“I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the Heart’s affections and the truth of the Imagination.” – John Keats 

It can be really exciting when we start discovering what moves us personally, what we’re passionate about, what makes our wheels turn. Spark plugs start firing in that engine between the brain and the gut, in that magical space that feels like power and awesomeness and excitement and purpose. I call that engine Heartspace, and it’s a wonderful place to become familiar with.

Heartspace is the quiet inner voice that guides us towards the things that speak most deeply to us. We know it by the emotions that speak most directly to it, like passion, courage, and joy. Desire, intention, and compassion come from our Heartspace, too. Heartspace is where our deepest interests come from, and where our most powerful energy comes from. It is magic, made real.

There are people who live all their lives in Heartspace, and they are wonderfully engaged people. They aren’t just the Einsteins and Kings; they are common folk who celebrate their deep connection to themselves every single day. Everyone is capable of this.

For people who have not lived in their Heartspace for their whole lives, discovering that space might feel like an introduction to a long lost friend. That’s because it is: All people from their youngest years live in their Heartspace, if only for a little while.

Heartspace is the engine of natural curiosity that drives our childhoods and compels our youth. This is the reason why I choose to work with young people over the beginning of my career. Most in touch with their Heartspace, young people are the grand hope of our society for this reason.

Poor are those among us who lose their capacity to dream, to create their courage, to denounce and announce… – Paulo Freire

There are factors that literally kidnap us from our Heartspace, most extending from abuse of some sort. Those factors eat away at that connection. I lived some of those factors as a child, and my Heartspace was challenged. But more than endure, I thrived. My parents encouraged me to find and attach to the things that inspired me, drove me, and moved me. The adults who surrounded me moved me and compelled me and challenged me to see beyond the problems in my life. I found my Heartspace young, and stayed with it.

Risks to our Heartspace continue into our adulthood, but they shift from external abuse imposed on us by extenuating circumstances towards internal motivations that extend from our childhoods. There are a lot of ways to rediscover our Heartspace as adults. Last week I blogged 10 Questions on Personal Engagement, and those questions provide a logical entryway into Heartspace.

We can work with our challenges and transform our lives, move from being interested, and find our Heartspace. CommonAction Consulting is now leading workshops to do that.