In recent weeks, from different sources and unrelated circumstance, I have been told that I have an Old Soul. It’s not something you dwell on but the expression has always seemed peaceful to me and I took it as a compliment. Wikipedia and Google Search are not as reliable as we might wish but they did provide some backstory. Originally the idea was linked to reincarnation, that having an Old Soul is about innate wisdom and core truths that have carried over from a previous life. Age itself doesn’t have much to do with it. You can be really old and still be more wise than one’s age would allow. If you don’t buy into reincarnation then maybe a loose-fitting sense of good karma will do.
I came across a paper published in a psychiatric journal listing a dozen traits that correlate with Old Soul personality. Not that one causes the other but they often show up together. To that end, people with Old Soul persona may step back and see the Big Picture while others scrutinize the worm on the hook. They wouldn’t care much for status quo or embrace popular culture, more likely to question what they learned in school or were taught by their parents. Having an Old Soul, the deeper worth of ideas and relationships would prevail over the pursuit of material wealth. Lateral thinking would be employed more than the linear alternative. The list goes on. If you matched up on most of the traits it would suggest that you may have an Old Soul. Still, it’s not a recipe.
Introducing the idea of Core Truths set off alarm bells with me. Human nature is self serving, both physical and emotional. If it can’t be measured objectively, carry out three places from the decimal, then the core truth is whatever we say it is. The difference between having an Old Soul and being both immoral and dangerous just depends. After all, who would see Old Soul virtues in someone whose values conflict with their Faith, politics, moral or cultural traditions?
In my world, an Old Soul profile would be more about reflection and less about reaction, pose more good questions than right opinions. I would think that heroic Old Souls reject condescending (Either-Or) absolutes in favor of the open ended (This-And) possibilities. I would gravitate, regardless of age, to fair-play. It should be a pattern, not an off the cuff anomaly. I had a great mentor in college, a coach who emphasized, “If you can’t afford to lose, you can’t afford to play.” He also said, “Be concerned with preparation. Winning will take care of itself.” In some ways he was a wise old soul. It struck a nerve with me.
Since those formative college days, I have been not only collecting but leaning on quotes that ring of innate wisdom and core truths. I’m sure my heroes are not everybody’s heroes. Still, what works for me still works. I use those quotes like stepping stones to where I need to be. They can come from famous or obscure sources but when looked at altogether, one gets a good idea to what’s cooking in my kitchen. John Muir said, “When you tug on any single thing in nature, it is connected to everything else and the universe tugs back.”
Michaela Coel is a British writer/actor whose recent book, Misfits, is a personal manifesto. She details how the world prizes uncommon talent but then burdens those uncommon talents with traditional expectations. She goes on to say that even without that bias and ignorance, you don’t have to be singled out for your differences. Being misfit may mean you are simply someone who (not fitting in) views the world and sees it in a way that is different. I have a long response to that revelation but it is another story for another time. But I do identify.
Wisdom is something else. Old Souls need be wise or they be just old with a soul. It requires experience, that provides knowledge, that facilitates good judgment, experience = knowledge = good judgment; in that order. I understand that one man’s treasure cam be another man’s junk. The same could be said of wisdom and folly. In the end it depends on what you’ve been conditioned to believe. Kurt Vonnegut (awesome quotes) he said, “We become what we pretend to be, so be careful what you pretend to be.”
By my way of thinking, it takes a long time to grow wise and it needs to be acquired first hand. If it can be mysteriously endowed then I wouldn’t argue but It certainly doesn’t come in a bottle or a book or out of someone’s mouth. Propaganda is transferable but wisdom is not. It would accumulate through many mistakes and failures, necessary steps on the learning curve. On the other hand, old world thinking (tradition over knowledge) tells us that wisdom is universal. It is absolute and it doesn’t change so you can get it from a book, or from someone who read the book. That sounds like proselytizing to me, religion or politics, no difference. Of course we can observe others and listen to their story. That wanna-be wisdom can be sampled vicariously but it is hearsay at best. That is how we learn but the buyer should beware. Spoon fed wisdom runs the high risk of being no more than crafted propaganda. Buddha said in so many words; Don’t believe anything anybody tells you, not even if I tell you, not until it rings true with your own experience. I recommend Buddha. Another trait was that Old Souls tend to identify with each other easily, quickly. If someone thinks I have an Old Soul, seeing the world through the same lens would make it about them as much as about me but I would still think it a compliment.
I came across a paper published in a psychiatric journal listing a dozen traits that correlate with Old Soul personality. Not that one causes the other but they often show up together. To that end, people with Old Soul persona may step back and see the Big Picture while others scrutinize the worm on the hook. They wouldn’t care much for status quo or embrace popular culture, more likely to question what they learned in school or were taught by their parents. Having an Old Soul, the deeper worth of ideas and relationships would prevail over the pursuit of material wealth. Lateral thinking would be employed more than the linear alternative. The list goes on. If you matched up on most of the traits it would suggest that you may have an Old Soul. Still, it’s not a recipe.
Introducing the idea of Core Truths set off alarm bells with me. Human nature is self serving, both physical and emotional. If it can’t be measured objectively, carry out three places from the decimal, then the core truth is whatever we say it is. The difference between having an Old Soul and being both immoral and dangerous just depends. After all, who would see Old Soul virtues in someone whose values conflict with their Faith, politics, moral or cultural traditions?
In my world, an Old Soul profile would be more about reflection and less about reaction, pose more good questions than right opinions. I would think that heroic Old Souls reject condescending (Either-Or) absolutes in favor of the open ended (This-And) possibilities. I would gravitate, regardless of age, to fair-play. It should be a pattern, not an off the cuff anomaly. I had a great mentor in college, a coach who emphasized, “If you can’t afford to lose, you can’t afford to play.” He also said, “Be concerned with preparation. Winning will take care of itself.” In some ways he was a wise old soul. It struck a nerve with me.
Since those formative college days, I have been not only collecting but leaning on quotes that ring of innate wisdom and core truths. I’m sure my heroes are not everybody’s heroes. Still, what works for me still works. I use those quotes like stepping stones to where I need to be. They can come from famous or obscure sources but when looked at altogether, one gets a good idea to what’s cooking in my kitchen. John Muir said, “When you tug on any single thing in nature, it is connected to everything else and the universe tugs back.”
Michaela Coel is a British writer/actor whose recent book, Misfits, is a personal manifesto. She details how the world prizes uncommon talent but then burdens those uncommon talents with traditional expectations. She goes on to say that even without that bias and ignorance, you don’t have to be singled out for your differences. Being misfit may mean you are simply someone who (not fitting in) views the world and sees it in a way that is different. I have a long response to that revelation but it is another story for another time. But I do identify.
Wisdom is something else. Old Souls need be wise or they be just old with a soul. It requires experience, that provides knowledge, that facilitates good judgment, experience = knowledge = good judgment; in that order. I understand that one man’s treasure cam be another man’s junk. The same could be said of wisdom and folly. In the end it depends on what you’ve been conditioned to believe. Kurt Vonnegut (awesome quotes) he said, “We become what we pretend to be, so be careful what you pretend to be.”
By my way of thinking, it takes a long time to grow wise and it needs to be acquired first hand. If it can be mysteriously endowed then I wouldn’t argue but It certainly doesn’t come in a bottle or a book or out of someone’s mouth. Propaganda is transferable but wisdom is not. It would accumulate through many mistakes and failures, necessary steps on the learning curve. On the other hand, old world thinking (tradition over knowledge) tells us that wisdom is universal. It is absolute and it doesn’t change so you can get it from a book, or from someone who read the book. That sounds like proselytizing to me, religion or politics, no difference. Of course we can observe others and listen to their story. That wanna-be wisdom can be sampled vicariously but it is hearsay at best. That is how we learn but the buyer should beware. Spoon fed wisdom runs the high risk of being no more than crafted propaganda. Buddha said in so many words; Don’t believe anything anybody tells you, not even if I tell you, not until it rings true with your own experience. I recommend Buddha. Another trait was that Old Souls tend to identify with each other easily, quickly. If someone thinks I have an Old Soul, seeing the world through the same lens would make it about them as much as about me but I would still think it a compliment.
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