My new found friend said, "I have something for you." So I waited downstairs while she retrieved it. She returned with the most beautiful gift, a deep ruby-red heart, carved to mimic the petals on a rose. She placed the gifted heart in my hands, it took both, I was taken aback by the weight of it and the first thing that popped into my head was, "What a heavy heart." And right behind that thought, I couldn't help but attach it as a metaphor to my friend's own heart who had lost her husband 2 years ago. Did she just hand me her heavy heart? All of this is going on inside my head as I simultaneously am taking in this beautiful gift, smiling, and offering my gratitude for her generosity and thoughtfulness. It really is amazing how all of these things can be going on at the same time—isn't it? The flow of conscious thinking that is running in the background that no one other than yourself is privy.
The thought evolved from "her heavy heart", to my own heavy heart—having recently left a long period of grieving, to maybe this heart is more symbolic of a solid heart, one that had been broken open and has grown back together with even more resolve. That started to resonate more with how I have experienced her and myself for that matter. Hearts that have felt and dealt with profound loss and have turned the corner of acceptance and then even further into hearts that are blossoming like roses after a long winter. Hearts that are full and overflowing, open to love—to give and to receive—spiraling inward and outward with infinite depth and possibility.
The human heart is gifted. An endowed resource with an infinite capacity to love, a natural ability to heal, and begin again.
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