For all this and more, I was not prepared. The paradox is that survival of soul depends on there being no immunity built up from the repeated tragedies with which we are confronted. Soul is not a concept that has much of a place in medicine. We are as uncomfortable with the idea as we are with AIDS, and suggest that it belongs to the realm of religion or perhaps the arts, but is of little concern to the trained physician. This is odd, because the dictionary suggests that the soul is the animating or vital force in mankind.
Soul is the vital force in men and women.
It is the center of feelings and imagination. If we suppress feelings or act as if the imagination is frivolous and should give way to the rational, functional imperatives of science, then we mute the soul. Soul is the vital force in everything. It is there in the sunset or the forest. It exudes from many buildings, especially old ones which were not designed rationally and functionally with cost as the ultimate arbiter.