Ordinary Choices

Lovely One,

These are strange times, and they often feel dangerous and scary. The sense of alarm can be contagious.

But you know what else is contagious? Calm. Groundedness. Gratitude.

Our bodies sync up with other bodies around us, which can escalate the panic or spread the love. Which way will I direct my energy in ordinary, everyday decisions? Do I want to tip the balance toward fear, or invite spaciousness?

Said another way, Will I add to or subtract from the amount of soul in the world?

Building Soul

We know what soul-depletion feels like — there’s lots of it going around. It’s watching the clock in a mind-numbing job, or finding a strip mall where you used to walk in a forest. It’s blocking out an hour to play the piano just to spend it in a social media vortex instead. We feel soul draining away.

The good news is that we have the power to build it back up, too. We can actually increase the amount of soul in the world. 💫🌏 How could it not be so, if the reverse is true?

Just imagine if soul-building became a thing that more and more and more of us paid attention to. ✨ What if this were the contagion we were busy spreading? What if we made it an ordinary part of our lives (which in turn, makes life extraordinary; for more on this paradox, listen to my latest podcast episode 🤓).

So, how do we build soul? There are hundreds of opportunities each day. Here are 10 off the top of my head:

1. Smile at a stranger you pass on the sidewalk. 🙂

2. Locate the bird you hear singing that sweet tune. 😙

3. Admire the way a spider can fly through the air on an invisible thread! 😲

4. When you feel judgment rising toward someone, shift into curiosity: What’s it like to be them? 🤔

5. Pause to savor a well-crafted sentence. 🥰

6. Speak kindly and forgivingly to yourself when you do something stupid. ☺️

7. Light a candle to bring ritual into your day. 🕯

8. Hold the door open for someone. 🚪

9. Rub your neck, stroke your arms, or give your body other gentle forms of touch when it feels stressed. 👐🏽

10. Let your eyes drink in color. 😍

It was super easy to come up with ten things, and I didn’t even mention the obvious ones like singing, dancing, and doodling! 🤪

Your Turn: Spread This Virus

Let’s make soul-building go viral. Here are some homework suggestions:

• Come up with your own list of 10 or 20 or 100 small and ordinary ways you can build soul.

• Send me a photo of either: A) your list; or B) some activity on your list, and I’ll include it in the April 13th PICTURES post.

• Join us for the next Doodling Lunatics 🖍🌙 session this coming Saturday, April 9th at 10 am Pacific time. I’ll send a Zoom link the day before. Anyone can join, and I especially encourage you if the words “art” and “creativity” stress you out. 😉 More info can be found here.

• Sending snail mail adds more soul into the world, for sure! (For inspiration, I created this new grab-bag-of-greeting-cards, and there’s even a postage-stamps-included option.)

Thanks for being here. I value your precious soul.

Love,
Pam

P.S. Please forward this to someone who could use a bit of soulful encouragement. If you are that person, welcome! If you’d like, you can subscribe here.

P.P.S. The teacher in me wants to clearly state that our word for this module is Ordinariness. If you missed the podcast episode about it, it’s here.