Alice Grist

Ladies – Are you looking to connect to something other than your internet provider? Alice Grist’s book ‘The High Heeled Guide To Enlightenment’ is an investigation into alternative spirituality through the eyes of a very modern young woman, designed to help the sexy socialite work out what’s what in the world beyond work, relationships and faddy fashions. We sat down with Alice to get to the root of her quest for knowledge and the story behind the book.

4Q: So how did you come to write the book?

AG: I was generally unhappy and bored. I’d been living too much for the weekend and it was becoming draining. Everything seemed bleak and I was craving meaning in my life. I had been a naturally spiritual person all my life and I decided to reignite that interest. I had a few Reiki sessions and read about Buddhism and Reincarnation theory. These blew my mind and helped me to see
my life, in every area, in a very different, healthier and happier way. Then literally
one morning before work I decided to write a blog about alternative spirituality,
literally by the time I’d had breakfast I knew it needed to be a book. I’m not sure
people believed that I would see it through. But I was strangely (for me) committed and focused, and that has never changed. I had a publisher within four months.

4Q: You went to some considerable lengths to be able to report from the front lines of alternative spirituality as a lifestyle…

AG: I figured that to make it accessible for my readers it had to be more than just theory. So I tried everything myself and write about it honestly and with humour, including undergoing past life regression, undertaking a Sweatlodge (think 4 hour sauna but hotter), spiritual development classes, Buddhism school, all kinds of things. I played with bringing elements of each belief into my everyday life also and seeing how they fit.  I wrote it so that it would be like listening to your best mate tell you her spiritual adventures over coffee (or cocktails)!

4Q: What’s the difference between spirituality and religion?

AG: For me the difference is simple. Spirituality originates internally, it is an inner knowing, and arises into the consciousness naturally. Religion is more prescribed and dogmatic; it is taught and comes pre-packaged. Spirituality is, of course, inherent to religion, although for me, religious spirituality is somewhat trampled on by centuries of human interpretation. My personal spirituality is influenced by my life and its events, not that of long dead prophets. That said I am impressed by the formal teachings of faiths such as Buddhism and Kabbalah. Spirituality to me is freedom to believe and to interpret as I see fit.

4Q: Would you say you have always been a spiritual person?

AG: Yes, although as a child I had no words to describe it, or to fully understand it. As a girl I appreciated the magic in the bible, if not necessarily the laws and politics of it. I have always had an affinity with nature, which many alternative faiths such as Shamanism and Wicca also do. Mother Nature is at the core of those faiths, including all animals, plants and the elements. I think I would have appreciated that idea when I was five.

4Q: Was there any part of the beliefs you sampled that you had difficulty understanding?

AG: Kabbalah is very complex but extremely beautiful, once you get to grips with it. It’s a huge illustrious topic and really I only paddled in it, but I very much enjoyed getting my feet wet.

4Q: Were you raised into a certain belief? What’s your view on parents who bring their children up into their own religion or faith?

AG: I was brought up CofE, then introduced to its polar opposite, Wicca. It’s natural for parents to bring their kids up in their religion, just as they might influence them toward a political allegiance, social opinions or a love of rock music. I believe we are given the parents we are meant to have, and if we are lucky we will bear no grudges and be inspired by them forever more. If nothing else, bad parents provide much fodder for personal spiritual growth! Parents can do far worse things than bring up a child in a faith.

4Q: If it all ended tomorrow, are you fulfilled?

AG: Yes. The High Heeled Guide to Enlightenment is an amazing achievement and more than I ever expected to do by my age. However, I still have more to say and a second book in the offing. Plus I spent far too many years living for the weekend and now I’d like to explore a little more of the calmer side of life. So if it ended tomorrow, I’d be briefly sad, but I guess I’d suck it up and plant courgettes in the next lifetime!

The High Heeled Guide To Enlightenment by Alice Grist is available at all good bookshops, online through Amazon, or at

www.alicegrist.co.uk

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