Soul Survival

I cannot help but feel sad and helpless when one of my friends is hurting and in pain. Sometimes one can’t find the right words to help ease the aching. Whenever I feel these moments of being “stuck” I turn to the Prophet writings, because somehow they just make sense of things in a way I could never even try to begin to express.

So this is what The Prophet has to say about Pain:

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.
Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity:
For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with his own sacred tears.

Sometimes these words are hard to take in and accept or even just hear and you just want to scream out aloud to someone, no one, to yourself. As Chris says “Your feeling is your healing”. Embrace it.

And sometimes I find some answers in lyrics of some songs like Crowded House

“And your seven worlds collide Whenever I am by your side And dust from a distant sun Will shower over everyone You're still so young to travel so far Old enough to know who you are Wise enough to carry the scars Without any blame, there's no one to blame It's easy to forget what you learned Waiting for the thrill to return Feeling your desire burn You're drawn to the flame”

The flame. We engulf ourselves in the flames of our daily lives. It burns and it nourishes at the same time. But sometimes I guess we choke on the smoke from the fire too long to allow it to actually cleanse us of our wounds.

It is so difficult to survive in today’s world of external pressures and hardships. It’s not so much just ourselves, but other people that cloud our vision and damage our fragile esteems. The old school rhyme “stick and stones may break my bones, but words may never harm me.” Well truth be told, it is mostly the words of other people that do cause the most irreparable harm and psychological abuse. Especially when it comes from those you love or loved. Yet in saying that, words are words and do not always reflect the truth, merely it just reflects another persons own anger, hurt or sadness. Ultimately I feel it’s our own souls (and indeed the love from our true friends and family) that can heal our physical and mental traumas and hang ups, if only we would acknowledge that we have this inner power of healing to do that.

Lately I have been humming away to Tracy Chapman and I just love her soulful music…

“She say dont give or sell your soul away cause all that you have is your soul Dont be tempted by the shiny apple Dont you eat of a bitter fruit Hunger only for a taste of justice Hunger only for a world of truth cause all that you have is your soul.
Standing at the point The road it cross you down What is at your back Which way do you turn Who will come to find you first Your devils or your gods All you folks think you run my life Say I should be willing to compromise I say all you demons go back to hell I'll save my soul save myself.”


What happens when the fire of your love dies...it becomes smoke and ashes. But from the ashes, the phoenix arises and spreads its golden wings to fly heights of higher. I truly believe this, and I am loving flying in the silver lining of the clouds of love.

As time heals the wound, the scars sometimes still remain. But we are all made up of scars, a patchwork on our souls. But it’s these scars that ultimately heal us from within, and we rise up from the depths of our dark winters and into the light of our springs. As Jo always says “we see more walking from the dark into the light, than from the light into the dark”. In truth I think we realised this while literally walking from the dark into the light one night, but nevertheless at that moment I think we both reflected on what was just said. Fused energies and connected souls!

I have long been a fan of the band Live and this is an extract from their song “The Dolphin’s Cry”…

“oh yeah, we meet again it's like we never left time in between was just a dream did we leave this place?this crazy fog surrounds me you wrap your legs around me all I can do to try and breathe let me breathe so that I so we can go together love will lead us, alright love will lead us, she will lead us can you hear the dolphins cry? see the road rise up to meet us it's in the air we breathe tonight love will lead us, she will lead us life is like a shooting star it don't matter who you are if you only run for cover, it's just a waste of time we are lost 'til we are found this phoenix rises up from the ground and all these wars are over ”


Battles are fought until our own wars are won. But really, the fight is only with ourselves. So armour up with your soul survival kit of love, light, understanding, patience, acceptance, optimism and truth. We are all soldiers of freedom and when we break away from our own cages, may we dance the dance of life.

Love, Healing and Soul Survival
Orangeblossom xxx