“The Soul has its principal seat in the small gland located in the middle of the brain.”
The Passions of the Soul; 1649 by Rene’ Descartes

His name is Paul, a talented actor, currently rehearsing for Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya”. As he rehearses, he finds himself so impassioned with the characters and roles he plays, that he has trouble disassociating himself from the character after the scene is done.

“You see, I’m a mad man – so I’m not responsible. I can say whatever I wish. What am I gonna do?? Give me something! My god, man, I’m forty-seven years old! If I live to be sixty, I would have to live another thirteen years! How can I do that? How can I stand that?

You see, I have nothing to do with those years, you see … nothing. If I could just live what’s left, in a different way. Just to wake up on a quiet morning and feel this … This is a new day! Forget the past. It’s gone, blown away. Begin a new life.”

Finishing the rehearsal, Paul’s mind and spirit have become a tangled mass of emotions and doesn’t know where to turn. In his despair, he decides to go home and tries to sleep.

While resting at home, a colleague calls to encourage Paul. He also tells him about an article in The New Yorker, titled “Soul Storage”, where a procedural clinic physically removes, or extracts, one’s soul from their body in order to lighten life’s burdens.

Curious, Paul decides to visit the clinic. On visiting the clinic, he is told about “the soul”, and its description, “like “gray matter or clouds”.

After being informed about soul extraction, Paul fearfully, but hopefully, decides to go ahead, with the soul extraction.

Initially, he did not want to see his “soul” after the extraction. But when he did see it, alone, in a small glass jar, he described it as a “chickpea”! Saddened for what his soul looked like and distressed for his own malaise, he had his soul stored in the clinic, and leaves with only 5 percent of his soul remaining in his body.

But with only 5 percent of a soul, his life begins to fall apart; he now has trouble communicating lovingly with his wife. He is also insensitive to others. But he does not yet choose to have his soul back.

But later, after changing his mind about himself, he decides he wants to have his soul returned. But unfortunately, he learns from the clinic, that his soul was stolen by a Russian “mule” who sold it to a Russian woman.

All of a sudden, the search for Paul’s soul, was now the ground, on which he would find understanding about himself and his own soul. It would also be the door, to reach out to others, regarding honoring and nurturing their own soul …. to be able to care, for all of life.

A delightful movie worth watching. And Paul Giamatti, as always, is wonderful.

For the Support of Your Life
For the Many Sides of Life

The thought and intentions expressed in The Conversant Counselor’s Blog are those belonging to Paulette Jackson lpc-mhsp and do not necessarily reflect those of any other professional or individual.

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