The Story Behind The Soul Award

The idea was born one day in August 2016, when I learned about a thirteen year old boy from Egypt who crossed the Mediterranean alone, reached Italy, and asked for medical help for his younger brother.

At that time in my own life, I had almost lost the strength to continue. His story reached me across the distance. It reminded me that one person’s courage can become another person’s reason to rise.

Almost one year later, outside an operating room, after long hours of waiting and endless prayers for my sister, I felt that I had to create something she could always keep beside her. Something that would remind her that she had come through hardship physically and emotionally stronger.

Because words, for me, are not simply letters placed side by side on paper. They are the imprint of the soul upon matter.

I searched for the words that could express the thank you and the well done I wanted to offer.

And so, I gave it the name The Soul Award.

I was raised by a father whom everyone called “Ψυχή”, the Greek word for Soul. And yes, this is what I wanted to offer to others. A distinction of Soul.

My parents and my homeland, Greece, taught me that the Soul is an enduring force. It brings together physical strength, reason, and emotion into one powerful energy in the pursuit of a fair and noble purpose.

Every day, across the world, people I may never meet accomplish small and great achievements of the soul.

I feel the need to meet them, shake their hand, and say:

Thank you for being here. Well done for the strength of your soul.

Well done to you who overcame illness and healed both body and soul.

To you who found the strength to forgive yourself and those who hurt, wronged, or betrayed you.

To you who raise your children through effort and sacrifice.

To you who build a home in a new country.

To you whose grief brought you closer to life.

To you who fight depression, addiction, fear, or insecurity.

To you who offer help wherever it is needed.

To you who teach and share knowledge.

To you who heal wounds.

To you who fall and rise again.

To you who bravely overcome your fears and insecurities.

To you who, through every idea and every action, offer something good to humanity.

I created The Soul Award for all of us who deserve to hear thank you and well done.

I placed the words The Soul Award upon it so that they may remind us, every day, how important it is to recognize ourselves and one another.

To share our stories.

To draw strength from them.

And to keep our eyes on the good, the noble, and the greatness of the human soul.

Demetra Papamechalopoulou
Founder of The Soul Award