Head, Heart, and Hands

As a philosopher, analyst, planner, and strategist I have cultivated a life of the mind. Ideas and intellect appeal to me naturally, and so naturally this value is reflected in, and reinforced by, my behavior.  Interestingly, when I think about God and try to connect with God, I anthropomorphize this trait in my characterization of God as Ultimate Intelligence.

I have slowly come to understand that for most of my life I have undervalued the heart in deference to intellect. The heart is changing, fickle, breakable. True, but the human mind is also limited. When I am old, what will warm me is not the ideas I’ve shared but the relationships I’ve formed, and the acts of kindness and compassion given and received in the context of those relationships. Perhaps I will be remembered by some things I have written, but my true legacy will live in the hearts of the people I have loved.

What the hands do reflects what is happening in the heart and head. I have been leading from the head, and the skill of my hands reflects this bias. I can write, study, research, present, and use logic and math to convey ideas. This preference has produced patterns of overanalyzing and underachieving—paralysis through analysis. Even as my professional relationships at work and school were getting stronger, many personal relationships at home and in the community suffered from neglect. In truth it’s the heart that’s closest to God. God is Ultimate Intelligence, yes, but also Unfathomable Love, Sweetness, and Light.

Over time, I have developed the analogy of Head, Hands, & Heart to discuss ways we have of processing things in the world. This analogy is reflected in my Ba-gua Cube, which I described in an earlier post (Tues, Aug 10, 2010). I very much like the analogy because it has three components, and the components are related but distinct and progressive. In the three-tiered Ba-gua Cube model, the bottom row is Hands, the middle row is Head and the top row is Heart. In this sense, Heart represents not emotion but the flow of unity and oneness.

I have observed some different constructs, similar to Head, Hands, & Heart:

• Army Leadership: Be, Know, & Do
• Human Capital: Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities (+Other)
• Areas of Activity: Pedagogical, Personal, & Professional
• Capability Maturity Model: People, Technology, & Operations

My format for prayerful living has an adoration paragraph which describes God. It includes the reference to Ultimate Intelligence I mentioned earlier. Based on the pre-eminent heart insight and with these other constructs interwoven, I now have a deeper understanding of God: Creator God, Powerful Father, Nurturing Mother (Hands: what God Does, Skills, Professional, and Operations), Ultimate Intelligence (Head: what God Knows, Knowledge, Pedagogical, and Technology), and Unfathomable LOVE (Heart: God’s true and essential Being, Abilities—think of an elite athlete in flow, Personal, and People). My format for prayerful living had the progression right, coincidently.

I credit author Mark Nepo and friend Deborah Cusimano for the inspiration for this insight. After a recent conversation with Deb, I read the following passage from Mark Nepo and light bulbs started going on for me. Coincidence? I think not!

“The longer I live, the harder it is to discern between the stronger emotions. They all spill into each other where they begin. The longer I go, though, the more I can tell between not feeling and feeling. For this is all that seems to matter. Not feeling puts me on the sideline, makes the world black and white, and me, a dry shade of gray. Only feeling keeps me in the scene, keeps the colors wet.”

Nepo, M. (2000). The book of awakening: Having the life you want by being present to the life you have. See the entry for Aug 27, p. 281. Boston: Conari Imprint, Red Wheel / Weiser.