On A Different Kind of Feast

The ultimate lie we tell ourselves is not that there is no food, but that the soul isn’t hungry.

I’ve heard this saying in one of the talks of a person I couldn’t love and admire more, Jack Kornfield. His Buddhist psychology teachings – or Dharma talks – have changed my life.

I think about this specific quote often.

I think about the lies I successfully – and sometimes even proudly – tell myself.

I think about what my soul is hungry for.

I wonder what it would tell me if I’m being more still.

(I also fear I won’t have the courage to follow up)

But I think there are seasons when the price of not listening becomes too high, or maybe the conditions for listening become ripe, not necessarily for the coolest reasons.

Maybe this end of the year is such an opportunity for you.
Maybe it’s something you’d like to create for yourself.

As someone whose journey of learning to address her own needs has been, I’d say, ridiculously long (and not finished yet!), I’ve been asking myself this question increasingly more often in the past years, and it’s time to share it with you. It’s also a question that implies the possibility of engaging in something therapeutic and potentially healing when the world seems to be on fire, without some free pass to avoid putting effort into putting those fires out (I don’t think political action can be replaced by, let’s say, a soul-nourishing dancing experience — but it can be complemented by it).

So, what is YOUR soul hungry for?

Is it more community, more openness, more meaning, more solitude, more realness, more collective political action, more learning, more healing, more self-compassion?

What is it that your soul craves for?

(Or perhaps it’s burning away certain aspects of how life has been recently)

I hope you take a moment to reflect. I hope it brings you somewhere beyond the obvious. I hope your shoulders drop as your body validates the answer(s).

I hope, if you are privileged enough to set a big table for the end-of-year holidays, you don’t exclude your soul from the list of who’s invited.

Stay strong but keep your heart open ❤️

Justina

PS. Find the political work that I mention so often here.

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See my latest pieces here:

The Fires, The Multiple Fires

“Let everything burn, except your desire to fight” – my year started with this writing that I saw in a beautiful graffiti project. It turns out, no matter how lovely this metaphor, the process itself can be quite heavy. And if your end of year doesn’t feel necessarily light, my piece is definitely for you.

December 17, 2025