Just A Little Bit of Heart and Soul

I've been listening to John Shannon's album American Mystic (www.johnshannonmusic.com) and it feels like one long, beautiful, made-for-adults lullaby. His lyrics and melodies soothe me, while others activate my imagination, and still some just quiet my mind so I can find the stillness I crave at the end of the day.

In Golden Eagle, he sings, "Slow like a golden eagle. Make space for your soul."

I think about what that means to me and how my life is helping me along with that desire, and I have to smile. I differentiate my soul from my heart. To me, my heart centered place is one where my passions are born, where my love and compassion live and from where I form attachments. My soul is different. My soul feels like my map. It has all the places I've been and perhaps will go. It is alive with feelings and memories from childhood and it anticipates experiences that are yet to come.

I do wonder if my life can provide enough space for my soul, which clearly wants to expand. I think it can. I think the Universe is giving me exactly what I need for my soul to emerge. I have a teaching platform I love, new relationships with people who are bringing more joy into my life, opportunities to be a creative artist, a home that is quiet, spacious and lovely...

The heart is different. It is a strong, solid muscle and captured in this poem by the Sufi poet Khan:

The ideal alone is heart's deity.
A constant yearning its life.
The heart's not concerned with life or death,
The heart stands firm through all strife.

The heart handles setbacks by bouncing back and getting fired up again. It handles success by saying, Yes, this is amazing, I love it, gimme more!!! The soul says a gentle Thank You for the lessons inherent in both setbacks and successes. It grows with both.

The heart becomes weak through resentments and anger. While the heart shrinks with aggression, the soul hides and waits patiently for the storm to pass. The heart knows no fear but the soul can sit under fear's cloud unless it's tended to and consoled (consouled - with soul, ooh, love it!).

On a related note, I want to write how grateful I am to everybody who helped support my effort yesterday to teach intenSati in Central Park with NY-1 filming it, since I was chosen to be "New Yorker of the Week". It was a resounding success and I am so happy the day was gorgeous and everybody involved seemed to really enjoy themselves. The segment airs Nov. 6-9th on NY-1 as well as www.ny1.com for a lonnnnnnng time.