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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Great article from @AsheSchow. I lived thru the 'Satanic Panic' of the 1980's/early 1990's asking myself "Has eveyrbody lost their GODDAMN MINDS?!"
The 3 big things that made the 1980's/early 1990's surreal for me.
1) Satanic Panic - satanism in the day cares ahhhh!
2) "Repressed memory" syndrome
3) Facilitated Communication [FC]
All 3 led to massive abuse.
"Therapists" -and I use the term to describe these quacks loosely - would hypnotize people & convince they they were 'reliving' past memories of Mom & Dad killing babies in Satanic rituals in the basement while they were growing up.
Other 'therapists' would badger kids until they invented stories about watching alligators eat babies dropped into a lake from a hot air balloon. Kids would deny anything happened for hours until the therapist 'broke through' and 'found' the 'truth'.
FC was a movement that started with the claim severely handicapped individuals were able to 'type' legible sentences & communicate if a 'helper' guided their hands over a keyboard.
For three years I have wanted to write an article on moral panics. I have collected anecdotes and similarities between today\u2019s moral panic and those of the past - particularly the Satanic Panic of the 80s.
— Ashe Schow (@AsheSchow) September 29, 2018
This is my finished product: https://t.co/otcM1uuUDk
The 3 big things that made the 1980's/early 1990's surreal for me.
1) Satanic Panic - satanism in the day cares ahhhh!
2) "Repressed memory" syndrome
3) Facilitated Communication [FC]
All 3 led to massive abuse.
"Therapists" -and I use the term to describe these quacks loosely - would hypnotize people & convince they they were 'reliving' past memories of Mom & Dad killing babies in Satanic rituals in the basement while they were growing up.
Other 'therapists' would badger kids until they invented stories about watching alligators eat babies dropped into a lake from a hot air balloon. Kids would deny anything happened for hours until the therapist 'broke through' and 'found' the 'truth'.
FC was a movement that started with the claim severely handicapped individuals were able to 'type' legible sentences & communicate if a 'helper' guided their hands over a keyboard.
For my book, I interviewed Texan Republicans, Democrats, oil guys + clean energy pioneers. Texas was once leading in wind energy, with GOP support. Now we get lies, from the Gov on down on renewables. What happened?
Lessons from Short Circuiting Policy https://t.co/KtxaBci5oC 🧵
Texas' challenges are not from "learning too many renewable energy lessons from California.” - Rep. Crenshaw
Texas passed its first renewable energy target in 1999, 3 years before California. The law was signed by, Gov. George W. Bush — you may recall he’s a Republican.
Gov. Bush was so proud of Texas’ leadership on wind energy, that he campaigned on it when running for President in 2000.
The "bill he signed in 1999 will make Texas the country’s largest market for renewable energy by 2009."
https://t.co/T4dKZ5qGnA
In 2005, Texas passed another big wind energy law, which included $7 billion for transmission.
It was sponsored by Republican state Senator Troy Fraser and signed by Republican Gov. Rick
With Gov. Abbott going on TV this week and lying, blaming the boogeyman “Green New Deal” and wind turbines for Texas’ current crisis, GOP leadership on renewables feels like ancient history.
What happened over the past 15
Lessons from Short Circuiting Policy https://t.co/KtxaBci5oC 🧵
Texas' challenges are not from "learning too many renewable energy lessons from California.” - Rep. Crenshaw
Texas passed its first renewable energy target in 1999, 3 years before California. The law was signed by, Gov. George W. Bush — you may recall he’s a Republican.
Gov. Bush was so proud of Texas’ leadership on wind energy, that he campaigned on it when running for President in 2000.
The "bill he signed in 1999 will make Texas the country’s largest market for renewable energy by 2009."
https://t.co/T4dKZ5qGnA
In 2005, Texas passed another big wind energy law, which included $7 billion for transmission.
It was sponsored by Republican state Senator Troy Fraser and signed by Republican Gov. Rick
With Gov. Abbott going on TV this week and lying, blaming the boogeyman “Green New Deal” and wind turbines for Texas’ current crisis, GOP leadership on renewables feels like ancient history.
What happened over the past 15
