Not Letting Our Mind Talk Over Our Heart
August 28, 2025
The seat of knowledge is in the head; of wisdom, in the heart.~William Hazlitt
Having been one to follow my heart for most of my life, I've rarely been timid about taking risks. Some have led to deeply fulfilling experiences that I would never have know, had I listened to the fearful beliefs instilled in me since infancy. The ones meant to keep me safe. Of course, a few of my daring ventures led me down some pretty dark roads. I guess it could be said, there was a time I felt like a bedsheet on a clothesline caught in a windstorm, tattered and thrashing every which way, until I finally broke free and found my true north. But I wouldn't change any of it, for my walk has gifted me with such a diverse wealth of wisdom.
For many of us, the habit of letting our mind talk over our heart, started back when we were just kids. Naturally, children need structure, however in many cases, the conditioning we experienced meant a complete transfer of power to the adult voices around us. In other words, we learned to conform, surrendering our inner voice in the process. The result? We now seek answers outside ourselves, yet there is no one in this world that knows what is personally best for us. That can only be found within, even though society tries its darnest to convince us otherwise. Society today is mind-driven. Instead of inspiring uniqueness and heart-centered living, society encourages memorization, standardization and conformity.
The mind is practical, analytical, and is often driven by fear and negativity (drama, victim mentality, etc). Our minds are a collection of bequethed responses and beliefs, that can dictate our actions and rule our world if we let them, causing confusion, stress, anxiety, fear and depression. Again, this is because somewhere along the line, we stopped listening our heart - our soul's voice. When we live from the heart, there is always a deep inner knowing that all is well. This inner calm allows us to make choices from a state of peace, rather than trepidation. When we don't know what to do, or which way to go, the heart is like our own personal, built-in GPS system that we can access anytime we want. I'm certainly not insinuating that the mind has no value. Of course it does. But when it comes to decision-making, the mind tends to clog up the process with old fearful beliefs, and a long list of 'what ifs' that can keep us locked in our heads and frozen in situations that no longer serve us. Like I've mentioned numerous times in other posts, the mind can only offer up advice that is drawn from our past experiences. It's the only data it has to work with, whereas the heart has an expansive perspective and sees infinite possibilities that the mind simply can't comprehend.
The heart is not led by practicality or fear, but rather by emotion. For example, a gut feeling is our soul speaking to us. Do we listen, or do we allow our mind to immediately hop into the driver's seat? Were we taught to believe that our feelings are unreliable nonsense and we must think our way out of every dilemma? Like I've said, the mind is filled with all sorts of inherited beliefs that don't necessarily benefit us, but the heart will never lead us astray. The heart sees potentialities, whereas the mind focuses on limitations and every conceivable thing that could possibly go wrong. The heart will often nudge us off the beaten path we've been on, so that we can find fulfillment, and experience the life we were always meant to live, even if this means going against the grain of cultural ideologies or family expectations. The really cool thing is, the more we listen to our heart, and begin to trust its loving guidance, the more it opens; and the more it opens, the more calm, forthright and genuine we become. Oh... and the synchronicities and serendipitous moments that unfold are truly amazing!
So due to the reasons mentioned above, many of us today have blocked heart centers. We have filled ourselves with societal noise, numbed our feelings, and allowed our minds to talk over our hearts for so long, that we've lost our connection with our insight (inner-sight) and intuition. Gratitude is the key that will help unlock our hearts and reopen us up, to all that life has to offer.
I will close with this befitting quote by Martha Beck,
As you learn to live by your heart [...] it will chart you a life’s journey as unique and authentic as your fingerprint; send you out, full of hope and breathtaking exhilaration, onto paths you never thought you could travel. It is the way you were meant to exist. If you stop to listen, you’ll realize that your heart has been telling you so all along.
Listen. ♥️