A very good friend a few years back, looked me in the eye and said “Jason, you’re an old soul.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. I had never heard of old souls before. I asked him what he meant. To which he responded, “Old souls are someone that has clearly lived on this Earth much longer than others. You are able to do things with ease that other people cannot even understand. Also, you are able to relate to others in ways that you shouldn’t be able to.”
My curiosity was sparked. I decided to look more into this ‘old soul’ thing, finding that there is a common philosophy around it. It is generally perceived that old souls are those that have been here through many lives and experienced a lot. There are many that believe that old souls:
- Have a subconscious understanding of the world around them and are connected on a level that many others are not.
- Realize that the pursuit of happiness is not through wealth or fame, but rather through the betterment of those around them and society.
- Are able to cope with the idea of patience, though it may not be something they desire.
- Are able to see the bigger picture in life and how each life can touch the world around them, even if it’s only on a small scale
New souls have been generally perceived as ignorant or lacking common sense, basically… they require more experience in life before they will seem truly fitting into the world around them.
Now, this all raised an interesting question to me. What about everyone else around you. What about those with brain damage, or Downs syndrome, Autism, schizophrenia or any other mental disorder? What do we make of them? What purpose do they serve in this great scheme, if in fact there are old souls and new souls?
As I see it, there are two possibilities. Keep in mind, I’m theorizing, obviously none of this can be proved. But…
- What if those that have Downs, are mentally and emotionally young, or even schizophrenic are actually old souls… but perhaps the barriers that separate those lives have broken down. Perhaps they have actually lived so many lives that conflict with one another that they have literally lost their mind? Imploded in on themselves?
- And… what if those with autism are actually the opposite of that? What if they have built up such strong barriers between the lives they’ve lived, that only the smallest of stimuli can reach them? Music, art, math, a pattern… something along those lines. One tiny fracture in their brick wall that has been erected around them to protect them from all of the massive knowledge they posses.
I suppose… we will never really know, and can only speculate. But there is so much of our existence that we don’t understand. It’s completely possible to be curious about “what if”.