Thoughts on the Heart

Isn’t it amazing how often our language points to the heart when we speak about the things that matter most?

Think about the phrases we use: whole-hearted, full of heart, light-hearted, heartache, heartbreak, heavy heart, heart sore, heart-warming. These aren’t just figures of speech. They are signals. Clues that we instinctively turn to the heart when we want to describe what is deeply human.

Take the expression “let’s get to the heart of the matter.” It points to the center, the source, the essence of whatever is going on. It tells us that truth lives in the depths.

When we share something raw and personal, we call it a “heart-to-heart.”

When we speak with sincerity, we say it’s “from the bottom of our hearts.”

If we trust someone with a secret, we “open our hearts.”

And when we step into vulnerability, we “wear our hearts on our sleeves.”

We speak about the heart as if we know, on some deep level, that it is more than a physical organ. More than a muscle. It is the seat of our essence. The place where the spiritual, emotional, and relational parts of us are held.

I believe the heart is an original masterpiece. One shaped in eternity, and wrapped in skin and story. I believe our wholeness - emotional, mental, spiritual - has everything to do with how well we come to know and tend to the heart.

That’s one reason why I love journaling. It helps us get our hands (and pens) into the deepest places of our hearts.