Heart - It Pays To Use Your Heart Over Your Head

Insights/Distinctions: A fundamental truth about this five sense experience is that we get to experience our separateness and our connectedness! Interestingly, what separates us is very little.We are truly here to give love and receive love – perhaps that is the essence of creating “heaven on earth”!

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." 
–Lao Tzu

The Adventure Begins Within

Joe Vitale writes in his book Zero Limits - "The purpose of life is to be restored back to love, moment to moment."

 “Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.”
Carl Jung

Standing in Love

Stephanie Austin, professional astrologer, summarizes – “The Uranus opposition to Saturn that has been in progress from Fall 2008 to continue into July 2010 is presenting us with choices – democracy versus hierarchy, standing in love instead of collapsing in fear, waking up instead of staying asleep.” .

This era is bringing about change and new ideas to evolve and transform, resulting in tremendous resistance and fear and a longing for the past. Notice that this opposition has been concurrent with a recession of historic proportions – talk about being in the midst of a major breakdown. So are we going to resist with fear or be open minded and explore possibilities and opportunity? 

While a breakdown of any kind can be frightening on the surface, it is simply a deconstruction of what exists in order to clear the path for new creation. The key is to be able to remain in the creative flow rather than getting stopped by fear particularly with events that are a long time unfolding.

Seeing From a Mile High

David Icke illustrates this by saying, “Heart – Sees the river from source to sea; Mind/Body – Sees the next bend.” The photograph above is of the Amazon River.

Heart and mind work hand in glove to provide a different dimension to our experience just as love and fear do. Fear has its place as a very useful tool - as a way to mobilize tremendous energy. However, when we are in fear we cannot creatively guide and direct that energy. So a way back into the creative flow is by engaging heart intelligence – when we act through the head we do so seeing differentiation in the world around us which leads us towards separation. 

Knowing What To Do

David Icke reminds us, “If people come from the heart they will know what to do – come from the head and there will be a long list of why it can’t work – heart domination for consciousness instead of mind domination. Stay awake. Follow the path of Love, and the Universe will open its path to take you to safety. Just open your heart and listen to where it points.”


Law of Attraction 
Here is one of the most valuable distinctions that I have uncovered to date based on an ancient problem solving art from the Hawaiian culture called Ho’oponopno based on work by Dr. Hew Len as summarized by Joe Vitale – “Inspiration is more important than intention. Intention is a toy of the mind; inspiration is a directive from the Divine (his favorite term for source or God or oneness). At some point you'll surrender and start listening, rather than begging and waiting. Intention is trying to control life based on the limited view of the ego; inspiration is receiving a message from the Divine and then acting on it. Intention works and brings results; inspiration works and brings miracles. Which do you prefer?” 

Interconnectedness

Here is a fascinating discussion from Intelligent Infinity – The Awakening Project, “What lets us know we are on the correct path and working most effectively with the nature of soul evolution? Well, to answer this you must ask the source of your manifestation, not your brain. It is the pinprick access point to zero point energy within all of us - our heart. Love is the ultimate key. If you wish to develop your meta human abilities and further your evolution you must start with an open heart. This is easy to see even from behind the veil. As I mentioned in the beginning, evolution is an ecosystem. That inherently means that all the levels are dependent on one another to survive and thrive. The levels feed off of each other and when honor and love are shared with all, balance is strong, and evolution is advanced through life. Love is the primary factor in raising new life. Through love, compassion and acceptance of each other as a part of this interconnectedness within the web of life, we find inner peace in our unboundlessness. Children, new life, would die without love. Our hearts are needed more, to further life, than any logical activity of the brain. The brain is only good at comparing similarities and differences, while the heart, and love, shows the way back into unity and the inherent oneness of all things.” 

Courage and Power

These three treasures I guard, [love], [contentment], and [humility]. As Lao Tzu notes, only the loving can be courageous, only those who are content can be magnanimous, and only the humble have the authority from Universe to lead. 

Bill Birnes speaks of Admiral 
George Hoover – “He said that the biggest secret is the fact that we human beings are more powerful than we have ever dreamed that we are. That is the biggest secret. We don’t know our own power.” 

Quick Tip: To quickly and simply shift to heart domination, imagine breathing through your heart, and imagine that your heart energy radiates in a large circle around you - that you are breathing into the web of connectedness! Here's to appreciating each and every breath!

Launch - Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire!

It's Friday night in the big city! And time to tune into the festive spirit. Chef poured a glass of wine (that'd be me!), and hit play on the Christmas yule songs to dial up the mood - a little James Taylor always makes me feel assured, cozy and artsy! And I'm at my favorite place - in front of my 60' Garland commercial range that reminds me of the big gas clunker my grandmother cooked on in Hamburg in her big, old pre-war five story walk up apartment. Feeling nostalgic, my kitchen for me is the heart of my home! Larry, owner of Boxed Greens, included chestnuts with last week's delivery - I found a great recipe so I'm all set. A yummy way to launch my blog doing what I love! How's that for getting to the heart of the matter? Enjoy! xoxo

PS Here's the recipe

David Leite of Leite's Culinaria

Sautéed Chestnuts, Onions, and Bacon Recipe

Castanhas Salteadas com Toucinho Entremeado

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 pound thick-sliced slab bacon or pancetta, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch strips
• 1 pound pearl onions, scant 1 inch in diameter
• 1 pound peeled, roasted chestnuts (vacuum-packed, jarred without sugar, or freshly roasted)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, for garnish

METHOD

1 In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the fat has rendered and the meaty bits start to crisp, about 12 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

2 Meanwhile, fill a bowl with ice and water and set aside. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Drop in the onions and blanch for 30 seconds. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon and plop them into the ice water. To peel the onions, snip off the tip and remove the papery outer layers. Set aside the onions.

3 Raise the heat under the skillet to medium, plonk in the onions, and sauté in the bacon fat, stirring occasionally, until spotted with brown and cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the chestnuts, cooked bacon, and honey and toss to warm through, being careful not to break the nuts--they're fragile. Season with salt and plenty of pepper and then scoop into a decorate bowl. Sprinkle with the parsley.

Serves 6 to 8 as a side.