MY REFLECTION 1 (Heart or Reason? Which is which?)
Heart or Reason? Which is which?
Existing in this great visible world, I found myself perplexed, for the challenge of living a meaningful life that is torn between balancing the passions of the heart and the ideals of the mind. These are the two faculties that could somehow dominate a person's being (I’m referring here one’s existence as human person not just human being). One has the propensity to propel the person to live passionately, undermining the mind's power to relate his existence with reality. The other employs the capacity to exist without giving due attention to the matters of the heart. There is, on the other hand, the possibility that a person can exist meaningfully by using both faculties.
Living is not only surviving, but also existing with meaning. It is not easy. It is because while I am presently alive countless thoughts spring into my mind. These thoughts affect my feelings and oftentimes they paralyze me. Thinking and feeling can be at the extreme end of the spectrum where by the mind is impoverished of concepts, yet at the same time the heart cannot express the content of its desires.
There are so many things that I cannot fully understand. I call them mysterious or transcendental realities. Same is true with the mysterious dynamism of the heart and of the mind. I cannot fully understand their distinct natures. Reason, at times dominates while the heart submits. Other times, it is the other way around.
The expression “one can be intellectually giant but emotionally dwarf” seems valid at times. A genius person may succeed in his carrier but fail in his relationship with others. The opposite could also be true. There seems to be a sharp contradiction between these two faculties. Oftentimes, they cause imbalance within the person, yet they are paradoxically inseparable. That is why I often find it difficult to distinguish what is desirable from what is ideal. I often end up scratching my head.
Many would agree if not all that reason is placed above the heart to oversee the heart’s decision but Blaise Pascal once said that, “Heart has the reason that the reason cannot understand”. Heart and Reason -- two powerful forces that fight to dominate within each person, which is which?
Man's individual mystery can be reflected as a consequence of this inner dynamism, that is, the constant interaction between the rational and the emotional process. In fact, Sophocles once said that, “mysterious things are countless, but none is so mysterious as man”. In the deepest sense, man is the crown of God's creation, for we are created in His image and likeness. His rationality made it so. It implies then, that man is the distinct and superior than all other creatures. In addition to his rationality, man is also endowed with the capacity to love passionately. Hence, man is the only physical creature in this world that could think rationally and love passionately. My contention is that in our day to day existence, we must use inseparably the processes of the heart and mind to attain the right choices as demanded by the ideals of what is true, what is good and what is beautiful.
@redspider