Friday, April 17, 2015

#A to Z Challenge: O is for ... Openness


Today's 'heart things, heart strings' theme for the letter O in the A to Z challenge is Openness.

Open-minded can be akin to openness, being open to new ideas. Similarly, being open-hearted is being open to kindness and love and allowing that (or more of that) to come into your life, your being.

Conversely if you are closed-minded, your state of being would be contracted physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Likewise, if you are open-hearted, you are expanding, metaphorically of course! ;) Energetically, people can feel or sense this about you.

Unless you're a great disguiser of emotions, your openness or lack of it also shows up in your body, including facial expressions: your pupils either dilate or expand, your lips turn downwards or upwards, your shoulders hunch up or relax, etc.


How does openness show up in your life? What are you (most) open to?

Photo of me (years ago) at a fashion show

18 comments:

  1. For me openness means being myself and not hiding anything from the world. I am most open to change. That is the thing we need to accept too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love your statements Soumya! Thanks for sharing! :) <3

      Delete
  2. I interpret openness with a feeling that I can listen to others, and if it appeals to me I may acccpt it wholehearedly

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, listening with an open heart is certainly a part of it Usha (which I forgot to mention!) ;) <3

      Delete
  3. Accepting the self and others as they are is openness to me. We want to change many things in ourselves just because. Accepting ourselves as who we are needs a very open mind. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are certainly many interpretations to the word, and I like yours! :) Accepting ourselves can be a challenge so an open mind is definitely required! Thanks for sharing. :) <3

      Delete
  4. Cute photo of you being open, Elly! Nice post. I'd never really thought about openness much before. Thought provoking. I consider myself an open person when it comes to writing and posting on Facebook. I think my body language seems closed though as often people misunderstand me and think I'm aloof or angry, since I'm a bit shy and conservative, holding back until I feel more comfortable in a situation. Thank goodness for writing and FB where I can let my authentic self come out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Cat. :) I'm not surprised and yet there is nothing wrong with that. There are people who can express themselves better in writing. I think I am or can be that way too so I understand! ;) <3

      Delete
  5. For me openness is about thoughts and perspectives. They may shake you up but a calmer understanding reveals so much.
    that picture of you is a nice one :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's also a great definitiion/interpretation of openness you bring Parul. :) Thanks! :) <3

      Delete
  6. I feel I am open when I meet other people- from scratch - try to meet all without judging:-) I think I have an open body language and from this photo, I think you have too:-) Lovely

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a great and ideal way to be Eli as it's easy to judge someone right off the bat. ;) Thanks for your comments. :) <3

      Delete
  7. I agree that when you are open people can feel although. Although I have read about dilation of pupils a lot, but how do you actually see that :P . I mean you would have to stare at the person really hard to see pupil dilation... I don't know if it's different for lighter coloured eyes :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well I suppose you would need to be close enough to see that! ;) I guess what I meant is that pupils can be large or small. For example, the former is indicative of love while the latter is usually more of an indicator of fear. :) <3

      Delete
  8. For me openness is about being as genuine as possible, and also accepting other people as they are, without judgement. Another lovely photo, Elly. ☺

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a great definition or way of seeing openness Debbie and I concur with you on that! :) Thanks! :) And I'm glad you love my photos as of late, though most are a bit out of date! ;) <3

      Delete
  9. Openness for me is being honest and sincere, being broad minded and not being fixated to old ideas and thoughts, being non-judgmental! That's a lovely pic, Elly :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, openness has so many facets like a diamond and I agree with you on those qualities (definitions) too! :) Thanks for sharing Shilpa! :) <3

      Delete