Spectrum of Spirit: A Digital Sanctuary for Spiritual Discourse and Community

Personally, I am not a fan of the traditional four seasons we have with our understanding of the world. Climate change, global warming, whatever you want to call it, has made winters warm and summers sizzling, the lines becoming blurry between the weather attached to each season. Though the trees and plant life help reveal the season of life we are in, I don’t feel our four seasons help encapsulate how to understand the times that have come, are here, and will come. I prefer to live by a different seasonal cycle, less concerned with what is going on around me and what is being forged within me. Whether it is a season of pleasure and leisure, health and wealth, or creative and translative, I believe each season encourages me to weigh aspects of my life differently, differing currencies of what it means to be alive. Additionally, I believe these seasons can occur simultaneously, leisure can exist with creativity, wealth can be translatable, etc. I challenge you to imagine, to see how the different aspects of your life, the concerns within your spirit, impact one another, and influence your daily life.

In this blog, I hope to explore what it means to be alive, alive like a tree is alive, alive throughout the transition of seasons. I don’t look at spirituality as solely self-help guidance, I don’t look at spirituality as a confession of judgement, however, I view spirituality as a deeper look into what defines us through every moment, how we exist within our bodies, how we exist within societies, and how are ambitions shape us in to a better version of ourselves. I tend to question how important it is to be comfortable, valuing curiosity and understanding to structure the narrative I am writing for myself.

Reframing Seasons

As aforementioned, I value presence with where I am and where my spirit is leading me more than how hot or cold it is going to be on a particular day. I believe our spirit, especially the conversations within us, the conflict of one’s twin souls, reveal more than just our incongruency as humans, but our desires. I believe our spirit reveals our identity to lead us towards identities that fuel us in that moment, directing us towards an archetype fitting for the season. I believe the archetypes we grow in aren’t an achievement for us to cross off a to-do-list, but a new mirror for reflection, a mirror on how much we hold on to aspects of ourselves, what we want to keep, and what we might need to let go.

On the Highest Self Podcast, Sahara Rose invites Bibi Brauschka, a Tantra Teacher, for an episode about five types of experiences every woman should experience¹. About 30 minutes into the podcast, Sahara shares her desire to roll around in the sand, or being in the grass, drumming, or dancing with a romantic partner outdoors². Sahara believes her imagination and imagination similar to hers are some attributes that can evoke an evolution in one’s romantic relationship³. Sahara continues, stressing the extra weight we have put into spending money on events as opposed to just being with someone in a natural setting, allowing freedom to play within a relationship⁴. Bibi adds in the idea of wrestling, and Sahara jumps on this idea, how play wrestling can build a relationship as well, hitting a primal cord in humans⁵. Sahara is bold and stands on her statement, calling play wrestling a primal act⁶. Bibi jumps in again, reflecting on Sahara’s words and being reminded of the wild woman wild man archetype of a relationship⁷. Sahara agrees and Bibi follows up with a question, wondering if the wild relationship is a relationship type⁸. Sahara believes it does, and dives into more detail about the different elements of this relationship⁹.

Sahara and Bibi have an elaborate and engaging conversation that some people may consider to be culturally inappropriate. However, in the short excerpt I have highlighted above, I think we can learn about the seasons within a relationship. I believe there are the wild seasons, where unruly archetypes come together for experimental experiences, allowing themselves to be rather than crafting a narrative. I believe there are sacred seasons, times filled with a return to what one or one’s ancestors had done before. I believe there are slow seasons, where patience is suggested to power new changes. I believe there are growth seasons, where connection repairs feelings of shame and grief. I believe there are sovereign seasons, where one chooses their desires to fulfill what they want in that moment. I believe these seasons allow us to tune into ourself, reframing what dictates our life to live out our most authentic and free life.

Bodies in Seasons

I find it intriguing how much you can tell about a country’s culture just based on the commercial and infomercial industry. On almost every sports podcast I listen to, I hear about new deals in sports betting apps. Other apps share quick and easy ways to earn credit/points for daily activities such as buying groceries, driving safely, and even walking and tracking steps. The few times I watch TV, I see commercials for a new pharmaceutical drug that can help improve some of the symptoms of some chronic disease, while possibly giving a lengthy list of side effects. Now there are a few assumptions I could make from these informative, persuasive, and somewhat entertaining forms of media, however I would rather strike nerves of curiosity and questioning and give you the freedom to make your own judgements. I believe the advertisements can tell us more than what the market is pushing at the time, but they tell us about the risks were are willing to take in the USA, it tells us how we’re expected to care for ourselves and others, it tells us how to be responsible for our own communities, from an individual and group level.

On the Culture Apothecary podcast, Alex Clark interviews Dr. Sherri Tenpenny for her knowledge on vaccines, flu shots, circumcision and Hep B¹⁰. Alex opens up the podcast asking a lot of questions, questioning the routine decisions parents make, referring to the vitamin K shot, the Hepatitis B vaccine, and circumcision, and wondering if these decisions are a form of conditioning as opposed to concerns for health¹¹. Alex continues, questioning if measles outbreaks, flu shot season, and fear campaigns around viruses, are a part of crafted levers in a designed system to keep civilization, obedient, uninformed, and terrified of asking wrong questions¹². Skipping the gut-wrenching intro, Dr. Sherri reveals mothers are getting four to five vaccines, a flu shot, a pertussis shot, COVID shots, RSV vaccines, or if they can’t get the RSV vaccine, they are getting two RhoGAM shots¹³. Dr. Sherri reflects on her time growing up, when mothers couldn’t take anything when they were pregnant, no antihistamine, no glass of wine, no tuna fish due to the threat of mercury¹⁴. Dr. Sherri affirms if a pregnant woman was sick, they would have to tough it out due to not wanting to risk exposing the baby¹⁵. Dr. Sheri continues, jumping back to today, where we are giving vaccines, drugs and all types of things to aspiring mothers¹⁶. Dr. Sherri states she knows the pertussis vaccine very well, and apparently they never did any studies on the safety of the vaccine for pregnant women, and are now recommending the vaccine for every pregnant women¹⁷. Dr. Sherri contrasts the pertussis vaccine to the flu shot vaccine, where every year the CDC has 120 testing centers for influenza season¹⁸.

Wow, this was a surprise of a podcast from Alex Clark, though I could imagine she would be skeptical of modern medicine, this type of critique could be seen as culturally inappropriate. In the introduction, Alex emphasized her doubt in our societies preventative medicine, questioning if our health collective is aiming to protect us or to keep our culture in fear. In Dr. Sherri’s section, she is skeptic about the amount of drugs we are giving to pregnant women, unsure if the prioritization of women’s choice is being influenced by doctors who have not tested vaccines. I believe our bodies fluctuate in the seasons, and this can fluctuation can be altered by our emotional spectrum and the substances we ingest that may be man-made. Intrinsically, I believe everyone has their evaluation of what freedom looks like for them, and what it would look like to be safe with this new freedom. If this is true, I believe the question becomes, what do we do if our vision of freedom and safety is not identical to the vision culture is pushing? I believe this where risk is born, care is called out, and communal responsibility becomes a conscious assessment, a balance of living in between, where people within a community have to be present in the bodies, and be aware of the seasons.

Two Kinds of Seasons

Spending time going to school and now working in schools, I’ve realized our seasons are not just taught, but experienced through breaks. Fall Break, Winter Break, Spring Break, Summer Break, are each pivotal times of the year. When kids leave, the weather is in one state, and when kids return, the climate has changed, sometimes slightly, sometimes drastically. Throughout our academically rigorous school year, our students are relentless in their academic ventures, athletic pursuits, and extracurricular journeys. I believe one of the reasons for our breaks aligning with the change of seasons is to escape the change of weather, the changes in our communities mood, the changes in our relentless daily rhythms of life.

On the Artistically Married podcast, Jake Akkerman and Brianne Steinburg interview Danno O’Shea, a drummer, arranger, and creative engine for My Son the Hurricane¹⁹. Towards the end of the podcast, Brianne mentions how it’s nice to have seasonal sessions with the dance studio²⁰. Brianne explains how their experience at the dance studio is seasonal as well, they start in September, working towards their big shows and competitions, and then they take the whole summer off²¹. Brianne thinks this is nice to have these busy seasons, affirming her belief that you need busy seasons within an organization²². Jake believes this is crazy and Danno states it reminds him of two polar opposites, like a hurricane show and deceased people²³. Brianne laughs, seeing what Danno means by the highest high and the lowest low²⁴. Danno continues, believing it’s funny because he’s someone who doesn’t like loud noise, doesn’t like super bright lights, even though that doesn’t correlate with his profession²⁵. Danno thinks he can deal with the loud bright lights of a concert he orchestrates because he is in control of these aspects of a concert²⁶. Brianne comments about Danno’s environment, stating she is similar, and it’s getting worse as she gets older, her love for concerts and raves contrasting with her dislike for people yelling and talking over one another in her house²⁷.

Danno, Brianne, and Jake continue a fun conversation about Danno’s journey, his leadership, and his unique style to his drumming. Danno is portrayed as relentless, and in his relentless work, he still needs an escape from his work environment, dulling the lights and the volume in his home. However, I believe Danno’s relentlessness can only stand when his escape is balanced with his devotion to his craft. I believe Danno’s seasons can be related to his relentlessness, his nature to perfect his craft. Yet, this relentlessness shows up in two ways, in his escape and in his devotion. I would like to believe Danno’s chase for greatness compliments his desire to continue building on his artistic journey. I would like to believe Danno’s desire to outrun any feelings of emptiness come alongside his calling, his inner conflict or calling, willing him to build himself and his business no matter what. Even if this is not Danno’s experience, these are the lessons that I have learned from his story, and challenge you to reflect on the two kinds of seasons in your life.

Call to Seasons

Imagine the body. Notice your desire. Be kind to your season. Reframe your yes. Understand your craving. Inhale your world. Examine your expression. Originate your stories. Inherit the eternal. Echo your risk. Care for your twin. Mystify your art. Decide in your soul. Dance and flirt. Live in your gift. Commit within your energy.

Bibliography

1. Highest Self Podcast, “631: The 5 Types of Sex Every Woman Should Experience (Tantra Teacher Reveals All) with Bibi Brauschka,” podcast audio, December 2, 2025, accessed December 3, 2025, https://open.spotify.com/episode/4QJ6NkP8DC7NNNWRHj1Hgg. ↩︎
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10. Culture Apothecary, “Vaccines, Flu Shots, Circumcision & Hep B On Grocery Carts? I Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, DO,” podcast audio, December 1, 2025, accessed December 3, 2025, https://open.spotify.com/episode/7KmsGqIO9pNr6E7cpF7ZAi. ↩︎
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19. Artistically Married, “S2E4 Danno O’Shea: Raw Talent and Relentless Ambition,” podcast audio, November 30, 2025, accessed December 3, 2025, https://open.spotify.com/episode/7ecSMAIFvRdPBWtVjR4aqO. ↩︎
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