On Spiritual Practices

In the Context of Religion

In the context of religion and spirituality (individual religion) spiritual practices are practical actions in which we engage in order to express our faith.  In my opinion, they are more accurately called religious practices.

Religious practices, corporate and individual, include but are not limited to prayer, attending to sacred writings, devotional reading, following a moral code, confessing one's failures, purifications, making promises to do better, study, meditation, contemplation, dressing a certain way, fasting, vigils, gazing at sacred images, pilgrimage, giving to the poor, humility, obedience to authority, poverty, celibacy. chanting, physical exercise, mantra, and attending corporate rituals.

In the Context of Thumotics

In the context of Thumotics "spirit" is clearly defined as "that which makes alive" and "spiritual" is clearly defined as "of, about, or related to spirit." So, spiritual practices are practical actions in which we engage for the good of our own spirit and that of others.

Rather than being focused on expressing one's beliefs by one's actions, in the context of Thumotics, spiritual practices are spirit-focused; that is, they are focused on the goal of mastering one's own spirit.

The core thumotic spiritual practice is being mindful of one's own spirit and that of others. Only by being mindful of our own spirit and that of others can we know, love, and take good care of that which makes alive.

Other spiritual practices include but are not limited to calming, lifting, expanding, contracting, introverting, extroverting, hardening, softening, and strengthening one's own spirit. 

Directing one's spirit to invest it in thinking, speaking, writing, being mindful of other things, physical action, and loving are also spiritual practices as is affecting the spirits of others.

Put briefly, in the context of Thumotics spiritual practices are about the ability to change one's spirit from one condition to another.

On Spiritual Discipline

Discipline: From Learning to Punishment 

At some point in Western civilization the meaning of discipline was revised. It came to mean punishment rather than learning. To discipline someone meant to punish the person for failing at what he or she was supposed to do according to those in positions of power. Such punishment was considered an effective method of teaching; if not for the person punished, then for those who witnessed it.

Discipline in the Context of Christianity

In the context of Christianity, spiritual discipline was reduced to punishment in order to correct sinful behavior. It included such things as saying so many Hail Mary's and Our Father's. In some cases in involved fasting or giving alms. In serious cases some engaged in self flagellation. In extreme cases it involved temporary or permanent shunning from the fellowship of believers or exclusion from receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist.

The purpose of such discipline was to enforce faithfulness and obedience to the church, the faith, the clergy, and God.

Discipline in the Context of Thumotics

In the context of Thumotics, spiritual discipline has nothing to do with punishment and has everything to do with learning.

Rather than focusing on and punishing behavior at odds with religious doctrine, it focuses on one's own spirit and has to do with learning specific spirit-related skills.

Spiritual discipline is about exercising one's own spirit and training oneself to master one's own spirit. It's about developing spirit-related intelligence.

The specific exercises of spiritual discipline are called spiritual practices, the subject of my next blog post.

On Believing in Spirit

It is one thing to believe that an elevator in a building exists and quite another to believe in the elevator to take you safely to the twenty-first floor. Likewise, it is one thing to believe that spirit exists and another to believe in spirit to take us through life.

To believe that something or someone exists requires little to no risk on our part. To believe in something or someone is risky. It requires trust. 

When I go beyond believing that you exist to believing in you I put myself at risk. I make myself vulnerable to the possibility of being harmed financially, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and socially.

So it is with spirit. When I go beyond believing that spirit exists to  believing in spirit, to trusting my spirit, I put myself at risk. What could happen if I trust my own spirit rather than what others tell me about how to live my life? I won't know until I try it.

Since believing that spirit exists is challenging enough for many, I recommend to those who already believe that spirit exists to go slowly in believing in spirit.

First, understand what believing in spirit is. It's trusting our own spirit. It's trusting that which makes us alive. Trusting our own spirit is trusting our spirit to guide us in what sustains, nurtures, and nourishes our own life.

Secondly, understand why we can trust our spirit with our life. It is our life. It is that which makes us alive. Its nature is to live and do what sustains its ongoing existence. When we trust an elevator to take us safely to the twenty-first floor, we trust the elevator to do what it exists to do. Likewise, when we trust our spirit to keep us alive, we trust our spirit to do what it exists to do: keep us alive with the purpose of becoming the unique individuals we're meant to become.

Thirdly, be aware of how our spirit communicates with us. It communicates with us in our instincts and our thoughts. By our instincts our spirit guides us to eat, drink, rest, sleep, relax, look, be on alert, stop, go, run, approach, avoid, have fun, have sex, and engage in a wide range of various behaviors that protect, sustain, and promote our continued spiritedness.

By our thoughts our spirit guides us with words that influence our behaviors either directly or indirectly by way of our emotions. We think it would be good for us to do this or that and we do it. We feel fear or any other emotion and act accordingly. Many of our thoughts and emotions are our own spirit guiding us to act in ways that protect, sustain, and promote our continued spiritedness.

Knowing the above, we can better attend to our own spirit and how it guides us in living. We can begin to trust it with small risks at first. As we learn from experience and gain confidence, we can gradually trust our spirit with greater risks. As we do, we will truly live spiritual, that is, spirit-related lives.  

Spiritual Guidance in the Context of Thumotics

For many, spiritual guidance is the act of talking with another person in order to help them deal with a religious, spiritual, existential, philosophical, ethical, or axiological concern.

In such instances, spiritual guidance  would be about helping them resolve their concern and feel better emotionally. It would include establishing rapport, being therapeutically present, active listening, suspending judgment, asking questions, verbal validation of thoughts, feelings and actions, verbal normalizing, asking questions, perhaps quoting or alluding to sacred or other writings, and perhaps praying with the person. It might also include making recommendations to take certain actions.

In the context of Thumotics, spiritual or spirt-related guidance is altogether different. In the context of Thumotics, spirit-related guidance is the act of leading someone from one condition of spirit to another that is better for her or his current situation. 

In order to help lead the person's spirit to a different condition, the thumotherapist attends to the person's spirit with the intention of assessing its condition in the person's current circumstances, determining in collaboration with the person what a more effective condition of spirit would be, and helping to guide the person to that improved condition of spirit.

For example, if the other person was overly spirited, hyperthumotic, for their current situation, the act of leading her to a calmer condition of spirit is spiritual guidance. It is guidance of her spirit to a calmer condition that is more appropriate for her current situation.

Guiding someone who is hyperthumotic to a calmer condition of spirit might involve physical interventions. For example, the thumotherapist might use a form of energy therapy, like Reiki or Healing Touch, that might help the person relax physically. Guiding the person in a type of breath work that slows the metabolism could be helpful. Essential oils and music could also be used to help guide the person's spirit to a calmer condition.

In addition to physical interventions, the thumotherapist might also use verbal/ cognitive interventions. For example, guided imagery might help guide the person's spirit to a calmer condition. Helping the person to see and interpret his or her current situation from a different perspective might also be helpful.

However, helping the hyperthumotic person calm down in a session is not enough. The person needs to learn how to self-calm. So, the thumotherapist would also spend some time teaching the person how to calm his or her own spirit and give them specific practices to work on for the next session.

Spirit Essentials, Part 5: How to Provide Spiritual Guidance

If you came to this post expecting clear directions on how to provide spiritual guidance you might be disappointed. This post doesn't give a "how to" on spiritual guidance. 

This post teaches you what you need to do to develop your own ability to provide spiritual guidance.

Bottom line: experiment and learn from the results.

Be a true and dedicated thumonaut. Explore spirit. Learn about spirit. Figure out what affects spirit.

As in previous explorations, start with yourself.

Learn what calms your spirit. Learn what excites your spirit.

What expands your spirit and what contracts it?

What warms your spirit and what cools it?

What weakens your spirit and what strengtens it?

When your spirit is wounded or broken, what heals it?

As you experiment, keep a "no failures, only feedback" attitude. Keep a beginner's mind, open, full of wonder, and eager to learn.

Share what you learn. Share it with me. I'm eager to know what you're discovering in your explorations as a thumonaut. Let's share our stories and compare our notes.

Spirit Essentials, Part 4: Spiritual Guidance

Up to this point you have formed your working definition, description, and image of spirit. You have experienced your own spirit and that of others directly for yourself. You have named different conditions of your own spirit and that of others. Now it is time for the next step. 

The next step is far more challenging than the first three combined. It is far more challenging because it involves more than attending to spirits. It involves interacting with and influencing your own spirit and that of others. More specifically, it involves developing your ability to guide either your own or another's spirit from one condition to another. In other words, the next step is about developing you skill of spiritual guidance.

For many, spiritual guidance is the act of talking with another person in order to help them deal with a religious, spiritual, existential, philosophical, ethical, or axiological concern.

For example, someone might be concerned about what to believe, wanting to deepen their intimacy with their Higher Power, expand their consciousness, strengthen their faith, or develop their spirituality. They might be concerned about a doubt, going through a transition, or making sense of their own or a loved one's suffering. 

In such instances, spiritual guidance is often about helping them resolve their concern and feel better emotionally. It includes establishing rapport, being therapeutically present, active listening, suspending judgment, asking open-ended questions, verbal validation of thoughts, feelings and actions, verbal normalizing, perhaps quoting or alluding to sacred or other writings, and perhaps praying with the person or engaging in some other kind of ritual. It might also include making recommendations to take certain actions.

However, in the context of what we're doing, spiritual or spirt-related guidance is altogether different. In this context, spirit-related guidance is the act of leading someone to a condition of spirit that is better in her or his current situation. 

In order to help lead the person's spirit to a different condition, the spiritual guide co-attends to the person's spirit with the intention of-

1. Assessing its condition in the person's current circumstances

2. Determining, in collaboration with the person, what a better or more effective 

            condition of spirit would be

3. Helping to guide the person to that improved condition of spirit.

For example, if the other person is overly spirited for her current situation, spiritual guidance would involve the act of leading her to a calmer condition of spirit that is more appropriate in her current situation. 

If the person was under-spirited for his current circumstances, spiritual guidance would involve the act of leading him to a more spirited condition of spirit that is more appropriate in his current  situation.

When you are able to guide your own spirit and that of others from one condition to another more appropriate one, you are well on your way toward mastering how to care for your own spirit and that of others. You're on your way to mastering spiritual guidance.

Spirit Essentials, Part 3: Naming Different Conditions of Spirit

Perhaps you experience spirit as changing rather than always staying the same. If so, it can be helpful to name the different conditions of spirit we experience and perceive.

Again, start with your own spirit. Attend to it. Take note of how it changes and name the different conditions into which it changes.

Are you more spirited at some times than at others?

Are you less spirited at some times than at others?

Are there times when your spirit seems contracted within you or expanded beyond the boundary of your skin?

Does your spirit take on different hues? Is it darker or brighter at times?

Do you ever feel that your spirit is spent?

Are there times when it feels exceptionally strong?

Has you ever been wounded in your spirit?

Has your spirit ever been broken?

Take note of the above and any other conditions of your own spirit that you notice.

After you spend some time attending to the different conditions of your own spirit, spend some time attending to the differences in the spirits of others.

Include in your observations more than other humans with whom you relate. Include animals, plants, rocks, and all of the other things that you found to be spirited in the previous exercises in Part 2.

Create your initial list of all of the conditions of spirit that you identified and named. Also, if needed after naming different conditions of spirit, revise your definition of spirit.

You have become a well-informed thumonaut.

Spirit Essentials, Part 2: Become More Aware of Spirit

Defining spirit is only a beginning. There's more, much more. It is essential to become more aware of spirit. To experience it.

Start with your own spirit. Attend to it. How would you describe your spirit right now?

Where is it?

Does it have a color? Does it have a temperature? A size?

Is it always the same or does it change? If it changes, how?

Next, attend to the spirit of others. How would you describe the spirits of your family members, friends, co-workers, neighbors, pets or other animals?

What about plants? Are they spirited? If so, how? What are their spirits like?

What about the earth, mountains, forests, valleys, rocks, the wind, rivers and streams, waterfalls, fire, the sun, moon, planets and stars? Are they spirited or not? If so how?

What about groups of people like schools, sports teams, bands, military units, mobs, towns, cities, states, and nations? Do groups of people have their own group spirit?

Consider the seasons of the year, days, times, and events.

Do the seasons of winter, spring, summer and fall have their own spirit? Describe them.

Do different days have different spirits? What about holidays? What is the "holiday spirit?"

What is the "spirit of the times"?

Do events have their own spirit? Elections, inaugurations, births, celebrations, riots, initiations, vacations, making love, having sex, giving birth, hiking, dancing, and dying.

Revisit your definition of spirit. Revise it as necessary to take into account the new things you learn as you continue to explore spirit.

Now you're no longer a rookie thumonaut. You're becoming experienced.

Spirit Essentials, Part 1: Define Spirit for Yourself

It is essential to have a definition of spirit.

I recommend that you develop your own definitions, descriptions, and images of spirit rather than borrow them from someone else.

First, answer this question for yourself: What is spirit? Write your current understanding of what spirt is. It doesn't have to be your final word or even polished. It's a place to begin. Your answer will probably change over time as you learn more about spirit.

Second, imagine spirit. How does spirit sound, look, smell, feel, and taste? What is it like? What images come to mind? Is it always the same or does it change? What happens when something or someone who was spirited no longer is? 

Third, do some reading on the meaning of the word "spirit". Start with a few dictionaries. Explore the meanings of words that contain spirit. Explore, for example, the meanings of aspire, conspire, dispirit, expire, inspire, transpire, and esprit de corps. 

Study the etymology of the word. Find out if there are equivalents in other languages. 

Study related words like soul, mind, energy, and consciousness. Are these different words for the same thing or do these words refer to different things?

Next, rewrite your definition of spirit in light of what you have learned so far. Again, understand that as you learn more your definitions, descriptions, and images will change.

Now you are a thumonaut, an explorer of spirit.

Nurturing Euthumia, Well-Spiritedness

Euthumia is characterized by general healthiness, freedom, the ability to provide for ourselves, being productive, and living a relatively harmonious life with others. 

My current opinion is that most of us are naturally euthumic. 

However, just as maintaining our physical health is an ongoing process, so is maintaining the health and well-being of our spirit. 

Euthumia is not a constant state we strive to attain and then enjoy. Throughout our lives we face constant challenges to our basic, natural euthumic condition. Even so, we can develop the following practices that nurture the wellness of our spirit:

Mindfulness of spirit: being intentional about paying attention to our spirit and its condition.

Assessing the condition of our spirit: evaluating our spirit in terms of the three general categories of euthumia, athumia, and dysthumia and the more specific conditions in these general categories.

Choosing whether or not we want to change the condition of our spirit.

Knowing what to do to regulate our spirit: knowing what lifts, calms, strengthens, softens, collects, opens, expands, or otherwise regulates our spirit.

Regulating our spirit: actually putting our know-how into action.

Future posts will go into more detail about these practices that help us regulate our spirt.

Specific Types of Euthumia

As I presented in an earlier post, euthumia is a general category of well-spiritedness. Euthumiacs are relatively healthy, free, self-supporting, productive, and harmoniously connected with others. 

In this post I present some specific types of euthumia. They include- 

Dynathumia, strong-spiritedness. Some examples of strong spirited humans are Rosa Parks, Oprah Winfrey, Florence Nightingale, and General George Patton, .

Glycothumia, sweet-spiritedness. My cat, Boo, comes to mind. If there is a sweeter spirit, I have not met it. I couldn't think of any well-known individuals who were sweet spirits.

Megathumia, great-spiritedness.Some human examples include Lao Tzu, Cleopatra, Napoleon, Marie Curie, Abraham Lincoln,Nelson Mandela, Joan of Arc, Catherine the Great, Helen Keller, Eleanor Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Albert Einstein.

Liberthumia, free spiritedness. Frederich Nietzsche, Jack Kerouac, Georgia O'Keeffe 

Philothumia, friendly, loving spiritedness. The friendliest, most loving person I ever met was Effie Lowe. Another is Brandi Allison. I couldn't think of any well-known individuals who were philothumiacs. Maybe the Buddha and Mahatma Ghandi. 

Erothumia: erotic spiritedness. Marilyn Monroe, Marie Antoinette, Mata Hari, Johnny Depp ,Brad Pitt, William Blake, John F. Kennedy.

Some might say that some of the people I mentioned above could be listed in more than one category. I agree. For example, I think that many megathumiacs are also dynathumiacs. Some might also be liberthumiacs. Some glycothumiacs might also be philothumiacs. I think we can have more than one type of euthumic characteristic at once. It just seems to me that often one stands out from the others.

IQ, EQ and...?

If you've been reading my blog you probably guessed: SQ.

IQ = Intelligence Quotient

EQ= Emotional Intelligence Quotient

SQ= Spirit-related Intelligence Quotient

NOTE: Remember "spirit"  in this context refers to "that which makes alive."

What is SQ?

SQ has to do with our ability to identify and be aware of our own spirit and that of others.

It's the ability to assess the condition of our own spirit and that of others.

It's also the ability to regulate our own spirit and that of others.

Is there a test?

No, the test to measure SQ hasn't been invented yet. Let's not let that stop us from assessing and developing our SQ.

What is Your SQ?

Since Spirit-related Intelligence begins with our own spirit, let's begin there.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being total awareness, rate your ability to identify and be aware of your own spirit.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being mastery, rate your ability to assess the condition of your own spirit.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 again being mastery, rate your ability to regulate your own spirit.

Total your score. 

How did you do?

Which of the three abilities was easiest for you? Which was the hardest?

What might you do to raise your score?

Three Perspectives of Gratitude, Part 2

I love words. I like to learn from their etymologies. Every time I study a word’s etymology I gain new insights. Exploring the etymology of gratitude was no exception.

Etymology of Gratitude

Gratitude comes from the Latin word gratus, which means “agreeable, pleasing”. It’s related to the word gratia which means, “favor, esteem, regard; pleasing quality, good will” from which we get our word grace.  

Grace

Originally, grace was not a religious or theological word. It was a relationship word. To give grace to someone or to grace someone was "to show them good will, favor, or to pleasure them.” 

To “grace someone with our presence” was to pleasure and delight them with nothing more than our presence.  

To receive grace was to feel favored, pleased, and pleasure. The verbal response “gratia!” originally meant something like  “Oh, I like this! This feels really good!”

Gratis

Gratis is another word associated with gratitude. What do we use the word gratis to mean?  “For free”, “at no cost.” Originally, gratis meant to do something simply for the pleasure of giving pleasure to another person. What a wonderful thing to do.

Gratify

Another word associated with this group of words is gratify. It’s a verb. To gratify someone is to give them pleasure. Specifically, it means to give someone pleasure by relieving a desire or need that they could not relieve themselves.

Gratitude

Finally, just as all the words mentioned above had to do with pleasure, so gratitude was originally a specific kind of pleasure. It was the pleasure of having a need or desire relieved that we could not relieve ourself. 

Gratitude was our natural response to being gratified by another living being.

Examples of the Pleasure of Gratitude- the Relief of a Need or Desire We Cannot Relieve Our Self

- Our back itches, we cannot reach it, and someone scratches it for us

- Our shoulders are tied in knots with tension and someone massages them for us

- We’re sick and too weak to go grocery shopping and fix a meal for ourselves. We’re hungry and someone brings us food to eat.  We eat and feel our need for food relieved. It feels good and we smile.

- We have a flat tire, are unable to change to the spare tire ourself, and someone stops and does it for us.

- We’re lonely and desire some company and someone spends time with us.

Assessing the Pleasure of Gratitude

Unlike the cognitive-expressive perspectives of both psychology and religion, gratitude as a pleasure is holistic. It's a bio-psycho-social- spiritual experience. It feels good to have a need relieved that we cannot relieve for ourself.

In addition to being holistic, it is-

Natural. The pleasure we experience from a need relieved is natural. It is in-born. 

Spontaneous. It is a pleasure that we experience automatically. The relief feels so good. We do not have to generate it by cognitive reflection, journaling, or counting our blessings.

Authentic. It is not artificially produced.

Social. It requires two or more people: the one who gratifies and the one feels gratitude.

Practicing Gratitude 

All that is involved in practicing gratitude is letting others know that we have a need or desire that we cannot fulfill on our own, asking them to help us, receiving the help, and feeling the pleasure of having our need or desire fulfilled.

Practicing Gratifying Others

What do we need to do in order to gratify others and help them feel the pleasure of gratitude? We need to -

       Pay attention to those with whom we interact.

       Become aware of the needs and desires that they cannot relieve for themselves.

       Offer to help relieve their unmet need or desire.

       Relieve the need or desire when our offer is accepted.

Conclusion

I believe in both receiving the pleasure of gratitude and gratifying the needs and desires of others. I believe that both add value to our own and other's lives.

Three Perspectives of Gratitude, Part 1

Gratitude is a popular topic these days. No doubt Oprah had a lot to do with it.

The Cognitive-Expressive Perspective

For the most part, the current discussion about gratitude comes from the perspective of Positive Psychology and happiness research.  Research suggests that when we focus on things to be grateful for, feel grateful, and verbally express it, we feel happier. So, it directs us to think about things to be grateful for, keep a "Gratitude Journal", feel grateful, and say, "Thank you!" often. I call this the cognitive-expressive perspective of gratitude.

The Religious Perspective

Some of the current discussion about gratitude comes from a religious perspective of gratitude. From this perspective God/our Higher Power is the source of everything good in our life. Everything good in our life is a blessing from above. Since every blessing is a gift from above we should feel thankful to God/our Higher Power for all of our blessings and verbally express our thanks. 

From the religious perspective there is a sense that the more one recognizes and gives thanks for God’s blessings, the more faithful one is and the better one practices one’s religion.

Commonalities Share by both the Psychological and Religious Perspectives

The psychological and religious perspectives of gratitude share some common characteristics. 

Both are individualist. They focus on us as individuals and have us do a private self examination of how grateful we are as individuals.

Both lack a clear standard on how much gratitude is enough. The sense is that we could always be more grateful than we are.

Due to the lack if a standard, both judge us as falling short when it comes to gratitude and direct us to take some initiative to be more grateful than we are.

Both have a moralistic tone. They both say that we ought to be more grateful than we are. The psychological view says we ought to be more grateful in order to improve our mental health. The religious view says we ought to be more grateful in order to relate rightly with God/our Higher Power.

Finally, both offer prescriptions to remedy our short comings in the area of gratitude. They both say, "Be more grateful." Positive Psychologists direct us to journal about we can be grateful for. Religious authorities direct us to say prayers of thanksgiving. 

Assessing Both Perspectives

There is certainly nothing wrong with having a grateful attitude and practicing saying, “Thank you!”

However, I do question assigning and restricting gratitude to our head and tongue , the lack of a clear standard of how much gratitude is enough, fault-finding, and using a subtle form of guilt and shame to encourage us to be more grateful.

A Third Perspective

In my next post I'll present a third perspective on gratitude: gratitude as a specific kind of pleasure that we feel.

Gratitude as a Mental Narcotic

Could it be that the attitude of gratitude so popular these days is a recipe for compliance and supporting the status quo?

The attitude of gratitude directs us to focus on what we have and what is going well. It says we should feel grateful for what we have and what's going well. It promises us that when we focus on what's right with our life and feel gratitude for it, we'll be better human beings and much happier too. It even has scientific evidence to support its claims. 

Question: Is this not a sugar-coated form of, "Shut up, stop complaining, and be grateful for what you have"?

Think about it. If our roof is leaking, do we ignore it and look at all the roof that is not leaking and feel grateful that so much of our roof is just fine? No. We attend to the leak. We might feel irritated and even cuss about that leak. We then do something to fix it. Afterwards, we might feel grateful that the leak is fixed.

If we break our leg, do we ignore it and look at all of our other unbroken bones and give thanks for them? No. We do something about the broken bone. We feel grateful when the cast comes off and we're healthy again.

If we're in an abusive relationship at home or work do we ignore the abuse, attend to everything that's going well and feel grateful? Too often we do. 

We would do well to save our gratitude for later, after we have changed our situation and moved on with a better life. 

Too often the attitude of gratitude teaching directs us to ignore our problems and injustices, count our blessings, and give thanks for everything that isn't a problem. When we do so, it promises that we'll feel much better.

Guess what? It often works. We do often feel much better when we ignore what's harmful, attend to what's going well, count our blessings, and feel grateful. It's a mental narcotic.

This approach to living is fine if we want to be mentally and emotionally anesthetized to genuine problems and injustices that we face in life so that we can endure them rather than rise up and make a better life for ourselves.

Personally, I'm going for actually living a better life rather than anesthetizing myself, complying, and maintaining the status quo. 

Athumia: Non-spiritedness

Euthumia, dysthumia, and athumia are words I coined to refer to three general conditions of spirit. In future posts I'll describe more specific conditions within two of these three general categories.

This post summarizes previous posts about euthumia and dysthumia and introduces athumia.

Euthumia is well-spiritedness. Dysthumia is ill- or disordered-spiritedness.

Athumia is non-spiritedness. Not in the sense of being without spirit; that is, dead. Rather in the sense of being neither well-spirited nor ill-spirited.

When we're athumic, we're neither high nor low as far as our spiritedness goes.

We tend to have a flat affect.

We're neither lethargic nor hyperactive.

We might be able to concentrate but not in a productive way.

We're neither fatigued nor energetic.

We tend to be apathetic, listless, emotionally numb, and unmotivated.

There might or might not be a physical or mental basis.

When we athumic we're neither euthumic nor dysthumic. We just are.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of my readers in the US and nine other countries. Thank you for reading my blog posts. May 2014 be a wonderful year for you and yours!