When I met Eduardo, he was looking once again for his heart. He was beginning a spiritual search for love. No longer was he caught up in all the things that he once wanted, but instead, he was immune to wanting anything at all. Indeed, he could barely tell, from day to day, what he really wanted. His wanting had turned to numbness.

This is the way that it happens, sometimes, with the healing of a soul. What was once excess in one direction becomes lack in the opposite direction. The soul, in its wisdom, knows what kind of healing is needed and proceeds at its own pace to institute it.

Nevertheless, this beautiful soul could not easily find his heart though he looked for it. Mostly, he felt nothing. The path of return emerged out of this nothingness. It was the path of longing to be alive once more. The path of longing for love. As he experienced the pain of being closed down, the desire grew in him to open up.

This was the beginning of his true story - the story of the path of return.

Julie Redstone is a teacher, writer, and founder of Light Omega, a center for spiritual teaching and healing in Western Massachusetts. "Soul Stories" can be found within two blogs of hers for spiritual awakening - The Essentials of Purification - Understanding Life in a Changing World from which the above story is drawn, and The Art of Being Present - Experiencing the Divine in the Ordinary.