In the last few days, I’m seeing some people who feel separated from their soul. They have lost motivation for life and find it hard to feel any joy or purpose.
It may appear to them as if their soul has had enough of life. It’s tired and it needs to sleep. It has no desire to be here anymore. These feelings seem very true and real.
It’s not easy to witness this in another person, especially if it’s someone close to you. It’s also very hard if you are the person experiencing it. I’m writing about it because it’s important to talk about it without being afraid or making it wrong.
When a person becomes very focused on the pain and suffering in the world, or what’s wrong with the world, or what’s wrong with them, it becomes overwhelming to the soul. It can hardly breathe under the weight of human misery.
The person begins to feel as if their life is slipping away and losing meaning because they are losing touch with their soul. They can’t feel its presence so clearly anymore.
This sense of loss makes the world feel more and more wrong. Wherever they look, they see examples that confirm that the world is full of suffering. It weighs them down even more and the cycle deepens.
At a certain point, they can’t feel any aliveness anymore. Their life feels like a shadow of what it was supposed to be. What makes it worse is that they may be able to see very clearly that their life is good from the outside. They have everything they need and a lot of what they want.
It looks like they should be very satisfied which makes it even more painful. When there are so many people in the world who are really suffering, how come I have so much and can’t find any enjoyment? How can my life feel so empty? And the cycle deepens even further.
I am exploring a simple solution with people in this situation. It might be helpful for you or someone you know. It’s based on the principle that what you pay attention to (or give energy to) expands.
From many years of experience, I know that the mind cannot resolve this situation or help a person find their soul. In fact, trying to use your mind to solve this is a form of torture that makes it worse and worse. It’s the mind that is causing the problem in the first place and it has no capacity for fixing itself.
Ironically, it is the very part that feels so lost and out of touch that gives us the clue to a way forward. The soul.
The soul gains nothing from excessive use of the mind. It responds to a completely different type of stimulus. It’s like a child who doesn’t need philosophy from her parents. She needs some genuine attention. She needs them to spend a little time with her without any distractions. She needs their presence, not their clever words or their exciting ideas.
The person who feels like this may spend 30 minutes or more every day washing. They may spend two or three hours eating. They may spend a few hours a week socialising and 35 or 40 hours a week working to make money and make a contribution.
How much time do they give to their soul? Probably, the answer right at this moment is none.
They may have spent a lot of time and attention on it in the past, or they may never have thought about it, but in the last few days, weeks or months, I’m willing to bet their soul has had little or no attention at all.
That is the reason they feel like this.
If they didn’t wash for three days or a month, they would feel dirty and self-conscious all the time. If they forgot to eat, they would become weak and then sick. Is it any wonder that when we forget our soul or overwhelm it with thoughts about what’s wrong with the world, we can’t feel it anymore? Of course, we feel disconnected from life and from ourselves. It feels like life is slipping away in a stream of lost dreams and hopeless realities.
The solution I’m suggesting will not necessarily be welcomed and doesn’t appear to make sense to a person who feels lost. It may take some persuasion to get them to give it a go.
It is to spend a little time every day paying attention to your soul. It’s as simple as that. You don’t need to know how to do it or what to do. There is no recipe or formula. Just some advice.
It’s better to be rather quiet. Present rather than thinking. Curious rather than certain.
You may not feel anything. You may find yourself thinking without meaning to. You may get a headache. It may feel stupid and pointless.
But it isn’t.
At worst, it’s about as boring as brushing your teeth or exercising when you don’t feel like it.
However, it’s considerably more rewarding.
When you make a habit of paying attention to your soul, even for 10 or 20 minutes a day, you will notice your life coming back to you. You will start to feel more connected with others and yourself. You’ll feel a little more meaning in your activities. The world will appear to be a more benign place and you will start to want more out of your life.
You may not connect these changes with your soul. You may even forget to pay it attention after a while. But these are sure signs of a soul that wants to be here.
