Exploring our own soul journey
- Kaitlyn Steele
- Apr 15
- 3 min read
There are times when the the soul journey can be a deeply puzzling experience. We may struggle to make sense of the thoughts, feelings and longings that are surfacing within us. We may be troubled by a strange dream or image that seems to haunt us. We may be strongly drawn to a course of action we would never have contemplated before. At such times, it can be difficult to trust the path that is emerging ahead of us. It seems shrouded in mystery and we long for someone to throw some light on what is happening deep in the inner landscape of our being.
What I have learnt along the way, however, is that exploring and reflecting on our experience of the journey in a more focused way can in itself throw light on the story we are living. In so doing, we are in a sense telling ourselves the story of our emerging journey. We are talking to ourselves about what is happening within us, voicing our fears and misgivings, asking ourselves questions, challenging ourselves, searching for glimpses of what it is that we seek. And it is often through this telling of our story that we come to look at it through a different set of lenses. We see patterns we might not otherwise have seen. We reach insights we might not otherwise have reached. We notice changes we might not otherwise have noticed. We make decisions we might not otherwise have made. And we find the confidence and courage to stay on the path that we might not otherwise have found.
Ways of telling ourselves our story
There are many ways in which to tell ourselves the story of our soul journey. We may choose to tell it in words, in images or even in sounds. We may, for example, choose to journal it; to write a story, a song or a poem about it; to paint it, sculpt it or map it; or to reflect on it by ourselves in times of quiet meditation. We may choose to keep the story to ourselves or to share it with one or more trusted fellow travellers, with a therapist or with a spiritual accompanier.
Below are some of the particular ways of telling ourselves our story which I and others have found helpful:
Spend some time alone reflecting on your soul journey as it has unfolded so far. Note any thoughts, feelings, words or images that surface as you do so. It may be helpful to create a wordmap around the words 'soul journey' to capture all these elements of your experience. At this stage, it is important to try not to analyse whatever surfaces or to reject things that do not immediately make sense. For their meaning and relevance will become clearer in time.
Write a piece of prose, a story, a song or a poem that tells something of your emerging story. Alternatively, create a collage of images, a painting or a drawing that captures something of your experience of the journey so far. Take as much time as you need to do so. It may take days, weeks or even months to finish whatever you have chosen to create. Afterwards, reflect on your experience of capturing your story in this way. What have you learnt from it?
Read one or more personal accounts of the soul journeys of others - for example, Sue Kidd's book, 'When the Heart Waits; Dawna Markova's book, 'I will not die an unlived life'; Oriah Mountain Dreamer's book, 'The Call'; or Parker Palmer's book, 'Let Your Life Speak' amongst others. As you engage with their writings, notice both the similarities and differences between their stories and your own. Notice too the ways in which they have made sense of their experience. To what extent does their understanding of their journey resonate with the way you have come to understand your own?
Spend time regularly with a trusted fellow traveller exploring the story of your soul journeys with each other. Try to structure your time together in a way that ensures that each of you has enough time and space to talk freely about whatever is on your mind. And when you are listening to each other, focus primarily on simply receiving and honouring each other's stories. For as Douglas Steele put it, ‘To ‘listen’ another’s soul into a condition of disclosure and discovery may be almost the greatest service any human being ever performs for another.’
©Copyright Kaitlyn Steele 2025
Kaitlyn Steele
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