The Neglect of the Soul
by Branka Čubrilo
I write about the human soul, my favorite
and the most explored topic in my books and tales. Why? Because I believe that
the greatest malady of our time, implicated in all of our troubles is – the
neglect of the soul. We are here to expand awareness and to express and
experience our soul and when we neglect the soul it appears as loss of meaning.
Does the soul exist and what is the soul? I have explored those questions in my
book of memoirs, The Mosaic of the Broken Soul. These are questions one surely
asks at some point in their lives, usually in times of crises brought about by
the soul itself. A crises may appear as depression in order for the soul to learn
from it, in order to understand what qualities the soul needs.
By the time of Socrates’ death, the
soul was thought and spoken of as the distinguishing mark of all living things,
as something that is the subject of emotional states and that is responsible
for planning and thinking, a bearer of noble virtues such as justice and
courage, for example.
I can say that from a tender age I
tried to figure out what my life was about, trying to figure out why I was
placed here, all in an attempt that I could give meaning to my deeds and my
desires. I couldn’t understand why my friends were not concerned with such
questions because, I thought - If you are not going to figure it out for
yourself, if you don’t develop your own philosophy, then some authority will figure
it out for you or will force onto you their philosophy, which could bear
serious consequences for your development or for the development of your soul.
“All my life I have been searching
for answers. Everything had to have an answer, just as when little kids ask why
the sun is setting and where it goes when the moon comes out.
Why did I cross the big waters? What
was I expecting to find in the vast emptiness? It only imprinted itself into my
soul, or left my soul unimpressed or betrayed. What am I supposed to do with
all my questions? Shall I hang them here, on the beach poles, and wait for the
next morning to find maybe somebody has answered them or somebody has stolen
them? If they were answered, would it be that I would be the same old self? Or
if they were stolen, I might be freed from me? I’d be free to dance the
flamenco without inhibitions, because my questions make my legs numb while they
are trying to catch the rhythm. The rhythm of my thoughts (questions) and the
rhythm of flamenco are in disharmony. How can I learn to dance without
thinking, just let myself dance and follow the natural rhythm, let myself enjoy
my body, the vibes which are penetrating into me and threatening to take me to
an unknown land? Fear of the unknown is within me. What would I meet there? To
whom does it belong? Is it mine or have I inherited it from my ancestors or
even from some other lives I have lived, who knows when and who knows where? Do
my questions make me who I am? And if I just change them, do I change again who
I am? And what about those who do not have any questions? Are they alive at
all, or do they have any reason to be here if their questions have been
answered? The universe continued unchanged regardless if the answers were given
or not.”
(An excerpt from The Mosaic of the Broken Soul).
So far, it has been very obvious
that money and material things will not solve our problems; or the world’s big
problems with this relentless pursuit of money and material things could be the
major cause of the world’s ills. The relentless pursuit of money results only
in impoverishment of the soul as when soul-neglect happens. We suffer a wide
range of problems, as it seems we have developed into creatures that value
money more than the soul. We tend to believe that the problems of our time have
a material solution that can be solved with money, rather than by the spiritual
solutions, which we can address acknowledging the existence of our soul and
finding ways of connecting and caring for it. How can one care for their soul?
Soul care is an art that demands us to observe our soul’s needs continually
giving them our undivided attention.
We live in the time of materialism
and consumerism, in a world where what matters most is economic growth, and if
this is the central purpose of the modern world, then we have found ourselves
in really big trouble, trouble called Soul Malady caused by lost values and a
shift in ethical/moral standards. Why so? Because the purpose of economic
growth has no soul in itself, hence it can’t reflect our humanity. And when did
this happen? When did this dehumanizing process sneak into our culture almost
unnoticed, this horrendous phenomenon, where we care more about economic
growth than we care about the human soul? Like boats without anchors, humans
float unaware of their souls.
My aim for my reader is the
rediscovery of spirituality and awakening awareness of the soul, for absence of
spirituality deprives the soul of important symbolic and reflective
experiences.
“When we claim that we lost ourselves
does that mean that we have lost our very soul? And what is the soul and what
is the self? Are they the same, inseparable like a canvas and the paint? Is it
so that the beginning of one is the end of the other? Or are they interwoven so
finely that no scientist can separate them, no mystic can define them, and no
fool can find the words to say which one is hurting? Is this grand malady of
mine, and my fellow humans who walk unnoticed with me, simply the loss of
soul? And how can one retrieve the lost soul? Do you simply call for it; are
there secret rituals for it so you can be initiated in this fine craft of
finding it? Can it be the same, the loss of soul and loss of meaning? Which one
led the way, and which blindly followed? Does the soul prefer to be unanswered? Is
it just a tiny voice that can tell you how to separate good from evil? Which
tells you which way to take when in confusion? When it goes, the voice, where
has it gone?
Where does the soul live? Between
understanding and unconsciousness? Is it married to imagination? Oh, sweet
lovers, they cannot be separated! It uses the body to live in it and the mind
to wonder but its instrument is neither the body nor the mind.
If I say ‘my soul’, does it really
belong to me?
One more question before I go: Pain,
loss, sadness, frustration, looking for meaning and personal substance, are
they the gifts so that we can come face to face with the grand invisible?”
(The Mosaic of the Broken Soul).
Giving more importance to material
things and money whilst neglecting the voice of our own soul (that is often
known and referred to as the ‘inner voice’) may turn out to be the roadmap to
nowhere as our politics, our education, and our culture are anchored in
material values for which the whole planet and its inhabitants are paying an
enormous price. When we pay attention to our soul and when communication
unfolds, we become more willing to look ourselves right in the eye and then we
will gain more understanding about who we really are and what is our purpose in
this world. In the same way our body needs food in order to function optimally
our soul needs food in the form of acknowledgment, intense observation and due
care through spiritual life, whilst reading spiritual books and poetry brings
awareness, growth and insight.
Fascinating!
So much to think about here! Thank you for stopping by to give us a glimpse into the human soul and how to get back in touch with our true selves, Branka! :)
Readers, let's take a look at one of Branka Čubrilo's books, a memoir collection titled The Mosaic of the Broken Soul.
Here is the blurb.
She called the lump in Her breast ‘a black pearl’, She called her Mother
to nurse Her in the darkest hours, She called memories of the three men
She loved at different times of Her life to draw the parallels between
seemingly similar situations of betrayal. Who is going to betray Her,
who is going to stay...?
She struggles with the meaning of life
trying to find it through themes of motherhood, friendship, betrayal,
displacement, illness, pain, grief and loss.
She traveled to
Andalucia, London, The Isle of Man, where She met colorful characters
believing that the unknown can reverse the fragmentation and change
reality, believing that all the little broken selves can once again
bring the broken pieces into a cohesive mosaic.
Purchase Links:
Universal Amazon link: http://bookgoodies.com/a/B00580JMCY
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-mosaic-of-the-broken-soul-branka-cubrilo/1022695696
CreateSpace: https://www.createspace.com/3633149
Interesting!
Readers, don't forget to pick up your copy of The Mosaic of the Broken Soul!
Guest Blogger Bio
At the age of eighteen Branka Cubrilo wrote her first novel, I Knew Jane
Eyre, which won the Yugoslavian Young Writers Award in 1982. Soon after
she wrote a sequel called Looking for Jane Eyre. In 1999 Branka
published the book Fiume Corre – Rijeka Tece, a year later Requiem for
Barbara, and in 2001 Little Lies – Big Lies (as a part of a trilogy
called Spanish Stories for which she obtained a scholarship from the
Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to research the cultural
and historical settings of Cadiz in Andalusia). The Lonely Poet and
Other Stories is Branka’s third book published in English by Speaking
Volumes, following her earlier novels The Mosaic of the Broken Soul
(2011) and Fiume – The Lost River (2014). Branka’s latest novel,
Dethroned, will be published with the same publisher in 2017. Branka has
been living in Sydney with her daughter Althea since 1992. Now she
predominantly writes in English and translates her earlier works in
English. Praise for Branka Cubrilo 5-Star Reviews on Amazon.com.
Author Links:
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Author Links:
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Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4108660.Branka_Cubrilo
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Branka's Books:
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