Have a Little Faith

Santa Barbara spiritual guide, author, and licensed therapist Faith Freed shows us how we can make spirituality simple, honest, and tailored to fit. 

By Sophie Jetzer

“I realized I was a spiritual eclectic, and I loved that term,” explains Faith Freed, a spiritual guide turned licensed psychotherapist and author. “Most people I know are doing spirituality their own way. They gravitate towards what rings true, what makes sense, what makes them feel good.” Faith understands spirituality can often seem confusing and intimidating to first timers, so she’s created a space where we can all explore our inner truths. She’s here to show us that our connection with ourselves should never take the back burner, and that we never have to define it or defend it to anyone.

Before her journey into spirituality, Faith worked as a creative in the copywriting field. She’s taken her fondness for short-form, punchy text, combined with her experiences teaching and learning spirituality, and created DIY Spirituality: Chart Your Own Sacred Path. After her recent talk at Godmothers bookstore in Summerland, I ask Faith what inspired her new book, she responds, “I wanted this one to be beautiful, an inspiration, and an easy get. It’s not a chore.”

DIY Spirituality functions as a compilation of easy-to-understand yet profound takeaways that don’t take months to comprehend. “Why do we have to have so many long-form spiritual tombs?” jokes Faith, explaining that the purpose of her book is to make spirituality approachable, enjoyable, and doable. Even if spirituality is something you aren’t familiar with, Faith expresses that DIY Spirituality opens up a space for conversation and experimentation. “The book shows you how to build a playlist of rituals and thought practices that you put together according to what rings true. You only incorporate what resonates with you, and that can be fluid,” she describes.

Centered around her Divine Disco Ball framework that made its first appearance in her 2013 publication Is, DIY Spirituality adopts a playful attitude towards the big questions. “It’s almost too simple. People want to figure it out and hack it. At the core, it is noticing what it is to be, and paying more attention to that,” says Faith. To make it easier for us to understand, Faith’s Divine Disco Ball is split into four quadrants: body and mind, soul and spirit, the divine or what Faith calls infinite source, and infinite source/the divine in form (aka nature). Faith refers to this framework as the spiritual basis we can cover to feel balanced.

“It’s about connecting with yourself and your spirit, and beyond that, connecting with the infinite source, or whatever you want to call the divine.” Faith says. “The takeaway is to feel like the universe is with you and taking care of you and, if you need help, you can ask for it, and it will show up. The book provides tools and techniques to connect with yourself, your source, and nature as a portal. Your connection with yourself and your true source is on your terms. You can do it, anywhere.”

I ask her to share with me some practices we can all incorporate into our daily lives to cultivate a greater spiritual awareness. “Some of the things we can do are really simple,” she says. Within the quadrant of body and mind, a lot of it comes down to self-care, she explains. “It can be as simple as listening to a song that touches you, or gets you to go beyond your own little world and think about a bigger picture.” She encourages any kind of physical practice, championing using the body and appreciating it, or “tending to the temple.” For the mind, the “biggie” is presence. She debunks some of the mystery and obscurity surrounding meditation in her book, “It does involve witnessing your thoughts, which can be annoying. Be mindful about one thing that you do, even if it is just making your bed. Truly be present with that task, don’t let your mind race, and train your brain in that space of being.”

When I ask her about soul and spirit, a quadrant that is more uncertain for most people, including myself, she nods sagely. “This is an untapped area that is amazing to explore and discover what lies beneath. Start by allowing yourself the time, space, and solitude to touch that cord of truth within you, endeavor to go within,” she instructs. She encourages us to get in touch with our inner child. “Go back in time and think about your youngest self. Think about that childhood innocence, that light that you had. If you can get in touch with some of that innocence and light, you are on the right track.” She recommends journaling and using techniques like free writing, query and response, and automatic writing to foster a connection with our souls. “You can even name your soul. I named mine,” she tells me. 

Faith encourages us to explore what she describes as “the intensely intimate experience” of having a direct relationship with ourselves and our sources. Despite the idea of that intimacy, and the solitary aspect of being a DIYer, Faith reminds me we are never alone. “I think of it as humanity is my community. You and I are talking, and it is a spiritual exchange. It can happen in the grocery line or with your neighbor.”

At the end of our conversation, she reminds me,“No one is average, because we are all made of stardust. There is a piece of stardust that is embedded in you, maybe in your heart, your gut, your mind–who knows?” We can only hope to find it within ourselves.