Belief & Life
I couldn't even begin to tell you the number of times I did a stupid thing as a child; much less the number of times that thing was related to some over-inflated belief. Despite this, the foundation for that belief is something I still find myself proud of.
'The ability to believe— at all', more specifically: the ability to believe, ambition to follow it and conviction to renounce it (the cycle of a belief likely has many more steps before, after and between). These key three steps however, are the experiential peaks between the valleys of discovery; valleys so navigationally complex that we are never short of examples of people so confidently lost while on the middle peak.
Nevertheless, going through this cycle as a child many times over meant I had come to believe and disbelieve in many things; though I am certain that reads sadder than it was; I once thought dubstep would change the world, it took me a tough summer to disbelieve that one. Of the things I believed in, those that felt most fulfilled [and most devastating a loss], were my beliefs in all I loved. With my expectations from them often abstracted into a singular umbrella; from a parent, support; from my siblings, my back; from a friend, enjoyment; from my jacket, protection; from my phone, connection; from my camera, the moment; and from my laptop, a world. These and many more rooted the ways I engaged with the world about me, it defined disappointment and and informed satisfaction (it is indeed weird to say people you love do or do not satisfy your belief of them). I will say, "my expectations from them..." is not the same as "my expectations of them", of which I have many, unilaterally including '1. For them to live fully and happy.' (Of the inanimate objects, it feels strange to expect for something lifeless to live, let alone be happy).
Still, I believe in all that I love. Considering that which is not [yet] alive, I have come to wonder about our definition of life as we can express it; If life can be represented only as a cycle inclusive of the transmutative phase of death a prelude to birth, then should we not consider all things within this cycle capable of life? An easy thought to agree with when we already (intuitively?) have similar considerations for what life is. I would pose however, that those born 'artificially' may be subject to this same understanding of life; defining 'birth' as 'the beginning', toward the 'transmutative death'. We note that more than expected is "capable of life", intentionally not defining everything capable of life as 'alive'.
My wallet which experiences most of each day with me preserved in a sort of ageless stasis (or slow ageing, decomposing, I guess) before we first met; stasis doesn't meet the requirements for life, it simply existed. Not too long after, the leather fixed to the shape of the usual assortment of cards, receipts, coin and AirTag I expect it to contain; I like to think this moment was it's first breath, albeit a slow and deep inwards one (as deep as the time it takes leather to fix to a new strain). Next, as an advocate for living with the things we own, the same wallet gained some marks, a loose thread or two, new folds and a cracked lining; To translate into human terms, it has passed puberty, learned to ride a bike, tried smoking and denounced clubbing as a real hobby.
Its odd, this thing now feels more alive than ever; a replica wouldn't feel like mine and a new dupe won't have my trust. So I wonder, if this wallet is alive, its ability to wear [towards death] being proof of that, then where did it gain this life? It couldn't have picked up any spare 'life' outside of the times when with me I exuded such through living. My wallet was made, then later born, though never alive, through my living it continues a life; one which will extend from its next alive partner, until it can no longer satisfy their expectation, beginning conversely the deep outwards breath (a slow and transmutative death).
Soul
Following 'death' is something intimate about the moments of (re)creation. The intertwined combination of will, intention, form and a medium's history; all soup into something independent of any one individual element. The outcome (creation) being an expression of the creator(s); and if the determination of the ingredients is connected enough, soul is impressed into it. The creation then exists in part as a mirror; infinitely reflecting the soul within, outwards.