Times Of Swaziland: FROM THE HEART

FROM THE HEART
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Chris Morgan on 16/06/2022 07:55:00


IN a recent conversation with a respected friend, I was intrigued when hearing
the expression ‘speaking from the heart’.
This was accompanied by a stylish twirl of the fingers in the direction of the
head with the words, “Not from here; no, from the heart.” Anything wrong
with that? Of course not. It’s a figure of speech. What then fascinated me,
when reflecting on those passionate words, was where did the expression come
from? In this amazing age of technological innovation we have the best reference
library in the world not far, at any time, from our fingertips; whether it’s
in the smartphone, public library, a ‘café’, or the home. It’s called the
internet and it must rank as one of the greatest inventions of all time. When
browsing the Net I couldn’t get to the origins of ‘from the heart’.
All the promising websites came with the obligation to pay, or get locked in,
forever, before you could read any further. No thanks. Anyway, it was going to
be more fun doing a bit of decreasingly humble guesswork. Is it possible that
the expression came from a time – perhaps two or 3 000 years ago - when most
of the people of the world, being familiar with very little beyond life in their
own community, gave the heart rather more credit than it deserved? Don’t get
me wrong, the heart is a phenomenal organ. Look after it because, like any
machine, if you treat it well, it’ll serve you well. But it’s a pump. It
pumps blood round the body. There’s another organ that is far superior to the
heart and, indeed, to anything else in the human body; that’s the brain.
Without the brain the heart won’t work. Without the brain no organ will work
other than the one lovingly played by that accomplished musician at the local
church. But hang on, a brain is needed there too.
Belief
It is my belief that, in the days before mankind had any real medical and
scientific understanding, the source of human activity in any one organ would be
attributed entirely to that organ. When a person was angry, passionate or
scared, the heart would react with a faster heartbeat. As, indeed, it still does
today! The average person will have assumed, consciously or otherwise, that
every organ in the human body was controlled by itself; a perfectly reasonable
deduction. And when the label ‘heart’ was attached (metaphorically speaking
only, we hope) to that part of the chest, with the awareness of the heart’s
behaviour during extremes of emotion, the expression was born.
In reality, of course, the brain is the centre of the entire nervous system.
When the brain stops, then so does the heart. All the emotions – love, hate,
excitement, guilt, sadness and fear, to name just a few – start from the
brain. What an amazing machine. It doesn’t require a service every 10 000
hours, or trading in for a newer model every two years.  It develops, though
once a person is fully grown the brain will actually start to shrink; very
slowly, thank goodness (though goodness may have nothing to do with it (lol)).
The neurons and connectors that drive the brain diminish in number to the extent
that even if you have the good fortune, or perhaps misfortune, to leap beyond
centenarian status and into the 120s, as will happen increasingly, your brain is
gone and you’re pretty much a vegetable. Will medical science come up with a
resolution of that problem?
Opinion
The sad part about the brain is, in my opinion, less the reduction in its
capacity with age, but the lack of good use to which we put it. It is the most
phenomenal machine ever known to mankind. It has an enormous ability to absorb
information and skills; far more than what is ever used. It is within the brain
that emotional intelligence is developed, of which the passionate sincerity of
‘speaking from the heart’ is a key component. In most people, the brain is
probably active all the time even when we sleep. But it is neglected. Its truly
amazing capacity enables some, who bother, to learn to speak more than 15
languages fluently. Canadian oldie, Powell Janulus, can speak 42!
The use of the brain, and care and respect for it, varies enormously. Ask
yourself how much in the way of dark skinned vegetables, oily fish and nuts you
eat (if you’re fortunate enough to afford them). Do you exercise regularly? Do
you keep well-hydrated? And do you read books, absorbing and reflecting on
information and concepts; and adopting brain training techniques? The reality is
that that we don’t use the brain enough and we don’t care for it enough. A
tip for pupils – always sleep on knowledge gained from study. That resting and
renewing activity is also the concrete of knowledge retention. Never revise for
an exam on the day it’s held.