Learning to sit in the quiet stillness and softness of the heart continues to be a daily practice and discipline that I resist & fight at every turn.
There have been many years when I wandered in the relative darkness of my ego. Always relying on my intellect, my mind. Whilst our mind has many roles to play, to live only from this place is a bone dry space to occupy. It means we live our lives rooted in fear. This manifests in different ways – distraction, denial & an unwillingness to own our shit. Even after years of Doing The Work.
The problem with living only from the mind is that we start to believe whatever story it’s telling us. Many of these stories aren’t helpful, some are simply not true – and they keep us stuck. Repeating the same patterns, behaviours & habits over and over again. The softness of the heart challenges this narrative.
It wasn’t always this way.
As a small child I was deeply creative, joyful & happy. But then I experienced significant trauma & abuse from people who were supposed to take care of me, and that deeply creative, soulful, heart centred me was buried deep under the protective layers of the intellect. It was a survival tactic.
Of course, my intellect has served me well for many years. But I don’t want to live a bone dry life. I want to live an expansive, rich, spacious, wholehearted, loving, generous life. I want to be present to my life in as many moments as I can. Even when it feels gritty, and hard and exhausting. Especially during these times.
We have become so conditioned to distracting ourselves when we feel uncomfortable. But learning to sit with discomfort – resisting the urge to do something (anything) else – is where the gold is found.
Commit to mining the gold of your life by giving yourself space to be quiet. To rest. To contemplate. To sit with. Allow yourself to sit in the softness of your heart.
