The more I am getting involved in media studies, the more convinced I am that we (as practitioners) essentially convert ourselves through the inspirational media we interact with. I believe that the desire for inspiration is much like food: it is a kind of craving for many people. And the internet is one outlet through which that desire is somehow met, through a multiplicity of different forms.
I was designing a video project this week for one of my last assignments in the course, and I found myself just enjoying the result--much better than I would if I were not somehow involved in the creative process. Why is that? I guess one cynical take on it is that it is a form of pride of sorts. But I think a deeper clue to it is that creation itself becomes a reflection of one's deepest motivations and values, which often remain hidden in people until there are moments of clarity. Have you ever considered why you tend to imitate some people and not others? I believe that it's because there is just a stronger resonance in some cases than in others. When I am actively creating an object on a spiritual theme, I am articulating what matters to me the most about the spiritual subject, and this has a great impact on my motivation to practice the spiritual teaching itself.
I also get to realize the opposite, namely that there are aspects of spiritual life which give rise to doubt, discontinuity and even distance. This shouldn't be surprising, considering that all beings are at different spectrum in relation to a spiritual practice. There can never be 100% 'engagement' all the time, and perhaps what a person could aim for is seeing the spiritual practice itself as a means through which they can reflect upon themselves, rather than 'replacing' oneself with the spiritual teaching.
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