Soul is a story about Joe Gardner, a middle school band teacher, whose life hasn't necessarily gone the way he thought it would. He dreams of one day becoming a professional Jazz musician. It is what he always wanted in his whole life.
Soul ( AThread)
Life's biggest questions | Meaning, purpose, living
Soul is a story about Joe Gardner, a middle school band teacher, whose life hasn't necessarily gone the way he thought it would. He dreams of one day becoming a professional Jazz musician. It is what he always wanted in his whole life.
And just when he gets the break of a life time to finally fulfill his dream, an untimely accident separates his soul from his body.
As he begins to preced to 'The great beyond' Gardner skips to 'The great before' a world where souls develop personalities and traits before being sent off to earth. There, Gardner must work with 'soul 22' a soul with a dim concept of life.
To help '22' find passion, and in the process discover what it means to have a soul. Passion and obsession are two sides of the same spectrum. It is very easy for one to titre from one end to the other. Their ability to take in the beauty is the greatest inspiration.
How can you bear life's most wholesome fruits if you never truly lived? When Joe reflects upon his time in the great before, he comes to the sad conclusion that his life's amounted to nothing.
Because he never achieved his goal, the reality is, it is that exact goal that's prohibiting him from taking advantage of what life has to offer.
He spent all of this time tirelessly working towards a career in jazz to the point where actually attaining the goal would pale in comparison to the hard labor and sacrifices made along the way.
It is a journey that's incredibly relatable specially for anyone who defines their life based on career achievements. His passion isn't a purpose, it becomes an obsession.
And understanding when that passion becomes an obsession, and when that obsession disconnects you from life's purities, is the key to living again.
But also, for anyone who had a profession in the creative arts, it's an almost religious obsessiveness you have to have to have success and a career in arts.
What Joe Gardner learned is that someone's spark isn't their purpose.
Spark - it's the very essence, or soul, that indicates a human is a human and they're ready to live.
It is such a freeing and mature lesson that often gets drowned out in a world constantly dictating and pressuring us to persue that one 'thing'.
Specially growing up we are constantly questioned by teachers, neighbors, friends and family what it is we want to do when we grow up? is it a reasonable and sustainable goal? How can you actively persue it?
Sure people can have passions but to deduce life to having a singular meaning is restrictive and saddening. People's purposes can change through life experiences, what you thought you're destined for may in fact be what you least expect.
What adds to the genius is how uses the framework of Jazz to deliver its message. Out of all the art forms out there, Jazz is arguably the most raw extension of human emotion.
Traditional music follows a linear structure; in Pre determined path, formed the same way each time you hear it. With Jazz the same song is never performed the same way twice, it's a style of music that thrives off of inspiration and living in the moment.
There's no charts and musical map, it is all about feeling the energy of the room and yourself.
Similar to jazz, to get the most out of living, you should do the following:
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Translucent agate bowl with ornamental grooves and coffee-and-cream marbling. Found near Qift in southern Egypt. 300 - 1,000 BC. 📷 Getty Museum https://t.co/W1HfQZIG2V
Technicolor dreambowl, found in a grave near Zadar on Croatia's Dalmatian Coast. Made by melding and winding thin bars of glass, each adulterated with different minerals to get different colors. 1st century AD. 📷 Zadar Museum of Ancient Glass https://t.co/H9VfNrXKQK
100,000-year-old abalone shells used to mix red ocher, marrow, charcoal, and water into a colorful paste. Possibly the oldest artist's palettes ever discovered. Blombos Cave, South Africa. 📷https://t.co/0fMeYlOsXG
Reed basket bowl with shell and feather ornaments. Possibly from the Southern Pomo or Lake Miwok cultures. Found in Santa Barbara, CA, circa 1770. 📷 British Museum https://t.co/F4Ix0mXAu6
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