From What's In the Heart

[Josh and Sophie]

It is a curious thing, the heart. It can be broken into pieces, and then mended back together. It can skip a beat, and still continue thumping. It can even be the only thing standing in between two people, whether those two are in love, or are fighting.

So what exactly is the heart? How does it work? How does it tell us when there's nothing evil about what's in front of us? And how can it withstand a lifetime of darkness and sorrow, and yet start working again when we need it most?

The heart is many things, and it is not always up to us what it thinks. Often, it is tucked away inside, never to be heard from again; though eventually, it finds its place in our world, and helps us back on our feet, no matter how we've treated it. Guiding us. Withstanding us. And Protecting us.

The heart approaches things in a unique way. A way in which our brains cannot always follow, and a way that cannot always be fully understood. But a way that helps us further ourselves, and continue using it, because it loves to be of use, knowing that it has helped us keep it out of the dark.

It does not always matter what is wanted by the person it lives in; and sometimes, it may not be able to help at all. But it continues its journey to nurture us, as much as it can.

But of all of the things in this world, and like every living thing, it is unique; and we cannot change that at will. We may wish we never had a heart, don't believe someone else has one, may wish to have someone else's, or may even wish to have two. But we are given one, because that is all anyone will ever need.

[Josh and Sophie]

When we say, "Mind over matter", where does that place the heart, when pitched against the brain? The brain would most obviously be the mind, making the heart the matter. But often enough, our minds cannot cope with what our hearts feel, and because of that, wouldn't that make the heart the mind in the saying? With that said, that would make the matter our brains. This would make the saying (forcibly) change to, "our hearts over our minds". But that doesn't as nearly justify that our minds are very powerful. But in actuality, though "the heart knows none," it has more to know than the mind, and that, in it's own way, makes them equal. So what would we do with the old saying? We simply cannot throw it away and render its meaning useless. Instead, we must find a more suitable version of it. Perhaps, "mind over matter, though the mind is no greater than it".

[Josh and Sophie]

"The mind knows not what the heart desires." A quote most often used by those that are unsure what their hearts want (and sometimes what they themselves want), this says a lot about how the process of the heart can be too much for the mind to handle. We think about the countless knowledge we have, and yet we still cannot fully understand what it is our hearts try to tell us. We are too often tricked by our minds into believing it. If we really take the time to think about it, we can understand more than what we usually do. But with our minds being "immensely powerful," we end up misguiding ourselves. "I think; therefore I am" is a quote that justifies this reasoning. We think about what we want, and we believe it to happen. If we think we don't understand what our hearts are trying say, ultimately, we won't.

When our teachers tell us "two brains are (often) better than one," they are right. We would have more knowledge, and we'd be able to process things more easily; however, we still wouldn't understand the heart to its fullest extent. "Our hearts beat as one" explains that our hearts are all the same. They may all be unique, in their own way, but they are still the same. We'll all have those "special feelings" toward someone and feel the toll of the loss of a loved one, if not at least once in our lifetimes. Our hearts think the same way, but tell us in their own ways. So even if we had two brains, we'd still be mind-boggled by the way our hearts work, since each works differently.

[Josh and Sophie]

"When King Lear dies in Act V, do you know what Shakespeare has written? He's written 'He dies.' That's all, nothing more. No fanfare, no metaphor, no brilliant final words. The culmination of the most influential work of dramatic literature is 'He dies.' It takes Shakespeare, a genius, to come up with 'He dies.' And yet every time I read those two words, I find myself overwhelmed with dysphoria. And I know it's only natural to be sad, but not because of the words 'He dies.' but because of the life we saw prior to the words.
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I've lived all five of my acts, Mahoney, and I am not asking you to be happy that I must go. I'm only asking that you turn the page, continue reading... and let the next story begin. And if anyone asks what became of me, you relate my life in all its wonder, and end it with a simple and modest 'He died.' "

If you can emotionally understand what is happening in this scene, even without having to watch it, then you would know that the life of the speaker of this quote is coming to an end. They are undoubtedly ready to die, and that makes us wonder how we would feel if we were Mahoney (the girl whom the speaker is talking to). But our hearts do not think this way. Our hearts say that we are sad that the person is dying. That they are wanting us to continue our lives, "let the next story begin"; tell their life story, and end it with "he dies".

"Our pain will shine a light to those who understand."*

This quote, in a way, connects to the first. Those who understand what the quote means, will feel the pain both of the characters are feeling; while those who's hearts have yet to understand what the speaker is trying to say, will only feel the pain Mahoney is feeling (which is only nature to feel). Eventually, the light will shine to everyone; as our hearts learn just as our minds do. Eventually, we will be able to look back at the quote, or re-watch the scene, and understand both sides.

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*This quote can (as of this post) be found in the image of N's signature.