Paris Hilton is an extremely important figure in American culture; her significance is related to soulfulness and soul is connected to weight loss. (Read my recent article on Hoarding and Soul in the March 18 issue).

How can Paris save your soul? Think about it this way. Paris Hilton is the polar opposite of soul. She is the supreme example of vacuity. Vacuity is here defined as “A total absence of matter, ideas and emptiness of mind.” Soul, on the other hand, is defined as “having depth, meaning, related to our vital core, inner truth and that which connects us to life and to God or Spirit.”

Wherever Paris goes, whatever Paris does, soul is absent. If you want to know how to find soul, first find Paris, and then go in the opposite direction. Paris lives a life completely on the surface. She is famous for being famous, not for substance of any kind or quality.

Why am I picking on poor Paris? Because she has become a symbol of what is missing in our culture and this loss is taking a terrible toll on our lives and our bodies. Besides, she will probably be happy that she was mentioned in an Internet column. To her, all publicity is good publicity –another typically soulless attitude.

The scary part is that Paris is popular. Simply translated, this means that emptiness of mind and values is popular. America finds Paris interesting. What does this say about America? It says that we have lost touch with our soulfulness. If Paris were here, she might ask, “So what? What is this big deal about soul? I listen to rap music.”

I would not expect Paris to understand, but I do think you (the reader) will. A soul-less life is a life of deep deprivation of all the things that give us meaning, real satisfaction, authenticity, direction and ultimately joy. Without soul we suffer. Alot. Without some awareness of the source of our suffering we (as the Don Henley song says) “follow the wrong gods home”.

What are the “wrong gods”? Addictive substances and behaviors of all kinds…especially food — comfort food. The formula is so simple it is almost invisible. We lose touch with our deep connection to self and to life. This loss produces pain. We search for the quickest solution (this is America, right?) to our pain. Thus we eat, we spend, we smoke, we drink, we drug, we gamble to excess and then, as soon as the quick fix wears off, we suffer again.

Without a clear awareness of this “formula for addiction,” we weight gainers are doomed to live out the cycle of gain, lose, and gain again.

Paris might ask (if she tragically gained 5 pounds), “What is the fastest solution for this problem? I have a photo shoot in 3 days.”

The answer is the exact opposite of what Paris is looking for. Soulfulness is not speedy. But, neither is healthy weight loss. Successful, long-term weight loss requires meaningful internal and external changes and an on-going search for and expression of soulfulness.

Do you want more soulfulness in your life? Then think first about Paris and do the opposite. You will be moving in the right direction.

[Ed. note: Dr. Matthew Anderson is an author (The Prayer Diet), counselor and national columnist/expert on weight loss, motivation, self-management and relationships. To find tough-minded, outside-the-box guidance for taking charge of your life and/or your weight including Eating to Kill, click here.]

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