“When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object.” – Milan Kundera

I have this prayer that I speak over myself now and then: “Spirit, give my heart a brain, and my brain a heart.”

For Enneagram Type 7’s like me, the journey between the head and heart can be a long one. I have been developing my intuition for a long time, which I now understand is helped by my “8 wing” (sorry for the Enneagram-heavy lingo), but I lead first with my mind, check in with my gut, and my heart tends to be the last to get a say, if at all.

To have knowledge is easy, comforting, natural. But to let that knowledge sink into the depth of my heart is an entirely foreign thing I have to work for and practice.

To connect knowing I am loved, seen, and accepted with actually being loved, seen, and accepted – that is the prize. To recognize a healing heart with gratitude. To see inside myself and feel the fibers cross weaving themselves across the fracture of brokenness, as I’ve written before. To receive the love I believe I deserve.

I am in awe of the landscape of it all – the path between head and heart. Full of thorny bushes, distractions, and detours.

But when I am in the flow – when I am my best self – I feel life deeply. And I not only know – I simply am.

[Photo: Journeying through the snowy landscape of Hokkaido, Japan]