The Heart of Knowing
February often invites us to reflect on matters of the heart. We see it everywhere—cards, conversations, gestures of love. Yet beyond romance and relationships, this season offers an opportunity to explore a quieter, deeper question: What happens when we let the heart lead, not just the mind?
We live in a world that highly values thinking, planning, analyzing, and predicting. From a young age, many of us are taught—explicitly or implicitly—that a “good life” is one we carefully construct with our minds. Set the goals. Make the plan. Think it through. Stay safe. Stay secure.
Honestly, this is my operating system. Over the past few years, I’ve been experimenting with living more from the heart—through trust, surrender, and allowing things to unfold. While the mind is incredibly useful, I’ve come to understand that it’s only part of the equation.
The mind’s primary job is protection. It scans for risk, looks for certainty, and prefers what is familiar. It asks questions like What if this doesn’t work? or What’s the safest next step? These questions aren’t wrong—they’re human. But when the mind is the only voice we listen to, life can start to feel narrow, rigid, or overly controlled.
The mind’s primary job is protection. It scans for risk, looks for certainty, and prefers what is familiar. It asks questions like What if this doesn’t work? or What’s the safest next step? These questions aren’t wrong—they’re human. But when the mind is the only voice we listen to, life can start to feel narrow, rigid, or overly controlled.
The heart operates differently.
The heart doesn’t always explain itself logically. It doesn’t offer a five-step plan or guarantee an outcome. Instead, it speaks in quieter ways—through intuition, curiosity, or a subtle pull that says, This matters or This feels important. The heart invites us into trust, into the unknown, into a kind of knowing that can’t always be justified on paper.
There’s a profound difference between living a life we’ve carefully designed and living a life of meaning and purpose.
Following the heart doesn’t mean abandoning responsibility or ignoring reality. It means learning to notice when we’re living according to how we think things should be versus whether things feel right. It means pausing long enough to see whether fear is running the show—or whether we’re willing to trust ourselves.
The heart operates differently
Following the heart doesn’t mean abandoning responsibility or ignoring reality. It means learning to notice when we’re living according to how we think things should be versus whether things feel right. It means pausing long enough to see whether fear is running the show—or whether we’re willing to trust ourselves.
For many people—adults and children alike—this tension shows up as anxiety, indecision, or a sense of being disconnected from their own needs. We overthink. We second-guess. We wait for certainty that never fully arrives. Meanwhile, the heart is quietly offering information the mind can’t access.
Learning to listen to the heart isn’t about impulsivity. It’s about building a steady relationship with your inner wisdom—guided by awareness and self-trust. February reminds us that the heart is not just a symbol of love—it’s a source of guidance. When we allow ourselves to slow down and listen, we may discover that we already know more than we think.
Reflection: Take a quiet moment this week to ask yourself: “What is my heart trying to tell me right now?” When was the last time I trusted an inner knowing—even if it didn’t make perfect sense at the time?
Action: Choose one small step guided by your heart, no matter how simple. It could be reaching out to someone you care about, starting a creative project, or saying “no” to something that drains you. The key is to act on the heart’s whisper rather than the ego’s yell for certainty.