Tell me Now!

From "The Brain&The Soul" section of "Soul Pancake":

Tell me Now! List five questions that you hate not having the answers to.

1. When will I find true love?
2. Am I choosing the right career?
3. Will I be financially stable in the future?

Soul Songs #2

Sorry that it has been so long since my last update! The next few activities in the book are all ones that are going to require a good deal of thought, and I've been so busy that I haven't been able to get around to them
:(  But I will soon! But for now, here's my next soul song: "Fables" by the Dodos

This song just makes me picture strolling down a deserted country lane,

What drains your soul? What recharges it?

From "The Brain & The Soul" section of "SoulPancake":

What drains your soul? What recharges it? What is the soul? Can you kill your soul? Does the soul have a gender?

I think that the best way to tackle this would be to start by answer the question "What is the soul?" I think we need to have a definition of what a soul actually is, before we can answer any of the other questions.

So what is the soul? I believe it's the spiritual part of us, and maybe the moral compass as well. It's the part of you that makes you feel fully alive and connected to the world (for example, when you step outside on a sunny spring day and smell the fresh air and feel the sun on your face, and just feel so peaceful and so alive and so connected to nature...that's the soul's doing). I think that the soul is

How do thoughts affect reality?

From "The Brain & The Soul" section of "SoulPancake":

How do thoughts affect reality? How does prayer affect reality? When has your mind been your worst enemy? How do you keep cynicism in check?

Well first of all, this would depend on whether we are talking about actual reality, or our own views of reality. I think that it is possible that our personal views of reality can sometimes be a little skewed from what is actually reality. And so if we are talking about our views of reality, it's obvious that those are affected by our thoughts.

People can completely change their view of the world and how they see it just by thinking. You can decide to change your attitude, and your personal reality will change. You can become a much happier or much more depressed person just by the way you view yourself and the world around you.

Soul Songs (new feature!)

So, I've decided to add a new aspect to my blog. In addition to answer the questions posed by the books (although to this point I've only used the questions from SoulPancake), and blogging my reactions to the activities (none of which I've done yet), I've decided to periodically post about a song that I'm really into at the moment. One that just makes my soul feel good.

I've actually got a playlist in my iTunes called "Soul Songs". It does not refer to the genre of music known as soul, but instead to songs that, as I've said, make my soul happy. I can have a sort of eclectic taste in music at times, so though many of the songs are singer-songwriter type songs, don't be surprised to find rock, pop, hiphop, country, broadway, and many other styles.

So anyway. The song I've been listening to today is "Country Roads" by John Denver.

Now, I've known this song, or at least parts of it, for almost as long as I can remember. When I was little, and we'd go on long trips somewhere,

What is the interplay between fate and free will?

From "The Brain & The Soul" section of "SoulPancake":

What is the interplay between fate and free will? Is it possible to influence the fate of others? When have you felt like you had no free will? What is the collective destiny of humanity?

Oh boy. Another big question. Well, for the most part, I don't believe in fate. That is, I don't believe that when you are born, you have a specific destiny about what will happen to you that you can't ever change no matter what you do. I DO believe that certain people are born into certain circumstances that are extremely difficult to rise above. For example, those who are born into extreme poverty. It is extremely difficult to rise above poverty. Poverty is a vicious cycle. Does that mean those who are born into it are necessarily doomed to it for their entire lives? No. Of course, many people do, because it is so close to impossible to break that cycle. But even though it's close, it's not impossible, and I don't believe who will and will not break that cycle is some sort of pre-determined fate.

Even with things that you feel like you have no control over, there is some sort of free will. You can choose how you react, even if only internally.

How do you reconcile discrepancies between reason and faith?

From "The Brain & The Soul" section of "SoulPancake":

How do you reconcile discrepancies between reason and faith? When has reason failed you? What do you believe strictly on faith? Does every question have an answer?

Oh boy. This is a really big question, and it's one that I would struggle with on even a normal day, but today especially I find this difficult. My mental energy is pretty low today, but I'll see what I can do with this.

So. How do you reconcile discrepancies between reason and faith? Hmmm. Well. First I think I should start with what I believe. I don't believe in any certain "faith"...or, I should say, organized religion, which is usually what people imagine when then think of faith. What I believe in is a god (some sort of higher power). I don't believe we can every really know what this god is and what it wants from us. But I do believe there is some sort of connecting power, connecting us all. It sounds silly when I type it out, because I am a person who likes to have reasoning for everything, and I don't really have much of a reason for my faith.