Soul

When I was a freshman in college and sitting in Biology 101, the instructor caught my wandering attention with a lecture about DNA. My heart began to pound with a notion that jumped into my head and popped out of my mouth before I considered how those words might sound. "Hey! Is that where our soul is? In the DNA?"

Dr. Lord stopped talking and looked up at the ceiling, studying water stains. "Soul," she scratched her chin, "to me, is a type of music."

I am still curious about the soul and where it might be located. My soul in particular. Souls are old, ancient in my imagination. When souls were invented there were no metal boxes on wheels that zoomed over paved highways at seventy-five miles per hour. Friends had to talk face to face; there was no cyber-space when souls came into being. Our souls are eternal. I'm curious about what my soul has to say to me, where my soul has been and what it has seen.

I have just happened upon two books that have made the time between birth and death seem so much more interesting. Michael A. Singer wrote The Untethered Soul: the journey beyond yourself. Attending to what I learned from this book has allowed me a new level of personal freedom. I came into this world with a limited number of days to do what I am able to do with the body I've been given to live in. My soul has been part of the journey. Before my lungs sucked in air, my soul was there. My soul is ever present and never changing. It observes and waits respectfully to be consulted, befriended.

The other book that has touched my soul is written by Caroline Myss, Entering the Castle: An Inner Path to God and Your Soul. Myss takes her reader by the hand and walks the reader through the rooms of the soul. This soul work adds a new dimension to life.

The best I can do is to encourage my friends to read both of these books. Your soul will thank you for it.

Nonviolent Communication

I had the great pleasure and privilege of attending a nine day international training event with Marshall Rosenberg. He is the founder of the Nonviolent Communication movement. Check out the web-site www.cnvc.org Nonviolent Communication is a compassionate way of expressing ourselves and listening to the voices of others. NVC teaches us how to be present and authentic in the moment, how to respond rather than to react when we receive a difficult message, how to recognize our own and others' feelings and needs, how to make requests rather than demands, how to be truly grateful and how to honor the energy of anger without stealing peace from our relationships and the environment. During the training event, I made new friends from around the United States and around the world: France, Germany, the Netherlands, Wales, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland. There were forty-eight participants in the program. We lived together at the Madonna Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where we enjoyed inspiring views of the Sandia Mountains and the Rio Grande River. We were well fed while we bonded, shared our gifts and enjoyed being truly alive together. I had opportunities to tell some of my favorite stories and the group was delighted to receive them. This, as always, delighted me in return! We engaged in role-play, taking turns being giraffes and jackals. We practiced, practiced, practiced the art of receiving difficult-to-receive messages with an open heart. We poured vessels of empathy on each other and learned how to give empathy to ourselves. We danced. We sang. We allowed each other to cry; tears were part of our communication. We laughed the kind of hearty laughter that knocks the dust off the walls. We made room for whatever came to life within us. The world is a better place for our efforts and our learning. I like to imagine all of us, back in our towns and our homes, listening with compassion to the people around us. This is the way to start a new year.

I will be offering spirituality retreats this year, offering stories and inviting others to share their stories. As a part of everything I do there will be compassionate communication. We have the power to make our worlds more peaceful.