Find What Makes Your Heart Sing

Two years ago, about this time, my dream job had fallen far short of dreamy, I was completely fried, I felt guilty for not having energy to engage with my family anymore, and I felt like a shell of a person at best. Oh, and I was also about to turn the big 5-0, too. Luckily, a convergence of sorts took place over the next few months.

First, I went for a reflexolo-chi appointment hoping this might relax me, release some toxins, and even start to help me find a positive way forward. Yes, these were rather high expectations for something I’d never even tried, but fortunately, this session really was the beginning of something life-changing. At the end of the rather arduous session, the lovely practitioner said, Betsy, you need to find what makes your heart sing. I thought, wow, this lady is right. I had just recently read that we should seek to discover what message lies at the bottom of one’s heart. I started to think someone was really trying to tell me something.

A couple of months later I was at a work function when one of the presenters shared that writing Haiku can be a form of meditation. That sounded kind of cool I thought, and so that night before bed I decided I wanted to give Haiku a shot. Things were feeling even worse on the work front so the idea of creatively meditating via Haiku writing seemed intriguing. Right off the bat I decided I would start a Haiku series and name it “Find What Makes Your Heart Sing.”

Feeling so flat, I honestly wasn’t sure what really would make my heart sing. I hadn’t really ever been one to write poems either, but it somehow seemed to inspire me. For the next seven months I wrote 55 Haiku poems, each at bedtime. Sometimes, a poem would take a minute to write, and other times it would take 15 minutes to get it just right.  

The beauty of having this particular series of poems was that I was able to look across the poems for themes and obviously, clues to a more joyful future path. Upon reflection across the poems, I (re)discovered that I loved to write, particularly to write things that might inspire others. Connecting with others, relating with others and shedding light on their dreams and passions, makes me feel a sense of purpose and joy. It also became very obvious that travel and particularly Europe needs to be a part of my life for its ability to make me feel truly alive, for the opportunity to appreciate and capture its beauty, wonder, history, architecture, etc. Photography also needed to be a part of my future in capturing these soulful beautiful moments in time.

It dawned on me I could match up each of my Haiku poems with a photograph I had taken on previous trips the past couple of decades, many of which were to Europe. I had myself a creative project, too! I thoroughly enjoyed picking the perfect photograph for each poem. I slightly played with the order in which I wrote the poems, but for the most part, the end product- a self-published book of these poems- is in the order in which they poured out of me. This collection truly makes my heart sing for so many reasons!

Why am I sharing this? Well, my hunch is that this past year many of us have more deeply contemplated our current situation and whether or not we find it to be fulfilling, joyful, meaningful- what we thought our life would look like… Chances are, like me, you’ve been wondering about the months and years to come and what may need to change.

For me, after a much-needed, restorative break (I left my job last summer) and having gone through a creative discovery process of finding what makes my heart sing, I’m committing to what’s most important to me right now: inspiring others via writing, photography and coaching (my personal trifecta!). I’m hoping this body of work will ignite opportunities to relate and connect with others- shedding light on what it means to live fully, be true to one’s self, and honor what really matters in one’s own life.

I feel I made it back to me. May you find a thought-provoking escape and a little inspiration via "Find What Makes Your Heart Sing".   

May my heart sing now

Songs of passion and glory

Soul in tune, live on