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she guards her heart above all else

Shoalwater Island
Shoalwater, Penguin Island

We went for a big walk today, to shake off the mornings cobwebs. Even though we walked far and wide, we knew our way home, as it was a path we have walked many times before.

The path a well worn part of our weekly routine as a family. Along the way is our favourite park, little sights and sounds we have grown to love, in fact we can talk the whole way and not ever get lost, the path leads us home.

 

One of my all time favourite proverbs is this one;

Proverb 4: 23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

Do you feel confused about the path you are walking in your life?

Are you unable to find the path that leads you home?

Instead of looking for directions towards your purpose or dreams, wisdom would ask you how is the state of your heart?

Another version of this proverb says that “our heart is the wellspring of life.”

It is like everything we do, everything that we are and everything that we long to be, flow up and out of the artisan spring of our heart.

If we are full of anger and bitterness, it flavours and impacts our direction and life.

If our heart is clouded by pride and arrogance, it shrouds the potential of the course of our days.

If we have not processed grief or strife it changes the tone of our days.

Sometimes the impact is not felt in the immediate season, but as we orientate ourselves towards the designs of our future, we start to venture off course.

Our heart and its condition impacts every single area of our life.

It affects the people we meet, the friends we make, the opportunities that come our way, something so small can filter the entirety of our being.

A woman of wisdom knows that the internal voice that leads and guides her needs to be retuned every so often.

A woman of leadership knows that she needs a group of safe and deep friendships that she can keep unpacking and processing the hardening of her heart.

A woman of strength is vulnerable enough to speak honestly about the condition of her internal world and ask for help when she needs it.

One of the greatest pursuits of my days, is to filter, process and work through that which is getting a little stuck in my internal worlds.

It reorientates me back to the path that sometimes feels overgrown and hidden, giving me a sense of direction towards the days I was designed to live.

I think finding the path again is as simple as getting quiet, meditating, reflecting, talking, processing, listening, thinking, finding, seeking the condition of our internal worlds, then slowly the course of our days becomes very clear.

The proverb goes on to list ways that our hearts easily become compromised;

Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.”

If your path seems unclear, today’s thought would be this, why don’t you dig a little deeper and look at the condition of your heart?

It may just reveal more than you expect.

To read the next day in the series click here: She shares her stuff

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Finding my place

photoIt wasn’t until I had a toddler that I realised how important ‘placement’ was in my creative internal vortex.

I place things on my desk with finesse, I drop things on my bookshelf with purpose, to a shallow glance it looks a little messy, it looks a little crazy, but to my internal Dewey Decibel system it is just right.

My son has the most beautiful nature, but he is a fiddler. Everything he touches is fiddled with. I am sure he is bursting with innovation because he finds anything he can to feel, to explore and to replace in his own way.

Two weeks ago I turned on the washing machine to hear a regular knock, that isn’t a part of its usual rhythm and after digging the water logged inhabitants, I found my brand new smart televisions water logged remote control.

It wasn’t until max started to press my placement control buttons that I realised how important place was in my creative routine.

I rearrange my desk.

I play with my notes on my side table.

I light candles.

I make coffee.

I muse with placement until my idea is ready to be birthed.

How about you?

Do you feel out of place?

Is finding a place and creating a place, an important part of your creative expression.

booksThis new season for me has taken so long to settle, because of this one marker. Place.

I didn’t realise how much team, how much the people I collaborated with, the location of my workspace, the routines, the deeply enriched rituals, how much they enabled my creativity and innovation through place.

Slowly I am finding my new place.

And I kinda like it.

How about you?

Do you need to find your place?

Do you need to find your fit?

Explore this today.

Amanda