Open heart – Open home

Honestly, I got more out of the title of that book than I did from the book itself when I purchased it years ago. “Open heart, Open home” was a challenging concept that was not only foreign to me, but downright terrifying.

I grew up in a family with problems..

I mean who doesn’t, but ours were so significant that they required not only a closed door, but a closed mouth as well. Everything looked instagram-level amazing from the outside, but inviting friends into the inner sanctum of our ‘fun house’ was an expertly crafted, highly controlled, profoundly nerve racking event because you just never knew what the day, or evening, might bring. It was also imperative to keep all that fear, embarrassment, pain and uncertainty to yourself lest you blow the lid off the beautiful lie..that was the closed heart part.

I’m pretty sure I spent decades trying to deconstruct the walls I built as a kid. It took me even longer to realize that the goal wasn’t to create an unattainably perfect life behind the door, but just to keep the door open.

All this introspection is bubbling up in me because I was at the home of a new friend this week and this woman is the absolute personification of ‘Open heart-Open home’ living.

Trust me when I tell you, her life is far from perfect.. there is no special filtering going on there that’s for sure..but the minute you cross her threshold, you are washed over with a warm feeling of welcome that is actually hard to describe.

But deconstruct and describe it I will (tomorrow)… because I want to be able to wrap those who visit my home in that same loving embrace of Aloha.

Right now though, I’m off to my first post-Covid, way overdue, dental appt.. 😬