Baptiste De Pape was living a privileged life in Europe but he felt something was missing

Born in Brussels, Belgium, to a diplomat French father and Dutch mother, De Pape went to law school and became a successful lawyer in the Netherlands.

鈥淚 was offered a job with a bigger law firm in Amsterdam. It was an opportunity I had worked hard for, but it was then I began to realize I didn鈥檛 want to spend the rest of my life being a lawyer,鈥� De Pape recalled.

Listening to the presence of his own creative mind and what his heart was telling him to do, six years ago De Pape embarked on a journey to make a documentary about how people find their true purpose in life.

鈥淚 got the idea from watching an episode of Oprah (Winfrey) interviewing Maya Angelou, and they were talking about that very topic, finding your purpose in life,鈥� he recalled.

From that inspiration, he started out with the intent to film an 18-minute documentary about listening to what our heart is telling us, interviewing well known people on the subject from Bishop Desmond Tutu and author Deepak Chopra to famed chimpanzee researcher Jane Goodall and relationships book author  Dr. John Gray.

But as his interest in the topic deepened and his interview list grew, De Pape ended up with an 84-minute documentary The Power Of The Heart. He had collected so much material that couldn鈥檛 be included in the film that it spawned him to write a follow-up book of the same title.

De Pape will attend a special screening of the film here tonight (Friday) at The Forum 琉璃神社, 1317 Ethel St., 6:30 p.m.

He will participate in a question and answer session with the audience after the film along with a guest presentation by Dirk Terpstra explaining how your emotions have an impact on your physical and emotional well being, including a HeartMath demonstration.

For De Pape, the answer to finding your purpose in life comes from listening to your heart, rather than following a linear way of thinking to arrive at a conclusion.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not something new. Spiritual leaders throughout our history have been telling us the same thing. Everyone is wired differently and made up of their own unique blueprint, so how you listen to your heart is different.

鈥淧eople I interview in the book say they find it writing, or in prayer, or in silence. In Jane Goodall鈥檚 experience, she tapped into those feelings while in nature.鈥�

De Pape said he has come to understand the connection between our brain and our heart鈥攖hat you think more clearly when your heart is filled with love and gratitude, as opposed to stress or anger.

He says the more loving we try to be, our brain capacity opens up and we become more intelligent in our thinking.

When we feel stressed, he says our brains shut down and it becomes harder to process thought and information.

De Pape said his next project will be a combination of a film called The Power Of The Heart For Children, and a companion book titled Manifesting From The Heart.