I think in color. I am wired to translate my feelings into creative art. I am grateful for artificial intelligence in that I can describe what I feel, and it comes to life in a picture. Today – May 9, 2026 is a day and time that I have never experienced before. The thoughts, feelings and emotions that I find my heart engaged in are reflected in this picture, and I sense that I am not alone.

If I were to describe myself, I would say without hesitation that I have a big heart that is open to love (because love is my favorite thing). For years I have been under the impression that I guarded my heart from situations or people that endangered it or put it in jeopardy of being broken. After all, it had been broken so many times that I needed to be sure that I would never put myself in a situation where it was in danger of being broken again.

So even as a blood-bought-believer, I was always secretly afraid to trust anyone with it. I am a self-proclaimed LOVE DOCKA (doctor). I own this mantle because I know that I have the gift of enlightening others to ignite love within themselves and for others. What can I say? It’s a gift. But in all of this giftedness I’ve lost sight of my own heart. Hence, here I am today.

The heart is a living vessel, so we assume that it heals over time, or that it regenerates like the liver does, but it does not. It leaves a scar. Doctors can try to repair it – they can try to restore it to prevent further damage and that is fine, but in the end the presence of scar tissue is the closest thing to repair – the residual of a broken heart. Isn’t the same true about our inner character or feelings (heart)? We try to repair it ourselves. We even go to the doctor or the therapist to try to get help to repair it. We go to friends. We go to family. We go to church. But truth is, the heart is not repairable. There will always be residual pain. The interesting thing about residuals is that they are “left over” after the initial event or circumstance. The image in my mind is a fractured heart that has a continuous blood flow with constant leaks – and it is okay.

Life is all about opening your heart and being vulnerable to the reality that it will be broken – cracked – fractured – because it will.