Exposition of the Heart

As my returning post for the first time in over five months, I think a heartfelt one is certainly overdue.
A lot has happened since I last wrote, and yet paradoxically it seems like nothing has at all.

That's the funny thing about time - it flies by, yet for all the years, you can't really recall what you've done specifically; and then when you really grapple and think about it, you realise all the wonderful things and people that have come across your path.

So what I want this post to be about is saying how you feel. Saying the things that really matter to you - things that you want other people to know. Like how much you love them, or how much they mean to you. I often think that we let the day pass us by, thinking and feeling so much about the wonderful people in our lives, without actually letting them know as much. We just hope, or assume that they know how we feel about them, but in reality telling them that one small sentiment could be such a treasured jewel in the treacherous ocean of life.

Feelings are undervalued in our society. Each individual is expected to be strong, self-sufficient, relentless. Yet we're human beings. We thrive on companionship, community, love, treasured relationships. We can't help but feel, and if we deny that, well, personally I think that's a failing on our society's part for encouraging an attitude of indifference or apathy.

What is wrong with displays of affection? What is wrong with words of love? C. S. Lewis, in his book, The Four Loves, states 

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”

He tells us not to give our heart to anyone, but unfortunately it's in our nature. Love is not something we particularly understand, but it seems to be something innate we all try and search for. It may not come easily, and the journey one undertakes in love does not promise to be a picnic. It's something to work at and to strive for, but hard work pays off eventually; and I think the rewards of love are something indescribable and undefinable.

Love makes you wonder. It makes you feel invincible. Well, the right kind of love does. And there is a right way to love, yet I don't think many of us truly achieve it. Why do you think there's so much love poetry? So many corny romantic films? So many romantic novels? It's because authors and poets and artists seek to convey the innermost emotions we yearn for. 


So tell the people you love that you love them. Tell them how much they mean to you. Tell your friends that you value their friendships. Tell your significant other why they are significant. Tell your parents that their inspiration in life has enabled you to be a responsible adult, yet you still need them sometimes. Any parents I'm sure would be glad to hear that. Tell them these things only if they are true. For if humans are given love with reservations then it's very difficult to forgive easily. Give your heart freely in proper and right love, and the rewards will surely be reaped in.

Don't shy away from revealing love. In any case, love reveals itself somehow even if you don't wish it to. Love does not shy away from its purpose. It seeks out the deepest bonds between humans and it strives to hold onto them for as long as possible. But we sometimes mess that up. Love is not to blame in the failings of human relationships - we are. We make mistakes, we choose bad things, we dishonour the people we should support. Yet, hopefully love is there to pick up the pieces. Hopefully there is forgiveness, and there is a willingness to restore any lost remnants of the wholeness that love brings.

This may sound very abstract, and I'm not making any particular argument here. It's just something I think the world needs a little more of. In the current global situation, there often seems very little to hope for, or even to salvage; but I think if everyone loved more and moreover if everyone showed that love a little more, then perhaps despite how hard the wind tries to blow us down, we can stand firm in the knowledge that we loved as hard as we could, and we tried to forge unbreakable bonds.