Following Your Heart

[five sounds]

what are your thoughts and feelings about 'following your heart'? i've been interested in this idea lately, and googling around found this blog entry.

http://alifeofperfectdays.blogspot.com/2011/07/finding-courage-to-follow-your-heart.html

feel free to respond to the link or not. here is an excerpt of the intro:

"Our society today is driven by our minds, our fear and our ego. We do not place value and emphasis on passion, love, fulfillment and spiritual purpose. Rather it is about external success, money, security, stability and reputation. As a result many of us do not feel it is that important to really tune in to our hearts and hear what it wants. We are too busy trying to get ahead and make something of ourselves in this world.

You see, the heart is free and wild and is driven by love. The head is practical and analytical and is often driven by fear. Your head will tell you what needs to be done to remain safe in the world - to get the money you want, the approval you crave and the predictability you think you need."

any thoughts on the matter are appreciated.

 

[Sniffles]

My preliminary thought is you need both your head and your heart to truly thrive as a person. I think our society is actually quite schizophrenic on the issue of heart vs head. We're constantly told to follow our passions and be wild and free, at least when we're younger. Much of pop culture is filled with such references. But then the harsh realities of real life come in, and that's when the head starts to take over. Should people "follow their hearts"? Sure, but what exactly does that mean?

My initial two cents.

 

[Typh0n]

Yeah, I agree with [MENTION=4212]Peguy[/MENTION] when he says the we need to balance both heart and head. I think what our society really lacks is wisdom, though. We're told to act with our heads(apply what you know to make money) and our heart( get into relationships etc) but not how to do it a way that brings us deep satisfaction. The ancients had perfected the art of wisdom - we have entirley neglected it in favor of purely external attributes and qualities such as action, appearance, "motivation", money etc. Could that be what the author of the blog is talking about?

 

[Ene]

Yeah, I agree with [MENTION=4212]Peguy[/MENTION] when he says the we need to balance both heart and head. I think what our society really lacks is wisdom, though. We're told to act with our heads(apply what you know to make money) and our heart( get into relationships etc) but not how to do it a way that brings us deep satisfaction. The ancients had perfected the art of wisdom - we have entirley neglected it in favor of purely external attributes and qualities such as action, appearance, "motivation", money etc. Could that be what the author of the blog is talking about?

Nicely said! I agree with you.

 

[Lady_X]

i think the heart should lead....

like ask yourself what is it you would be doing if money weren't an issue. what feeds you? what excites you?

then think of how to make that fit into the real world.

 

[HongDou]

i think the heart should lead....

like ask yourself what is it you would be doing if money weren't an issue. what feeds you? what excites you?

then think of how to make that fit into the real world.

This is my outlook as well.

 

[Qlip]

Your heart is actually in your head, it's just a different part of 'mind'. I think some of us need to skew towards that part of ourselves.
When I go by my heart, failures become learning experiences. They feel bad, but not that kind of existential bad where I feel like not only did things turn out wrong, but also it was because I was alienating myself. And successes are so much more meaningful. Either way the heart learns for the future and I feel whole.

 

[gromit]

Hm... I think all the BIG decisions in my life have been following my heart. I don't regret it.

Usually it is the heart telling me something needs to change.

Then the mind explores plans and options. Basic logistics. Come up with a handful that make sense/hold water and that are "right" for me too.

So just choosing the one that feeeeeeeels best is how I end up selecting the one to go with.

 

[Lady_X]

Hm... I think all the BIG decisions in my life have been following my heart. I don't regret it.

Usually it is the heart telling me something needs to change.

Then the mind explores plans and options. Basic logistics. Come up with a handful that make sense/hold water and that are "right" for me too.

So just choosing the one that feeeeeeeels best is how I end up selecting the one to go with.

fi hugs haha me too sister friend

 

[gromit]

Your heart is actually in your head, it's just a different part of 'mind'. I think some of us need to skew towards that part of ourselves.
When I go by my heart, failures become learning experiences. They feel bad, but not that kind of existential bad where I feel like not only did things turn out wrong, but also it was because I was alienating myself. And successes are so much more meaningful. Either way the heart learns for the future and I feel whole.

Yeah, there is something that is intrinsically rewarding about a sincere effort...

fi hugs haha me too sister friend

haha yeah sounds a little touchy-feely typed out like that, but that's really how it is!

 

[Sniffles]

I just had an intuition that the dichotomy set up here of heart vs head maybe deceptive, in the sense that "following your heart" as described actually makes you more receptive to being lead by the head, and thus an interchangeable cog in the technocracy. This notion of "following your heart" or "be yourself" has been used in advertising for a while as a way of manipulating people. "Following your heart" as commonly promoted fits in rather nicely within a consumerist ethos.

 

[WhoCares]

To be honest I think a lot of people mistake follow your heart for...follow your impulses, which is an entirely different thing. And where the old 'be wise' chestnut is a useful antidote. For sure, following your impulses isnt a very good thing to do. They flip and switch and arent a dependable read.

 

[Qlip]

To be honest I think a lot of people mistake follow your heart for...follow your impulses, which is an entirely different thing. And where the old 'be wise' chestnut is a useful antidote. For sure, following your impulses isnt a very good thing to do. They flip and switch and arent a dependable read.

It actually is nearly the same thing with me, or at least my impulses of a certain quality are a significant component of my heart. I've found that if I regularly allow myself to exercise my impulses, sometimes even the more dangerous seeming ones within the appropriate playground, they become less capricious.

[MENTION=4212]Peguy[/MENTION] And my impulses are definitely not consumerist.

Translation: I mainly learn things by doing things, often things that common sense tells me that I shouldn't do. And I'm pretty sure all this is very specifically ENFP.

 

[Sniffles]

[MENTION=10714]Qlip[/MENTION] I don't care.

 

[Qlip]

Qlip I don't care.

Hmm, that wasn't mean to be confrontational.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Honestly, it's always bothered the fuck out of me when people have said that to me.

a) it sounds cliche, like after school TV special bullshit, something from CareBears, or perhaps a lyric to a song that might play during a sports training montage in an 80's film.
b) I don't really know how to do that, so it has always annoyed me when people tell me to do it.

I can better relate to "following my gut" although in general I tend to over think everything (especially difficult life choices)--being told to follow my heart merely makes me overthink things even more and I thus will find it that much more difficult to follow my heart, especially when considering I don't even know where my heart is 95% of the time.