Comfortable

I'm taking a class right now, and we're discussing the place of soul in education. And it made me think about my own soul, in the place of my own education.
I define my own education as all of the things that have taught me something. In and out of a classroom. And most recently, my education has taken the form of soul-education. A combining of soul growth, and learning that is linked and entwined in ways I never thought possible, and now can never imagine apart.

Does soul have a place in our world anymore? It has been stripped down to something so much less than it is. I was talking to some friends today about how I've come to see the interconnectedness of everything, world, nature, society, person. And the disconnect that I experience is when I most notice the soul. Shouldn't it be the other way around: shouldn't I see the soul, the spirit, when I am most connected to those things around me?

I think about a good friend that I am no longer "good" friends with. The connection was intimate in a soul way; deep and spiritual rather than physical. I say that because so often the physical is temporary, instantaneous, rather than lasting. And to confuse them is to misunderstand the connection. I am having coffee with this friend this week, whom I haven't seen in nearly a year. And I realize the intimacy not when it was there (past tense) but now that it is not there (present tense). And this affects my soul more than when we were.

How do I even understand "soul?" Is it the same as you do? We may define, describe, speak of, this abstract object in the same way, but is my experience even something relatable to another person? Would my good friend, who touched my soul, who still touches my soul, who with just the thought of their name can bring tears of joy and grief and loss and love to my heart, would they even say I was a soul friend of theirs?

What is the meaning of soul?

I'm so much more comfortable with not knowing, remaining unknown, than I was even a year ago. I still long for those things. But I think I'm learning that the idea is one I need more time with.