Soul Care Rhythms: A Year of Exploration
by Judy Ko and Laura E. Peluso
Editor’s note: Vita Poetica’s new Contemplative Practices Editor, Judy Ko, recently began a creative contemplative project with Laura Peluso. Friends for nearly a decade, Judy and Laura met in New York City, where they discovered their common passions for culture, the arts, beauty, faith, and service, among others themes. Over the years, their geographic paths diverged. Judy is now in the greater Seattle area, and Laura recently moved to the greater Miami area. But, as they write, “our thoughts and experiences persistently intersect.” In this issue, they introduce a project they recently began together, which they hope to share with the Vita Poetica community over the coming year.
It all started with a phone call.
On a late spring day, we found ourselves a continent apart, marveling at how our thoughts and experiences persistently intersect despite our separate locations and circumstances. One conversation followed another, and themes of self-care, our spiritual journey, and our creative dreams continued to appear. As self-professed “sensitive persons” with a penchant for holding anxiety, we acknowledged what a challenge it can be to pay attention to physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being when we are undergoing stress and feeling overwhelmed. But our desire to do this, and to continue growing in faith and purpose, has remained constant.
We began to imagine what it would mean to turn self-care into soul-care. What practices might allow us to discover what our souls need to thrive and grow at this stage of our lives? What is soul-care — an enticing but elusive term — and what might that look like? We decided on a commitment to spend a year exploring individually and sharing our experiences with each other along the way. As another way to anchor our exploration, we’ve offered to share pieces of our inquiry with the Vita Poetica community, in hopes that this soul-care journey might inspire others.
To begin, we have started a privately shared journal between the two of us where we’ll document our experiences through investigation, practice, discussion, and reflection. We’ll use the next four seasons, starting with summer, as a natural structure to frame our journey. And we’ll check in at the next issue of Vita Poetica to report on our explorations so far.
We invite you to follow along with us this year.
Judy & Laura
Judy Ko is interested in the intersections of faith, creativity, beauty, truth, trauma, and soul care. She received a design education from Carnegie Mellon and worked as a visual designer in Manhattan before deciding to pursue the field of therapy. She moved to the Pacific Northwest to earn a counseling psychology degree at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology. Judy is currently a Licensed Mental Health Associate working as a play therapist in the Seattle area.
Laura E. Peluso, a New England native and former New York City resident, pursues peace and comfort in mountains and oceans as enthusiastically as she searches for inspiration in the vitality of urban places. As she navigates each year’s unexpected challenges, she continues to seek – with great imperfection – a life filled with purpose and joy.
