WikiAnswers has a very good definition of this phrase we use to describe our actions when we suddenly find ourselves in that corner called “quarter life crisis”

• The act of facing one’s inmost self with courage, determined to bring every ulterior thought, emotion, and motive to light.

Ironically, I found the best descriptive analogy for soul searching in one powerpuff girls episode. In the cartoon, there was a monster named “white lie”, which used to be so tiny. The more the girls lied, the more the monster grew ’til it became uncontrollable.

Our individual issues (in my case, self-recrimination, ennui, restlessness and ‘proving a point’) take a backseat while we spend our energy on more important stuff like work and other people’s problems. Subsequent actions and reactions to events relating to these issues make ‘em bigger until they get strong enough to smack us in the face.

Then, we’d have to drop everything we’re doing to confront them… leading to a ’soul search’ that basically entails asking ourselves the following:

• Why? and
• What’s important?

Everybody needs to break away from the present environment, whether or not that environment exists around you or in your head. Friends and A-groups are there to help, but the more important part of confronting our demons can only be done by us, in private.

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This post was inspired in part by the the recent blog updates in Wpdesigner, ricopola, drclaire and … ok, you too, linc.