjoy wearing spiritual jewelry and shawls and at times I’ll pair them with motorcycle boots just to keep my own ego from becoming too attached to any one identity.

What matters most is not how spirituality looks, but how it is lived. It is found in presence, in integrity, and in the quiet ways we meet life and others.

Spirituality in everday life

The Italian mother who helped me was seen as an ordinary person, a house wife.  Yet her presence carried a profound spiritual gift and she lived her authentic spirtuality in everyday life.

Spiritual meaning does not require a healing practice or ministry. It can be expressed through any role when lived with an open heart and clarity.

You Never Know Who You Are Standing Next To

I know someone who sells motorbikes. His gift is connection. Reading people intuitively and guiding them toward what is right for them.

How many lives has he quietly influenced or even saved by steering someone toward the right choice? To me, this is the Holy Spirit moving through him. Quietly walking the path of spirituality in everyday life.

Never underestimate the coworker at the water cooler. You may be standing beside someone living with deep spiritual integrity. A quiet master weaving presence into everyday life.

I see people who code computer language having great potential and I love to work with them. With their subtle bodies, heart and integrity can code the Holy Spirit right into Corporations.

Authentic Spirituality in Everyday life

The key is not to fill the void with a spiritual identity or material distraction, but to meet it with what brings genuine meaning. 

The heart and belly carry a natural sense of joy. This can be cultivated through meditation and inner work that helps you embody more of who you truly are.

 When we begin to understand what it means to be spiritual, we see that it is not something we become, but something we are expressed through presence, integrity, and the way we meet life each day.

Whether you are raising a family, writing code, selling motorbikes, or sitting in stillness; you are already part of something greater.

You may say one thing to someone that changes the course of their life and to me that is authentic spirituality.

We are all in service. And we can all deepen into our spiritual meaning and gifts.

Written by Elle Kerr-Wilson, founder of Amplify Your Light in Edmonds, Washington. Meditation teacher and Sacred Vision Healer guiding seekers in the Seattle area and worldwide online.

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Further Reading

Inner Peace Amidst Negativity | Returning to Presence.

Inner peace is not the absence of negativity, but the ability to return to presence again and again. This reflection explores how to remain steady and connected, even in challenging moments. Explore

Meditation Practice for Parents
Raising children changes the rhythm of life, but it does not have to end a meditation practice. Discover how cultivating a practice has benefits for your children also.
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Energetic Attachments
How energetic attachmetns can influence our spirituality in everyday life. 
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Dementia and Soul Retrieval
Through caring for a loved one, this article explores dementia as both memory loss and a deeper fragmentation of the self and the possibility of calling those lost pieces home. EXPLORE