We hear about lost souls…but are we ever quite sure what that means. Mostly, it appears directed to those either without a sense of purpose (whatever that might be) or to wanderers – people wandering from job to job, partner to partner, enthusiasm to enthusiasm – without an anchor to place or people.
Other times it refers to those seeking some spiritual or religious anchor while occasionally it applies to those of us who have lost any or all beliefs in something we once held dear.
For many it may just be a phase – teens stop believing in what their parents do, others so outraged by natural disasters such as famines, floods and warring tribes that they stop believing in anything until they find an outlet for their anger…but for the majority of lost souls the dictionary definition of a lonely and unhappy person fits the bill.
Often a lost soul will gravitate towards another, they will find and seize on the similarities just as Nancy Spungen and Sid Vicious did all those years ago when punk was alive and kicking. They lived fast and their end if not inevitable, was not a total surprise. In spite of her loss and and anger, Deborah Spungen, Nancy’s mother understood what they were about and what happened.
“They were two lost souls who had found each other. Their relationship came out of their inability to find what they wanted in the outside world. They were on the same wavelength. Both were troubled and angry but… they cared for each other and to them, what they had for each other, was genuine love”.
Hopefully, not a word to be found in the current vocabulary of a lost soul, life isn’t often that extreme and for many this phase may pass with a little help, a smattering of love or a spot of re-wiring of the brain and emotions, either on a personal or professional basis.