Soul Food, Soul Man, Soul Sister, Soul Brother, Soulful Music. These are all familiar terms we've heard at one point in our life. But have we ever really stopped to ask the question...WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? I haven't given much thought to any of the terms until I began my journey to finding peace within and the true soulfulness of MY SOUL and who I really am within. Some may say I"m a little deep when it comes to finding peace within and doing the work that's needed but I say, "I'm on a mission to wholeness and a permanent place of peace." Now - back to the SOUL.. Soul Food - Food that makes you feel good inside. The food that most healthy people such as myself stay away from. Mac and Cheese, Fried Chicken, Rice and Gravy, Collard Greens, Candied Yams, Homemade Biscuits, Homemade Pound Cake with Ice Cream.... yes... making you hungry... It puts smiles on your face because they are often cooked by Big Mama in a heartfelt kitchen filled with love and authenticity. Soul Man or Soul Brother - That man who speaks his mind, who is true to his culture and isn't afraid to let the world know. He is often the one walking around reminding us of where we came from and who we are as a people. His words are often perceived as harsh and stereotyped but are spoken with much passion, which only comes from a place of love and pride for his heritage. Soul Sister - That sista-girl who isn't ashamed of her skin color, her nappy hair, her hips, her lips, or her curves. She isn't afraid to go natural with curly hair and a natural look. She is true to her roots and isn't afraid to let it be known who she is and where she came from. Some would say, she's a very strong confident woman who knows what she wants and who she wants in her life. She can be perceived as being stuck up or arrogant in her demeanor. But her passion comes from a place of love for her heritage and all it represents. Soul Music - That music that takes you back to the days of true love and freedom. That place that reminds you of when things were good. That music that speaks to the very depth of what being human really means. Soul Music makes you wanna make love to the one you love and stay in there forever. You know that Erika Bado, Jill Scott, Lenny Kravitz, Maxwell kinda music. (smiling) I'll stop there. The music that speaks to the very core of who we are as a people. This music can sometimes be perceived as love songs or songs that speak of pain and war. But the very passion of the lyrics come from a place of love for the heritage it represents. What is the common theme here? Passion and Love. This is what the SOUL conveys when we speak. It speaks that thing that you're passionate about, that thing that you love. Which is what drives you to make the decisions you make in life. The soul is the image of what someone or something is made of and from. There is a genuineness and depth that comes out of the heart of those who have a clear understanding of their SOUL.
When the SOUL is neglected it doesn't just go away it appears symptomatically in obsessions, addictions, violence, and loss of meaning. When Reality and the Soul meets, the temptation is to isolate the symptoms or try to dismiss them one by one. But this only causes the soul to suffer even more. What reality needs to do is deal with the root problem and deal with the reason wisdom is no longer the guiding force for SOUL. For years, I dealt self-pity and low self-esteem along with lack of self-worth and self-value. The aftermath was the Bulimia, Promiscuity, Adultery, and Pornography, which are addictions and obsessions that can tear a person down if not dealt with. I didn't realize these were illnesses and issues related to the spirit of heaviness. It took me dealing with my REALITY and telling the MYSELF THE TRUTH about who I was and what I had become. When my reality met my soul, my soul won because reality spoke the truth about what was really going on in my life. I wanted to be free, whole, and true...I did my work. Self-Knowledge and Self-Acceptance is the foundation of the soul.You can't deal with the SOUL without dealing with our relationship with God. We have to understand that we cannot solve our "emotional" problems without the help of God and honoring Him in the process of our spiritual walk. Getting to the matters of the SOUL is a spiritual matter that requires you to meet REALITY in the middle, tell the truth, be genuine and authentic, and let God handle the end. Remember, to Smile, Show-Up & Succeed Everyday Find Peace Within