My Own Utopian Experiment #30: Sharing my journey to live more soulful life
It breaks my heart when someone says they do not know what they enjoy, who they are and even how to spend time alone joyfully. I have been there. It is painful to carry oneself all day everyday not knowing the person and what the soul needs and wants. When lots of things are not aligned with the inner self, it often manifests in very symptomatic ways like loneliness, depression, lethargy, sleepless nights, and very painful confusions. When you feel these symptoms, please get some help but you also need to do your own share of soul-searching. You know yourself the most and it is indeed your homework. The soul is calling you in these symptomatic ways. It means you have neglected it for quite some time and you lost touch with it. The soul is so wise and powerful that it has means to call you back. Even though it sometimes feels awful, it is in your best interest bringing you back where you should be. We all should take it wholeheartedly.
The path to find oneself does not have an ending point since we evolve and grow with times. It is more of mysterious discoveries that unfold surprises, joys, pure pleasures, contentment, meanings, purpose and the best part is the quality of your everyday life. At the same time, it requires efforts and time to cultivate. It sometimes asks patience, wisdom, changes in your energy and even cause agonies. It is never a liner process at least at the beginning. I once read it in a book that adventure is a path you know the destination and Journey is a path that you do not know the clear destination. Then, it is a journey. If you are not aligned with your soul and already experience some symptoms, it won’t be a walk in a park but worthwhile one.
I am not writing this as someone who master it but as someone who have been on the journey. I wish someone told me when I was younger and lost that the symptoms are the calls from your very soul. Even though it is painful, it is urgent messages so you pay attention with care and patience. When you mislead the signs, all you are sometimes focusing on it to get rid of it. You are analyzing way more than accepting it to study, contemplate and reflect. The wrong approach makes things worse for me. It even put me in a deeper and darker hole. It is simply not the things that soul needs. When you understand the purpose of the signs, you accept it won’t just magically go away until you give the proper attention and care for it. The message is sometimes subtle but you get better to notice it with practice. In return, your body and soul (they are connected) will treat you gently since you are already paying attention and care for it. It is a lot easier said than done but we all should treat the signs as mysteries and chances to be more soul-minded. This shift in attitude makes the journey much more bearable and even joyful. We should welcome it with open arms for the greatest mission to find yourself. It requires to contemplate, evaluate, reflect and try different things. Again, it is a journey so there’s no end point. We all should do this our everyday life. In the process, you find joys, yourself and learn how to take care of your soul. It is priceless! Once you taste even little bit, you won’t go back to where you were. It also has accumulative effects with time. You enjoy things much more in deeper levels. That’s what happened to me. When you experience symptoms, just remind yourself that it is calling you back to a much better place. There’s nothing more important than knowing yourself and cultivating soulful life as “real” you in the way that brings joys in everyday life. That’s what we are here for. The best human experiences!
It is why I love slow and simple living. It is almost impossible to care for souls and live as myself with joys when I am always on the run. There are so many random distractions in a day, news on TV or radio, articles to read, emails, pings on phone, etc. Commercials are the big ones. It is sometimes disguised as life styles, trends or something useful but it is advertisements to sell things at the end. We do not need commercials to be updated on cool and recent things. I buy things too but I make sure I really enjoy in a long term. There are many chosen distractions like constantly doing, moving, planning, shopping, avoiding being alone, foods, etc. There are so many activities that kids “should” do as well. When you really look at the list, they are mostly structured activities. They already have enough of that. They should dig dirt, do free plays, go to playgrounds, playing games with friends, reading, drawing and more creative plays. I pay conscious efforts to have less “should” and have more of what my hearts call and things aligned with my belief and philosophy. We make our own culture aligned with our souls! No matter what type of personality you have, we need some time to enjoy ourselves and time to contemplate and reflect. It is necessary to slow down so you can have a moment to connect with your inner self because it takes time, efforts and constant attentions. That’s what soul really needs. Once you get there, it will automatically happen throughout the day on daily basis. We will be good at feeding your soul with what it craves and needs. It takes you to a level that you never thought of. There will be many moments with contentment, pure joys and pleasures, not mere entertainments. You are curator of your life! Let’s do a beautiful job of cultivating soulful life together.
I will share a few of the things that feed my own soul next week. Stay tuned! Sending my love as always.