Soul as a River

Elizabeth Lesser writes in her book, Broken Open, “…often we resist the pull of the river. Perhaps if we quieted down and asked the soul for direction, we would be moved to make a change. Maybe that wild river of energy with its longing for joy and freedom, would capsize our more prudent plans, our ambitions, our very survival. I have shut down to my soul enough times to know what it feels like when the river is dammed. I know the feeling of deadness; I know how the river diverts itself and breaks through in other ways – as desire to blame, as physical illness, as restlessness, or weariness, or self-destruction. The soul always speaks, and sometimes it speaks the loudest when we block its flow, when we live only half of a life, when we stay on the surface. If we don’t go looking for what lies beneath the surface of our lives, the soul comes looking for us.”

At first, we don't recognize the uncomfortable rub from the Soul as something helpful. We try to cover it up, deny it, implement a righteous rejection of our deepest experience, calling it selfish. We think its time to "get away." But the Soul will continue to flow, sometimes so rapidly and forcefully that we feel like we are being carried over the waterfall. Other times, the Soul is just a trickle of water passing over boulders in the stream. Staying with our experiences without judgment and finding compassion instead, honors the Soul. Let the river flow. Be curious about its movements and the path it is taking. Be present, fully present to the journey.