heart-sing

What makes your heart sing?

George G Clark, 20 September 2010

When your heart is singing you enjoy what you are doing and willingly go the extra mile. You are kindly disposed towards everybody and everything. You act with grace rather than with a grudge. You are happy and smile a lot. So what is the root of that hallowed state of coronary operatics?

It varies from person to person but there are some underlying principles. Your ‘personality’ and general attitude to life will have their causes and conditions. These are rooted in (a) nature (your genes), (b) nurture (your culture, sub culture, community and family), and (c) chance (whether the lightning strikes you or your neighbour).

You cannot do much about nature and chance but the nurture door is wide open. Like most people you will be driven by habitual ‘shoulds’ and ‘oughts’. By taking thought you can recognise and transform these and be born again. You can unleash the muse that lies waiting in us all and then move effortlessly with the natural flow of things in your new world.

The key is to set aside some quiet time to be a witness to what goes on in your head. You notice what you are noticing and feeling and you think about what you are thinking. This allows you to respond thoughtfully rather than react automatically. Such freedom and control is enough to bring a smile to anyone’s face.

But there is more. Mystics of all times and places tell us that ‘witnessing’ leads to appreciation of (a) the illusory nature of the self, and (b) the churning vital force that is the Oneness. From this point of view we are each integral parts of an immense, timeless and benign universal process. Is it any wonder that such realisations set the mind free and make the heart sing.