The Dance of Personal and Spritual Growth

exploring it experientially – when we begin to feel it and thus to know it on a different level. Growing and knowing on the level of feeling rounds out our spirituality, allowing it to permeate the different levels of our being so that it is integrated into our being. (Please see my article, “Experiential Spirituality and Contemporary Gnosis,” published in the March 1996 issue of Innerchange and also available on my web site, www.dianebrandon.com, for a deeper discussion of this topic.)

So how do we maximize our growth and how do we pursue it? What I have learned through my work with clients, as well as from my own process, is that everyone’s path is different, that there is no set of rules for everyone to follow. I would like to say that openness is a prerequisite. However, I’ve seen those who were not exactly predisposed to being open go through growth or opening experiences. And our manner of growing may vary as well. Some may go through intense periods of rapid growth, while others may evolve more gradually over time, much like a flower slowly opening its petals to take in the nurturing elements of its environment. And for still others, both types of growth processes may be experienced at different points in their lives. (I also feel that it may not be for everyone to experience a lot of growth; some may be living lives in which they are to experience not growing.)

There may be different triggers for our growth, from a vague feeling of disenchantment or lack of fulfillment or that there must be something more to life; to more traumatic triggers such as the loss of a job or relationship, illness or accident, death of a loved one, a near-death experience, etc. We usually know, if we are

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