Truth is a knowingness that comes out of the heart or out of a place of love. This differs from the Webster dictionary, which states that truth is based on fact, reality or accuracy. I ask you, what is fact or reality? That differs depending on the perspective from which one is looking.

Traveling overseas has given me the opportunity to witness how various cultures view facts and reality differently. For example, when I was a Peace Corps volunteer in what is now called Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as Zaire), I invited Zairians over to my home for dinner. I gave them a 6:00 p.m. time frame. They arrived at 8:00 p.m. From my “reality,” I could have been highly insulted. Then I found out that this is culturally accepted. It gave me an opportunity to accept another culture and plan differently for future dinners.

I have also been on a jury. There are many witnesses and perspectives that are shared about the person on trial. Which one is true and accurate? Twelve jurors end up deciding the fate of a person based on evidence or what they perceive as truth. Do we know for certain that it is true?

I woke up this morning thinking about how we, as humans, have separated ourselves from each other based on our skin color, and our cultural, religious, educational, and socioeconomic differences. We make judgments about which perspective is most accurate and truthful. These perceptions are based on our thoughts, which come from our separate ways of looking at the world.

Just imagine looking at these differences from our heart instead. Every single person has a heart that is filled with love, whether we recognize it or not. The heart allows us to “see” from the same perspective of love. What would our family, our communities, our nation and the world look like if we “saw” from our hearts rather than our heads? We would recognize that we are more connected than separate, that we share more than we know. We all eat, drink water, eliminate, sleep, laugh, form families and communities, rely on each other for help and enjoy contributing to others.

I invite you to see Valentine’s Day from a new perspective. Yes, share your love with those lovely people in your life and open your hearts to “seeing” all people as lovely. It takes courage to “see” the truth that radiates out of a loving heart.

How do you do this, you ask? Many of you have grown up hearing the message, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. When you interact with someone and judgment enters into your thought process, drop the thought into your heart and feel the love and joy and connectedness radiating from your heart to the other person. You will actually receive the love in return. The truth is that our heart connects us all.