Thursday, March 10, 2016

In Heart’s Brokenness: A Story of Compassion

A friend recently said, “Sometimes a heart needs to be broken.”  At first this seemed harsh and violent, but the more I reflected, the more I saw wisdom in her statement. 

Energetically, we hold unresolved anguish and angst in our heart.  Conversely, the heart is the repository of unconditional love and compassion.  Imagine a heart with two chambers — one holding unresolved pain and suffering; another with an infinite capacity to share unconditional love and compassion.  This heart, our heart, is made for healing. 

We are good at sharing compassion outwardly, but aren’t so adept at thinning the barrier that separate the two chambers of our heart.  Allowing compassion to flow through what, in reality, is a permeable barrier, and soothing the inflammation of anguish although not an easy task is a possible one.  This happens through the most courageous, curiously daring, difficult act we will ever undertake.  That act?  Self-compassion.

So, maybe we need to break our heart every now and again.  Maybe in those cracks the anguish and hurt finally escape.  No longer held captive, our suffering connects with compassion.   Once in the embrace of compassion, our broken heart is surrounded and soothed.  We do not negate the anguish; rather, we transform it.  And, in this transformation, we are healed. 

So, hearts do need to break but cannot be left broken.  Through our compassion, to self, other, and world, we mend hearts and in doing so, change the world — one compassionate act at a time.

With compassion,



Vanessa is an Intuitive, Community Builder, and Compassionista, and Author of Engaging Compassion Through Intent & Action

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