This month is all about living a more joyful life. But how can we do that when we’re using only our mind to think about things and analyze them instead of communicating from a place of alignment?

Philosophers have contemplated tough questions for centuries, including ones of how we communicate, questions about love and the determinants of communicating our needs, or avoiding them.

Today’s post is an exploration of writing from the heart, as written from my heart.

Write (Right) from the Heart

As a philosopher I am inspired by the use of language as something that creates our physical and emotional reality.

Topics such as neuro-linguistics fascinate me, and so playing with the meaning and multiple spellings of words is really fun to me. (It also shows the way we use language and the meaning behind a word is determined at times by how it is spelt and not always the context of the sentence).

When considering the notion of writing from the heart, it must come right from the heart. That is the fun of today’s topic, and as is presupposed, living joyfully means doing more playful things, and allowing yourself to play with ideas that light you up.

Prompts & Questions

Usually when writing, our minds get stuck with a blank canvas, and as a multi passionate artist myself, this is something I’ve experienced with writing, and with drawing.

Using a prompt or a question to frame what you’re writing about or drawing is a fantastic way to get what is on your heart out into the world.

Some examples of prompts are;

What am I feeling challenged by in my life right now?
Where am I needing to support myself more? How can I do that with small actions?
Am I avoiding anything important? Why?

Prompts are phrased as questions, which works well for self discovery because you’re the only one who is going to know your answer, unless you choose to share it with someone.

You may be wondering, why do I need to do this? What will it accomplish? How is looking at myself going to help my career?

Well, as a former teacher, I can attest to the fact that self-awareness is key to being a good teacher, and upholding your personal teaching philosophy.

If you are unaware of how your own beliefs are influencing your students, then you may want to look at that, and reassess how you can bring a more objective approach to teaching.

You wouldn’t like it if a teacher suggested that there is only one right way to do something, that’s the kind of statement from an authority figure that causes us to create limits in our mind, especially a young mind.

Say what’s on your mind

If you’re like me, then your mind is always racing, like a Ferrari engine, going too fast for normal life.

It’s not a problem that cannot be solved, but one that requires looking at things from a different view at times.

One of the best ways to process something your mind is clinging to, is to write what your mind is obsessing about, freely and as fully as you can.

This technique is called free writing and is recommended as a process to get clearer on what you want to say and why you want to say it by experts such as Marie Forleo.

Free writing can help you distance yourself from your mind.

Philosophy helps us comprehend difficult ideas, with reason, logic, and critical thinking. Those who have taken on the question of identity, usually in the field of philosophy of mind, have determined that you are not your mind.

why?

because you are a conscious observer of your thoughts, and as Descartes once concluded, I think therefore I am. It’s a statement that has long been misinterpreted as literal.

If you read between the lines, what Descartes means is his ability to hear his own thoughts, creates his existence. If he could not know he was thinking, then he would not exist.

This argument does not hold well with logical and more modern thinkers, and Descartes famous Cogito Ergo Sum has long been criticized as something that is not “true” by logical standards.

However, philosophy also takes on the idea that meaning is subjective, and what someone says can be interpreted in a multitude of ways. That’s the beauty of diverse perspectives, is that they are diverse.

Remember…

At the end of the day, everything we know, think, and have created in this life was once an idea created by someone.

The very foundation of education is from the philosopher Plato who created the Academy.

In the TV show, The Crown, it shows the young life of Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, to which we see him at a school for boys called The Academy, based on the Platonic school of thought.

At the beginning of the TV series, Queen Elizabeth is concerned that her knowledge of philosophy and other subjects is limited and thus would hinder her ability to be queen. Her majesty is reassured that she does not need this to be a good queen.

All commentary aside, I see the development of her reign as the creation of her own philosophy. It’s funny to me how philosophy comes from others, yet, when placed in power, it begins to come from the person at whom everyone is looking for direction.

This then asks the question, is philosophy determined by power?

But that, is something I will discuss later. Thank you for reading this far! If you enjoyed this style, please leave a comment 🙂

kristy.