Don't Forget Your Soul

Dear Boo and Bubble,

One thing is for sure…this Coronavirus has really caused us all to overwhelmingly focus on the physical aspects of life. Nothing like a good dose of deprivation to make you realize how important those routine tennis games and YMCA balance classes actually are. For goodness sake, I wake up every morning hoping my senses of taste and smell are intact, and find reassurance when my stomach growls from hunger or my nose detects the whiff of last night’s shrimp shells seeping through the lid of the garbage can. 

And we now have a new term dictating our lives…one that I don’t recall every hearing before…physical distancing. Perhaps this practice has been the hardest of all to cope with. We are denied the actual presence of family and friends. If we go outside, we must allow for 6-foot perimeters from others. Any contact with another human being must occur through the restrictions of face masks and rubber gloves.

This overemphasis on our daily physical needs is fraught with danger, as seen in the hoarding of certain commodities in response to it. But there are more subtle concerns as well. In our efforts to protect ourselves physically, we run the risk of eroding through neglect other essential aspects of our being—the emotional and soulful. Even though subdued by the physical, these components are equivalent in every way except one—they take much longer to heal after being damaged.

That word…soul…these extraordinary times don’t leave much room for the exploration of its meaning. Trust me, though, it is times like these that demand such exploration, for normalcy gives us no opportunity to either observe or grow character.

Dictionaries define the soul as the principle of life, feeling, thought, and action in humans; regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body; the spiritual part of humans as distinct from the physical part. I would choose an even more basic descriptor—essence—which is the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something, especially something abstract that determines its character. Regardless of these nuanced differences, there is one thing for sure…we are the arbiters of our souls and to disregard that responsibility, no matter the demands of our attention elsewhere, is to abandon our legacy.

It is pretty much universally acknowledged that, unless a person is rendered incapable by some mental disorder such as narcissism, sociopathy or psychopathy, we all have the ability to determine and shape who we are. We can choose generosity over selfishness. We can demonstrate empathy rather than egoism. We can give rather than take. But these are conscious pursuits, not some passive outcomes that occur through osmosis.

The other day, I ran across a poem I wrote at some point…I didn’t even remember doing so…and it indicates that I’ve had thoughts about this matter before. It reiterates the point made here that a person’s soul can’t be left to chance

The Garden of My Soul

How will I tend the garden of my soul?

It is truly my choice.

Will there be seeds of substance,

Deep rooted, resilient, respectful of cycles of time and place.

Or will the floral array crest with a brilliant splash

Only to vanish with the first frost.

Will I take time to discern the weeds one by one

And deliberately remove them carefully to make sure that weeds are in fact what they are.

Or will I uproot them haphazardly with ignorance

Or even worse, kill all those desired to ensure the death of the unwanted.

And will I cultivate the soil

Giving back the nourishment I take.

Or will it not matter to me to use and use and use

Because it is mine, mine alone, and there is no need to consider the consequences.

And, when I am gone, will my garden flourish

So that those who never knew me may know something of my essence.

Or will my legacy coalesce around a rotting soaked loam

Not tilled nor turned to refresh it with unsullied nutrients.

Yes, how will I tend the garden of my soul?

It is truly my choice.