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Speaker 1: Hello, Hello, I'm so happy you're here. Thank you for

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Speaker 1: pushing the play button on this episode of your favorite podcast,

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Speaker 1: Cheek is in Chill. Today, I'm going to talk about

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Speaker 1: something I've mentioned a lot throughout all four seasons of

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Speaker 1: the podcast, and it's about spirituality versus religion. There's a

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Speaker 1: huge difference between the two, and I want to share

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Speaker 1: my opinions about it and why I consider myself a

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Speaker 1: spiritual person. Are you ready? All right? Let's go. Okay.

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Speaker 1: So I know this is a very touchy subject, Okay,

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Speaker 1: And I'm not trying to offend anybody or upset anyone.

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Speaker 1: This is just my opinion and why I think that

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Speaker 1: they're both very different because I have been in both spaces.

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Speaker 1: I have always felt like spirituality has called me since

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Speaker 1: I was Hm, how old was I? I must have

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Speaker 1: been twenty three, twenty four, And no one taught me

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Speaker 1: this because in my family everyone wasn't is very Christian

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Speaker 1: and that's okay. I was as well. I went to

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Speaker 1: Christian Church. I was what you call a Bible thumper.

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Speaker 1: I didn't want to even eat an apple because in

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Speaker 1: the Bible it says that Eve gave Adam an apple,

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Speaker 1: and I was like, oh my god, apples are bad.

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Speaker 1: Like it was. I was very, very religious, and I'm

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Speaker 1: glad I went through that. I was eleven twelve. I

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Speaker 1: didn't even cuss guys. I would pray on my knees

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Speaker 1: every day. It's beautiful. I'm not saying like like I

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Speaker 1: think of that. Those times. I remember writing down on

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Speaker 1: a piece of paper everything I wanted to pray about.

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Speaker 1: It was a long long list, and I would do

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Speaker 1: it every night and every morning. And I'm very grateful

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Speaker 1: for everything I learned in Christianity. But the reason why

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Speaker 1: I decided to step away from Christianity is because I

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Speaker 1: was disappointed a lot by the leaders of the church,

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Speaker 1: by the preachers, and I saw a lot of things

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Speaker 1: that for me were like this isn't very godly. They

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Speaker 1: were doing things like a married pastor having said with

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Speaker 1: some of the ladies you know that were a part

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Speaker 1: of the church, and those ladies were married and whatever.

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Speaker 1: I'm not judging. It was just something that at my

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Speaker 1: age where I was like, oh my God, I really

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Speaker 1: looked up to the pastor I was. I remember like

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Speaker 1: crying because I was going to that church Wednesdays, Fridays

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Speaker 1: and Sundays. I was a huge part of it, and

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Speaker 1: then all of a sudden it was just ripped away

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Speaker 1: from me. There was a lot going on there, and

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Speaker 1: mind you, I had a great times there. That is

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Speaker 1: where at that church where God spoke through a prophet

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Speaker 1: to my mom's sister about the whole sexual abuse, and

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Speaker 1: that's how everything happened. Like they mentioned sexual abuse when

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Speaker 1: they were praying for her, and no one had ever known.

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Speaker 1: It was just her and I, Rosie and I that

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Speaker 1: knew about the sexual abuse. So I believe a lot

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Speaker 1: in prophets and people that have that gift that God

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Speaker 1: speaks to them or they're very intuitive, and they call

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Speaker 1: them prophets right in the Christian world. And I lived

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Speaker 1: a lot of great moments because they helped us through

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Speaker 1: that very hard time of our life. And then shortly

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Speaker 1: after that was when all this happened. It just it

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Speaker 1: was just a season of a lot of deception with

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Speaker 1: my mom. She was pregnant with Janica, and she was

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Speaker 1: like seven eight months pregnant, and she found out about

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Speaker 1: us being sexually abused by my dad, and you know,

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Speaker 1: it was just a whole thing. So anyway, my whole

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Speaker 1: point is that I was very engrossed in Christianity. But

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Speaker 1: I don't know what happened, and I don't know where

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Speaker 1: I saw it. I can't remember, but I just felt

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Speaker 1: called to lighting candles. And I was not really taught

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Speaker 1: that in Christianity. That's more of like a Catholic thing.

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Speaker 1: And in Christianity it was don't pray to laaalupe. Santos

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Speaker 1: is just God. God is very jealous God, and God

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Speaker 1: just wants you to focus on Him, and you can't

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Speaker 1: even really acknowledge the Santos. And I always felt very

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Speaker 1: called to Labis Maria, to the Virgin Mary. And I

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Speaker 1: wasn't sure why, and i'll explain now in a little

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Speaker 1: bit why. But I just started lighting candles and I

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Speaker 1: started burning incense, and I started looking more into spirituality,

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Speaker 1: into Buddhism, and I don't know why. I always felt

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Speaker 1: in my heart that in a past life, because I

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Speaker 1: believe in past life. That's something that Christians don't believe in.

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Speaker 1: But I really I believe in reincarnation and I believe

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Speaker 1: in past lives, and I feel that in one of

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Speaker 1: my past lives, I was Asian. So I think that's

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Speaker 1: why I love Asian food. I love Asians and I

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Speaker 1: love Buddhism, so I was very called to. Then I

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Speaker 1: started looking into it a little bit more. And of

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Speaker 1: course my mom was very traditional in that sense, and

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Speaker 1: she was very Christian because her mom was very Christian,

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Speaker 1: and she wasn't very happy. She kind of like, what

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Speaker 1: is all this blueheia stuff? Like what is this? You know?

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Speaker 1: Like she didn't understand it, and she would make fun

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Speaker 1: of it, but she was letting me be. She's like, okay,

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Speaker 1: my daughter's crazy. And it's okay because I had like

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Speaker 1: an altar and all these things. It came out of nowhere, guys,

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Speaker 1: and I hadn't found a church where I felt comfortable

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Speaker 1: after that whole situation. So this is where my search started,

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Speaker 1: and this is what spirituality is. And I wrote some

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Speaker 1: things down and I did some of my research just

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Speaker 1: to give you, guys, facts on the difference between religion

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Speaker 1: and spirituality, because and then I'll give you my own opinion.

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Speaker 1: So what is religion? Let's start here. Religion is a

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Speaker 1: structured system of beliefs and practices. It often involves sacred texts,

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Speaker 1: specific rituals, moral codes, and a community of believers who

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Speaker 1: follow a shared path. Most religions believe in a higher

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Speaker 1: power like God, and offer ways to connect to the

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Speaker 1: divine presence. Examples of religious practices okay, Attending Sunday Mass

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Speaker 1: or going to church to temple, reading sacred texts like

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Speaker 1: the Bible or Quran, celebrating religious holidays like Easter, Hanukkah,

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Speaker 1: reciting memorized prayers, Practicing in sacraments like baptism or communion,

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Speaker 1: singing worship songs. Religion can give you structure, unity, and

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Speaker 1: a sense of belonging and a spiritual roadmap. Okay, now

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Speaker 1: what is spirituality? Spirituality is more personal. It's an interconnection

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Speaker 1: to something greater, whether that's God, the universe, source, love,

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Speaker 1: or higher power. It's less about rules and more about experience.

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Speaker 1: It's your soul's way of speaking, feeling, and understanding the

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Speaker 1: world beyond the five senses. Examples of some spiritual practices

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Speaker 1: meditation and breath work, journaling, are talking to God like

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Speaker 1: a friend, spending time and nature, practicing gratitude, sound bass,

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Speaker 1: reiki or energy healing, lighting candles, or setting intentions during

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Speaker 1: moon cycles. Spirituality often asks what feels true for me,

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Speaker 1: what helps me feel connected. It's about aligning with love

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Speaker 1: and with peace and I'll get more into the differences

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Speaker 1: side by side. But this is why I started becoming

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Speaker 1: more spiritual, because after I was let down or disappointed,

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Speaker 1: and this is something that someone taught me later. And

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Speaker 1: mind you, after I realized I was spiritual, I did

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Speaker 1: find a home. It's called Artila, and this is where

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Speaker 1: my pastor. So I kind of told him. He's like,

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Speaker 1: now my mentor, and I love him. They're my spiritual parents.

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Speaker 1: They're great. I still go to the church whenever I can.

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Speaker 1: I haven't gotten in a long time. But when I

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Speaker 1: told him I experience with my previous church, the first

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Speaker 1: church where I found Christianity or I found myself as

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Speaker 1: a religious person. He said, you know, the mistake that

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Speaker 1: people often make is they forget that we the pastors,

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Speaker 1: are also humans and we make mistakes. And I'm not

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Speaker 1: saying what he did was right, but you were focusing

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Speaker 1: more on him and you let him disappoint you. Because

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Speaker 1: God has never disappointed you. God has never let you down.

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Speaker 1: So after he told me that, I was like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: you're right, and that's why I was a little bit

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Speaker 1: more open to going to church. And I'll go to

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Speaker 1: Catholic church because Emilio is very Catholic. His family's very Catholic.

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Speaker 1: His grandma, who I freaking love so much, she's Catholic.

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Speaker 1: And I'll go to church and I don't know. I mean,

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Speaker 1: I don't know all the prayers, but I am respectful

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Speaker 1: and me Persino, I might cross myself, and I'm very respectful.

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Speaker 1: I feel like you can learn a little bit from

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Speaker 1: every religion and it's all about being respectful. And that's

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Speaker 1: what spirituality is all about. Because I'll go to a

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Speaker 1: Christian church and I'll sing and I'll dance and I'll

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Speaker 1: sing worship songs and I love the presence. And they're

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Speaker 1: so different. Catholic church is very quiet, you don't speak like.

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Speaker 1: It's just so different, you know, And you kneel and

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Speaker 1: you say a lot of prayers and it's a lot

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Speaker 1: of repetitiveness. And Christianity is loud and there's instruments and

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Speaker 1: it's different. And I haven't gone to a Buddhist temple.

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Speaker 1: I want to go so bad. I think I got

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Speaker 1: to go to Bali, guys. I feel like Bali's calling me.

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Speaker 1: But anyway, and then I have this other church called

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Speaker 1: a Gope that that's where I've gone a lot and

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Speaker 1: that's very spiritual, and they talk about the divine power

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Speaker 1: and the power within ourselves. And I go back and

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Speaker 1: forth and I dabble because that's in my opinion. When

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Speaker 1: people ask me, what's your religion, I'm like, my religion

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Speaker 1: is called love. I am a spiritual person that I

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Speaker 1: love and I respect. And one thing that I've noticed

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Speaker 1: about certain religious and I'm not gonna like it again.

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Speaker 1: This is not to bash anyone, but certain religious people.

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Speaker 1: I want to say everyone, but certain religious people I

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Speaker 1: have found that could be very judgmental and it's their

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Speaker 1: way or no way, and if you're not doing things

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Speaker 1: this way, then you're wrong. And I don't agree with that.

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Speaker 1: I feel like you should be able to express yourself

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Speaker 1: and call God whatever you feel called to, the higher Power,

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Speaker 1: the Creator, the Source, whatever it is that you want

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Speaker 1: to call, as long as God can be a girl

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Speaker 1: to you, whatever it is, and I always say, is God.

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Speaker 1: There's a little bit of God in all of us.

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Speaker 1: We're all stardust, guys, we all are made of the

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Speaker 1: same thing. It's whatever works for you. If you want

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Speaker 1: something a little bit more structured, then religion is for you.

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Speaker 1: And that is okay. As long as you are a

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Speaker 1: good person that lives with good intentions and has your

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Speaker 1: heart in the right place and doesn't want to hurt

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Speaker 1: people intentionally. I think that is having Christ's consciousness. Christ's

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Speaker 1: consciousness is living the way the Bible says Jesus was.

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Speaker 1: He was soft, he was forgiving, he was accepting. When

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Speaker 1: they talk about Jesus being with Mary Magdalene and how

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Speaker 1: she was, I don't know a lot about the Bible.

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Speaker 1: I forgot to be honest, but I remember this story vaguely,

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Speaker 1: but about that she was I believe a prostitute. I believe,

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Speaker 1: and he accepted her. That is Jesus showing us how

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Speaker 1: we should be because in certain religions, is you're gay,

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Speaker 1: you're not accepted, you're a transgender, you're not accepted, you

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Speaker 1: can't come here, or there's a lot of judgment, and

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Speaker 1: Jesus wasn't like that. That jesus consciousness is I accept you.

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Speaker 1: It is not my place to judge you. I love you.

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Speaker 1: I have to love you because you are a brother,

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Speaker 1: you are a sister. Whatever choices you make with your

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Speaker 1: life and however you want to live is your choice.

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Speaker 1: That's you with God, and it's none of my business.

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Speaker 1: My business is to love you, to care for you,

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Speaker 1: to uplift you. Now, if you're out there killing people

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Speaker 1: and doing bad things and I can't be a part

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Speaker 1: of that, that's completely different. You get me. But a

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Speaker 1: Christ's consciousness is yes, maybe sometimes turning the other cheek.

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Speaker 1: It's all in there, and it's People take it so literal, though,

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Speaker 1: and that was me. I took it literal. I did

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Speaker 1: not want to eat apples in my home because apples

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Speaker 1: were bad. That's where I feel some people go wrong

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Speaker 1: and where I went wrong personally. I was taking the

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Speaker 1: Bible and taking the things that I was hearing at

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Speaker 1: church way too literal. And I wasn't allowing my inner God,

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Speaker 1: my inner spirit, my Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit that

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Speaker 1: lives within me to work through me. Because I feel

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Speaker 1: like that's why I'm called to spirituality. It is a choice.

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Speaker 1: I wake up every day and I choose to pray,

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Speaker 1: and I choose to have a connection, and I choose

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Speaker 1: to meditate. It's not because if you don't do this

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Speaker 1: you're going to hell. Like that doesn't work for me,

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Speaker 1: It's not a good fit for me. It is my

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Speaker 1: choice at my pace and the way that feels comfortable

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Speaker 1: to me lighting a candle, lighting some baosantho to get

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Speaker 1: all the negative energy the way, because that is very real. Guys.

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Speaker 1: Energy is real. We are all made of energy, whether

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Speaker 1: you want to accept it or not. It's scientific. We

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Speaker 1: come from the stars. We are energy. We are all connected,

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Speaker 1: which is why when someone walks into a room and

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Speaker 1: they are moody or something's going on, you feel it

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Speaker 1: because we are energy. I just wanted to explain the

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Speaker 1: difference because I do sometimes feel judged by certain people

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Speaker 1: even around me, because of what I believe in. Because

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Speaker 1: I have a Buddha in my home. Mind you, I

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Speaker 1: do hear that Buddhists don't like the Buddha to be

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Speaker 1: used as decor or anything like that. It's very sacred

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Speaker 1: and I respect it very much. I have it there

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Speaker 1: because it's a big, beautiful Buddha that's a fountain, and

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Speaker 1: I've posted it on my social media sometimes as a

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Speaker 1: God morning, and I have it there to remind me

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Speaker 1: to be zen to live peacefully. Like Buddha was so awesome.

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Speaker 1: The things he's like to Jesus, you know, and the

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Speaker 1: teachings and everything and how he led was just I

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Speaker 1: connect so much with that, So for me, it's just

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Speaker 1: reminding me of his teachings and that's it, not in

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Speaker 1: any way to be disrespectful. So I have felt judged

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Speaker 1: because when I was really close to my grandma and

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Speaker 1: I had a Buddha at my other house, my very

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Speaker 1: first house that I bought myself, it was also a fountain,

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Speaker 1: and she was not happy with that. She said that

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Speaker 1: those types of things hold demons in them, and that

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Speaker 1: yoga was also bad. And I don't judge her because

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Speaker 1: this is what she has been taught or what she

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Speaker 1: has learned and gathered from her religion. And again I

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Speaker 1: respect it. I don't agree with it, which is why

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Speaker 1: I have another bood. I don't care because I believe

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Speaker 1: in it and I love the way it makes me feel.

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Speaker 1: I don't go to church every Sunday, but I connect

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Speaker 1: every day. And I have noticed that people, again not everyone,

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Speaker 1: but there are a lot of people that go to

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Speaker 1: church every Sunday, are there at every service, and are

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Speaker 1: not nice. And I've experienced this Firstthanda and I'm not

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Speaker 1: going to say any names, but that are very critical

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Speaker 1: and the first to throw a rock and pretend like

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Speaker 1: they're perfect. And I've experienced it. I'm just like, dude,

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Speaker 1: I would never do that. I would never say that. Like,

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Speaker 1: that's why I'm so comfortable. And I love what I do.

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Speaker 1: Spirituality is what I practice and I believe in it

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Speaker 1: and it works for me and it doesn't have to

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Speaker 1: work for you. But we have to learn to live

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Speaker 1: in peace and to respect everyone's opinion. And that's that,

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Speaker 1: And that's having christ consciousness and loving loving at the

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Speaker 1: end of the day, just loving and radiating love and

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Speaker 1: being love and being peace and being light in the

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Speaker 1: world in whatever way that you want to do it.

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Speaker 1: Just don't be mean about it, and don't try to

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Speaker 1: push your beliefs on other people. I don't agree with that.

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Speaker 1: Like for me, it's you're pushing me further away. Let

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Speaker 1: me be let me figure it out. And again, I

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Speaker 1: love going to Christian church. I just went, I don't know,

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Speaker 1: like two months ago, Jennaka invited me to her church

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Speaker 1: and it's beautiful and I loved it and it was

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Speaker 1: a great service and it was awesome. And I take

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Speaker 1: what I need to take and that's it, and I

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Speaker 1: don't get fixated on it, you know, And that's how

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Speaker 1: I live my life. And I think more people need

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Speaker 1: to be like that. That's just my personal opinion. Like

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Speaker 1: respect people, respect their decisions, respect their choices, respect the

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Speaker 1: way that they want to live their life. If they

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Speaker 1: need pray or pray for them, not because they live

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Speaker 1: a life that you know agree with, you're not going

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Speaker 1: to pray for them. You're not going to send them light.

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Speaker 1: It's like, no, that's not in It's not right. Okay.

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Speaker 1: So religion it follows sacred texts. Spirituality follows inner guidance, religion,

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Speaker 1: community based spirituality, self led journey religion, moral codes and commandments, spirituality,

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Speaker 1: values based living, religion, belief in a specific God, spirituality

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Speaker 1: broader or more universal belief, religion, structure and rules, spirituality,

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Speaker 1: flow and freedom. One isn't better than the other. They're

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Speaker 1: just different paths. Religion may say this is the way,

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Speaker 1: while spirituality whispers find your way. Can you be both? Absolutely?

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Speaker 1: You can go to church and meditate. You can read

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Speaker 1: the Bible and pull an oracle card. I do it.

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Speaker 1: You can light a candle to pray and feel God

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Speaker 1: in a sunrise. I do that all the time. Being

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Speaker 1: spiritual doesn't mean rejecting religion. It means choosing what resonates

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Speaker 1: many people like me blend both worlds, taking what feeds

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Speaker 1: the soul and leaving what doesn't. The key is authenticity, guys,

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Speaker 1: and my personal reflection on this is I grew up

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Speaker 1: with religion. I knew about God, but for a long

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Speaker 1: time I didn't feel God. My journey into spirituality started

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Speaker 1: when I began asking deeper questions, when I wanted a

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Speaker 1: more intimate relationship with the divine. And now I still

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Speaker 1: carry the love and reverence of my roots, but I

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Speaker 1: also embrace silence, intuition, and stillness. I talk to God

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Speaker 1: every day, but not always through a prayer, Sometimes through

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Speaker 1: a song, a tear, a moment of deep breath. Sometimes

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Speaker 1: I even dance guys in my restroom, and it feels amazing.

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Speaker 1: I feel like I'm connecting to God like kind of

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Speaker 1: like our ancestors used to do, like Danzas, you know,

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Speaker 1: like dances. Okay, anyway, I'm almost done. Okay, be patient.

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Speaker 1: I don't think you have to be religious or spiritual.

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Speaker 1: I think you just have to be real. So whether

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Speaker 1: you're meditating, going to church, journaling, or simply trying to

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Speaker 1: do your best with love, know that your path is sacred.

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Speaker 1: God isn't looking for perfection. God is looking for presents.

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Speaker 1: So anyways, guys, thank you, thank you so much for listening.

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Speaker 1: I hope that this resonates with you, and I hope

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Speaker 1: that it helps you find your way in some way somehow.

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Speaker 1: Whatever works for you, whatever fits you, I'm gonna love

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Speaker 1: you regardless. I'm not going to ever make you feel

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Speaker 1: like you're not welcome into my space because you don't

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Speaker 1: believe in what I believe and I think just it's

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Speaker 1: all about being respectful and yeah, that concludes this episode.

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Speaker 1: I'm so grateful that you're here. I'm grateful that you

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Speaker 1: choose to come back to become a bigger, better version

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Speaker 1: of yourself. Cheeks and Chill, It's all about chilling, growing

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Speaker 1: and glowing. I love you, guys. I'll catch you on

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Speaker 1: the next episode of Cheeks and Chill. This is a

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Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio and the Microdura podcast Network. Follow us

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Speaker 1: on Instagram at Michael Doura Podcasts, then follow me Cheeky's

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Speaker 1: That's c H I t U I s. For more

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Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite podcast