Heart Talk
by Cleo Wade
Allen & Unwin
Cleo Wade considers that she has experienced just about every kind of heart ache there is. She has learnt from having her heart in pieces that our stories are important. “They help us take our pieces and build something new.”
Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life is a small volume that is packed with poems and scribbling about loving and healing that blend simplicity with positivity. These were mainly written when Wade was struggling to remain positive and she hopes that her hard-earned wisdom might help people.
Written from her New York kitchen, her insights have underlining and notes in the margin and she instructs readers to rip out a page and put it on their fridge if they want.
Pointing out that we get stuck in stories we tell about ourselves, she reminds us that we are the only people who can decide who we really are. If we know our value, we can express our value and teach others how to honour us.
The words of wisdom are all about self-care. About letting go of fear and ego; about knowing your needs; about learning the power of gratitude and having confidence to be open to the world. Wade’s world is full of love, acceptance, justice, peace, equity and equality.
This is not a book you read just once. Mark pages and go back to them, rip out pages and share insights with others. Leave it by your bed and flick through it just before you go to sleep. Give a copy to a friend so that they too can reach their loving potential.
Lezly Herbert