Thursday, April 18, 2013

Feeding the Soul

Did you ever wonder about what "feeds" your soul???  Do you even believe that you have a soul?!?  I suppose a "soul" can have different meanings to different people depending on life experiences, if one is religious or what is valuble or important to someone.  A spouse or significant other, child(ren), family, friends, job, a special talent or gift, God/Jesus/Allah/ Buddha, etc., may help to give your life focus and meaning.

I was reading something the other day, about human nature and the soul, and it got me thinking about the concept of feeding the soul (and no it wasn't a 'chicken soup' book).  It was just an article, and it mentioned the Greek philospher, Plato, who argued that the human soul had three parts: Appetitive, Rational, and Spirited. (Ok...before going any further....I am not that smart or "deep" so don't get the idea that since I mentioned Plato, I am a scholarly person or trying to impress the audience...I'm not) To continue...in a nutshell...Plato basically said the appetitive aspect is responsible for the needs or cravings to sustain life such as thirst or hunger, the rational is the thinking or intellect aspect, and the spirited ensures the dictates of reason are followed and desires are controlled.  Is this really what a "soul" is?  Hmmm...I think I need a class in philosphy.

While feeding our appetitive soul is important...I mean you aren't going to be much good to anyone if you are starved to death, and being rational keeps us on an organized path through life, I think feeding your spirited soul might be the most significant "part" of the soul to me though to truly be a balanced person, Plato theorized that each of the three parts should be equal.  Of course this discussion could take/has taken up days, weeks, months, years, centuries for debate and way more time than I originally planned.

Uh-oh, my head is hurting from all this contemplation....time to take a short break and a word from our sponsors....

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