A Holiday Message from The Institute for the Psychology of Eating

What a beautiful and powerful time of year this is. I hope you are easing into the holiday season and the upcoming year with grace, and with a smile. I’d love to share with you a simple story that comes down through the ages, has touched me deeply, and that I feel has a timely message.

This story comes from the mystic Jewish tradition called the Kabbalah, and it’s told something like this: Before we arrive on planet Earth, each soul spends a period of valued time in the heavenly realms with our personal guardian angel. This is a special time for sure, because our angel is charged with a most special task – our guardian angel tutors us in the mysteries of the universe, the deepest teachings of the heart, and we are informed, in detail, of all the major events we will experience in our soon-to-be incarnation on Earth.

The soul is amazed at it all, stunned by the love it feels from the creator, and the soul fully agrees to the events that will unfold in its’ new life. It rests and relaxes in the wisdom of the journey, and the beautiful way that our guardian angel has orchestrated a life that is best for our growth and evolution.

According to this ancient tale, the soul is always eager and excited to begin its new adventure.

But something happens. Just before the soul enters the womb of its earthly mother, the guardian angel informs it that the journey on Earth, and all the details of its upcoming life must be forgotten. All must be erased from memory. The soul cannot know, otherwise, it cannot truly learn.

So the angel gives the soul a gentle press on the upper lip. In some traditions, it’s said that the guardian angel gives the soul a full-on punch in the mouth. Either way, the soul falls into a stupor, enters the womb, and forgets it all. It forgets the secrets of the universe, and it forgets all the remarkably choreographed events of its upcoming life. And according to the wisdom tradition where the story comes from, all of life now becomes simply this:

A quest to remember the deepest truths that we already know, but have divinely forgotten.

The soul must learn to recognize the wisdom of its life – the pain, the suffering, the challenges, the loves, and the beauty. Even though the soul has forgotten, somewhere inside, we know the truth of who we are, and where we come from.

In this coming year, may you remember all of who you are, and all of who you are meant to be.