The Fellowship of the Heart: Hitting the Mother Lode

This morning as I tried to settle into a focus, I was struggling. I continued to freewrite, and a word, which seemed random at first, jumped off the tip of my pen: Unclaimed.

​Sometimes, I write for a week or so on a continuing topic as I did at the beginning of this month about the Declaration of Independence and founding of America. Truly, I write about whatever emerges from the fellowship of my heart each morning, and I develop the idea for this evening post, which I have done daily now for months. I’m letting you in on my thought process here. Maybe you will enjoy it; maybe it will illustrate one way that I fellowship with my own heart.

I rarely share anything from my true morning pages, but I will make an exception. This is what I actually wrote: “I see that I’m still not in any sort of flow. Don’t know what I need to do, really. One of these unclaimed mornings. What? Unclaimed? Why in the hell did I write that? What do I mean by unclaimed?” And I went on from there. The question about why I wrote the word was one directed to my heart.

Answers came forth: “Nothing is holding my attention, my soul [Heart]. I don’t know [Mind]. I am not claiming anything as worthy of a focused thought nor is anything laying claim on me [Heart]. How about I stake a claim because that is what an author, a writer, a philosopher does? If I don’t stake a claim, how will I discover? If I don’t discover, how can I fulfill being Discovery?”
My heart and my mind converge in times of such dialogue, unless I specifically evoke, call directly on Heart. Why does it matter? Isn’t it simply what many would term thinking?

No, no it is not, and it is not because we have to make a conscious decision to use the heart. If we do not, ego, as the default human operating system, would take us in many different directions. Heart thinking is clear, unequivocal, and if any emotion is involved, it’s positive. Had I not chosen to interact with my heart, then I might have sunk into depression because of my lack of focus and why that might have been occurring. The reality to me is it doesn’t matter one iota why I felt that way, only that I recognized it and pursued purpose. Heart leads us to stay focused on life purpose and pursue that, especially once we know Self and create our purpose and a vision and mission to make Self known.

I’m not the only one who feels this way; many millions do, really, but it always helps me to hear others’ thoughts in affirmation, encouragement, and fellowship of our hearts. Before I started this article, immediately before (Coincidence? I think not!), I read a quote I received in an email: “Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” — Dolly Parton. She gets it. Know Self and make Self known. That’s how to spread love and experience love for all involved in life.

Where did I end up with my more focused thoughts? I pursued the idea of the 19th century westward expansion in America, where farmers, ranchers, and miners could legally stake claims. I thought most about miners. The discovery of gold and possible quick wealth lured many westward, and if a prospector found a place, a piece of land or a river, with a few flecks of gold in it, he would poke around for awhile. If it proved really promising, he would go to an official and stake a claim — a document stating he had interest in that parcel of ground and water. Work had to be invested in it over a five year span, usually, before he could be the full legal owner. Nice history lesson!

My personal lesson, though, included the thought that when I pursue an idea that has come through the fellowship of my heart, I do the prospecting work. I see the promise and develop it. If it’s a bust, at least I learned a little. If it’s a rich ore of gold, then I start mining it.

Ideas about the founding of America, poetry, writing, art and artists, education, and spiritual understanding and growth are some of those ideas. And certain thinkers, practitioners, or writers provide really rich ore to refine. Enter Walt Whitman.

And this is the second day that I have not gone as far as I wanted to in my exploration to discover from Walt, but this is fine. I have written my heart, but I know a bit of what is yet to come, because I know the grade of ore I am working with.

Let me end this evening, though. I want you, my friend, to know that when you come to know self and create and state life purpose (which may evolve in a growth process), and then, find a way, some way, any way, to make it real (vision) and make it work (mission), our lives will open into the richest mining, farming, or ranching claims anyone could ever imagine. Only you, your own heart, knows what this is for you.

​Search it, know it, proclaim it, do it. Know love, joy, peace, and the fulfillment and significance of such a life. When you do that, you have hit the mother lode!