Our Little Piece of Immortality
I’m not necessarily religious, nor do believe in heaven, hell, or an afterlife as classically conceived. However, something about the idea of a soul has always interested me. I’m not sure whether or not I believe in said idea, but it is at least interesting.
From a metaphysical standpoint, it’s hard to reconcile the modern scientific view of the physical human with the notion of some permanent non-physical thing — the soul. But those worries aside, I definitely see the appeal of it. To think that once we’re dead, we’re gone , that’s it— that seems too harsh, too final. Surely, there is life for us after our heart beats for the last time, and our brain waves have flat-lined.
But you don’t have to believe in an afterlife in the grand old religious sense in order to make sense of the soul and immortality. What we do as writers is a great example of this. The words we write — as long as our hearts are in them — constitute our soul.
When those words are read, appreciated, and shared by others, our life extends beyond the beats of our own hearts, and on to others’. When our words touch someone, move them, inspire them, our soul finds a place there, with them, for as long as they live. Whatever they do that came in some part from your words, your soul lives on there.
There is an old concept within Western religions specifically called soulcraft. It’s defined as below:
soulcraft (n)
- An activity that is nourishing to the soul; particularly fulfilling work or other activity
- Something that shapes and modifies one’s soul or core being
So if there is indeed a soul — whatever that comes to mean, then writing is soulcraft at its finest. Writing is the molding and nourishing of whatever our soul is, and making it into what we want it to be. Writing both molds our soul, and permeates it out — into the afterlife.
Even the most mundane of writing contributes to it. Daily journaling, to-do lists, an email to a friend or loved one. Our words shape us just as much as we shape them.
Our words shape others, and in turn, they shape others as well, and so on. Our influence — our words’ influence — reaches further than we can ever really grasp. In that way, our souls continue to live on in our words, for as long as others stumble upon them.
Given that, what kind of soul are you crafting? What will your spirit look like as it permeates throughout the eyes, ears, and mouths of others?
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