Did Your Soul Choose This Life Before You Were Born? With Robert Atkinson, PhD – #744

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In this episode:

Did your soul choose this life—and its challenges—before you were born? Join Julie Ryan and developmental psychologist Robert Atkinson, PhD, as they explore pre-birth planning, destiny, déjà vu, and how ancient myths reveal the deeper purpose behind your life’s journey. Through powerful spiritual stories and folklore— including tales of souls receiving their life path before birth—they explore whether experiences like déjà vu may be echoes of a greater design meant to guide our growth and awakening.

This episode dives into myths and sacred stories not as literal history, but as profound psychological and spiritual maps. Dr. Atkinson reveals how timeless narratives—from Jonah and the whale to Gilgamesh and Odysseus—share a universal structure rooted in Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, offering a blueprint for transformation that transcends culture and time. These stories, he explains, are invitations to wholeness—calling us to face trials, claim meaning, and evolve beyond duality.

Together, Julie and Dr. Atkinson explore how imagination, community, meditation, prayer, and spiritual guidance help us interpret these stories in a modern world overflowing with information but starving for wisdom. This rich conversation will change how you view your life story—inviting you to see your challenges not as obstacles, but as sacred signposts guiding you toward purpose, unity, and deeper consciousness.

Guest Biography:

Robert Atkinson, PhD, is an award-winning author, educator, and developmental psychologist whose work bridges storytelling, personal transformation, and the evolution of consciousness. He is the author or co-editor of more than a dozen influential books, including The Way of Unity: Essential Principles and Preconditions for Peace (2025), A New Story of Wholeness, The Story of Our Time, Year of Living Deeply, and Mystic Journey, earning multiple Gold and Silver Nautilus Book Awards for his contributions to unitive and evolutionary thought. Dr. Atkinson holds a PhD in cross-cultural human development from the University of Pennsylvania with a postdoctoral fellowship from the University of Chicago, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern Maine, and is internationally recognized for his pioneering work in life story interviewing, personal myth-making, and soul-centered development. He is the director of StoryCommons, founder of One Planet Peace Forum, a member of the Evolutionary Leaders Circle, and a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award as a Visionary Leader from the Visioneers International Network.

📣Robert Atkinson’s Website:

➡️https://www.robertatkinson.net/

Episode Chapters:

(0:00:01) – Soul’s Purpose and Life’s Journey

Soul’s pre-birth choices, life’s purpose, spiritual memory, and greater design explored in intersection of spirituality and psychology.

(0:12:24) – The Power of Myths and Legends

Myths, legends, and sacred stories are not falsehoods, but guides for transformation, with auniversal pattern seen in stories like Jonah, Gilgamesh, and Odysseus.

(0:26:42) – The Power of Stories and Imagination

Stories, myths, and legends shape human consciousness and culture, evolving through generations and fostering imagination and connection.

(0:37:23) – The Power of Parables and Healing

– Personal journey into philosophy, mythology, and comparative religion sparked by childhood experiences.

– Pursuit of truth and understanding as a human obligation.

– Importance of seeking truth in today’s landscape of disinformation.

– Biblical stories as parables conveying deeper truths through familiar narratives.

– Using imagination and community resources to uncover their meanings.

(0:55:43) – The Path to Wholeness

Nature’s call to wholeness involves challenges, meditation, and action, with guidance from spiritual entities and human free will.