Yesterday, while procrastinating on Touhou Supervillain Chart, I came across dogblog.neocities.org, where it has a death survey in which you can express your thoughts about deaths as a whole. So after answering some questions, I got asked "How do you define a soul?" Usually I would reply "It's an energy substance within your body, like how it's described in spiritual phenomenons". But then I looked back at what I've achieved all my life, and thought of a different answer:

"A soul is whatever good comes out of your memory, a soul of which has an impact on others."

I consider souls actually comes from memories, it is something I can share to people, so they can carry on my memories to future lives. It's like people have always said "keeping one's spirit alive", which I think is true in this case. Sure you can say the brain actually creates memories, but do they have souls? A brain houses the memories, it is a crucial body part that determines "souls". It is important to understand the impact your memories have on people, what good coming out of it, and is it worth sharing, keeping, spreading to others, etc.

If you manage to fit the criteria, you're able to create souls.

So, why give a shit about it?

Because that question was a part of the death survey, and death looms within us, and can come to us at any moment. Death is uncertain, so we need to make memories, and give them souls. I have been able to give people fond memories, like having fun in video games, having talks that connects us, so I take this matter very seriously.

Also, I have not been a sociable person for a long time, so making great memories are rare. I think rare memories can be a curse, because it signifies my inability to have friendships for a long time, but also a blessing, because it's something I can hold on to, without having too many memories in my brain. That's how my memories have souls in them.

Will you ask yourself this question in the future?

I think writing this blog has already answered my question, and what comes next isn't thinking how souls work, but how to keep making them. Once I realized it's never too late to make good memories, it became my duty. I still stumble upon problems when meeting new friends, it's like the task has become harder post-COVID, but that won't stop me from trying.

I hope you guys understand how important memories are, and how soulful they can be to you and others. Keep making memories, don't be afraid of mishaps, it's part of life at this point.

How do you define a soul?

Btw, this whole silly paragraph was an excuse for me to code the Stack theme using my own 3-month practice knowledge. I did not cook with this one. All credits go to Jimmy.