Hearts and Minds

A few years ago I spent a week in Black Rock City, Nevada for Burning Man. It was an awesome experience filled with many fleeting but meaningful moments with all sorts of people. Among them was an encounter I had with a palm reader, who asked if he could read my palm. I willingly presented my right hand, face up, and was taken aback when, with one look at my open palm, the man burst out in a personal, pleasant laughter. I asked why he was laughing and he told me simply that I had exactly equal head and heart lines, and that this was very rare.

I felt somewhat pleased to offer amusement to the man. While though I found his statement to be a compliment of sorts, it was clearly something with which he took more appreciation than did I. It wasn’t immediately obvious to me what it means to have equal head and heart; though it did resonate. Today, I kind of half know, and half feel what it means. And I guess that’s exactly what he read from me.

I like the idea of living in balance between the head and heart, optimizing the full extent each has to offer. They are both such powerful forces.