Imagine your Heart in your Beloved’s Hands

on learning how to blossom again

Photo by Samuel Ferrara on Unsplash

Grounding Exercise

Close your eyes. What do you hear around, in the whirring quiet of your mind?

Imagine a ship sailing through the fears in you. Imagine your fear blossoming into a rose a bird wants to kiss. One day, I promise you: the corridors of your fears will grow so large you might be able to walk right out of them. Out into the summer sun.

Imagine your Heart inside the Petal of a New-Born Rose

Close your eyes. Till you begin to see the quiver of another eye inside this one. Meadow-yellow. What do you hear around? Is it the gentle patter of rain down a roof? Is it the howl of a dog who’s been waiting for her mother to bring her milk? Have you thought about why you find yourself in the heart of every animal crying for her mother?

When a dog howls, or a cat curls up on the branch to cry: do you feel a rumble in your own belly? Do you hear yourself twisting & twisting on a sleepless night? Whose return are you waiting for— can you name this ache? Will you sit beside it like a good friend, listening to it vent? Will you just be there, holding its hand— listening to it? Not needing to say anything back?

Now close your eyes. Imagine your heart inside the petal of a rose flowering open. Its nectar being sipped by a bumblebee. Going home full, having drunk her share of honey. Imagine your heart inside flower petals, silent. The last golden residue of honey the bee forgot to lick.

Imagine your Heart in the Green of a Meadow

Now you are blooming into a wild-flower. You cut across the greenest strands of grass like a child who’s seen a field for the first time in her life. Your mouth is full of lilies. Your hands brimming with plums. You remember mangoes dropping from a tree your grandma planted when she was here. You are a child playing hide & seek with your friends, again. Delaying for pleasure the experience of finding your friends: even when you knew they’d be hiding behind the same oak tree. In the smallest corner of your back-yard.

Imagine your Heart in the Hands of your Childhood Self

She may drop it. She may even forget it in some dark nook of a cupboard. But she will never walk on it. Stomp on it. Not even by mistake.

Imagine your heart in your Beloved’s Hands

A cat. A friend. Your mother. Anyone. Whoever you call Beloved. Whoever calls you Beloved. Imagine them holding it to their chest. The floor in their room is made of cotton. So even if they drop your heart it doesn’t break. It is safe.

At night they feed you cardamom milk, and some oat biscuits. Your heart that has been hungry the whole year— laps it up in a minute. Thankful. Full. For the first time in a very long time.

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An Unabridged History of the Human Heart

I couldn’t be happier to invite you to my new Creative Writing community, Wildflowers are Prayers. At Wildflowers: we believe in Writing as a form of Self-Care. Every month we meet for craft writing sessions, fun brainstorming activities.

If you enjoyed this piece, you’ll enjoy our August’s generative writing session: which is all about writing ‘An Unabridged History of the Human Heart.’ We will be re-envisioning the heart, and the possibilities of the Heart. All the songs our hearts has longed to sing, but hasn’t yet done. We will read poets and essayists from over the world. Together we will figure out how to inhabit the whole expanse of our hearts: honour it in all its joys & desires.

Wildflowers is a monthly membership community. Every month we will meet for at least 3 to 4 writing sessions (though not mandatory to attend). Replays of every event will be made available to all writers in the space. I would love to see you there. You can register for our community at the link below. Once you click the link below, you’ll find the booking link right at the bottom of the page.