Sometimes you can’t make it on your own. There are times in life when we must be humble enough to acknowledge to ourselves and others that we need help, support, and encouragement. It can be challenging to be direct, and sometimes it takes courage to ask others for what we need. That is why we should do that.
One of the lessons of Heartspace is that we’re all interconnected, relying on an unending mosaic of lasting connections throughout our lives. Some are apparently invisible or nearly invisible, while others coming hollering through the silence to lift us up in times of need. Many of them are anchored deeply within ourselves, but none of them only affect us.
Do you love fine poetry, loud rock music, shocking photography, or strong muscle tone? Is your secret joy delicious deserts, beautiful views on long hikes, packed drives through suburban highways, or dancing into the early morning at a club? While all of those seem like solo activities, private pleasures, or personal indulgences, none of them affects us alone. We must rely on others to build, support, sustain, expand, and contract these engagements throughout our lives. All are absolutely necessary.
In that same way, all the things you have ever done in your life have relied on other people. The myth of the “self-made man” is exactly that- a myth. Nobody, absolutely nobody, does it on their own.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a waitress, a single parent, or a race car driver, look at the team around you. Look to your children, check out your parents. See your team mates, your work mates, your best mates, your soul mate. Acknowledge them, at least to yourself, and hold their place within your Heartspace consciously, deliberately, at least for this moment. Whenever you become aware of their contributions to your well-being, practice saying thanks to them. If you can’t do it out loud at first, then just say it in your own heart, in your mind. Eventually, as you’re able, let it come from your mouth or your hand. Simply say thanks to them for being themselves.
Humility is actually one of the foundations of Heartspace. Acknowledging the lasting connections we have to the worlds within and around us requires that we humbly see the people, places, ideas, actions, hopes, dreams, and possibilities that we are engaged in. Without the foundation of humility, discussing Heartspace is an abstract concept that cannot be fully understood.
Living in Heartspace requires that we clearly recognized who and what we are truly connected to. Our first practical step towards Heartspace must be identifying those things, and from that point working to strengthen, sustain, or eliminate them as we see necessary.
When your nights are too long and your days too empty, consciously and deliberately rely on Heartspace to carry you through, because it does already and it will continue to. And allow yourself to purposefully rely on the lasting connections you have made throughout your life, because they are yours. There is no point in strengthening muscles if you’re not going to use them.
Adam F.C. Fletcher 