'Tis the season for all things roses, chocolates and hearts. Especially hearts. I'm partial to hearts these days. They stream from windows and adorn store aisles in an explosion of crimson.
Why is the heart so synonymous with our emotions? Isn't its main job just to pump blood throughout our body? Thump, thump, thump. The repetitive, rhythmic pulse. Seventy beats a minute. What is it about this essential, life-giving organ that, after wrapping us in red, clouds our judgment and separates us from all logical reasoning?
I vividly recall from a few years ago the national sensation of the female astronaut who drove non-stop from Texas to Florida wearing a diaper so she didn't have to stop to go to the bathroom. Her intent was to confront another woman over a man with whom they were both having an affair. The press had a field day over the story calling her crazy and obsessed. In many ways, I think the press got it wrong about her. But what makes a (up to that point) seemingly sensible, educated person behave in this most irrational way?
What compels a wife to put all her needs aside to the detriment of her own well-being to take care of her spouse? Why would someone risk rejection by friends and family to admit he or she is gay? What causes a young woman to put her life on hold so that the one most dear to her can pursue his dreams? Why would a mother fight tooth and nail to save a child who is dangling on the precipice of disaster? What makes a 6 foot tall man break down in tears as his son departs to defend our country? How do we account for all these agonizing decisions and the multitude of emotions we go through on a daily basis?
Last week I was gainfully employed living my run-of-the-mill life in Texas. Within a span of twenty-four hours, I was 400 miles from home in a different state, unemployed and with an uncertain future. Why? Why, you might ask? Well, it's love actually. And the beat goes on. . . .
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)
E. E. Cummings
