Making Room for the Messy Middle

We've started treating the way we choose to do things as the only right way to do them.

And I've been seeing a lot of this in spiritual spaces lately. Spaces where lightworkers, tarot readers, corporate witches talk about growing their businesses AND where women are gathering to learn how to tap into their witchy, wild woman, natural, self-led sides.

Take AI, for example. There are people who believe that if you use AI in your spiritual business or really anywhere, you're somehow less authentic, less creative, or less worthy of being taken seriously.

And I just don't agree with the binary thinking.

We've been using tools and outsourcing things for years. Canva, automation, copywriters, video editors. We do it so we can spend more time and energy on the things we're actually good at, or the things that matter most to us.

So why does using a different tool suddenly invalidate someone's work?

When things are so activating, there's typically more beneath the concern.

Have we become so accustomed to equating struggle with value that we believe something only matters if we poured blood, sweat, and tears into it?

And look, I'm not dismissing the ethical concerns around AI. Those conversations are absolutely worth having. Intention matters. Impact matters. Our values matter.

➡️But two things can be true at the same time.

You can have legitimate concerns about a tool AND recognize that someone else may be using it thoughtfully and responsibly.

➡️You can decide something isn't for you without deciding that everyone who makes a different choice is somehow wrong.

One of the things I've learned through leadership is the importance of both/and thinking. Not everything needs to be an either/or decision. Sometimes we need to hold space for competing perspectives and sit with the discomfort long enough to actually understand them.

And I think that's especially important in spiritual communities.

So many people come into these spaces looking for freedom from rigid beliefs, judgment, and shame. Yet, at times....we end up recreating those same conditions for each other.

I invite us to ask ourselves why certain things activate us so strongly and to be careful with blanket statements on this way or the highway.

What's the story underneath the reaction? What are we trying to protect? Are we responding to actual harm, or are we responding to something that challenges what we've come to believe? And if you're genuinely looking to tap into your spiritual side more or learn how to live your life in a more in-tune way, be wary of those quick to claim their way is the only right way. That's just going to give you another box.

Note: on AI and other controversial topics, I'm not suggesting we ignore unethical behavior. Call out real harm. Hold people accountable!

But let's be intentional about where we direct that judgment.

There's room for the messy middle. And making room for complexity doesn't mean abandoning our values. It means actually using them.

What do you think?

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