PART FOUR – SPEAKING DEEPER TRUTHS
Conversation, of course, is more than just listening. At its best, it is filled with call-and response, back-and-forth, give-and-take. The same is true when we engage in conversation with our heart.
Not one-sided, our heart wants more than just our listening ear, it waits (and waits and waits) to hear our voice.
When I began to listen tentatively and then far deeper, I somehow knew everything was going to change. My heart knew it too – and far before my conscious mind. All my conscious mind could know, it seemed, was fear! To move from the seeming-safety of an endless internal dialogue into a vocalized external reality explains why I stayed quiet for a very long time.
But not forever.
It was the ongoing (sacred) conversation with my heart that gave me the courage to finally speak – out loud.
Speaking deeper truths is not easy; but it matters – more than anything else.
You can trust the conversation you’ve had with your heart – that quiet, safe, and sacred space. Now, stepping beyond your inner world and into your external one, you can also trust that nothing you have heard, nothing you have discovered, nothing you have finally acknowledged and allowed will lead you astray.
What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open. ~ Muriel Rukeyser
Choosing to speak deeper truths, to live out-loud, to articulate your desires, hopes, honest emotions, and beliefs is a powerful, world-splitting way to live.
World-splitting yes, but not world-destroying. Not even heart-stopping (though at times, it may feel otherwise). Your wise and brave heart will keep beating, speaking, guiding, loving. That’s what hearts do. Yours is no exception. So speak. And live. Out-loud.
REFLECT:
- Are you aware of the places in which you remain silent? With whom?
- “All her life she has been in love with the hope of telling utter truth.” These words were spoken about the poet, Adrienne Rich. They also speak to what your heart hopes on your behalf. Do you know this to be true about yourself? What if it was? If you spoke that utter truth, what would you say?
- What worlds might split open if you began to live (and speak) your heart-conversation out loud?
Mmmmmm. May it be so.
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This is Part 4 in a 5-Part series. If you’ve missed any, you can find #1 here, #2 here, and #3 here.