The SOUL Exchange

May I ask...

What is (the) SOUL?

I have ideas/feelings/beliefs about what the definition of the SOUL is...but I'd like to hear it from you...anyone "listening". (i.e. please comment)

Soul.

At the core...the soul is "who we are".

Regardless of station in life, of race, color, creed, sexual preference, religion, political stance, etc.

Soul, as defined by dictionary.com:

the principle of life, feeling, thought, and action in humans, regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body, and commonly held to be separable in existence from the body; the spiritual part of humans as distinct from the physical part. ~dictionary.com

I feel our SOULS are the essence of who we are...the purest forms of body-meets-God/Universe. I also feel that SOUL transcends our human experience. "Soul" can be anything from our sense of humor, to our quiet thoughts, to our kind and generous human nature, to even the deepest darkest corners of the coldest places we go in our minds.

The most wonderful part of the soul, in my opinion, is it's ability to connect with other souls. Our relationship to our family, friends, acquaintances, teachers, mentors, co-workers, children, elderly folks, the gal at the check out stand at the store, the friendly passer by who returns a smile your way.....

What a gesture! A smile. Its a piece of your soul which you are willing to share...and more often than not, it is returned to you. Clearly there are many other ways to exchange soul.

So I ask.

What is "SOUL" to you?

And how do you share it with others???

Image: "Smile" by Dottydotcom (Deviantart.com)