Heidi Dellaire: Founder/CEO of Love Wide Open,
Coach, Social Entrepreneur and Author
Heidi Dellaire is a heart-based thought leader, alternative health therapies practitioner/coach, intuitive healer, licensed massage therapist, registered Ayurvedic practitioner, heart space coach, entrepreneur and the managing and publishing editor of LoveWideOpen.com. In her late thirties, she began to feel a disconnect between her corporate job and a yearning in her heart. This disconnect racked her body with illness and pain. This began the start of her spiritual journey to heal herself, rekindle her passions and inspire her to use her gifts to heal others. She pursued a career in alternative healing modalities and hold certifications in massage therapy, craniosacral therapy, Reiki, Ayurvedic medicine, healing light therapy, heart space coaching and is a graduate of Gabrielle Bernstein’s Spirit Junkie Masterclass for coaches. (Courtesy of Heidi Dellaire’s website)
TSM: Heidi, thanks so much for taking time out of your day to do an interview for TSM. It’s great to have you here.
HD: I am honored to be able to take part in this interview and share some stories with your readers. Thank you for asking me to take part in your publication and re-launch of TSM.
TSM: How did you get started as a poet? And can you recall the very first poem you wrote?
HD: I have been writing for as long as I can remember, but I never actually called myself a poet. I am more of a prose writer than a poet, yet I find myself drawn to both as expressive outlets. Almost all of my poems or musings came to heart and mind while spending time in nature. While in nature, I feel that I connect to my true heart…the heart of the universe. That natural world heart allows me to just let out whatever heart song I want to sing. The heart song may be painful or joyous and it always show up in this form. As far as the first poem I ever wrote, well, I honestly don’t. I am sure it was in some teenage journal that was burned many a moon ago. Releasing them into the ether.
TSM: What stages do you go through in developing a poem?
HD: That’s a good question because they all go through various states before the finishing touches are applied. Most of my writing starts in either a journal / notebook entry or as a voice recording. I can be watching the ducks floating on the pond and instantly have something to write about. A notebook goes with me everywhere, even on large hikes.
I am often inspired when I drive, so I grab my phone and voice record the poem or musing. Islands in the Mist, Heartbreak, Fire Ants, Clean and a few more poems from the book came to me this way. But most of them arise after or during a hike in the woods or a walk along the ocean’s edge. After an initial writing or recording, I let them marinate for quite awhile before changing and editing them.
TSM: I really love your book title, Roots and Tendrils. How did you decide on this title?
HD: Oh, the title comes from a poem of the same name that is in the “Wormwood” section of the book. To quote the back cover, this book “delves into the depths of the heart: its longing, its heartbreak, its joy.” Roots and Tendrils is about a love that takes hold, is ripped away, and then the heart still reaches for that lost love. That particular poem was the very first that was written out of all the poems in the book. The rest of the musings came to life after this anchor.
TSM: What was your selection process for the poems you put in your book?
HD: As mentioned above, they were literally part of a journey understanding my own heart over several years. I had some amazing help for the selection process and I even wrote a few new ones to add before publication. One of my closest friends aided in the order and selection of pieces for Roots and Tendrils. It was quite a lot of fun. We laid all of the pieces out on the living room floor and started to play what seemed like a game of Tetris with them until the order fell into place. We categorized them into three separate sections for the book.
TSM: Would you like to publish another poetry book, or is there another one that is already in the works?
HD: I feel that I will always be writing another poetry book as long as I journal write, but right now, I am focused on my Heart Space Life Coaching. I have an e-book in the works about healthy boundaries and am also developing a course for building better boundaries. My coaching and helping others increase their self-esteem and self-worth has taken precedence over my poetry writing. Yet, even as I say that, I know I will probably be inspired by something tomorrow and write about it.
TSM: Who are some of your favorite authors/poets?
HD: There are two people who come to mind instantly. Mary Oliver has been an influential writer in my life. Her connection between nature and the heart speaks my language. Another favorite poet / prose writer is David Whyte. This man’s writing moves me to tears or profound emotion almost every time I read a piece of his work.
TSM: Tell us about how Love Wide Open came to be and its mission.
HD: It’s been a journey to understand what Love Wide Open means. It’s partly my journey and it’s also a journey for anyone willing to delve into their true heart. On my way back from an ocean visit, I was driving up a long hill and I got an idea (download) that made me say out loud, “I don’t know how to do that.” I was literally given the name, that there should be a website, social media accounts, and that I should share my thoughts and ideas with the world. This happened in the Fall of 2014 and in 2016, I finally knew how to launch it. Love Wide Open is a concept, a way of life. It’s about allowing yourself to love and be loved equally and to not give yourself away in search for love or take from others for the same reason. Lovewideopen.com came to life about a year later. It’s a self-development / self-help website. I am really proud of that website. There are over 200 articles there. Out of all of this work with Love Wide Open, my heart space life coaching website was born. Most of my current activity is founded around my coaching or courses at heididellaire.com. I love working with coaching clients and helping them towards being more confident in relationships.
TSM: If you had the power to do something in the world today, what would it be and why?
HD: If I actually had the power to (but I don’t), I would heal people’s deep wounds. So many of us are emotionally wounded and don’t even realize that how we move through the world comes from those wounds. If we could allow others to truly be heard and allow them to heal their wounds, I believe we would have a more loving world. A world where we could truly hold heart space for each other. We would understand that we are ALL worthy of each other’s love, no matter who we are.
TSM: What is one of your favorite quotes (or lines) that inspires you?
HD: Ah, that’s easy. It is actually an entire poem by Mary Oliver called Wild Geese, but I will pull out my favorite lines. “Tell me about your despair, your, and I will tell you mine. […] Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, call to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting – – over and over announcing your place in the family of things.”
TSM: Anything else you’d like to share? And where can readers find out more about you and your work?
HD: Yes, I would like your readers to know that each and every one of them is a beautiful, creative being. While you may not write poetry, you may instead draw or paint, knit or sing, play a musical instrument, garden or build, etc. Share your gifts with the world around you. Your being is needed in this world.
People can find out more about me, my book, courses and my coaching services at heididellaire.com and all social media accounts under my name. I also have podcast about relationships and self-development and that can be found at iTunes or Apple Podcasts under Love Wide Open with Heidi Dellaire. You can reference other self-help articles at lovewideopen.com.
TSM: Thanks again for doing this interview and wish you all the best with all you do in the future.
HD: Thank you, Jessica. This was a true pleasure to spend a little bit of time discussing my passions and creativity to help others who may be struggling
