Chapter 11 — Listen to the Voice of the Soul

“The soul speaks in symptoms, in longing, in restlessness.” — James Hollis

I’ve spent years trying to figure things out.
Trying to fix the pain, chase peace, explain my way out of uncertainty.

But what if the soul doesn’t want a solution?
What if it just wants to be heard?

This chapter reminds me that the parts of me I’ve labelled as problems — the loneliness, the exhaustion, the deep ache for belonging — might actually be signals from something deeper inside. Something older. Something wiser.

The soul doesn’t shout.
It whispers through dreams.
It tightens the chest when we betray ourselves.
It floods us with longing when we’re far from the path.

And when we ignore it, we get anxious. Depressed. Numb.
Not because we’re broken — but because we’ve lost contact with our own depth.

Lately, I’ve felt the soul stirring.
Not loud. But persistent.
Tugging me toward slowness. Toward solitude. Toward truth, even when it isolates me.

It’s not a convenient voice.
But it’s a real one.

And I think that’s the shift:
No longer asking, “What’s wrong with me?”
But instead asking, “What is my soul trying to say?”

Reflection Prompt:
Where in my life do I feel restless, lost, or flat?
And if I imagined that as the soul trying to speak… what might it be saying?