Head and Heart. We have both for a reason. Trying to live using only one leads to imbalance. For most people it is easier to listen with the head, but the body gets restless and screams, “Hear me! Listen to Me!” Headaches. Shoulder Tension. Back pain. Ulcers. It is hard to hold in the feelings of the heart. It wants to beat. It wants to burst and break free. And, its cohort, the mind, wants to rest. All that thinking can be exhausting. Sleepless nights. Ragged days. Endless lists. Spinning. Twirling. Vertigo.
Body, mind, soul. See the connection? If the heart is the soul; if the head is the mind; and the body is, well, the body, they should all work together. It is the ideal balance. Created by God in perfect unity and harmony.
We are finely tuned beings. So, if one part feels like it is missing or out of whack—Pay attention. Think. Feel. Breathe. Let Go. Mind. Soul. Body. Harmony.
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7 comments:
Excellent post, Lucy. I lead with my heart ... but my head isn't too far behind, most of the time. When it is, the whole common sense thing is out the window and I am "flying without a net." It is always a pleasure to stop in and read your words. Peace.
Oh yes indeed. In the Enneagram, we teach a division of Head, Heart and Gut. We each favour one over the others and that limits us (each in our own way and influenced by many other factors).
There is a diagram representing Enneagram teaching. Its outer circumference is a circle, binding all the other elements together, and I've always thought of that circle as a representation of completeness, or soul.
thank you, ladies. i appreciate your words of insight and encouragement.
tess, i love the concept of "completeness" and also like to think of it as "whole." i believe, we are created to fire on all cylinders and we get into trouble when we try to convince ourselves that one part or another doesn't matter so much.
I wonder if any of us are ever able to live into and along the golden mean. You said something about what it is to be well balanced. Maybe holy sanity is more about wobbling along in the right direction and hitting that moment of balance now and then without being consumed by staying there. Years ago W. Edwards Deming demonstrated to his classes what happens when they try to "hit the mark" be being obsessed with it. He had an ordinary funnel suspened about three feet above a target and asked students to drop marbles, one after the other, trying to hit it. The funnel was adjustable, so after each miss the students wouldl make minor adjustments to correct for error. The more corrections the larger the distribution of error. The real trick was to line it up once and then just leave it alone. The distribution of error would be much smaller in the end. That has an appliction in our spiritual and emotional lives also. It is at the very core of a discipline such as the Daily Office. It is also at the core of our moral decision making and relationships with loved ones. More to be said on this I think. Maybe in a class. Too much for a sermon.
cp-- i love this comment:
"wobbling along in the right direction and hitting that moment of balance now and then without being consumed by staying there." that feels really true and doable and sane!
denise levertov has a great poem called "only once" that reminds even when we "hit that moment of balance" it will probably look very different the next time we hit it, because we are different beings.
as always i am glad you're here!
wobbling along in the right direction -- rings true for me sometimes..
"hitting that moment of balance" is such a wonderful gift when we receive it - for me "hitting it," occasionally falls into "savoring it" which occasionally feels a lot like pride:) dang! - back to wobbling school....
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