Head or heart – How to decide?
by Macarena Vergara
I have an instinctive resistance to the cries to ‘Follow your heart!’ or ‘Don’t over-think!’ that
seem ubiquitous nowadays in social media. In principle it’s a nice idea, which is supposed
to make us feel good about ourselves and empower us. I struggle with this notion, though:
What does it actually mean, to follow your heart, or alternatively your head? Moreover,
why do we need to even choose between ‘thinking’ and ‘feeling’? Can’t we just ‘know’?
Doesn’t this notion of either/or create an unnecessary burden, another layer of anxiety that
can keep us in permanent doubt about what we ought to be following? Doesn’t this
supposed divide even paralyse us more often than not, rather than allow us to make
decisions whilst feeling expansion and freedom? Is it what ultimately satisfies us in life,
following our hearts? Or is there something more?
This is not a simple topic, and I find it fascinating. In an attempt to make sense of it, here is
what I know: I know that my body holds the answers to most questions, beneath my heart
and my mind, beneath the confusion and the tension. The answers come from a
dimension of stillness, of openness to receiving them, a place beyond words and
emotions. A dimension that we can all access when we need to make small decisions and
also leap towards our bigger purpose in life.
My basic principle for just about everything is: if there is doubt or dissatisfaction lingering in
the air, then there is something more to discover, a layer beneath that we are not
accessing yet…. And it is probably the best idea to probe deeper, until there is no more
doubt or dissatisfaction. It is a very practical stance – I simply do not like to stay in a well of
confusion for very long. Also, achieving clarity does not have to be a cumbersome or near