"Dear Heart, I Will Open You Up Again"

Every moment, we can open up our heart. I find there are so many things these days that keep people all closed up. Past hurt that hasn't had space to heal. Or simply the fear of facing the vulnerability of opening up our heart, because its a wild thing, you know. We don't always know what to expect until we actually let go.

Many of us learn to run away from pain- out of fear or simply habit. But mostly fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of "What will they, the critics, think?" But our judgement of labeling our pain as "bad" or unattractive or something that makes us less worthy of love and belonging, is exactly what gets in the way of experiencing joy, love and belonging.

So what we need to do is let go of the judgement and surrender to who we are. To what is. That is the most beautiful thing. We need to flip the coin and take every opportunity to open up to our present experience, especially in a world that is obsessed with more. As if we need more of something else to be happy.

There is nothing more worthy and available to bring us happiness and fulfillment than this present moment.

The problem with a constant chase to have more is that we lose sight of what is available to us right now. We miss the magic of what we already have. We miss out on the opportunity to be grateful for it. I'm coming to terms, time and time again, that no matter how much we plan and predict, we can create goals for the sake of focus and direction, but we don't how it will all play out. The future is so unknown.

There is only now. This moment. How we feel now. And with the embracing of it, we unfold into the future from our present state.

When we find the happiness now, we don't have any need to control the future because we have not put our happiness in it. Our happiness is now. And from this place, the future has no choice but to also unfold in happiness.

As many of you know, I've been a huge fan of Brené Brown. Both her books, "The Gifts of Imperfection" and "Daring Greatly" I've read multiple times. And recently took a course this past January covering all of her research and what has emerged as essential for us to feel connection and meaning in our lives. It's absolutely changed my life. And also keeps me coming back to what I realize is important. 

We need to see ourselves as unconditionally worthy and enough, no matter what happens or what our circumstances are. Job or no job, more money or less money, boyfriend or no boyfriend. We need to see that yes, we are all "Imperfect and wired for struggle, but worthy of love and belonging" at every point throughout the journey.

Worthy of love and belonging now, no matter what. We need to be okay with where we are now so that we can see that its an opportunity and its beautiful and its enough. It's an opportunity to grow and learn about love. 

It's saying, "This is the way I feel and it's okay. This is what I'm doing, this is what I have and its enough. I am enough, just the way I am."

We came to this earth to love and be happy and drink up life experience and love ourselves no matter what. This realization that our worthiness has no prerequisites has completely impacted the way I live my life. Because it allows us to be more present with who we are and the love we can feel in this moment if we choose to open our hearts up. No matter what we've been through, we can always learn to open up again. In fact, we might just have to. 

A Poem For Healing Hearts

When the darkness has set,

and you're all alone,

when the pain fires up,

right to your bone

When the corners are tight,

and the walls crumble down,

be kind to yourself,

it's not a fight

Love your pain, 

because it will go,

love your pain,

because you're more than you know

   Move with it like its a luscious wave,
     Yes, salt in your eyes and balancing tall,

                  But you'll find your stand,

                         Even if you fall

                                                                         Just get back up with compassionate arms,

                                                                                Yes, there will be another.

                                                                          More sparkling eyes looking into souls,

                                                                         More deep kisses against warm skin,

                                                                         It's the law of nature,

                                                                            And your journey to find the love within.

Stop Playing Safe.

Safety. We love it. Our schedules and routines help us stay comfortable. And the people who don't want to grow will remind us that we "should" just do the right thing and follow the path of A B C.

But honestly, fuck that.

There are different ways to find our happiness and purpose and live our passion. One comfy formula doesn't work for many of us. Many of us dream of traveling off the beaten path, yet we rationalize and delay the very impulses that remind us of our aliveness. 

There are so many ways to build a successful career, meet awesome people, feel good and become educated. If we are going to be ourselves and live our unique lives, then we need to be willing to find the journey that speaks to our intuition. 

And following this calling with relentless passion and persistence. Yes, I mean doing the thing that scares you. It's the only way we grow.

When we open up to seeing that there are different ways to do things and become successful, and that the very definition of success is up to us, we give ourselves permission to dream.

How can we possibly dream if the way we see our path is limited and we don't see the many possibilities?

Each of us has a different journey and if we look at many leaders, entrepreneurs and people who are successful, we can observe so many different formulas. Going to university, college, getting a certification, starting a business, traveling, starting a blog/YouTube channel, getting certified, reading, therapy, mentoring, life coaching- these are all tools that leverage our experience and skills base so that we can work and live in what is aligned with our values.

There is not one item on this list, or combination that is "right." Instead of comparing our path to others or making choices according to what we think is the easy path, lets define success and our path to it on our own terms. This applies to every area of our lives.

Do something dangerous. Do something outside the box. Think outside the box. It doesn't mean we necessarily need to go out and backpack around the world (although this is one pretty awesome way) or run a marathon or make a million. Our risks may mean thinking differently, we can do little things, take things one step at a time, whatever your adventure calls you to do.

What matters at the end of the day is that we are growing, opening up and coming alive to the possibilities around us and love within us. So whatever your blueprint, definition or journey is, however you go about igniting your spirit, own that.