Text The Heart: A Short Editorial About the Beauty of Human Nature (KH Inspired)

[MDSVeritas 299]

(I suggest you all listen to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fv9v-Vr1U4

while you read, it may very much improve your experience, as this is the song I wrote the article to, and thanks for reading!)

 

It used to be odd for me to hear people refer to the emotional portion of the human brain as the heart. Somehow part of me could never comprehend why we’ve created that as the term for our emotional side. Pain and pleasure; in both the emotional and physical senses comes from the mind. But when people refer to the mind, you think of knowledge, of learning from textbooks and gaining experience in professions. As I’ve grown up a bit, as I’ve seen more of the world, and those in it, I’ve realized; it’s a pity that we have such a misconception. We’re intelligent creatures, scholars, leaders; just about everyone else will tell you that. But we also feel things deeper than any other species on this planet. People so easily leave that out. Our meanings of life; those which have propelled what we do and why we do it, those do not stem from the portion of our mind that knows the square root of four. These two sides of our mind are so very integrated, but they are also polar opposites.

 

And so perhaps heart is a fitting term. To say those abilities and feelings stem from that stereotyped idea of a mind would be an incorrigible disservice to all they give to us. And so let it be the heart; that which allows us to make those moments of our lives which the term happiness could not begin to describe. That which allows us to find common ground in those different from us, and defend with the utmost vehemence what we know to be right. As the real heart is the life force of our bodies, the metaphorical heart is the life force of us. That which collects geeks in convention centers, surrounded by those they’ve known for an eternity and never even seen before, that which allows a city to support a sports team they’ve never met, because it means something greater. Without heart, new ideas would never be supported; new ways of thinking would never have those willing to face punishment or even death to support it because they believe with all their being it’s the right thing to do. We would never share a thrill, or a laugh, or a smile with those we are proud to call our friends. We owe the heart all we are as people.

 

I would not be writing this plea today, and you would not be reading it. But I am, and you are. We live in a world full of people with dedication, with an ability to believe and a willingness to trust. The facts of the mind may move the world forward as a whole, but the trust, and belief and the love of the heart are what move us forward as people. The mind may have the capacity to sustain the life that we have, but the heart is what holds the ability to give it meaning. Because with every beat of our heart we will find new loves and new beauties; new beliefs and best friends; new reasons to give meaning to the life that is already a thrill and an adventure to so many of us. The beat of that metaphorical heart is what brings that meaning into our lives; what allows us to endure through hardship, to know that we will continue to find reasons to live in the happiest way that we can. So perhaps we should keep that. For while it doesn’t seem to even begin to show the depth our emotional being can have, heart suits it pretty well.