I am not going to make a historical analysis of the evolution of human consciousness, which is out of my reach, and, anyway, I am interested in the present.

I am the father of a nine-year-old girl. A young human being that I am preparing for life. It is not a small thing. As I raise her time and time again I face the limitations of my own worldview and see right in the eye how my culture has affected me. I recall once I was arguing with Kala, my daughter, and said the unfortunate phrase: you can’t have all you want in life! to what she answered: why not?

She is right.

In these 9 years, I have found myself saying out loud things that once I hear them can’t believe I am saying it and even less recognize they are part of my belief system, but they are.

My culture has shaped my belief system. In this system things like purpose, gratitude, genuine prosperity, letting go, the joy of life, authenticity, creativity, inspiration, clarity, focus, balance, peace, the feeling of connection with others, trust, the feeling of connection with nature, innocence, enthusiasm, and so on, are labeled as “spiritual features”; the characteristics of a “spiritual person”.

The problem is that these so-called spiritual features of life are at the core of a fulfilled life. When we call them spiritual is, in many ways, in opposition to a “realistic” worldview. Do you see the consequences of this? This means that we believe that life is then something else than that; it means we accept as normal, as realistic, feeling uninspired, unsatisfied, out of focus, out of balance, out of connection, and so on.

Let us do a brief exercise, say out loud:

Life is meant to be boring, a burden, unsatisfying, annoying (and keep on adding!)

Does it feel true? You know it is not.

Let us stop calling spiritual what should be labeled as human rights, let´s bring these concepts closer to home and create our culture around them. It will transform us and our world.