HOW IS YOUR HEART?

The Heart of Africa by Bríd Wyldearth 2011

HOW IS YOUR HEART?

"Since the 1950s, we have had so many new technological innovations that we thought (or were promised) would make our lives easier, faster, simpler. Yet, we have no more “free” or leisurely time today than we did decades ago

.....In many Muslim cultures, when you want to ask them how they’re doing, you ask: in Arabic, Kayf haal-ik? or, in Persian, Haal-e shomaa chetoreh? How is your haal?

What is this haal that you inquire about? It is the transient state of one’s heart. In reality, we ask, “How is your heart doing at this very moment, at this breath?” When I ask, “How are you?” that is really what I want to know

......W. B. Yeats once wrote:

“It takes more courage to examine the dark corners of your own soul than it does for a soldier to fight on a battlefield.”"

excerpted from: http://www.onbeing.org/blog/the-disease-of-being-busy/7023?page=1

This has to be one of the best descriptions of how I think and feel that I have ever come across. What would happen if we all took the time to ask each other "how is your heart"? My heart is very unusual and not considered normal but I love her and she is full of peace and love at the moment. How is your heart?

And what would our world look like if every soldier laid down his/her sword/gun/raping tools and examined the deep corners of his/her soul? How would this impact on all our hearts and the heart of the earth? Unlike the writer of the above blog and most of the people I know, my life is not busy and full of technology. I use my mobile phone only in emergencies and never turn my wi-fi on and can go days without going online or talking to a living soul. I wouldn't have it any other way despite the fact that I have been forced to live like this because my heart does not function like so called normal hearts. Before my heart slowed me down, and even though I did get busy for a brief period, I have made time all my adult life to examine the deep corners of my soul. It is only in hindsight that I can see this as courageous. It has never felt like I have a choice. I use the word "deep" instead of "dark" because I believe with all my heart that the less we use the words "dark" and "black" to denote frightening, difficult, bad or evil things in our language, the less offensive to people of colour our language will be. I also do not necessarily see difficulties, challenge, darkness and depth as bad per se. Otherwise I so agree with the quotation from Yeats and Omid Safi's blog that the health and well being of our hearts are intimately connected to that of our souls and to making time to be and to having courage to go deep. As for my wyldly dancing hart, she will always belong in the heart of Africa, where she was born.