Soul work is more like life in the forest than your front lawn.

Soul work is slow and decaying, metabolizing the memories of old life so as to enrich the birthing and growing of new life. As I walk thorugh the forest, old trees have fallen, rotting and fertilizing, absorbing into the soil. Leaves lay dying and decompsoing, creating humus for the seedlings of new roots to take hold.

My front lawn has the priviledge of being cleaned, racked and old decaying stuff carted off. This is what some people would like to do with the past--get it away--forget it--so that they can bring in chemicals and change the landscape of the future. While this may create green, manicured lawns, this is not the kind of life that creates soulful living.

Death and loss are a given in life. The question isn't whether or not they will happen. It is what we do with them when they happen. I believe that the way for moving forward requires that we allow the memories to hang around to inform and shape us, nourishing the soul for the new self that is emerging to grow. Tell stories about what is gone. Let the words swirl and race across the heart like dried leaves before the autum wind. Let the words dance and die, decomposing and nourishing your soul. Too much clearing away the old and dying rather than letting it be absorbed into the soil of the future leaves the future without the rich soul food to hopes for tomorrow.