Whether it’s a pulse or brain activity that determines whether we are alive is up for debate, but the heart definitely plays a very big role in our living, both physically and emotionally. The Latin word for heart, cor, pops up in many words we still use today — discord (apart from the heart) and concordant (with the heart). The core of our being, so to speak, beats around 100,000 times a day. It serves as the center of the circulatory system, pumping oxygen-rich blood through the body. Deoxygenated blood returns to the heart through veins, is sent to the lungs via arteries to pick up oxygen and then is pumped back out to sustain the body. Like most tissues, the heart is viscoelastic, meaning it can physically stiffen or soften based on activity and demand.
The physical, life-sustaining aspect of the heart is but one of its roles in the human experience. The heart also symbolizes the broad range of human feelings and emotions. Often defying logic and convention, some find it easier to ignore the heart, to suppress the pangs they feel at their core — good or bad, longing or disdain, concordance or discord. It is seen as more desirable nowadays to be “chill,” to be nonchalant and coolly logical. To act as though nothing moves you, as if the sign of maturity is apathy. But what is nonchalance, really?
The word nonchalant also has Latin roots, coming from non, meaning “not,” and calere, meaning “to be hot with passion and drive.” The etymology suggests that not caring is to deny the furnace of fervor that burns in all of us its purpose. Yet, we continue to suppress our emotions, afraid of vulnerability, afraid of appearing too affected. But the heart never stops beating away. Is it easy? No. Is it convenient? Hardly. Yet the physical heart persists nonetheless.
That is not to say that the heart is invulnerable. In fact, it tends to urge us toward paths that ultimately blow up in our faces. It’s human nature to love, to yearn, to mourn, and, most importantly, to give a shit. There are times when we feel our hearts cannot go on, beaten and battered by, more often than not, the consequences of our own actions. But the only way to resolve these feelings and keep living is not over them, not under them, not around them, and definitely not away from them. You have to go through them.
How you go through it is personal to all of us. No one person processes things the same way. But what’s important is not to suffocate the flame. You have to tend your feelings like you would a campfire. Too much and you burn the forest down; too little and you go cold. You have to find the right balance of fuel, time, and care. Because what is a life without passion? Without longing? Without feeling? So, if you take anything away from this article on this day of love, let it be this: letting your light shine through is hot!
