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Spirituality is the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things. I believe that spirituality is not only a connection with something, but a feeling that stays with you wherever you are. It is a spiritual emotion that you feel from admiring the environment or an animal, or it is a connection with an object, a place, a mindset, something beyond or something within yourself. For me, I feel spiritually connected when I enter a gorgeous, dense rainforest. Admiring all the greenery around me I feel peaceful and calm. As I’m stepping through the rainforest I can smell the fresh air around me and I can feel my feet sinking into the wet dirt beneath me, and I feel grateful for the world we live in. Spirituality for me is when you feel something that we can’t just get anywhere, but can find when we explore and appreciate the little things in life.

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Praying allows people to deepen their connection with God, and experience God's power and wisdom. Praying provides people the opportunity to express their feelings, talk to God, confess sins, ask for assistance or just have some time out for yourself. Since I was born, I have always had the Irish Blessing hung in the doorway of each house my family has lived in, and the meaning behind the blessing has always been very important to us, and this is one of the reasons this prayer spiritually speaks to me. I believe the message behind the blessing, is that the world and people around you should always have your back in one way or another. One line of the blessing says ‘May you be poor in misfortune and rich in blessings’, to me this means that people are wishing others good will, instead of always worrying and focusing on themselves. This relates to my definition, as I believe that spirituality is a connection that you feel with something or someone, and this blessing is saying that there is always the world or someone out there that you are somehow connected to, helping you through, and wishing you well.

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The Buddhist religion often practices mindfulness meditation as a common ritual.  I really enjoy meditating as it’s very relaxing and allows me to get in touch with my spirituality in a calm way, by myself. One way that I choose to meditate is to listen to mindfulness exercises before I fall asleep to help me relax. Another form of mediation that I enjoy is colouring in patterns and drawing zentangles. I find this incredibly relaxing and spiritually enlightening. When I am colouring or drawing I often sit in silence to clear my head and become calm, or I play some calming music. I have been doing this for a very long time and have always found that it helps with stress and allow me to connect more with myself, and the world around me.

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Personally I can relate to almost any song and can always find some connection between the song’s meaning and something that has happened, or is happening in my life. As I said in my definition, I believe that spirituality is a feeling or a connection with something or someone, and a song that I believe conveys this message, and speaks to me, is ‘Castle On The Hill’ by Ed Sheeran. This song is about relationships, specifically with family and friends, which relates to the relationships we can make with people or things, that bring about my spirituality. The message behind this song is that no matter where you go or where you are, you can still have a connection with family and friends. Ed sings about no matter how famous you are, your family and friends that have known you since you were young, will always love you for who you really are. To me, I can connect to the song as I am so close with my family, especially my mum and I feel very connected to her and my brother.

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Buddhist Quote 1:

“If you find no one to support you on the spiritual path, walk alone. There is no companionship with the immature.”

To me this means that; whether you have someone following the same spiritual path as you are or not, you always have yourself no matter what. I believe that spirituality can come from within your mindset, it can be a connection with an object or thing, or it can be a feeling you get from being somewhere. Wherever or however you feel spiritual, doesn’t have to come from being alongside someone else, and this is why this Buddhist quote speaks to me.

Buddhist Quote 2:

“If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path.”

As Franciscans, we believe that giving to someone else, doesn't have to result in receiving something back, but sometimes good karma can repay you. A line in our peace prayer says "For it is in giving that we receive", which is what I think this Buddhist quote is similar to. I believe this means, that if you are helping someone else, it gives you a good feeling about yourself, which could result in good karma; brightening your own path whilst brightening others. This resonates for me because I believe in karma, and I believe that if you do well to others out of the good of your heart, you will receive, and if you do wrong to someone else, you will be punished. I think that if you are doing good things for others just because, then you are rewarded with that happy, spiritual feeling inside of you. By helping others you can connect with them, and connect more with yourself, by feeling good about what you have done.

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During the holidays, I visited Noosa with a friend and took this photo from the top of Noosa National Park. When I look at this photo I feel relaxed and happy. I have this photo as my background on my MacBook and on my phone so that when I look at it, I can feel appreciative of the world I live in, and I can feel connected to nature around me, even when I may be at school or at home. It reminds me of the emotion I feel when I am near the water, I feel calm and spiritually thankful for the beautiful world around me. In the image I can see the beautiful rainforest I walked through, the rocks I jumped across, the sand my feet sunk into and the water I swam in. Being able to see 3 different landscapes allows me to feel appreciate and feel spiritually connected to the world we live in.

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The purpose of a Catholic Mass is to pray, sing, read and discuss God with other people that share the same, or similar beliefs, as you. Some Christians see mass as the source and summit of Christian Life. Attending a Catholic Mass allows me to learn more about the Catholic Religion, and feel more spiritually connected to God, as a mass allows me to connect in a way that I can’t connect anywhere else. When I attend a mass, the first thing I hear as I enter is the greeting song. The greeting song always makes me feel extremely welcome and instantly connects each person that is walking into the room. For me, the greeting song resembles welcoming and becoming a community, and this resonates for me because, having a connection with something or someone helps me to experience this feeling of spirituality. In the Liturgy of the Word, the lector/deacon typically consists of a reading from the Old Testament, New Testament and the Gospels. This is significant as we get to hear the word of the Lord together, and get to individually learn more about our own spirituality from Bible and Gospel readings. I can connect with this part of the mass as we are connecting with our own beliefs and everyone else’s beliefs around us, as we learn more about the religion that we are apart of. During the Liturgy of the Eucharist the priest serves Holy Communion, where the bread represents the body of Christ and the wine represents the blood of Christ, relating to what was done at the Last Supper. I do not receive the bread and wine; instead I receive a blessing, as I am not Catholic. This makes me feel as though I am still belonging to the community, making me feel spiritually connected to everyone around me. To symbolise the ending of the mass, the priest starts the Concluding Rites, to send people off in a spiritual and religious way. The final blessing and dismissal are very important to me, because I believe that spirituality is something you carry with you everywhere, and the final blessing often includes “And the Lord be with you”. This means to me, that whether I am at mass or not, I can still connect with the Lord and my own spirituality. Overall, the Catholic Mass allows me to open up and learn more about my religion, allows me to connect with others and get in touch with my own spirituality.