My good friend Kathy recently told me I had an old soul. She could immediately tell by the look of dismay on my face that I wasn’t complimented.
“No, no, that’s not a bad thing,” she tried to defend herself.
“It’s never a good thing when old is used to describe me,” I responded, not letting her off the hook.
Well, guess what I’ve discovered? I do have an old soul, and how do I know this? Because I took the 10 question Facebook survey and who could possibly do a more credible job of assessing my soulfulness than Mark Zuckerberg and his crew, wouldn’t you agree?
So what exactly is an old soul? I had to look this up as I’ve heard it a lot, but now that it was being applied to me, I had to know for sure. The first references I found identified an old soul as a person having learned from past incarnations, or lives. That rules me out – I didn’t learn a darn thing! Then there were words like “mature”, “wise”, “aloof”… I’m not sure I identify (or want to) with any of those words.
So when I pressed her further, she cited my love of family heirlooms, like the silver berry spoon I received from my grandma when I was 16. I was crushed when it wasn’t a David Cassidy poster, but Grandma knew what she was doing. (David Cassisdy? Geesh. Maybe I was already an old soul at 16.) David would have been off my wall within months, but I still treasure the spoon that’s 100 years old, and the memory that Grandma thought highly enough of me to entrust me with it. Or maybe it’s the hand-tatted lace my other grandma made. I sure don’t know what will ever become of it, but it has a space in my heart right now, so that’s ok.
Oh, there are other signs too, I guess. It didn’t help that in the middle of Utah, I turned to mush when Roger Whittaker came on the radio singing “The Last Farewell”, his smash hit from 1975. That’s right, while others were grooving to Neil Sedaka, The Captain and Tenille, and Minnie Riperton, I was rocking out to Roger, if you can really rock out to a ballad. (1975 was a bad music year – look it up.). In case you’ve forgotten this classic, here’s a link for your listening enjoyment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3Rl0aMtad8n.
And then there’s my love of cooking and quilting, both talents of yesteryear, but I always try to add my own contemporary spin, whether in the kitchen or at the sewing machine.
Wait – maybe it’s the scarves and pins I wear; and my love of floral patterns. Does the chain for my glasses count? Did I mention my late night love affair with Perry Mason? And black and white classic movies?
The more I think about it, I know Kathy is wrong. I might not be an old soul, I may just be old. I just don’t know and apparently, I didn’t learn enough about it in any of my past lives.
So what do you think? What makes someone an old soul? Is it a good thing or bad? Are you an old soul?
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Well, I think being an "old soul" is definitely better than being a "young soul". According to http://ageandeternity.tribe.net/thread/08118518-6f38-4dcf-a498-715155a11a27 :
YOUNG SOULS are the "Donald Trumps" of the world…the movers and shakers. They usually set the bar too high for themselves. Achievement is paramount. They chase after what they believe will bring success without ever stopping to think why – because they're so limited in their perception. They fear death and must have all the toys, experiences, fame and money they can possibly accumulate before they die.
Thanks Adrian, my old soul friend!
Don't know how I missed this earlier ~ must be the "old" in me. Old or young, Pam, you and your soul are both beautiful! 🙂
Thanks Kathy. I'm working at living young!