Heart of the World
The transformative power of our hearts
Words and music by Sarah Pirtle
1. All the people that I see,
have a heartbeat, have a heartbeat.
We hold the fire of the earth.
And the light of the sun
beats inside us like a drum.
We’re together in the heart of the world,
We’re together in the heart of the world.
Refrain:
I ask the birds of peace to fly to my heart
from the sky of the heart of the world.
I ask the birds of peace to fly to my heart
from the sky of the heart of the world.
Heart of the world, heart of the world,
we’re together in the heart of the world.
Heart of the world, heart of the world,
we’re together in the heart of the world.
2. All the people of all lands
share a heartbeat, share a heartbeat.
We hold the fire of the earth.
And the light of the sun
beats inside us like a drum.
We’re together in the heart of the world,
We’re together in the heart of the world.
Refrain
Additional verses:
3. All the people in this room
have a heartbeat, have a heartbeat.
4. All the people that I see
have a heartbeat, have a heartbeat.
Notes from the Songwriter:
The song refers us back to our hearts, helps us feel our common beat, and gives us a visualization of our unity. Suggestions for using the song:
- Breathing into our hearts, we reach for a new perspective. With one hand touch the ground, and with the other hand touch your heart and feel your heart beating. Think about all the people all over the Earth, each with a beating heart. Consider this thought — our hearts are in touch with the Universe all the time and each of us is made of a unique wavelength of light from the sun that we express.
- This song gives a way to take a break in a workshop. To take a heart-centered moment, form one hand into a fist — the size of your heart. Cradle it with your other hand, hold it in front of you and reflect on the wonder of your heart. Think of a person or animal and realize that both of you have hearts beating at this moment. Go around the circle and give each person the option to share or pass.
- Sense the inflow into our hearts from the shared heart of humanity. Think of a person in the world who you can’t see but can imagine and describe an activity they are doing that is supporting life. e.g. I am thinking of a person riding a bicycle to a market.
- Author and educator Joseph Chilton Pearce says that it is the heart that opens the brain. When a person feels loved and safe, they have coherent brain waves. He says it is the heart that grows the brain because the heart opens up our prefrontal lobes, the new brain, where values like compassion and respect are developed. I wrote this song to foster awareness of heart intelligence after seeing the photographs he presented of the flower-like wavelengths of the heart.
Words and music by Sarah Pirtle, © 2002, Discovery Center Music BMI. Recorded on Heart of the World CD produced by A Gentle Wind. Used by permission.
Dedicated to Paul Strausman, whose rich voice and lyrical guitar playing add so much to this song.
