On walking the sincere path | Essay Snacks 009
spoiler: it involves heartbreak
A couple months back, I posted a Substack Note with this David Whyte quote: “There’s no sincere path you can take in life without having your heart broken.”
In Mandarin, there’s a phrase called 全心全意 (quan xin quan yi), which describes when someone does something with a whole-hearted, earnest effort.
When we are sincere, it means that we wear our heart on our sleeve. We show up, to the best of our ability, as our authentic self.
Of course, an unguarded heart is vulnerable. Even the smallest cut stings like a grain of sand in the eye.
Is the alternative any better, though?
We could insulate our heart by confining it inside the smallest Russian doll, and then stacking the rest one by one. We could hedge our sincerity by calculating the character count of each text message, ensuring that both sides of the thread are equivalent.
Ultimately, if it’s sincerity that we seek to embody and receive, then there’s only one path that we can take. The question is, will it lead to heartbreak or exaltation this time?
Essay Snacks is a series of mini essays created to foster more real-time sharing of ideas that have piqued my interest recently. They are shorter and aim to connect a few dots, instead of an entire constellation’s worth, like my other posts.
It’s wild how often we treat sincerity like a risk instead of a strength. But you’re right—if we want to connect for real, there’s no way around the vulnerability. Beautifully said.
To show up in that way shows us who we are really— it’s crazy but it’s actual strength only exists in softness.
If we choose the heart path it’ll ripple more of that sincerity ✨ into the world— it’s a challenge but worth it! <3 loved reading this!