Call for Stories: SOUL

Section Three: SOUL

Correlations: Fire/South/Noon

Concepts: actions, deeds, livelihood, spirituality, destiny, the eternal; also encounters

1. Way #27: Get Your Hands Dirty -- the value of hard work, gardening, planting trees, getting “down in the trenches,” building something from scratch. “If you build it they will come.” Also handwashing.
2. Way #28: Go Win One for the Team – “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.” “Our diversity is our strength.” “Many hands make light work.” Group efforts, group process, teamwork. Also team sports.
3. Way #29: Sh@t or Get Off the Pot -- tick-tock, y’all! You gonna do that thing you’ve been talking about forever or what? Just do it! “Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it” Getting started with the new, also dumping [sic] [or sick!] the old. Plus colon health. Got any hemorrhoid stories? Colonoscopy tales? Colonics, anyone?
4. Way #30: Hit the Road Jack -- Road trip! Explore the world, get out of town, enjoy a change of scene, visit far-flung friends. Staying healthy on the road. Also, the journey as metaphor --- as long as there’s movement within, there’s growth.
5. Way #31: Get Lost -- This is where the adventure begins! “Not all who wander are lost.” Tap into the power of chaos, make wonderful new discoveries. How do YOU “get lost” for R and R? What do you love to “get lost” in? A Buddhist master tells us to “refrain from doing the habitual thing” – this is how to awaken the soul. Plus: What would YOU pack in your “midlife survival kit”?
6. Way #32: Stop, Look & Listen – Time Out! Stop to smell the roses, appreciate nature, art, music. Notice! Use your senses, savor it, dwell in the now. Take stock of your life, be the observer. Attitude of gratitude. Also: “Eh? What’s that you say?” Tell us of your hearing loss and/or your lasic surgery or first pair of bifocals.
7. Way #33: Break On Through to the Other Side -- achieve the “aha” experience, even by tiny degrees; push for personal best, “go as far as you can, then one step further.” Find the edge. Push the envelope. Psychological breakthrough, transformation.
8. Way #34: Act Ageless -- letting go of the concept of “I’m too old to---” Fifty is just a number. Have you gotten any younger lately (i.e. lowered your “functional age” by getting into better shape)? Transcend the mundane; touch the eternal, dwell in the timeless. Do something “for the ages.” Revel in the “New Age.” Also, any stories related to The Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy: “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations”?
9. Way #35: Mind Your Karma, Trim Your Dogma – practicing tolerance and the Golden Rule. Know-It-Alls and Holier-Than-Thous are such a drag! By now, can you resist the craving to correct someone’s misused word? Can you refrain from insisting that yours is the only “right way” to do things? How did you learn to “live & let live”? Any “pay it forward” stories?
10. Way #36: En-Lighten Up -- deepening spirituality in midlife; the search for inner peace and enlightenment. The spiritual search is a serious matter, but be gentle with yourself. How do you lighten your soul’s burden?
11. Way #37: Shine On You Crazy Diamond – dazzling the world with your unique self! Dr. Maria Montessori believed that everyone and everything in creation has a cosmic task to fulfill. Do you know your cosmic task? How did you discover it? Also, forget what the neighbors might think, and be a wild and crazy guy! Some of history’s most brilliant diamonds have been a little (or a lot) crazy. Shrinks don’t use that word, of course, but we’re interested in success stories regarding mental illness. Pseudonyms welcome!
12. Way #38: Look Death Right in the Eye – A brush with death can change a person for the better. Catching a glimpse of the grim reaper across the room can wake a person up to LIFE. Has it happened to you? Also: losing loved ones, planning for the inevitable, living like you were dying. Anyone care to write your own eulogy?