Heart Mind Connection....

The idea of two different kinds of intelligence, one of the mind and one of the heart, has been on my mind a lot lately. I felt this would be a good place to explore these thoughts as it truly relates to our own human connections. And if any one reads this I would love to hear your thoughts/experiences with these two intellectual centers. However, intellectual doesn't seem to be the right word for the heart, wisdom seems more accurate. I think a major human struggle is the idea of allowing these two centers to work together. Many don't choose to take on this struggle but it seems to be one of my passions in life. I am determined to explore and find this connection. I have recently come to believe that the best life for me would be one in which I contribute to opening hearts in this world. I believe the wisdom of the heart center can be the one most ignored or tucked away when it is actually the most wise part of our being.

We are a mind Society, we love ideas, concrete answers, those with higher ed degrees are revered 
(I am not putting down people with those degrees, I admire them immensely) but we put so much stock in the stuff of the mind. Believe me I have been sucked into that world. My mind has ruled for a long time. But I am glad to say my heart is strong and has always been there calling for my attention. Through my years of work in the arts, my new found love of body psychology and yoga and simply being the age I am, I can no longer just follow the brain. I see the mistakes and the wrong roads it's taken me down based on ideas of how I have been told I should live my life, or simply ignoring the wise being in me, the heart, yelling for my attention.

 There is great Vulnerability in being truly you, to be authentic. It is scary to truly let yourself go and open yourself up to people whether it be friends, romantic interests (especially) and sometimes family as well. To stop trying to be who society or your family/friends think you should be can be scary both personally and to those close to you. The mind struggles wrapping itself around the idea of something different, even among the most "open minded" of folks.

I am not sure that term makes sense to me. To be "Open Minded" you must also be "Open Hearted" and I don't necessarily believe they always go together right now. I think the term should be "Open Hearted!" Because I know when the heart is open so is the mind. I know this from my brief glimpses of feeling the wonder of these open moments in my life. In my opinion Fear is one of the biggest obstacles to allowing this Mind/Heart connection to occur. For example, in romantic relationships the fear of hurting again (if you have in the past), getting lost in the future of can it possibly work, making up your "mind" this is who I should be with, based on society but not your heart, or staying based on a fear of being alone...etc. We can get so lost in all this "mind stuff" we never take the chance to truly open our hearts to another. But if we never try, if we never risk, we can never truly find our hearts, we can never truly love.

It's easy to philosophize about and I know much harder to do, but so very worth it. Especially as we connect more to our hearts and find the mind/heart balance. I know this is all totally stream of consciousness but in my attempt to open myself up more I am putting this out there to you all. I know this entry sounds down on the the mind intelligence, this is not true at all but I believe that intelligence is far superior when the heart is open, giving it's vast wisdom to the mind, it's all about balance.

I would love to hear your thoughts, experiences..etc. Have you experienced this Mind/Heart balance? What has helped you to find this? Help me help others (and myself) find the courage to open their hearts in all areas of their lives even when faced with this crazy world. What is life, where is hope with out Love?

Much Thanks, This romantic idealist with the occasional mind of the cynic. :)

Human connection and art.....

I have not written in ages. I think about it all the time as I see moments of human connection happen every day that I could reflect on. But finally, here I am.

I am at a crossroads in life and with that human connection largely comes into play . Should I stay where I am, help to build this artistic community and explore the friendships...etc. I am finding here? It is easier to connect here for sure. The madness of the city and survival is not in my way at every turn. However, Can I do what I want to creatively? I think that is the big question for me, what do I want to do creatively and how can I do it and still maintain good relationships? That is what I shall reflect on once my current show closes.

But the bigger issue on my mind right now is the Artist and Human Connection. As Artists we study humans, we create them, find their psychology, tell their stories. If you are an actor, you connect with others on stage or camera...etc, so why is it so hard in life? I have watched artists for years and I have observed that so often the art itself becomes more important than actually connecting with others. Lives get ruled by it. I have fallen into this trap, I am not innocent here. But I have also taken a lot of time to reflect on this and I now see I need and want great human connections in life more than anything. I am even a better actor for being more open to others. I don't want to put the job, project, show...etc. before those I care about. I am not saying not to invest in it but it seems to become so all consuming that the humans around vanish. It just seems so strange to me. I know this is a generalization, some have found a way to do it all, but many have not! I would say most!

Why is it so hard for artists to have relationships when this is what they are exploring in their work? I am sure this happens in other careers as well but this is where I have experience, these are the people I meet. I realize we travel, I realize nothing about our lives is conventional but is it really better to be alone and be an artist? To put our work above all else? I just can't see how that is right!!

I am on this kick because this has come up so often over the years in some of my closest relationships and my tolerance for it is waning. On numerous occasions I have watched good people lose themselves because a project became more important than the people closest to them. I  have seen them alienate dear friends, lovers, family members...etc. by getting upset or by only talking about themselves and never taking in the other person. I believe, we need compassion and should love people, we need to learn to look at the world through the others eyes for great art, great relationships, great everything! Am I a idealist? Yes!! But this just seems like common sense to me. And I am not saying everything has to be rosy...etc. Conflict will arise in any collaborative endeavors but watch when the project becomes bigger than the people closest to you.

Artists reflect... Lets not be alone, Lets do this together and Lets see and feel each other as we do it. In these difficult times we need all the support we can get!! You've got mine!!!

In a wise man's words:
"It’s very important not to misunderstand what is meant by the idea of overcoming our self-cherishing attitudes. We are not saying that a spiritual practitioner should completely ignore or abandon the goal of self-fulfillment, rather we are advising him or her to overcome that small-minded selfishness that makes us oblivious to the well-being of others and to the impact our actions can have on them." -Dalai Lama