In Search of Soul Food

When I met her in Starbucks this time last year, I was struck by her quiet intelligence and the sincerity that rests in her smile. A mother of two small children, she’d recently made a conscious decision to take a break from her paid vocation and focus on what’s next. Like most, her career had been filled with success, but devoid of purpose. With that, she was clear about her intentions to join the group. It appeared she was ready to do some soul searching, so it made perfect sense the email subject line had caught her attention:

Will work for food. Soul Food.

I don’t know if I could’ve articulated why I felt these words were the right words to bring the perfect people together. Though, that’s exactly what they did. And somehow, in a naive and playful way - we both knew finding more meaningful work meant opening the window to the soul, even if we didn’t know how to talk about it over our lattes that day.

When we met today in another coffee shop across town, it became apparent how much she'd accomplished over the last nine months. She's shown up physically and emotionally and honored her intentions. Yes, it’s her intentions which have allowed her to gain the clarity she’s experiencing at this very moment. She wanted to hear her own authentic voice, which we both now know…resides in one’s soul...and can only be found by creating a clearing and listening in earnest. So, she meditated, serendipitously found a spiritual teacher, started a gratitude practice, learned to trust her intuition and look for signs, and found stillness in the practice of yoga.

And today - what started as an interest in the issue of hunger and poverty, has turned into a new business venture that will create life-changing travel opportunities for families who want to make a difference outside our borders.

Who knew the new title of the book – In Search of Soul Food – would have such a profound significance to her life’s work, and mine.