“Soul is not a thing, but a quality or a dimension of experiencing life and ourselves. It has to do with depth, value, relatedness, heart, and personal substance. I do not use the word here as an object of religious belief or as something to do with immortality. When we say that someone or something has soul, we know what we mean, but it is difficult to specify exactly what that meaning is.”  – excerpted from Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore.

During this Christmas week I have been reading Care of the Soul. Thomas Moore has degrees in theology, musicology and philosophy. He was a psychotherapist and also spent twelve years as a Catholic monk. He has written many books on the topic of living a more enriched life and currently lectures on these topics around the world.

In short, the man has soul.

Moore writes, “…be good at what you’re good at. Many of us spend time and energy trying to be something that we are not. But this is a move against soul, because individuality rises out of the soul as water rises out of the depths of the earth.”

I haven’t quite finished this book, though it’s apparent (based on the exclamation marks and underlined passages) that I’ve read it before. But I often need to read books over and over; absorbing, reflecting and relearning. Sometimes what was interesting and necessary to know at one time is not what I’m looking for during the next reading.

He suggests we bring poetry and myth back to how we view our bodies; a much different view than the mechanistic view so often used in Western medicine. Rather than aiming for a set heart rate or a particular muscle to focus our training upon, we might instead look back 500 years and read Ficino’s quote that, “You should walk as often as possible among plants that have a wonderful aroma, spending a considerable amount of time every day among such things.”

I like my targeted weight training and stretches, but I know too, that walking on a forest trail or along our beach is a wholly different type of exercise; that by its deep connection to the earth it is a much more soulful activity.

I would like to say that soul is my goal for 2013. But this, of course, is exactly what Moore is saying NOT to do.

Caring for my soul is not a goal-oriented exercise, but rather, a way of living deeply in our world however it presents itself. It is not something I can work at so much as be with.

It’s about being mindful of what I’m doing right now, so that I feel the keys as I tap these words, feel the warm air as it blows up through the registers, as well as notice the mercurial glow of the ocean outside our deck doors. It is about inhabiting my body, feeling my toes pressed into the wood floor, my back firm against the ladder back chair and knowing that I’m fully present as I write this, so that you too, as you read these words, might be reminded to feel yourself in your body.

Together we are solid real presences remembering to live soulful & mindful lives.

At the introduction of the book, Moore describes the type of symptoms that can reflect a loss of soul. The list reads like the complaints you find for those ads for the next best anti-depressant;

• emptiness
• meaninglessness
• vagues depression
• disillusionment about marriage, family, and relationship
• a loss of values
• yearning for personal fulfillment
• a hunger for spirituality

Bringing awareness and curious consideration to all that we do, risking connection by being open and vulnerable, daring to voice our thoughts, paying attention to ourselves, our surroundings and others is a recipe for a more soul-filled life.

It can be as simple as taking extra care in setting a beautiful table whether dining alone or with company.

Or being aware enough to observe the mind’s dialogue and (with curious and compassionate consideration) asking if the thoughts are really true, necessary or kind or simply stuck on a track of thoughts and opinions that have long ago reached their best-before date and need to be replaced with more accurate responses?

Essentially, Moore builds a strong argument to pay attention to everything.  The rest will fall into place.

Life IS in the details. 

• Mindful Giveaway: BetterListen: A Magical Life with Thomas Moore. (elephantjournal.com)
• Depression – Traveling Light Blog by Travel Writer Colleen Friesen