By Laura A. Roser
In his book, Care of the Soul, Thomas Moore writes:
How you spend your working hours — what you look at, sit on and work with —makes a difference, not only in terms of efficiency but for its effect on your sense of yourself and the direction your imagination takes. Some businesses cover over their soulless conception of work with a veneer of fake walls, plastic plants, and pseudoart. If that is what we give to the workplace in the name of beauty, then that is the measure of soulfulness we will have at our job. Soul cannot be faked without serious consequences. In his poem “The Garden,” the poet Andrew Marvell refers to a “green thought in a green shade.” Surrounded by plastic ferns, we will be filled with plastic thoughts.
Of course, this doesn’t only apply to business, it applies to every aspect of our lives. As you go about your day, are you surrounded by a veneer of soulful? Does your food taste “good” because of chemicals or unnatural processes? Does “quality time” with your family revolve around television or small talk, but have little meaning? Does the clothing you wear scratch synthetic fibers across your skin? Is your thinking inspired by tabloids and clickbait about the latest celebrity drama?
Think about ways you connect with your soul and try expanding upon them. It could be spending time in nature, carefully selecting the spices and ingredients you use to prepare a meal, listening to inspiring music, going to a museum, reading great literature or a spiritual book, or engaging in a deep conversation about life and love.
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Laura A. Roser is the founder and CEO of Paragon Road, the #1 authority in meaning legacy planning. For more information about meaning legacy planning services, visit www.paragonroad.com.
