Julie asked, What feeds your soul. What do you do to renew yourself? And how does this fit within the cultural boundaries that fence you? Big questions that grew out of a friend’s need to cook for others as she looked for footing and more level ground following the death of her father.
My reply is – I don’t know.
I am not sure that what we refer to as the “soul” is renewable as much as it is elastic. For most of us it can stretch and snap back, holding up to a remarkable amount of challenge and even abuse.
Deliberate recharging of the energy source that makes this possible is something I haven’t spent much time considering. I know that many of us take holidays, but I find getting away to be merely doing what I do normally, more of less, in a new locale. There is little about it that is relaxing or recuperative in a me time sort of way.
Is soul food Me Time? Alicia wrote about naming that time we dedicate to ourselves. Defining it.
Does the soul need daily intake, or is it a feast or famine thing? Or perhaps it is like the Energizer rechargable batteries that my husband uses in the digital camera – an every so often.
I used to run daily and would get quite cranky when anything prevented me from getting my miles. Music and mileage were musts.
I used to read books a week but wandering the Barnes and Noble last evening I wondered if I would ever need to read again the way I need to write.
Is writing a soul feasting? Not unless breathing is as well.
I thirst for time with my husband. For time on my own. Occasionally I need to interact in person with the wider world.
More to ponder than to state as absolute where my soul is concerned, I think.
But what about you gentle reader? Comments? Linkbacks?
anniegirl1138 
Oh, I do love it when I log on in the evening to thoughtful and thought provoking comments.
Sarah, Raised Catholic myself but I think the idea of soul I was taught is limited and inadequate when I think about it.
Darc, not knowing is the first step, eh?
le35, I guess it is about realizing when we are thirsting and what will quench it.
Julie, I think women especially are more in danger of ignoring the warning bells because we feel that we must put ourselves last and the trouble is that we do this not just when it is necessary but all the time.
Daisy, I am a lone runner too. Hate company when running. Ruins the experience and prevents me from thinking and sometimes writing. I plot as a run.
70’steen, See you have the right idea and sense of balance about this.
Gnu, Changing it up is a good idea.
the resiliency of the soul seems. for me, to be ever changing. what can restore the soul one week may do nothing the next, the work the week following. makes it festive. but also increases the number of things to try. and trying is part of the fun…
I think I look everyday for something to fuel my soul…. it maybe something small like the way my puppy seems to laugh when I take her for a walk, or something bigger when I hear a ‘good news’ story on the news (I know they are rare) … but there is something in every day that gives me that inner warmth 🙂
i don´t deliberately recharge. but when it´s happening, i sure as hell notice it… travel (mostly being away from work) is one way. when i was training for the half marathon, run time was another (same as richard, i HATED it when someone wanted to run with me… screwed the whole experience up)…
key thing may not be planning it, but listening for when you need it, and having mental catalog of the sorts of things that recharge you…
I think it’s crucial to know what drives you, what restores you and fills you. I need my exercise, but I also need my reading and my writing.
What do those things all have in common? Uninterrupted thinking and processing time.
I agree with your elastic theory but I guess I think of it more as a cell battery: I can feel it getting low on juice, and I start beeping in some way, warning of impending loss of power.
If I ignore the message (to quote Oprah, sorry), it becomes a problem. If I don’t solve the problem, it becomes a crisis. If I don’t handle the crisis, it becomes a catastrophe.
So I do need to do a little often to prevent that. But like I said, it’s generally alone time.
TBH? I don’t think how I am and how I deal is terribly well tolerated. I’ll stop there because that’s a really long theory LOL.
I think that you make a great point in your post that there are many ways to feed a soul. It’s mostly whatever we thirst for.
Perhaps it is my religious upbringing, but I believe we have an absolute soul and I feed mine many ways.
It’s a good question. I don’t think I know either.
Silver, solar powered? I like that idea.
Richard, I am not an intentional recharger either and should be as well.
I have to say that I don’t think I think about it much: intentionally “recharging” myself. Maybe I need to.
I also like to go jogging and maybe that’s my “me time.” I know that whenever people have wanted to go running WITH me, I kinda bristle a bit because I think I like being out there alone with my thoughts and my ipod.
I used to recharge going out into nature. Now I have to settle for parks and the waterfront. But I find peace there, and sun, and that recharges me. Guess I’m solar powered.