I Heart Hearts
The more I learn in anatomy the more I am astounded at the resilience of the human body. Seriously, it is amazing that we have all lived this long and are still in (relatively) good health. Right now we are studying the heart. It is a fascinating organ. So interesting in fact that I'm thinking maybe this is an area I want to focus on.
The other night we were dissecting sheep's hearts. As I was removing layers and looking at the different sections, I couldn't help but wonder what it is about the heart (as an organ) that has made it a symbol of love. Where is the connection?? My outlook was perhaps distorted by the visceral experience of that moment, but I started thinking about the heart more figuratively. Does the heart we use when we refer to "love" relate at all to the anatomical version? Here are some of the parallels I came up with:
All our hearts are full, even if they feel empty.
A heart has four separate hollow spaces. But they are full of blood. Even if our hearts feel empty, they never really are.
Heart-break is not that easy.
Our hearts break metaphorically all the time. But it is not so simple to tear it apart in reality. There is a lot of tough connective tissue there holding it all together. And I would argue that collagen fibers just may be stronger than what it feels like to be dumped.
Heart Strings Really do get pulled.
Heart strings are real. They have a more official sounding Latin name, but it literally means "heart string." And these are responsible for opening the valves which let blood go from space to space. So every moment of every day that we are alive, our heart strings are being pulled.
The heart can live on "bread" alone.
The heart doesn't need much to keep on beating. Just some nutrients to keep the cells alive. So, by "bread" I really mean "nutrients." But the point is that the heart can live outside the body INDEFINITELY if it were to continue getting the right nutrients. Outside the body. On it's own. Forever. No matter what pain you endure, your heart will continue to beat.
Maybe the reason that a heart has come to symbolize love is because it is so resilient, so strong, so unwavering...sort of like our need for human connection.
But whatever parallels do or do not exist, I like the idea that there is something this constant in our bodies. I heart hearts. ; )
The other night we were dissecting sheep's hearts. As I was removing layers and looking at the different sections, I couldn't help but wonder what it is about the heart (as an organ) that has made it a symbol of love. Where is the connection?? My outlook was perhaps distorted by the visceral experience of that moment, but I started thinking about the heart more figuratively. Does the heart we use when we refer to "love" relate at all to the anatomical version? Here are some of the parallels I came up with:
All our hearts are full, even if they feel empty.
A heart has four separate hollow spaces. But they are full of blood. Even if our hearts feel empty, they never really are.
Heart-break is not that easy.
Our hearts break metaphorically all the time. But it is not so simple to tear it apart in reality. There is a lot of tough connective tissue there holding it all together. And I would argue that collagen fibers just may be stronger than what it feels like to be dumped.
Heart Strings Really do get pulled.
Heart strings are real. They have a more official sounding Latin name, but it literally means "heart string." And these are responsible for opening the valves which let blood go from space to space. So every moment of every day that we are alive, our heart strings are being pulled.
The heart can live on "bread" alone.
The heart doesn't need much to keep on beating. Just some nutrients to keep the cells alive. So, by "bread" I really mean "nutrients." But the point is that the heart can live outside the body INDEFINITELY if it were to continue getting the right nutrients. Outside the body. On it's own. Forever. No matter what pain you endure, your heart will continue to beat.
Maybe the reason that a heart has come to symbolize love is because it is so resilient, so strong, so unwavering...sort of like our need for human connection.
But whatever parallels do or do not exist, I like the idea that there is something this constant in our bodies. I heart hearts. ; )
posted by Follow the Frog at 3:13 PM
3 Comments:
I think another reason the heart has come to symbolize love is because of the heart/mind dichotomy. The mind clearly represents the intellect for obvious reasons and the heart represents...well, basically everything else (the physical, spiritual, emotional, etc.).
There's also the idea of the heart racing, which it does, right? I mean, it can speed up or slow down and reacts to our feelings / emotions / state of mind. (Although I don't take anatomy so I could be wrong.)
This is fun!
yeah, it does, related to hormone release.
your post made my heart feel good! my heart hearts your heart for hearts. haha!
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