Do you know where the expression "heart melt" came from?  I went on a Google search to find out, but to no avail.  The expression became a curiosity to me because it seems there are an extra number of internet posts, e-mails, and news stories these days prefaced with
"will make your heart melt" or "guaranteed to make your heart melt".  Apparently, having our hearts melt is something we really cherish, value, and even long for!

  

When has your heart melted?  What melts your heart?  No doubt our answers are similar and yet different.  There are some characteristics of the experience that we probably hold in common.  For example, "heart melt" happens in the present moment when we are touched to the core of our being somehow.  We are disarmed; our defenses are down.  Heart melt is a moment of empathy when we are caught up with an image, a story or an experience outside of ourselves.  There seems to be a quality of "release" in having our hearts melt, as if we are nudged back into the flow of our heart energy. 

  

I think organizations and work groups experience heart melt, as well.  It is the moment when everyone can feel the energy of the group and takes note of that energy. A recent example* for me was a meeting in which people were gathered to give input and feedback for a strategic planning process.  After discussing several reports and volumes of data, people spontaneously began to share their excitement about the newly articulated vision of the organization.  In a "heart melt moment", within seconds, it was obvious that everyone was convinced in their heads and energized in their hearts about the organization's direction.  It was a moment of unsolicited reassurance that all of the stakeholders are in alignment with the emerging strategic plan.  Now the planning process is reinforced with new commitment, confidence and collaboration.

  

A word I like to associate with "heart melt" is "soften".  When a person says "I have softened about . . .",  one is acknowledging that his or her heart has opened about an issue, another person, a point-of-view.  Softening indicates the suspension, if not abandonment, of an alienating or polarizing judgment of one kind or another -- often without even being able to pinpoint why.  In organizations and workplaces, I look for softening with the purpose of raising it to everyone's awareness.  To "soften" often is easier to do than to make a big change.  Softening of judgments, assumptions, and positions helps us to see and talk about new possibilities for problem-solving, building collaboration, restoring trust and actively appreciating differences. 

  

When our hearts melt we receive a gift.  Perhaps there are numerous heart-melting posts and broadcasts these days because they resonate with the Holiday Season.  During this time of the year, our hearts seem to be extra sensitive to acts of kindness, longings for peace, courage in the face of disaster, outpourings of generosity, stories of hope and resilience. 
In the Christian tradition
we celebrate the birth
of Jesus; heart-warming images of a tender baby cuddled in his mother's arms abound.  During
and after this season may we experience many gifts of having our hearts melt.