It dawned on me yesterday that the heart is the only part of us that never, ever rests. Whilst every part of us is being repaired and revived during our sleep, yet the heart is wired to keep on ticking, no matter what. Whilst there are people being kept alive with mechanical and artificial hearts, these cases are extremely rare and our existence is based upon our hearts’ continual beating. There are so many references to the heart. We are called warm or cold-hearted. We are even called heartless when we act in a callous and uncaring manner. Romance and love have thrived across every genre where the heart-strings are metaphorically plucked. Our emotions are twinned with our hearts and its thought that matters of the heart are separate from our brains – hence the phrase – ruled by our hearts or our heads. This seems to intimate that when we are ruled by our hearts, our actions are not always sensible or measured and some would even go so far as to say, not to be trusted when governed by the heart.
I would stick my neck out and say that given the choice, I would rather live according to my heart’s desires but sadly, I know that this isn’t always the case for me,- ( not where love is concerned – I have always gone with my emotions and feelings in this department and thankfully, it has always paid out well).Its my old nemesis , my eating disorder that is under the cosh of my mental stoicism. Oh, to be wanton and to just give in to my satiety for once! To stuff and gorge myself purely for the pleasure of it all, surely that would do my heart good -if not necessarily physically – then surely in an emotional and sensual sense? To be passionate about something, even for a moment , must evoke the heart to be stirred. We could all do with some stirring now and again. The heart is a muscle and needs to be exercised and used so that it doesn’t atrophy and waste away.I aim to focus more on keeping mine in good shape.
In future, when asked “ What makes you tick?” , whilst it may sound trite and disingenuous to say “ the heart “ , yet in the figurative sense it is in every way as important as its mere physical function and deserves far more care and respect and should never be taken for granted. I aim to follow my heart more , to have it in the right place and I mean this from the bottom of my heart!
