Sharing Circle

For a lot of people, it can be incredibly  difficult to “share from the heart.” Fear often gets in the way. Concerns about being judged harshly, thoughts like “Perhaps what is in my heart is “really” bad,“  and all sorts of other fears can keep us from being able to feel comfortable talking about what is in our deepest hearts and minds.

The truth of the matter is that part of what creates tension in relationships, and in our lives, are often the things that are in our lives which we don’t share, for whatever reason. Rona Barrett said that “The healthy and strong individual is the one who asks for help when he needs it. Whether he’s got an abscess on his knee…. or in his soul.”

This seems utterly true to me, however so many people seem to find it so difficult to share what they are going through, whether it’s indeed about their knee, or their deepest, most secret heart.

I would urge those among us who have trouble “sharing from the heart,” to give some thought, and take some action, as to how they can practice “sharing” more often. It doesn’t have to happen all at once; to force oneself to share something before one is ready, can be counterproductive, for sure.  It’s okay to start small. For example someone could tell me that they hate this font, that they prefer cursive fonts for posting of this nature. Even in that case, they have expressed their opinion, and harmed no one–and started a dialogue that could be useful all the way around.

I believe that this “sharing” is one of the reasons why this website was created….as an opportunity to get to know ourselves, and each other, better. And to share from our hearts the experiences, joys, fears, and concerns, that make us human.

For those of us that “sharing” comes easily to, we can instead focus on learning to be a good listener, and learning how to help someone “get at” the things they need to say. We can say things as simple as “tell me more…” “go on,” “help me to understand what you mean…” and so on.

I can think of few things that are more important than sharing from the heart, since we are all in this life together, and that fact is absolutely inescapable.

What is important to you?