What are Soul Bytes?

Soul Bytes are designed to let us take a moment out of our busy lives and pause for reflection on what's really important to us.  Each Soul Byte contains a brief quote, plus a few questions which allow us to apply that wisdom to our own situations.

To see the complete list of Soul Bytes, click here.

How did Soul Bytes come to be?

Soul Bytes… by Whitney Wherrett Roberson

I stopped by to see a friend at his place of work not long ago and as I was arriving at the appointed hour, I ran into him hurrying to his car. He was not, it turned out, standing me up; he was on his way to see whether the Department of Parking and Traffic officer (affectionately known as the “meter maid/man”) had targeted his work neighborhood that day. “What a hassle,” was my first thought, “to have to interrupt your work every two hours to check the parking meter.” That was my first thought….

But then, as sometimes happens, my soul wandered into the conversation: “Well, is that such a bad thing, really? To have to come up for air every few hours?”

Remember when you were a kid and the teacher would sometimes send you on an errand to another part of the school? That was never an annoyance was it? Didn’t you find yourself dawdling just a little on your way back to class, enjoying what was happening around you, in another classroom or outside on the play yard? My musings continued: “What if, instead of an annoying interruption, these breaks became little bites of time off for refreshment and pondering, opportunities to step back and look at What Is?”

I began to wonder what might happen. Maybe work would return to a more balanced place in our lives, rather than tending to define them. Maybe we’d notice the sky, or feel the wind on our faces or even hear a snatch of bird song to remind us that we’re part of Something bigger and that the “matters of importance” with which we busy ourselves are, well, meant to serve that Something bigger however we may experience it.

Ah, but many of us are not so fortunate as to have the threat of a meter maid in hot pursuit to goad us into frequent soul breaks. What to do?A recent conversation with a friend of SAW has led to our beginning to develop what we’re calling “soul bytes.” We’re experimenting with some little cards with a provocative saying, followed by a couple of questions, which can be displayed either in an out-of-way spot in an individual’s office or – for braver souls -- in some prominent place where co-workers might happen upon it and pause to muse and perhaps connect to some deeper place within or without.