Quote of the day: “If you knew that your life was merely a phase or short, short segment of your entire existence, how would you live? Knowing nothing ‘real’ was at risk, what would you do? You’d live a gigantic, bold, fun, dazzling life. You know you would. That’s what the ghosts want us to do – all the exciting things they no longer can.” — Chuck Palahniuk
Following my heart
September was a month of
- daily walks with camera
- playing with and learning about my new iPhone and taking LOTS of photos with it (like the one above)
- a wonderful birthday celebration
- traveling to see family and reconnect with my dear cousin and best friend from childhood
- surprising myself by committing to my dream of spending 4-6 months living in Hawaii this winter.
Mostly it was a time of focusing on following my heart and overcoming fears and lack of trust.
I did it! I booked plane tickets to Hawaii before I knew for sure how I was going to make it all work. Instead of making a lot of excuses about why I couldn’t do it, I took a leap and decided to trust that it will all come together in a way that is perfect.
And, it has come together in surprisingly wonderful ways.
Funny thing about learning to follow my heart—I get to have lots of close encounters with my fear, lack of trust, and all the other prevailing attitudes of our culture.
The good news is that the longer I am away from the corporate world, the more I see how I closed down my heart to survive there. I am getting better and better at keeping an open heart.
I was reminded of this in church last Sunday when the minister spoke about living with an open heart. He said that we live in a world that disorders our heart and shuts it down. This is unfortunate, because our heart is the center of our Selves.
I believe that living fully means living with an open heart. It’s not easy to live with an open heart and be in the world. Some of the ways that I am flipping the script and opening my heart are:
- Asking for help instead of believing I need to go it alone.
- Living in awe and gratitude and believing that everything is a gift, instead of believing that I am entitled to everything I have or want.
- Acknowledging that everyone is a living, breathing miracle of uniqueness instead of labeling people and believing in a one-dimensional view of them.
- Choosing to feel love and gratitude instead of fear and scarcity.
In the end the questions that matter are, “How well did you love? How fully did you live? How deeply did you let go?”
Follow Your Heart
11 Comments
indigojanson · October 2, 2012 at 9:18 am
What an uplifting post — and the perfect image to accompany it! I look forward to exploring more of your blog, Marilyn. And ‘beauty is everywhere’ is a wonderful thing for any of us to keep in mind, especially those of us who create.
rakusribut · October 2, 2012 at 7:46 pm
wonderful image… very inviting, makes me want to walk down that road for sure :-()
Mary C. Nasser · October 4, 2012 at 9:44 pm
Beautiful photography!
And I love the question you ask at the beginning of this post…
about the ghosts wanting us to do something exciting! Such an intriguing idea!
Wishing you all the best,
Mary (from September Photo-Heart Connection)
Becs · October 5, 2012 at 9:55 am
Beautiful image and love your post. How fabulous to spending time in Hawaii and well done for taking the leap in spite of any fears.
Sandra · October 5, 2012 at 1:22 pm
Good for you for following your heart! The sunsets in Hawaii are stupendous so I am told! You have not only followed your heart in this post, you have also bared your heart. It’s amazing how many expressions we have which include the word ‘heart’. It really is the centre from which all emanates, is it not?
Good wishes to you, Sandra
Sherry Galey · October 6, 2012 at 4:02 am
I really loved this post. I relate strongly to what you say and how you have chosen to live. There are definite parallels in my journey. Keep your heart open even though it’s not always easy. Don’t let the music die in you…Wishing you a wonderful sojourn in Hawaii.
Elsie · October 6, 2012 at 5:30 pm
Love your photo and text, both are great, thanks for sharing.
Bo Mackison · October 6, 2012 at 10:26 pm
ahhhh. wonderful!
Zena (healingmoments) · October 8, 2012 at 8:05 pm
Wonderful image and powerful post, love your insight and relate strongly to what you say. Thanks for sharing
Kat Sloma · October 14, 2012 at 5:27 pm
An amazing Photo-Heart Connection this month! It is a scary and yet powerful thing to open your heart, to let go of control, and follow your dreams to new places. What you are doing is inspiring. I look forward to seeing what following your heart to Hawaii brings. It will be amazing!
Following my heart…Even though I have no idea where it’s going | Bibs & Baubles · November 7, 2013 at 1:55 pm
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