The Complexities of the Heart

What makes life so complicated also makes it meaningful.

In the endless count of dualities in nature, the human heart seems to be the most perplexing. We own both the simplicity and the complexity that sustain and drain our very lives. Our behavioral and emotional capacities are vicariously being indicated in that small organ that beats between our chests – summarizing every other reactions or lack of it in a series of pulses. It seems to represent the very center of our being.

So what does the human heart represent?

Love. This is the first and foremost aspect of humanity that is symbolized by that ever-recognizable red-colored icon. To most, it defines us the most. So, unlike the other existence in this world that is attributed to survival – we pride ourselves with something eternal: something that only we can experience. It gives us both compassion towards others, and inspiration to continue living whether the outlook seem bright or bleak. This is the sweetest thing in life, something that we aspire for and hold so dear. Once our hands touch what we call true love, we simply would not want to let go. Even in our short-lived existence, we claim that it lasts forever. To some, it is a meaningful purpose in a life’s journey. To many, it is the only reason for life.

Pain. If there is love, there is pain. It would seem that when this world was born, a rule was made to balance everything. As the light has its darkness, so does love have pain - either from hatred or from suffering. Anyone who has loved someone would know the heartaches that come with it. It just is inescapable and is actually necessary to either strengthen bonds or break it completely but give lessons during the process. Love is never served without the spice of pain. These two make the world go ‘round.

Passion. It enhances both love and pain, binding everything together in a sinuous goal in life. It could simplify or complicate things – regardless of the ends or the means. We just know we have it when we already have it and are already succumbed in its clutches. It’s neither always good nor bad. It just feeds whatever we already hold in our hearts. Strong emotions are the basis for epic love and epic conflicts that has littered across our histories and our lives. Generations upon generations have been changed and moved by it. It doesn’t even have to be as epically sweeping as the conquering of the ancient world – it could simply be a spark that enriches someone’s life. Such is the power of passion, an encompassing aspect of being human.  

There are many aspects that give us our humanity – all of them probably as vague as their totality. One thing sure stands at the very center of it, as is rightly epitomized to be at the center of our bodies – the human heart. Although the technicalities of our anatomy would argue otherwise, it beats right at our very core, where the emotions seem to lie.

In that very core, we nurture and indulge the complexities of the heart.