But I think that the most likely reason of all... may have been that his heart was two sizes too small

Dr. Seuss – How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Hello world! Welcome to Open Heart Press!

Did you think you had landed on an accident scene? Or that it resembled open-heart surgery perhaps?

I know. At first it reminded me of a rather bloody Rorschach test. But when I saw the small heart lying there attached to all the parts of the ‘map’, I knew that, edgy as it was, it was to be the background for this new phase of my writing.

Even as a small child I was invested in hearts. As an ironic side note, I was born with a heart murmur, and physically restricted throughout my childhood. Did this wrinkle nudge me into my affaire des coeurs? Who knows?

The fact is I feel, and have always felt, an intense appeal, a tug, when seeing a heart in any form . . . rocks, clouds, gardens . . . natural formations or human made look-alikes. And I know that I am not alone in this attraction.

Hands up, if you have collected heart-shaped rocks from the beach! How many, besides me, sign their name with a scribbled heart?

The good news is that this trend of noticing hearts, collecting hearts, drawing hearts is growing. And that is because we are, as a planet, moving up into the heart space. The heart is a big player on the planet right now, infusing everything we do.

In the chakra system (a series of seven energy centres in the body) the heart chakra links the bottom three chakras, which are all about the physical, with the three intuitive chakras above it. It essentially balances the world of matter with the world of spirit.

That is quite a tool.

Humanity is evolving, despite pockets of darkness in the world. (We are shining a light on that darkness and that’s why it’s showing up so starkly right now.) We, the planet and the people, have evolved through those lower chakras, I believe, and are entering our heart space.

More of us are choosing to follow our heart’s intelligence when choosing our careers, because it has become too painful to ignore it. This is consciousness rising.

There is growing intolerance for bullying, racism, sexism and all the other isms. What is this if not listening to the compassion of our heart?

Hearts are opening around the world.

I heard once and never forgot, “a broken heart is an open heart”. Yes, I agreed, but does an open heart have to be a broken one? I hope not.

I imagine the petals of a flower, a lotus flower perhaps, as the petals of a heart. The plant requires sunshine to open its petals, but it also needs rain to nourish it. Could it be that our hearts work the same way? A little rain, a little sunshine – a perfect balancing act. The dark and the light; the yin and the yang. The heart awakens and its petals lovingly open.

Still, many hearts today have fortresses around them. They are armoured tanks all hunkered down so that nothing can hurt them. Nothing can touch them either. Or can it? Is this when the heart has to be broken open? The armour chipped away to reveal the tenderness beneath?

To open a reluctant heart, find a willing friend; face her, gazing into her eyes; put a hand on her heart while she does the same for you. Feel that heart beating.

Lie on the Earth and feel her heartbeat. Hug a tree and feel its heartbeat. It’s all about connecting. Connect with the electromagnetics of another heart to open your own. This feels true to me, like boosting a car battery.

What did it take to open the Grinch’s small heart? As I recall, it was the revelation that the Whos down in Whoville could be just as happy without all the trimmings of Christmas. When he heard their joyous singing on Christmas morning, “the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day. And then - the true meaning of Christmas came through, and the Grinch found the strength of *ten* Grinches, plus two!”

We all know a Grinch or two. Valentine’s Day is approaching. A sweet, anonymous (or not) Valentine message could warm up even a Grinchy heart, as miraculously as Christmas did for Mr. Grinch.

I’m on it!