Perfecting Life

This discussion about ego and soul is at least one step away from where we want to be.
They want to be unified, integral.
Just as we’re meant to be.
This, it seems, is the journey of this life.
To bind them together so purely that they forget how to be apart.

The soul is a pure source of truth.
As pieces of this truth reveal themselves to us, we call it wisdom.
It’s the wisdom of the ages, of the stars.
Infinitely beyond what our limited sensors and neurons can process.
Our physical bodies are vessels that we use to access this physical Earth.
While we’re here.

But the soul knows so much more.
It was here before.
It will be here after.
It passes through this world in our bodies.
Our bodies develop our ego to stay alive and gather what we need.
But the ego gets greedy quickly, not knowing what’s enough.
The ego doesn’t always know how to process fear.
And when in doubt, it uses fear to avoid change and gather too much.
Worse still, the ego unchecked will reject other souls as less than worthy of our love.

The ego also protects us from the truth the soul knows.
For knowing this presents great risk to our physical presence.
Our ego seeks security, approval and control.
It prefers the status quo, always.
But through trust and friendship, we can begin to hear our soul.
And perhaps one day even understand what it’s saying to us.
The soul has access to the stars.
A cellular wisdom that strikes awe into all who feel it.
It’s so powerful that it eludes our sensory perception.
Leaving only our purest emotions to reveal this truth.
We feel this in our body.
The body is wiser than we know.
And more connected to universal truth than our minds.
But these emotions are terrifying if we’re not ready to receive them.
Or don’t think we have permission from ourselves and others to have them.

Our bodies are conduits to life around us, physical and energetic.
Our souls are conduits to the stars.
It’s up to us to connect them here and now.
Our feelings are the bridge.
They fuse ego and soul.
They reveal the soul’s connection to the stars.

The ego perceives emotional signals as physical sensations.
But it doesn’t always know what to do with them.
These signals are how we access our greatest truth.
We know this to be true.
And we continue to validate it through the ego.
We make decisions emotionally.
We make friendships emotionally.
We evaluate our lives based on where we fall on an emotional spectrum.
Marketing minds of the world have grouped these emotions into “good” and “bad.”
So we know which products will make us happy and which ones will make the bad feelings go away.
But a whole self cannot be limited to such emotional designations.

None of this upsets the soul.
For it remains concerned only with learning and growing.
Let surprise be the root of joy and creativity, not upset.
You might ask whether the soul even cares about this body dying, since it will live on to mingle with the stars.
I say yes.
It cares because it has an interest in learning everything it can from this world and the souls who are peeking out behind billions of wandering egos.
It cares because it cannot pretend the ego and body are not also part of us, the loss of which does leave its mark on the soul’s eternal memory.
The ego’s concerns are to be held in balance with the soul until the end of this life.
They don’t matter much beyond that.

Everyone and everything is perfect in this moment.
There is no room for regret.
But even regret is perfect.
It’s how we learn to focus on what’s most important.
Ruminating on the past; striving for the future.
These things take us away from this moment right now.
They keep us separate rather than whole.
They make us forget how perfect and precious we each are.
So eventually, one by one, we learn to grow beyond these patterns and embrace our whole selves, just as we are, right now.
If we’re lucky, we’ve found a few other souls in this world that accept our whole selves, too.
But we must first accept ourselves.

When truth eludes philosophers and scientists, we turn to poets to decipher.
For the stories of the stars cannot be confined to the tiny boxes and categories of the mind.
We revere the artist for their ability and willingness to peer into their soul.
And therefore into truth.
Afraid, perhaps—
But undeterred.
We celebrate these windows they provide.
So that we can avoid our own introspection.
Or at least join in theirs.

Perfecting life requires a certain duality.
It’s not hard if you try.
To be content to learn from this moment, no matter how hard it seems.
To realize that you are perfect and full.
Because it’s this life, the only one this body will know.
There is nothing else.
There cannot be.
That much is clear.
Yet it’s good to realize that one can be perfect and also be perfecting, always learning, always growing.
Perfect is not a destination.
It’s a state of being.
Thus perfecting life is the way to hold this duality in the mind and heart.
Always perfect and always growing.

It happens that the word “perfecting” has a dualistic definition in printing.
It means to print on both sides of the paper at once.
This is a happy accident of language, since life also requires this simultaneous application.
To honor the soul and ego at once, in harmony.
Always imprinting what we learn equally.
Always knowing that truth and well-being is the mean of two perspectives.
Our limited perception requires us to collaborate.
This is how we get closer to articulating our shared truth.
A piece of which is already within each of us.

We’ve settled on the word “purpose.”
Purpose is focused intention and action built on moral foundations that support freedom and equity for the most people.
It’s how we make sense of the tremendous opportunity before us.
To set our journey against the brightest star.
Knowing we may never reach it.
But knowing that walking in that direction was enough.
Living our truth is all we’re meant to do here.
It’s time to stop hiding behind institutions that have forgotten they are human.
It’s time to stop hiding behind our possessions and titles and accolades.
We don’t need to deny our ego these wants.
But we need to balance them with the truth in our hearts.
In this balance we can know our purpose in this life.
And through knowing our purpose, we can connect with other souls, even through our limited language.
For that language will be emotionally charged.
As energetic forces reveal the conduits to truth and purpose that remain shuttered for so many.
What part of truth is inevitably lost in translation as we articulate purpose paves the way for curiosity.
Curiosity is the antidote to judgment.
It’s time to connect on purpose.

For we are the stuff of stars.
Life is magical if you allow it to be.
No matter the torment we perceive from ourselves or others.
We are capable of living in this perfection and growing with it.
If we can learn to learn, love, laugh and lead in each moment.
We can see past disappointment and envy.
If we can always remember how our soul grew in each moment.
Then we can learn to love ourselves fully.
And be ready to love the world.
Love is often subtle.
It does not announce itself in lofty bellows.
It does not request this attention.
But love is all around us.
Love transforms truth into gifts.
This is perfecting life.