Sometimes I think the single most radical thing we can do is to open our hearts. Truly open. Not just sometimes-when-I’m-in-the-mood open. Not sort of open. Not blinking open and closed. But fully, genuinely, all-barriers-removed open. Why is it radical? Because it’s so rare. Because fear and pain and denial all get in the way. There’s a whirring machine in our heads that churns out millions of reasons why it’s dangerous, naïve, impossible. And we listen. We hear the fear, the anger, the confusion, the self-doubt and we turtle inside the safety of our hard shells, our thick exteriors, our masks. And we never get any closer to understanding each other. To loving each other. To making peace. I invite you to look carefully next time you’re in a large crowd — if you spot someone with an open heart, talk to them, offer to hug them, thank them… because the chances are, they’re feeling pretty alone.
— heidi kalyani, 2016
from the *nothing is black and white* project: illustration created out of meditation with a single unbroken line