The Power of A Path with Heart

Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself and yourself alone one question.  Does this path have heart?

For me, there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart.  There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length.  And there I travel, looking, looking, breathlessly.

- Don Juan

As I reflect upon life, I am enchanted and awed by the observation that love is at the core of our existence here on planet earth. I’m not talking rose-colored glasses here.  Love’s opposite, hatred (darkness), visits with us here on this lovely planet as well.

It’s the great paradox of life, these opposites.   How would we know light without the contrast of dark?  What do you do with this paradox? How do you reconcile that love and hate exist side by side?

While I’m not suggesting I have the “answer” to this question, or even that there is an answer, I do know how I reconcile it.  I choose to follow a path with heart.

Sure, I can be a brat at times, can’t you?  I remember at about age 19 my boyfriend saying to me “You’re not a heart person”.   I have never felt so hurt by a statement.  Even then I felt in the core of my being, though,  that it wasn’t true.  I’ve always known I’m a heart person.

Long ago I grew tired of trying to be perfect.  In fact,  perfect scares me and it’s ever so boring.  What do you think about perfection? Do you feel nurtured in the presence of perfection?  I don’t.

Being real, on the other hand,  is appealing.  Authenticity is inspiring and it feels safe emotionally. We can trust someone who’s authentic, even if it’s not what we want to hear in the moment.  Children respond to authenticity.  We respond to authenticity.  We can wrap our minds and hearts around it.

A Path With Heart

Recently I’ve been reading a book called Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken.  He talks about the fact that there are over a million organizations around the world working for human rights, social justice, and environmental causes.  Hawken points out that it’s the largest “movement” in the world,  and yet it’s largely unrecognized and unnoticed.

The groups in this movement don’t fit the standard “model” of a movement.  This movement doesn’t have a leader or one cause, yet it’s the largest social movement in human history. The movement is about what’s right in the world.

As I read, I realized Hawken is focusing on those who follow a path with heart. People from all walks of life engaged in making the world a better place. People focused upon contributing, even if it doesn’t directly improve their own lives.

Hawken recounts narratives of imagination, conviction, and vision.  He tells stories of individuals and groups who refuse to be stopped by limitation and defeatist perspectives.   He says:

Wrong is an addictive, repetitive story.  Right is where the movement is.

Hawken talks about restoration, intention, and humanity. In essence, he is talking about choice.  Hawken acknowledges our frailty and imperfections as humans.  Here is what he says about the condition of our planet:

If you look at the science that describes what is happening on earth today and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t have the correct data.  If you meet the people in this unnamed movement and aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a heart.

People all over the world are confronting despair and power, against tremendous odds, to

restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world.

Coming Home To Love

As I read Hawken,  I couldn’t help but think about restoration and heart as it applies to our personal relationships.

A path with heart begins with our personal relationships. It’s wonderful to care about animals, the environment, and social justice.  Yet, if we are treating ourselves and those closest to us in a manner which lacks heart, we are “missing the boat”.

Love begins at home.

If you’ve been reading Best Relationships Ever you know it’s about restoring your belief in love and life.  This blog is about restoration. 

A path with heart is a path in which you choose love, even when you’ve had experiences that are painful.  You find a way to maintain your ability to feel. You choose to thaw your heart and begin anew.

You choose to feel.  A path with heart requires courage.

Youth loves openly and with innocence. The experience of loss is missing.   Later, when you’ve known loss, love requires you to re-frame your experience if you are to remain open to love.  Choice is the key that unlocks the door of love. We are so free we get to choose our perspective.

Hawken tells us about those who choose to

…move away from the profane and toward connection…though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice.

How does this apply to love relationships?   Connection with others requires an open heart.  Our own inner voice and the voice of those around us who have lost their belief in love causes discouragement.  We get caught up in the addictive repetitive story of what’s wrong in love.

It’s the voice that begins with “All men are…”  All women are…”.  The voice that tells you not to believe in love.  It is through this voice that you may become trapped in unhappiness, not realizing that it’s a self-created disillusionment of your own making. And it’s simply not the truth.  It’s a false perspective, yet your life flows in the direction of your perspective.

The truth is love abounds and is all around us.   It is my intention to demonstrate the abundance of love and help you find your way to love, in all its myriad forms. There is no end to the love you can experience.  (I’ve almost completed a gift I’ll be passing your way about how to increase the love in your life dramatically).

Unlike the young person who doesn’t know loss and enters love blindly, the adult has known the pain of imperfect love.  We then have a choice.  We can be like “the fool” and choose to enter the new with an open heart and a soulfulness or we can become disillusioned and bitter about love and life. The Fool

The fool enters with eyes wide open and remains a lover of life.  The fool can teach us a thing or two about love.  The fool has a fierce courage.  And make no mistake, the fool is discerning.  Yet, the fool chooses to love.

Some look at the fool and say, well…you know what they say…what a fool!   And, again, we face paradox.  The fool is the wisest among us.

The Sacredness of Choosing Love

Hawken addresses restoration of the sacred in life.  Sacred is different from moralism and imposing our own values upon others.

The sacred is pure of heart and uplifting.  Yet, I believe it contains “the wild” as well.  We can never predict where the path with heart will lead us.  The sacred, as it applies to love, cannot be tamed (put in a neat box that someone else defines for us).  It is in the realm of the untamed.

We have the freedom to love as we will.

Real freedom, while not moralistic, always considers the impact upon others.   Freedom encompasses diversity and individuality, an allowing of the blossoming of love and the following of the path of heart as each sees fit.

How Do You Live A Path with Heart?

Let it be said about me that I loved too much rather than not enough.  May it be said that I have the heart of a fool.  Let it be said that I have followed a path with heart.

I’d love to hear about your experiences of following a path with heart.  How do you dance with love and life?

Love washes over us and soothes and nourishes our souls.  We are love.  And love is where true power lies.

Be well, and may you experience the best relationships ever.  I’m glad our paths of heart have converged.

Photo Credit: oedipusphinx