“You know, according to Tibetan Black Hat Feng Shui, when a light fixture in the center of the house is broken, it can affect the residents’ health,” I said to our electrician while he installed a mission chandelier at home yesterday.

“You think so?” he asked, smiling.

“I don’t know that it’s so.”

“Well, I KNOW it’s not so!” he said. He’s a successful guy who works big construction jobs.

Hmmm. Chattering Mind didn’t argue. But I put faith in things that may not be verifiably—or reliably—effective. For me that’s okay. Prayer, meditation, angels, homeopathy, Feng Shui, Reiki, acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, osteopathy, astrology, chakra work, earth devas, fairy sprites, and tarot and I Ching readings have all helped me at various times in my life.

I know it’s important to test validity and confirm legitimacy. And I really want alternative practitioners to get certified and licensed so they can work in hospitals, be covered by medical insurance, go more mainstream, etc. But for me, even if certain parts of these notions are truer some times than they are others, I still believe—meaning, I hand off control and stay reverent, aware of the mystery. Does this mean I’m a susceptible to every passing alterna-breeze? Do I swing down the streets with a magical umbrella a la Mary Poppins? No. But it’s a constant balancing act between my fact-finding journalist self and my surrendering spiritual self. Asking the questions yet being open to any possible answer. I am an open channel; life is weird, always miraculous.

How do you balance your chattering mind with your open spirit?