I read a note today, to follow your heart. It made me wonder how do you know what your heart is telling you? How do you decipher what your passions and interests are in a world so vast and varied. I have found that I can hardly maintain a single focus in my life as I am constantly being pulled every which way. Maybe it is more a testament to who I am as a person rather than who we are as beings, but it sure as hell makes “following one’s heart” difficult. “Where does my heart lie?” I ask you. And is its resting spot immutable? Or does it shift constantly, randomly.

I often wonder if those individuals who profess to having found their calling are lying to themselves. How can one be so fixated on one aspect of life to have no interest in anything else? I can only imagine it takes a great narrow-mindedness that is absolutely foreign to me. Yet I cannot discount the possibility that perhaps these individuals are not tricking themselves. It may very well be that they have found some peace and are happy. If that is the case I suppose I ought to be jealous. But I’m not sure that I am. I feel that so much is lost in living such a life.

In order to explore this question I suppose I would have to explore the minds of countless people. Naturally, I have a hunch that the most enlightening perspectives will come from those who have lived the longest. Having experienced so much and, hopefully, explored their curiosities, they will help me understand this question of what it means to follow ones heart. It means little to me at my age, but I don’t think age should necessarily be the deciding factor in ones wisdom. Even with that notion though, I wonder how an individual in their twenties can say such a thing as “follow you heart”. But I guess if I can sit here and ponder its meaning (being in my twenties myself), it is entirely possible. And truthful at that.

4/5/10