Another Twin Soul Movie

     I was thinking the other day of a sweet, though not profound, movie I enjoyed (somewhat guiltily).  I think that one of the reasons I didn't consider it profound is that one of the actors has a naturally deep voice, and I've found that such people need to vary their vocal inflections more in order to avoid sounding sonnambulent.  Sorry, that's really picky, but I'm tuned into vocal sounds -- what can I say?

     The movie is "The Lake House" (click here if you're interested in purchasing it).  It tells the story of two people who are connected through a magic mailbox at a lake house, and are able to communicate to each other across time.  Yes, they live two years apart, she ahead of him, and they reveal their most intimate selves to each other in these letters.  Of course, they fall in love.  The problem is, how will they ever be together?  And will fate cruelly intervene?

     I think the most appealing thing about this movie is that is speaks to one of our most widely-held beliefs about Twin Souls, which is that we must undergo a series of difficult trials in order to be together.  In my belief system, Twin Souls need to become balanced between their mortal and divine selves, and their male and female personality characteristics, before they are ready to join.  I think "The Lake House" showed how both characters had to overcome their primarily left-brained way of thinking (male essence) and open to the mysterious, to their heart-center, to their female essence. 

     So, take an evening to enjoy this movie.  And listen to how Christopher Plummer uses his voice --brilliant!

What's the Lesson Here?

     I'm sure we are all still reeling from the horrible news coming out of Colorado.  Twelve people killed, dying in a senseless act.  Let us all send our most compassionate, loving thoughts to the families of those lost, as well as to the family of the perpetrator of this horrific act. 

     From a soul perspective, what is the lesson to be learned?  Why did these people die?  Why did this young man feel he had to act out in this way?

     Perhaps it's about how fragile life is, and how every day needs to be cherished.  From this viewpoint, there are no ordinary days.

     Perhaps it's about how we can see the depths of evil, and still know that love is so much greater, so much deeper, so much stronger than that.

     Perhaps it's about how isolated some of us feel, and how we allow those who are so isolated to remain that way.  I don't know yet all the details of why this young man snapped, but he clearly felt friendless and emotionally remote.  Could anything have been done to help him prior to this?

     Perhaps it's about how our culture has been so saturated with violence that we keep seeing these kinds of acts happening over and over, and after a while, we feel no shock anymore when another tragic event happens.  What is it here that we need to learn so that we don't keep seeing these tragedies repeat themselves?

     I wish I had the answers.

Faith or Fate?

    Lately I've been thinking about the whole predestination vs. self-determination debate.  On one hand, I'd like to think that I can co-create like the envisioners preach (see the movie What the Bleep!? or read the book The Secret for an explanation of this view).  It would be great to fully believe that we can control our lives by thinking in certain ways, by envisioning certain things consistently, by believing that we can co-create our dreams.

     Yet, I also wonder about the concept of life as a school, where we are here to learn lessons.  I mean, there are those of us who weren't blessed with perfectly functioning bodies, or perfectly supportive families, or perfectly accident- or disease- or tragedy-free lives.  Those things, the life-is-about-learning preachers tell us, are for us to grow as persons, to learn important things. 

     So, which is it?

     My summer doldrums cause me to lean toward the latter view.  Yes, I envision, I believe, I do all the right mental exercises, but nothing seems to come of it.  So, perhaps the lesson is to learn how to accept that some of my dreams aren't coming true.  And what am I learning?  Well, once I get over the frustration and disappointment, perhaps the lesson is acceptance, gratitude at what I have and what I've achieved so far, and relaxing more into a state of being rather than a state of doing. 

     Dang it.

Oh, Don't Mind Me . . .

    Yes, I'm having one of those days when it's so dang hot it makes me sweat to blink, when people are so crabby it makes me want to hide in a cave, and when driving makes me feel like I'm being roasted alive.  Yep, I'm suffering from the mid-summer blues. 

     I'm also feeling the blues for another reason.  Do you know what it's like to create something, say, write a novel or do something really nice for someone, and all your work and all your sweat and all your expenses go toward something that makes as much of an impact as a flea landing in the middle of the ocean?  I really thought I was following some guidance from the Universe (oops!  there's that channeling issue again -- read about user error here).  But, like I said, it seems to have met with a great big cosmic yawn. 

    Perhaps the lesson here for me is to focus on the doing, and not on the outcome.  Forget the results.  If someone is oblivious to what I've done, well, that doesn't change all that I've learned in having done it, right? 

    Now, all I need to do is tell myself that about forty thousand times, and maybe I'll start to believe it.  Ooh.  Even thinking about that makes me sweat. 

DS9 and Embodied Souls

     A lifelong Star Trek fan (but not a rabid Trekkie -- no Spock ears hidden in my closet, sorry), a character from the Deep Space Nine series came to mind when I was reading about souls in Journey of Souls (see previous posts about this book). 

     Do you remember the character of Jadzia Dax?  This was a young woman, Jadzia, who is a host body for another being, Dax, a member of a species that lives in the bodies of her race.  It is a symbiotic relationship, a perfect melding of the host body and the inhabiting alien.  The commander of the space station knew Dax in his previous incarnation in a male host's body.  As a man, Dax was quite the party animal, it seemed.  So, it was quite a difference for the commander to relate to this calm, intellectual woman as the Dax he knew.  Weird, but cool.

     Anyway, when Dr. Newton was describing how souls enter a fetus' body while it is in utero, he explained how the soul must learn the wiring of the brain and neurological system of the fetus.  It's almost like having to learn to drive a different car. 

    And this all makes me wonder -- when we incarnate as souls, how much of ourselves are our bodies and how much of us are our souls?  Is that the point of so many mystical traditions, which teach us to overcome the world of the senses (the body) and learn to know the Self? 

     I imagine this will give me food for thought for some time . . .

Not Quite Answered, But Close

    I've finished the wonderful, groundbreaking book, Journey of Souls, by Michael Newton.  Wow.  It really brings clarity to our purpose here on Earth, and what happens between our reincarnations.  If you are interested in this sort of thing (and who isn't curious about the purpose of their life?), order this book!

    That said, I was hoping to find more answers about Twin Souls in this book.  The author did mention the concept of parallel lives, but my sense was that this isn't quite the same thing, because the split souls didn't seem all that interested in finding each other.  Parallel lives are taken, however, for the primary purpose of speeding up the learning process.

     Dr. Newton did mention soulmates quite a bit, and after reading his definition of soulmates (quite near the end of the book), I'm wondering if Twin Souls and his idea of soulmates weren't confused.  It would be interesting for a hypnotherapist to explore this area. 

     Perhaps someday we'll know more. . . .

A Delicious Poem from Rumi

In his dream an old man appeared.
Good king, I have news.

Tomorrow a stranger will come.  I have sent him.
He is a physician you can trust.
Listen to him.

As dawn rose, the king was sitting
in the belvedere on his roof.
He saw someone coming, a person like the dawn.
He ran to meet this guest.  Like swimmers
who love the water, their souls knit together
without being sewn, no seam.

The king opened his arms
and held the saintly doctor to him.
He led him to the head table.

At last I have found what patience can bring.
This one whose face answers any question,
who simply by looking can loosen
the knot of intellectual discussion.

Now Husam touches my arm.
He wants me to say more about Shams*.

(This is quoted from Coleman Barks' translation in the book, A Year with Rumi).

* Shams of Tabriz was, in my opinion, Rumi's Twin Soul.  See this post for more information.