How did the heart become synonymous with love?
When it comes to discussing love, our hearts are front and center. Someone may tug at your heart strings, make your heart skip a beat, steal your heart, even break your heart. Or maybe you want to speak from the bottom of your heart or perhaps pour your heart out in that lovely Valentine’s Day card.
You get the point. Our hearts have become synonymous with love. Exactly how did that come to pass? How did the muscle responsible for pumping blood become symbolic of love and passion?
I decided to ask Google’s AI, and here is what it told me.
Key reasons for the connection between the heart and love
- Physiological Reactions: Strong emotions like love trigger the release of adrenaline, causing the heart to pound or beat faster, making people feel the emotion physically in their chest.
- Historical Beliefs: Ancient Greeks, including Aristotle and Plato, believed the heart was the center of all human emotions, while the brain governed reason.
- Symbolism and Mythology: The Roman goddess of love, Venus, and her son Cupid were associated with “setting hearts on fire.”
- “Broken Heart” Syndrome: Intense emotional stress (like a breakup) can physically affect the heart, causing it to change shape and function, a real condition known as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.
- Emotional Regulation: The heart is an organ with receptors for oxytocin, often called the “love hormone.”
So it seems the association is both a physical sensation and a deeply ingrained cultural metaphor.
Whatever the reason, may your heart be full this Valentine’s season.
Your turn
- Can you remember the first time your heart skipped a beat at seeing someone you loved…or were attracted to?
- Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day?
- What else is on your mind? Anything at all; I just love to hear from you.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Hi Christie – I always associate the heart with holding “me” – the emotional, personal, feeling “me” and my mind holding the more logical “me”. When the two are working in sync I feel like my soul is at peace. Happy Valentine’s Day for a few days’ time. <3
That’s a great way to describe things, Leanne. It may not be physiologically spot-on, but it feels right. Happy Valentine’s Day to you as well.
Thanks for an interesting post, Christie! I guess I never really thought about why we associate the heart with love. I agree with Leanne except I think my heart also holds my soul. We don’t really celebrate Valentine’s anymore…after 53 years together, we’ve said and done most all of it! I will probably get a new rose bush or something like that when the weather is better suited to plant. Have a wonderful Valentine’s though!
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I agree, Marsha. The heart-space also feels like the soul-space. I’m not sure if our souls are contained in our chests, but it’s what I envision. We don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day at our house either. We will exchange cards and a kiss, but that’s about it. This year we are having dinner at one of our daughter’s houses and she’s serving heart-shaped pizza, so that’s kind of fun.
We’ll celebrate Valentine’s day with some sort of small gift and card exchange and then at some point this month we’ll have a date night out but it most likely won’t be on Valentine’s day.
That sounds like a good plan, Joanne. We never go out on Valentine’s Day either…too crowded. This year we’ve been invited to dinner at one of our daughter’s homes, so that will be fun.
I think the first time my heart skipped a beat was when I was a tween at my first concert! Shaun Cassidy! 😍
We will not celebrate Valentine’s Day. Sometimes we’ve exchanged cards and chocolate or flowers. I think you will have a great time eating pizza and sharing love with your family.
Ah, Shaun Cassidy… We don’t typically celebrate Valentine’s Day either, although, Larry and I do exchange cards. I guess that’s a small celebration. As you mentioned, this year we are having a combined Valentine/birthday celebration with the family, so that will be fun.
Wishing you a heart full of love too Christie – thanks for the interesting post about our heart!
Thank you, Debbie!
Christie, I can’t imagine seeing an image of a brain on a Valentine’s Day card, so yes, the heart makes sense. We typically celebrate the day at home – a nice dinner, candlelight, and a bottle of wine. Any excuse works for us. I remember making heart-shaped pancakes for our daughter when she was little – likely on Valentine’s Day. Your pizza party sounds like a fun family activity. So many ways to share love… every day.
Picturing a brain-decorated Valentine card made me smile, Suzanne. It doesn’t have the same feel, does it? Your Valentine’s Day celebration at home sounds perfect to me. And I agree with you about sharing love every day. It’s fun to have holidays to underscore our love for those we care about, but cultivating those relationships happens best in small ways every day.
We usually have a very quiet Valentine’s Day but this year we are celebrating twice. We did a painting activity last night on the 14th, complete with wine and charcuterie board. And tomorrow night, the 16th, we are going out to dinner and to an Eagles tribute band concert. Very unlike us!! But I love it.
When I was a librarian, I remember one of my principal’s saying she wanted the library to be the heart of the school. And I loved that about her.
Your paint night date sounds like lots of fun, Leslie…and, of course, dinner and an Eagles tribute band! I love the idea of the library being the heart of the school. As a student, I always loved the school library.