Do you ever find yourself pondering quietly?

Do you have an interest in asking questions, or seeking differing opinions? Have you ever pondered on a particular subject, but couldn't quite find an answer? Perhaps you'd like to express your views in a certain aspect. If so, philosophy might help you to expand your questions and to find various answers to your questions, but you may wonder what is or is not philosophy--like whether science, arts, belief, medicine, law and religion are considered philosophy or not; so here is an attempt is clarify some considerations regarding some of those open-ended views...

[edit] Steps

Understand that philosophy is your way to express your views and not necessarily to try to contradict other people's views, so it is not primarily to argue something like that God exists with other people or friends.
Try asking yourself a question or read and question the quotations of famous philosophers (e.g. Plato, Aristotle, Socrates) and just go from there to answer the question yourself.
Read books about philosophy (e.g. Sophie's world by Jostein Gaardner) to help you with your journey on the long road that is Philosophy.
Search the web for a site that offers philosophical debates and/or discussions. You do not need any kind of college degree at all to practice philosophy, but there are many degree fields that lead to a PhD, Doctor of Philosophy.
Understand philosophy by thinking about the definitions:
"1 a (1): all learning excluding technical principles and practical arts
2 a: pursuit of wisdom
2 b: a search for a general understanding of values and reality by chiefly speculative rather than observational means."[[1]]

[edit] Tips

It's a lot easier if you have a couple of friends that are interested in philosophy, so you can have some feedback with your philosophical views and you can give them feed back too!
Books, the internet, and feedback from other people will get you started alot faster than journeying alone.
You can form a philosophy about science or virtually anything that is in the area of thought called personal opinion.
- To apply "philosophy" on a particular religion, medicine or law may make a doctor "eccentric" combining ideas that produce alternative medicine (called non-therapeutic) or wandering into personal faith/religion (new age religion).

[edit] Warnings

Remember that different people have different philosophical views, so don't expect everyone to share yours!
- "Misology is "hatred, distrust, or dislike of argument, reasoning, or enlightenment".[[2]]
Philosophy may be many kinds of answers about opinion, but traditional religion, codified law and conventional medicine are not mainly personal opinion.
- Personal religion may be a philosophy of a self-made god even yourself (narcissism), or your god-spot may be filled by being atheist , or by suspending belief called agnosticism and that is very personal religious outlook.
- As an example of a traditional faith: Jesus said, "If you are ashamed of Me, then I will be ashamed of you to my Father." Such belief is taken by faith not so much by philosophy.
- If you consider a particular set of beliefs like Christianity in which Jesus said take up your cross daily and follow me" -- then you see why being Christian is a faith, not a philosophy.