Can we be Open in our Mind & Heart?

I have had people asking me, ‘What do you mean when you say be open mind? Does it mean we allow everything to flow through or accept everything in its entirety?’

When we mention the word open, immediately our brain will think of the opposite word, Close. Then we go on to imagine wideness & vastness with no boundaries.

Really, open mindedness means the ability to be impartial, considerate of other perspectives and receptive to new ideas. It helps us delay any judgement we can have at every instant we view things, matter or people.

Then what about having an open-heart? Well, open-hearted simply means one who is warm, kind and honest. Being an open hearted person means we are able to see that everyone is kind and well-intentioned at some levels.

Our mind and heart works hand-in-hand somewhat. A person who has an open heart is often an open minded person; while someone who has a closed heart most often is closed minded. Then you may ask, can one be open minded with a closed heart? Well, observe yourself and those who are close to you. You’ll verify the relation of the mind and heart for yourself to that question.

Our brain mostly conceptualise things or person as a whole & in absolute, seeing things exactly we believe & perceive them to be, based on what we know. And we also relentlessly find evidence to support all that we know.

So having an open mind shifts our view in helping us to see things a little more fluid, less concrete. We don’t get so fixated with all that we know and with all the evidence we have found. We are able to question what we know and put at bay our expectation of what we want to hear or if what we know could be inaccurate.

Being open mind is not being fully agreeable and accepting all there is & all that is nor is it being right or wrong.  It is the flexibility to see each objective extreme as subjective in some angles.

We all have biases, an inclination or prejudice toward or against something or someone based on our experience, knowledge, etc. Biases also stem from our upbringing, our education, our culture & our environment.

I sometimes view biases as human’s weakness as it distorts the truth or rather pushes us to one side of reality that serve our little world. But we all have it. Example, when we mention Nurse, our brain automatically imagine a female.  But there is also male nurses.

On the other hand, our Biases to some extent can dictate how open or narrow our mind is. For example, we think that only the females can and shall be nurse and male can not or should not be in that profession, then that’s being narrow-minded.

One who is open minded would see a matter from a different perspective and/or willing to listen to a different opinion without reacting towards it. There is No judgement nor labelling.

It is the ability to make space to listen. A positive trait it is, it allows us to be able to think critically and rationally.

As we all know, Life is full of challenges and it is never linear - it definitely requires us to flex ourselves in changing times.

So having an open mind helps us navigate life much gentler and cushion some challenges we may have should we stay narrow-minded.

An open mind allows one to think differently while an open heart allows one to feel differently, perhaps the feeling of peace that helps us let go.

Having an open mind takes us out of our comfort zone & experience the unfamiliar so we can enhance our knowledge/learnings or get to know of a different concept of a similar area of interest.

And it definitely in sync when we have an open heart - making space for us to be more compassionate and caring towards self & others, strengthening our relationships with other people. While we live true to ourselves and be our true self, we cannot run away from connecting with other people hence establishing a more meaningful relationship.

How do we cultivate an open mind with an open heart?

Self awareness & Curiosity

In cultivating an open mind or transitioning from a narrow mind towards an open mind, self awareness is essential. It is not just the ability to be alert but the ability to be conscious of our conducts, thoughts, speech and behaviour – the understanding of what make us who we are.

Without self awareness, we won’t have the ability and capacity to reflect on the unfamiliar or any misalignment. As mentioned, we all have biases and we also make mistakes or errors in life – so with self awareness we have the capacity to identify our biases, see the mistakes we make and reframe our thoughts around it then navigate accordingly. Giving it an opportunity to see a layer deeper than just the surface. Not all things are the cause of the external factors.

If you are able to peel the layers, Be surprised that the ability to do so comes with the help of us being compassionate or exercising empathy in our views/perception. That is brief breakthrough of being open heart. Remember, the mind and the heart links with one another.

Now, for some of us, we have the curiosity element in us. Curiosity makes it easier as it piques our interest in wanting to know more – we want to investigate more into a certain matter. Instilling curiosity supports our deep dive into things that is happening ok for us; as well as embracing with grace of what is unpleasant.

Willingness to consider other's perspectives/views

Next is the willingness to consider other’s perspectives. Around the globe, humans display variation in numerous different traits. This spans out to the different views, perspectives and opinions on a single matter.

Often when we read a writing, listen to a speech or interacting with people, very quickly our mind starts categorising the content into the right or wrong boxes. Right or wrong is a matter of relative. What is right today may not stay right tomorrow. All things are evolving as we speak. So, learning to drop our views and having the willingness to listen, consider and receptive of other’s perspectives expands our comprehension and grasps of the world.

Expand our horizons

Finally, expand our horizon through networking, travel, or reading.

No man is an island. Networking and getting to know people allow us to learn from one another. All of our experiences are as valid as our memories made just like travelling to different places expose ourselves to different cultures, trying new food, seeing new places.

Be open mind at the first hand-shake and stay open in the land of others.

Reading as cliché as it sounds, helps us discover new ideas, information and outlook of a topic which we may not thought about. You’ll never know, sometimes, reading deepens our problem-solving creativity. Now with podcasting being a trend, some may prefer to listen to podcast instead - that works too. There are variety of podcasts channels out there and I’m sure we can learn a thing or 2 listening to them.

So can we be open in mind & heart?

For me, it’s a definite yes. I was once narrow minded in some areas of my life but since my self-care journey, it has helped opened my mind in many ways, free my heart from many sufferings that is not necessary. Most of all having an open mind and open mind helps me see the good in everyone with differing views. We are all unique yet similar in many ways.

Everyday, I strive to balance exercising the openness of my mind and heart. Somedays I stumble – I remind myself that I am learning to stay a little bit more aware in this specific area that I stumble on. My self awareness has helped me build and foster relationship with others.

It's not an easy transition and it may be a challenge for some.

Take it a step at a time.

Every change begins with the first and do it at your pace.

I know, it’s an ongoing journey for me, will it be for you?

Some words to leave you with for contemplation,

“My heart may be closed.

My mind may be narrow.

With awareness & mindfulness,

I can passage across -

The vastness of my world and the world outside.”

Stay blessed & always take good care of yourself! It matters before you care for others.