MSI Press Blog

  The Overlap Between Feeling and Meaning Emotional intelligence (EQ) and spirituality may seem like separate domains—one psychological, the other transcendent—but they share a common goal: understanding the self and connecting meaningfully with others. Both cultivate awareness, empathy, and peace. Where EQ teaches us to manage emotions wisely, spirituality teaches us to see those emotions as part of a larger human experience. Shared Foundations Self-awareness: Emotional intelligence begins with recognizing what we feel and why. Spirituality deepens that awareness by asking what those feelings reveal about our values and purpose. Empathy and compassion: EQ helps us sense others’ emotions; spirituality invites us to respond with compassion rather than judgment. Mindfulness and presence: Both encourage living in the moment—EQ through emotional regulation, spirituality through practices like meditation or prayer. Transcending ego: Emotional maturity and spiritual growth both requi...

Frederic Craigie Jr., Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, consultant, educator, speaker, and writer. His passions and areas of expertise include spirituality in health and health care, healing relationships, clinician well-being, and resiliency and positive mental health. Fred attended Dartmouth College during the tumultuous Vietnam War era and completed his doctorate at the University of Utah.  He served internships in the VA system in clinical psychology and in substance abuse rehabilitation.  Following his training, he began what was to become a 37-year full-time faculty role at the Maine -Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency in Augusta, Maine, where he coordinated behavioral health teaching for residents and students and provided behavioral health care to a largely underserved primary care population. He serves as Visiting Associate Professor at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine (AWCIM) at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, and held an appointment a...

  San Juan Books is the hybrid division of MSI Press LLC. It allows first-time writers to become published in a traditional way through the reduction of risk by sharing publication costs. All other publishing features are traditional in nature, and most SJB authors go on to be offered traditional contracts for their subsequent books. SJB publications are available as paperback, hard cover, and e-book versions. SJB authors' books very much hold their own against their contemporaries in the traditional publishing division. Indeed, a number of them have outsold their traditional compatriots. Today, San Juan Books presents author Dr. Frederic Craigie . BIO: Frederic Craigie Jr., Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, consultant, educator, speaker, and writer. His passions and areas of expertise include spirituality in health and health care, healing relationships, clinician well-being, and resiliency and positive mental health. Fred attended Dartmouth College during the tumultuous Vietnam ...

  There’s a quiet, growing group of people who love God, love contemplation, love meaning—and yet feel no pull toward organized church. Some have stepped away after years of faithful attendance. Others never felt at home in institutional religion to begin with. Still others are simply exhausted by the politics, the personalities, or the pressure that sometimes creeps into communal faith spaces. And yet their spirituality is alive. Tender. Serious. Real. So how do people who want no church stay focused on their own spiritual growth? 1. They reclaim the inner room When the external structure falls away, the interior one becomes more vivid. Many no‑church people build a rhythm of solitude that feels like a sanctuary: Morning silence before the house wakes A candle lit at dusk A few lines of scripture, poetry, or wisdom literature A breath prayer while washing dishes This isn’t “quiet time” in the performative sense. It’s a way of saying: I still show up for my soul. 2. They curate th...

  For those who no longer live inside the structure of organized religion, spirituality doesn’t disappear — it relocates. It settles into the places where life is actually lived. Without formal liturgy, everyday life becomes the sanctuary. The absence of church walls doesn’t create a void; it creates a wider field of attention. When Ordinary Life Becomes Sacred People who describe themselves as spiritually homeless often discover that awareness comes most naturally in the small, physical acts that shape a day. Cooking, walking, caring for others, tending a garden — these become acts of prayer. Not because they are dramatic or ceremonial, but because they anchor the body and quiet the mind. There is no need to “perform” spirituality. There is only the invitation to notice. The warmth of a pan on the stove The rhythm of footsteps on a familiar path The way a plant leans toward light The tenderness in caring for someone who needs you These moments don’t require belief systems. They r...