Not too long ago I was asked about the difference between the heart and the soul. My answer was actually quite simple, but feels true to me. The soul is for you and the heart is for others. Now hold on a second and hear me out on this one (I’m pretty sure I haven’t lost my mind… yet).

The soul is what makes you…well, YOU. Some would say your soul IS you… beneath the meat sack we reside in. So, google says our soul is the “immaterial, spiritual, or psychological essence of a person – comprising of their mind, will, emotions, and personality – often viewed as distinct from the physical body.” Ah hem, precisely as I said, you without the meat sack. I also said the soul was FOR you (not just that it was you). I know, I know, what do I mean. Well, what causes soul-crushing pain? Soul-crushing pain is a profound form of emotional distress which causes both physiological and psychological pain that is typically caused by significant loss or heartbreak (which the heartbreak we actually have to throw out because it originates in the heart, and we will talk about that in a minute), deep trauma and personal crisis, profound mental health struggles, and crises of self and purpose. Essentially all of our soul pain has to do with us, our feelings, our identity, and all the things that are ourselves. A great and profound wound or attack on who we are or who we think we are. So based on that analysis, anything your soul has to do with is literally you.

The heart on the other hand is what we give to others. Now, I am not saying to go rip your heart out and give that beating lump of meat to someone else, weirdo! What I am saying is that our hearts are often equated to where love, compassion, joy, gratitude, empathy, profound grief and other emotions for others originates. When we are heartbroken we feel intense, overwhelming emotional, physical, and mental distress that’s typically caused by loss, rejection, or the betrayal of a loved one. Aka, all of the things the heart feels are due to other people. The people we “gave our heart to”. Your heart doesn’t care about your identity and who you are, it doesn’t take offense to attacks against who you are. It DOES however take offense to negative things that others do to you. It also provides all of those positive emotions we like to give others that have meaning to us. So again based on the analysis, the heart only cares about others outside of ourselves, especially the ones we value most.

So again I’ll say it. Your soul is for you and your heart is for others. Just in case you were wondering…