Getting Our Souls Back

"The great malady of the twentieth century, implicated in all of our troubles and affecting us individually and socially , is "loss of soul". When soul is neglected, it doesn't just go away; it appears symptomatically in obsessions, addictions, violence, and loss of meaning. Our tendency is to isolate these symptoms, or try to eradicate them one by one; but the root problem is that we have lost our wisdom about the soul, even our interest in it." -- Thomas Moore, Care of the Soul

Depending on where you're coming from, the thought of a blog dedicated to the discussion of such heady topics as spirituality, philosophy, mythology, and the arts might sound either wonderfully appealing or mind-numbingly boring.

And what's this about the soul?

Let me clarify from the get-go that this is NOT a site for nerds and scholars - or should I say, not JUST a site for nerds and scholars. Nor is it just for religious people, philosophers, mythologists, or artists; for saints or gurus, or those who style themselves so. It's for everybody who has a soul. In other words, it's for everybody.

So what about the soul?

Let me start by saying that I agree with psychotherapist/author Thomas Moore when he says our single greatest problem as human beings is that we've lost, or at least neglected, our souls. In other words, lost touch with that part of ourselves that Phil McGraw calls our "core of consciousness - that place where you are absolutely defined, the place within you where your greatest strengths, instincts, values, talents, and wisdom are centered." The real you, if you will, underneath the roles and masks you put on just to stay alive. If you're like most people in the West, "you" usually gets put at or near the bottom of your to-do list.

The evidence of our collective loss of soul is everywhere - where do we begin? In tragedies ranging from the deeply personal (rising rates of suicide, divorce, addiction, just to name a few) to the inescapably global (terrorism, environmental degredation, corporate imperialism, just to name a few), it's all around us.

But then what is the solution?

Well, I don't believe the answer will ever come from dwelling on what's wrong with the world and how screwed up we are. Been there, done that - it's not a particularly happy (or productive) place to be. Neither am I convinced that the answer lies in some knee-jerk retreat to religion. 10 years as a teacher of religion and pastor taught me the advantages but also the limitations of religion as a cure for the soul.

Curing the soul isn't what I'm after anyway, anymore than it is Moore's concern. Like him, it's caring for the soul that I'm interested in. Figuring out how, in the absolute craziness of life, to find an emotional centre - to "be still" - so I can zero in on and be effective with the few things that really matter, starting with me. That's not selfishishness, it's just sensible. It is, arguably, the most selfless and giving thing a person can do.

But then why go into stuff like philosophy, mythology, and the arts when we're talking about taking care of our souls?

Because unlike any our venue in our society, reflective philsophical thought and great stories (literature, music, and film) allow our souls to surface without embarassment or judgment, and be treated with the respect they deserve. It's in these things that our souls are acknowledged, discussed, understood, celebrated, and cared for. Heretical as it may sound to some, I believe there's as much food for the soul in a good movie or song as there is in any sermon or psychotherapy rap session. (The Matrix, Star Wars, Groundhog Day, and Antwone Fisher, just to name a few of my favourites.)

The themes and ideas that keep cycling through our popular culture - especially in modern film, music, and literature - come from a deep psychological and mythic well, a well that goes down thousands of years past our favourite fairy tales and folk stories, through the thoughts of ancient philosophers and the sacred writings of our oldest religions, and straight into the human psyche.

The reason we're still interested in Socrates and Shakespeare, despite the mental gymnastics sometimes required to decipher their language or logic, is that they still ring so wonderfully true. Titanic may not have been an extraordinary film, but it's still the highest grossing movie of all time for the same reason that Romeo and Juliet is still read in high schools around the world. Because basic human needs and desires have remained virtually unchanged in all the time we've been on this planet. And the thoughts and stories that speak to these needs and desires are often the very best tools to help us find out who we really are and who we should be as people living together in the world.

So, okay, we may lapse into nerddom once in a while on SpiritCentreStage. (I welcome that, by the way!) But my main purpose is to bring spirituality, philosophy, and the arts as close to the ground as possible, so they can inform our minds, speak to our hearts, reawaken our dreams, and perhaps help us chart a new course for the future. So they can help us get our souls back.

Let the games begin!

Paul