Why write about Heart Peace?

Anyone who knows me knows that I prioritize Heart Peace.  About 8 years ago, after a very turbulent time in my life, I was at my wits end.  The ups during that time were euphoric and delirious.  The downs were devastating and paralyzing.  I was so churned up inside that I couldn’t revel in the ups or find my way out of the downs.  My insides were so cloudy and murky that I didn’t even know what I wanted or what would make life better.  All I knew was that something had to change.  During one of many long cries, it hit me like a bolt of lightening…I have no peace!

Unsure what to do about this, I started reflecting back.  Have I ever had peace?  Surely there were times…weren’t there?  We all have good times and bad, happy and sad times, so I had no problem remembering many examples of each.  But peace?  That was not as easily remembered.  There were a some brief windows of peace.  A few years from about age 12-14 were peaceful.  There were a couple of deeply peaceful years in my marriage.  But the overwhelming majority of my life was not peaceful.  That’s not the same as saying I was unhappy most of my life…I was happy quite a bit, just not peaceful.  There was always that undercurrent of discomfort or dissatisfaction.  Now that I had realized what was missing, I had no idea what to do next.

So on a whim, I got a tattoo on the back of my neck under my hair that is a red heart with a peace sign inside of it.  I didn’t know how to achieve Heart Peace, I just knew I needed it.  A tattoo seemed the most overt and permanent way to make my request and to ask for help from whatever higher power was out there.  I wasn’t a religious person, but I knew this was a bigger issue than I could push through on my own.  Someone who had a closer relationship with their God than I had at the time might have laughed at me and said “oh honey, you can just pray for what you want.”  But I didn’t know that and I didn’t have a relationship with a higher power at that point in my life.

So my prayer was a tattoo.  My intention to live in a different way was permanently branded on my body.  And you know what?  That is one damn magical tattoo!  From that day over 8 years ago to this day, whatever challenges have come and whatever joys have been experienced (there have been and continue to be many of both, and everything in between), my inner peace has grown consistently and exponentially.

Heart Peace is now who I am.  Heart Peace is now what I strive for.  Sometimes it is easy and sometimes I fail miserably.  But everything always comes back to Heart Peace for me.  Every decision, every choice, every action, every conversation is driven by a desire for peace.  Sometimes what I “want” and what brings me peace are in perfect alignment and those are good days!  When love, joy, and peace are all bundled up in one person, place, thing, or idea, peace is deep and spirits are soaring!  Sometimes I realize that what I have been wanting or working toward brings me no peace (even when I get it) and I have to let go and change direction…those days are harder…to let go of someone or something that I put time and effort into is not easy for me.  Peace is not the same as pleasure and it is common for me to experience pleasure and still not have peace.

So that is why I am writing about it.  There is so much to share and so much to learn and I am excited to be opening up and writing about my life’s mission.