This morning, I was laying in bed with my hand over my heart and as I felt my heart beat slow and calm, I wondered...why is this organ inside my body associated with love? Who thought to have this lumpy, redish, beating tissue in our chests to represent all that is amazing, sickening, selfless, distorted and pure about love? Well, I decided to do a little research...
Looks like many classical and medieval philosophers and scientists including Aristotle considered the heart to be the seat of thought, reason or emotion and that the heart often rejected the value of the brain. I suppose this is why people say "do what your heart tells you" or "follow your heart, not your head," even though all of our decisions are obviously made with our brains. Along with being the seat of emotions, philosophers also thought the heart to be seen as the soul, instinctive and wise. They believed that decisions were made with the heart/soul and not the brain.
The way I see it is that the heart is at the core and that we cannot go on without it. Its constant beating lets us know that we are alive and well. Could it not be said the same for love that we need it throughout our lives to feel healthy and whole?
Just as events take place that could biologically damage the center piece organ, things happen that hurt us at our core. Even though a piece of my muscle tissue isn't gone, I still feel as though I've lost something. I know this has been said before and will be said again, but when you actually feel this, it's all you can say to describe the feeling. I suppose when you make decisions with your heart, as some philosophers think we do, you put it in jeopardy of losing pieces and becoming damaged.
So why do we think with our hearts? I think it's because we believe in true love and that it is out there somewhere and when we find it, we will get our missing pieces back and be made whole again.
Looks like many classical and medieval philosophers and scientists including Aristotle considered the heart to be the seat of thought, reason or emotion and that the heart often rejected the value of the brain. I suppose this is why people say "do what your heart tells you" or "follow your heart, not your head," even though all of our decisions are obviously made with our brains. Along with being the seat of emotions, philosophers also thought the heart to be seen as the soul, instinctive and wise. They believed that decisions were made with the heart/soul and not the brain.
The way I see it is that the heart is at the core and that we cannot go on without it. Its constant beating lets us know that we are alive and well. Could it not be said the same for love that we need it throughout our lives to feel healthy and whole?
Just as events take place that could biologically damage the center piece organ, things happen that hurt us at our core. Even though a piece of my muscle tissue isn't gone, I still feel as though I've lost something. I know this has been said before and will be said again, but when you actually feel this, it's all you can say to describe the feeling. I suppose when you make decisions with your heart, as some philosophers think we do, you put it in jeopardy of losing pieces and becoming damaged.
So why do we think with our hearts? I think it's because we believe in true love and that it is out there somewhere and when we find it, we will get our missing pieces back and be made whole again.
