Being Spiritual In A Non-Spiritual Family?

[Retta]

In my household everyone either has no care about the spirituality/divine (my stepfather, sister and brother) or they are religious but they keep their thoughts to themselves (my mother). So as a result my house is very very secular. It has been like this for many years I am afraid to break the atmosphere.

But that puts me in a fix. How am I to express my spiritual side of me without "disrupting the flow"?

Should I just never show my spiritual side and do it when I am alone away from family?

Or should I just do whatever I want? Do my prayers, give offerings, do rituals even if family is there.

Or do some sort of middle path?

Your thoughts?

[hufflee]

In my household everyone either has no care about the spirituality/divine (my stepfather, sister and brother) or they are religious but they keep their thoughts to themselves (my mother). So as a result my house is very very secular. It has been like this for many years I am afraid to break the atmosphere.

But that puts me in a fix. How am I to express my spiritual side of me without "disrupting the flow"?

Should I just never show my spiritual side and do it when I am alone away from family?

Or should I just do whatever I want? Do my prayers, give offerings, do rituals even if family is there.

Or do some sort of middle path?

Your thoughts?

Well..... I'd guess that the only one you would possibly REALLY upset would be your mom. (Though if you practice openly in front of your stepdad, brother, and sister, be prepared for possible ribbing and teasing.

Do you think you can talk to your mom and find out how she feels? I'm guessing that her spirituality does not mirror yours.

Do you have a room of your own?

[Liadine (dragonflyeyes)]

But that puts me in a fix. How am I to express my spiritual side of me without "disrupting the flow"?

If you have a room of your own, setting up a spiritual base camp there shouldn't disturb the status quo too much. A small altar, or a shrine or two, can be set up there, and rituals, offerings, and prayers can be done there unless your family has a habit of barging into your room. If you want to make offerings or say prayers at, say, meals, those can be done without calling a lot of attention to yourself.

Not to say that you should hide your path from your family, but I've found that in families like that (mine is much the same - my father is an atheist, my brother is agnostic, and my mother is spiritual but quiet about it) sometimes keeping the more overt parts of your path in private spaces can save everyone a lot of headaches.



Combining 'practicing in private' with low-key conversations ('I'm exploring my beliefs/spirituality, which is why you might see me doing [x] at meals/see [x] in my room') spread out over time might help to ease your non-spiritual family into being comfortable with knowing about your own spirituality.

[Dujanka]

In my household.

Nice avatar, Retta. The one thing I want to know or would like you to do prior to engaging in spiritual practice is interview your family and figure out why they are as they are.

Spirituality is something that is between you and no one else on this plane unless you present it to them.

It is a shame to say to resort to your own room and keeping your practices quiet or to yourself but that is the current state of the world and has been for about 2000 years.