Unlocking the Heart

Unlocking the Heart

Try to love what holds you back,

the barred door, the padlock

firmly fastened. You may feel stuck,

but the more you love the lock

that keeps you here, the more you learn

its intricate machinery, movement

of the tumblers inside, which answer

to only a certain key. Maybe a single

word could free you, maybe you have

held the key all along, stored in

the intricate machinery of your heart,

which is more than willing to open

if spoken to in just the right way.

From Unlocking the Heart: Writing for Mindfulness, Courage & Self-Compassion.
Forthcoming in October 2024 from Insight Editions/Simon & Schuster.

Mark Nepo has said, “What’s in the way is the way.” In other words, what blocks our path also has to be tended, before we can move forward. We might want to go around, or turn back and find another way, but whatever blocks the heart in one place is likely to show up again in another. So much shuts us down, threatens to close us off from the world. Yet why not learn to “love the lock,” and get to know what seems to keep us from the freedom we deserve? If it’s true that just a few words can lock the heart, then it’s also true that the smallest shift within us might be the key that opens us again to all the abundance and creativity around us. When I’m “down in my heart,” feeling confused and confounded, I can convince myself there is no way out. When I feel blocked in my writing and uninspired by life, I tell myself the false story that this is how it will always be. But I have been shown countless times over the years that my own heart often holds the keys to release me from whatever prison I’m in. It’s usually a matter of staying with what’s in the way, and waiting until a little space appears.

Invitation for Writing & Reflection: Often, our blockages simply crave a bit of kindness and love, an acknowledgment that they are real. What’s blocking you right now, keeping things from moving through? Has there been a time when you were able to unlock the heart with certain practices or rituals that you found healing?