I was deeply saddened to learn that Father Paul Keenan passed away today, June 10, 2008 -- three days before his 62nd Birthday. He has been a dear friend and wise and compassionate columnist for Soulful Living for six years. Father Paul was a generous, loving soul who always had a kind, healing word of encouragement to share. He will be deeply missed.

As he wrote in his final column for SoulfulLiving.com, Celebration of Life, life is for celebrating. So let us celebrate and remember his soulful life, which he devoted to God and helping others, through his service as a Catholic priest for over 30 years, and through his radio ministry and his many books.

Father Paul was a great light in our lives. And his work and legacy live on in the many people he has inspired. We grieve, yet we know he is in Heaven, smiling upon us.

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Over the last year, I’ve had great fun designing and developing a new logo identity for SoulfulLiving.com. What was most important to me during the design process was to create a logo that speaks to the heart, mind and soul and deeply conveys the meaning of what soulful living is all about. I am very pleased with the results. The butterfly has always been a very meaningful symbol in my life. It represents "freedom," "change," "transition," and "rebirth." This new butterfly logo has also been incorporated into the logo of this Soulful Living Community, as well as our Daily Soul Retreat Newsletter.

Some thoughts on my creative inspiration...

My father was a very soulful man and a great inspiration to me. He passed away in 1998. He was an artist, illustrator and graphic designer, who enjoyed his work so much, that a five-hour client project would receive days, weeks, even months of attention and nurturing. His last graphic design project, shortly before his death, was for a bromeliad nursery client. He’d been working for weeks on a package design logo for a new "forever-blooming" plant collection. As an artist, my father was very fond of symbols and their meanings. He had incorporated one of his favorites, the infinity symbol, into this logo design. I remember seeing the joy on his face, for days and nights, as he sat at his drawing board, pondering the infinite number of wondrous design possibilities... A glimpse, perhaps of infinite, Eternal Life.

I often ask my father for his guidance while I am designing logos. I like to think of this butterfly as a gift from my dad, as it was delivered to my consciousness upon asking him for his divine guidance in prayer. I immediately discovered how the initials of Soulful Living – “sl” – when placed back to back – “slls” – create the shape of a stylized butterfly. The two “l”s form the butterfly’s body and the two “s”s form its wings! I know my father would be very pleased with the symbolic significance of this logo in my life.

Tags: Divine Inspiration Creative Butterfly Soulful Transition Change

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While I was growing up, my father often said, “The Truth cannot be told.” This was one of his favorite expressions, and it brought me to one of my own: “Your Truth cannot be told.” Why not? you ask, and I reply, Because our Truth is our Highest Good, our Heart, our authentic inner knowing. It is unique to each of us. It is our special gift, our Light, the reason we are here. Our Truth is not a Truth that “can be told” to us by another. It is a Truth that we each must find for ourselves.

Several months after my father’s death, I heard my own Truth—the wisdom in my Heart—calling me. I found myself spending every free moment, day and night, dreaming of and creating a web site community focused on spirituality and personal growth. It was to be called SoulfulLiving.com. My soul had been “called.” It was one of those things that I knew I could not not do.

Two years later, my mother suffered a very serious stroke and died eight months later. It was at this time that it became clear to me that life is too short to do anything less in life than what you are most passionate about. I found the courage to leave my full-time job, an eight-year career in marketing and public relations in the shopping center industry, and devote myself full-time to SoulfulLiving.com.

It hasn’t always been a smooth journey. There were times when people close to me were critical of the work I’ve chosen to do. They said I was crazy for leaving my comfortable, stable career, and I have to admit it: sometimes I allowed their suggestions to get under my skin and invade my psyche. I am still growing and gaining wisdom, however, and now I understand that it has been those very criticisms that helped me to gain the firm conviction that I am doing exactly the work I was put here on earth to do. I know deeply in my Heart that I am living my Truth. SoulfulLiving.com is my special purpose—my gift, my Light.

Remember that your Heart—your Truth—will never lead you astray. Let the Light of your Heart guide your way!

Tags: Truth Heart Trust Light Universe Personal Growth Soulful

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Hi, I'm the founder and soul of SoulfulLiving.com and I'm very excited to finally be launching this new community at SoulfulLiving.com! Bringing a community element to the website -- where like-minded spiritual people can meet and mingle -- has been in my heart since the day I launched SoulfulLiving.com in January 2000. I hope you enjoy being part of this new community. Thank you so much for visiting. I look forward to meeting you!

Tags: Soulful Community Spiritual People

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