Taking Off Our Blinders

Do you ever find yourself so attached to getting to the goal, crossing the finish line, or reaching the end of something that by the time you finally get to where it is you were headed, you realize that you missed out on most of the journey? The place I notice this a lot in myself is when I’m on my bicycle – I’m so single-sighted about getting up that crazy long hill, making it back before the rain starts, or finishing that last 15 miles that I don’t realize I’ve missed a beautiful patch of wild flowers or passed by a breath-taking view of the local landscape.  And that’s just on one ride!  What about all of life?  Why are we so good at pointing ourselves forward and then, without even realizing it, donning a type of blinders that has us miss much of our existence?

I imagine we can chalk some of it up to the rushed pace with which we live our lives, but I believe that many of us have also become way too accustomed to an awe-less kind of life.  We've set ourselves on a type of autopilot that keeps us on the middle road – a term that the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines in relation to music as “tuneful but somewhat bland and unadventurous” – a place where we know where we’re going, but we don’t tune into the amazingness of where we are.   Can you relate?  

Many of us are going through life with our vision set on satisfactory or acceptable without even realizing that there are points along the dial such as mind-blowing, passionate, or miraculous.  These settings are the ones that can see the gorgeous sunset, feel the joy of a baby’s giggle, and touch the tenderness of someone’s grief.   These are the settings that shift us away from the destination and into our journey! 

Today, I invite you into your life travels with your heart set on    experiencing instead of

accomplishing, with your blinders off and your focus set on capturing all the wonder that surrounds you.  You’ll still most likely arrive at your destination, but now your soul has the opportunity to be touched in ways that are awe-filled!

Welcome to Helping Hearts Awaken . . .

How many of you have had those middle-of-the-night-I-can’t-sleep-so-I’m-creating-all-kinds-of-cool-stuff-in-my-head moments? Well, I found myself having one of those moments recently and out of it was born the idea for this blog. During those quiet minutes, I envisioned creating a space for some of my most thoughtful, meaningful, deep, and possibly poetic thoughts . . . or, at the very least, my most random, insignificant, shallow, and possibly prosaic ponderings. And so, Helping Hearts Awaken was born – a place to share, inspire, and also create curiosity around how we become our most authentic selves.

Authentic self – now that’s a concept and a complicated one at best. Recently I had my ipod cranked up in the car, and I caught a line in a song by the Barenaked Ladies (“For You”): "If I hide myself wherever I go, am I ever really there"? These words resonated with me. How often are we showing up with some of our most vital parts of ourselves cloaked behind:

· Our desire to be liked?
· Our “shoulda, coulda, woulda” mantras?
· Our deeply engrained sense that the world isn’t open to all we have to offer?
· Our old storylines that tell us, “you’re not good enough?”

And so we hide. And when we hide, our creativity, our energy, and the very things that make us the awesome individuals we are shrinks accordingly – almost as if we’re not really there.

I don’t know about you, but the older I get the more I don’t like hiding. So today, I invite you to take a look at the places and spaces you hide in. Gently acquaint yourself with the parts of you that have believed they can’t come out and play. And then, slowly, take the risk to invite them out into the light where your truly authentic self dwells.