Caring for the Soul Part I Looking Inward

Meaning of “Soul” n n n Tied to life in all its particulars –

Contemporary Symptoms of Loss of Soul n n n n Emptiness. Meaninglessness. Vague Depression.

Distinctiveness of Care of the Soul n n Psychotherapy as a part of culture

Care of the Soul n n n Care = Responding to expressions of the

Attempts to Escape to the Opposite n When one is faced with “conflicting” possibilities

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Caring for the Soul: Part I Looking Inward and Nurturing the Self; A Special Crafting of Life

Meaning of “Soul” n n n Tied to life in all its particulars – simple pleasures. n Good food, satisfying conversation, genuine friends, experiences that stay in the memory and touch the heart. Revealed in attachment, love, community, inner communing, and intimacy. Accepts human foibles, disappointments, periods of darkness and foolishness. n Sees dignity and peace in them. Psychological and spiritual dimensions. n Accepts paradoxical mysteries of life. Brings imagination to areas devoid of it.

Contemporary Symptoms of Loss of Soul n n n n Emptiness. Meaninglessness. Vague Depression. Disillusionment about marriage, family, and relationships. Loss of values. Yearning for personal fulfillment. Hunger for spirituality.

Distinctiveness of Care of the Soul n n Psychotherapy as a part of culture for treating symptoms of problems. Care of the soul is fundamentally different from psychotherapy. n n n Continuous process of attending to small details of everyday life. Gives ordinary life a new depth and value. Requires imagination.

Care of the Soul n n n Care = Responding to expressions of the soul that is not heroic or muscular. Original meaning of care = attention, devotion, husbandry, adorning the body, healing, being anxious for. Soul = quality or dimension of experiencing life and ourselves. n n Depth, value, relatedness, heart, personal substance. Observe how the soul manifests itself and how it operates. n What is problematic may be necessary or valuable.

Attempts to Escape to the Opposite n When one is faced with “conflicting” possibilities [e. g. independence and dependence] one is seen valuable and the other is seen negatively. n n Often the negative is an important part of the soul that must be seen in perspective rather than as something to be eradicated. Observance of the soul can be deceptively simple. n n Take back what has been disowned. “Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around a lake. ”