Sexy Instagram Spirituality

Instagram, I've found, radically shatters common societal stereotypes about people who focus attention on their own physical attractiveness and then share it with the world in photos and videos. Yesterday, while walking amongst the beauty of the changing leaves, I found myself reflecting on the fact that the conventional wisdom would claim that those who give a surplus of attention to their own beauty are superficial, narcissistic and possess very little spiritual depth. However, I've discovered that if I post one of my "beautiful" landscape photos and add the hashtags ‪#‎beauty‬ or ‪#‎beautiful‬ together with ‪#‎inspiration‬ or ‪#‎inspirationalquotes‬, I get a whole group of people "Liking" the post who are either associated with the beauty industry or who regularly post photos with the "beautiful' hashtag referring not to Nature but to their own beauty and loveliness! And these very same people also post a surplus of inspirational quotes, many of which are really quite profound.

Interestingly, many of these Instagram users make a regular practice of posting a somewhat provocative picture of themselves, together with a quote from a prominent spiritual master. Most of these are women, many of whom also associate with Goddess Spirituality. I suppose it makes sense that my Photo-Quotes would find this sort of person, since I often add the hashtag ‪#‎goddess‬ or ‪#‎sacredfeminine‬ to my posts that include a reflection about the feminine aspects of "Mother Earth." Many of these women, I've discovered, are actually profoundly in touch with the fact that their own physical attractiveness is NOT an end in itself, but is - like beautiful landscapes - simply an incarnation of the larger presence of the Sacred Feminine. Based on my experience with Instagram, I'd say that "Goddess Spirituality" and a spiritual perspective on human physical beauty is currently alive and well :)  How fascinating is our postmodern era!

 

Photos: A Wild Geranium leaf and Aspen groves, Rawah Range, CO, September 21, 2015

- - - - - - - - -

I am available for one-on-one spiritual direction / mentoring via phone or Skype. You can contact me at canyonechoes@gmail.com if you are interested. The rate is $65 per hour-long session. You might also want to check out my Spiritual Direction with Stephen Hatch Facebook page.