The last few years have been significant for me: both of my parents have left this world.

Given that perspective — and with only one of my four children living at home — I often think about what I will leave behind once I leave this world behind. I’m trying to focus on life essentials in a more mindful way.

The concept of soul sickness came up one day, and I’ve pondered about it ever since.

I believe soul sickness is beautiful. I am sure it has a lot to do with the images I’ve conjured up while thinking about it. To me, soul sickness results from one or more things we have either acted on or from life events out of our control. It is an internal compass for each of us. It could be renamed to a lot of different things and it would still make sense: guilt, loss, love, hate, gluttony, fear, or sympathy.  

We usually want to make the turmoil go away as soon as possible, but I think soul sickness demands we chart a new map for our lives. Sometimes changing what we think we need to live a happy life is what’s most needed. Happiness is not gone — it doesn’t go away — but our vision of what joy looks like is renewed.

Soul sickness is a healthy, valuable emotion pushing your conscious self to help your spirit heal, change, and grow. In the end, we gain experience we can use to help our friends and families push through their own turmoils. That makes this gift a beautiful and divine one.