How you view life, often depends on what you've experienced. The average person - lived an average life. As children, their worries were clothes, friends and having fun. As teens, it was the same thing - as it was (is) as a young adult. For the average - life happens, and they just ride along. Not much is considered, beyond the immediate needs (or more appropriately - wants). However, there is more than just the average (in society) and even the average may end up on a detour in life. It's these events (or detours) that color our life experience. Tragedy is one such detour - this type (as do others) pull people from the norm into an alternate path. It changes (even if just temporary) the way we see life. For an average person, a majority, the change is just temporary. However, there are a few (including some average people) were the detour become permanent. It fundamentally alters life and the way its seen. Although the detours in life are many, only a few are permanently affected by it.

The differences between the average, and the rest, can best be seen in high school. The popular, the jocks, the average, the geeks, the freaks, the loner(s). There are even differences between men and women. Each has a life path that lead them to were they are and a life path (influenced - if not defined - by these experience) to come. All but the average have extra-ordinary events in their lives that pulls them from the norm. Yet all must live within the norm (society). Examples of this can be seen in recent history (from the 60's). Geeks in the space program (along with scifi geeks) introduced the modern world. Yet the structure of school society went unchanged. By the end of the 60's, the freaks culture of love, was yet another influence on the norm from the fringe - and the school society went unchanged. In the 80's, geeks introduced the world to computers - and the school society went unchanged. No matter the changes in society, the average will always adjust and form the main stream of society - with the rest on the edges.

This is the case when, beginning in 1990, the female perspective began to change the norms. Women are more emotionally sensitive than men (generally speaking). They have also been shown to be more responsible - choosing to marry (thinking about marriage) at much younger age than men. It's also been shown in many cultures that when a society collapses, women pick up the needs, while the men play. Not surprising then, when left to be free - beginning in the 1990, they began to excel where men failed. In this new influence, a question of spirituality has occurred - and once again, it's become normalized. School social structures have remained - unchanged. The average are still the average.

For the average, spirituality is seen in yoga mats and scented candles. It's fair to say that most people in the world believe in something beyond the physical - they believe in the spiritual. The fashionable trends in spiritual exhibition are seen mainly in women. Women are considered to be more spiritual than the primal man. They light scented candles for aroma therapy to heighten the senses of the soul. They take yoga to align body and soul, they use mystic seers and healers. This is the total extent of the fashionable trends of feminine spirituality. This is the norm of the average.

The average never question their existence, they live life on autopilot. Their spirituality is just part of their lifestyle. An accessory like the latest in furniture or clothing. Yet others (the male part of the average), go with what they know. Their beliefs are never questioned, because they are never really thought about. They are the believers of the status quo. Typically, the division of the average falls along gender lines, with "fashionable spirituality" being women and "status quo spirituality" being men. However, there are others who do go beyond the average, seeking a deeper meaning to life. The journey of a person seeking spiritual direction and growth is often a long one with many trials of error and dead ends. Yet their drive for meaning beyond the average keeps them going.

These people can essentially be divided into two primary groups; the intellectuals and the religious. The religious are rather obvious to see, because it's a part of their daily life. Instead of sitting home, golfing, or some other activity on the weekends, they are not only practicing their religion - they are living it. You will find these people in churches, temples and teaching halls. The intellectuals are anti-religious (the complete opposite to the religious). The irony here, as different as they are from the religious - they are just the same. They live their philosophy (instead of religion). They are typically found in the universities, colleges, libraries and labs (their churches, temples and teaching halls).

If your tired of just a material existence, and feel that there is more than just the physical, then you have just taken the first step to see what more there is. Maybe you're an average woman and wish to move beyond scented candles for spiritual direction and growth. Maybe your unique and still searching for the right direction. There are a huge number of choices facing those who ask the question; Is there more? Each choice has their claims and traditions. There are rules and organizational structure - for many choices. Then invariably you are asked for money. Some charge for mandatory courses to help you learn their spiritual rules and lifestyle. While, others charge for membership, services and a whole list of other charges, fees, and donations. The decision here is, if you decide to take the step beyond scented candles, where to go. In which direction is the truth, or are all directions equally true and there is no need to make a choice. If you believe all directions are true, then why change? If not, this now means that of all the directions there are not true - one path must be chosen.