Day One Hundred Twenty One

Heart vs Head

This is the topic I was writing about the other day when I turned and the whole text vanished. The blog site has auto-save, so this was peculiar. I'm gonna try it again, and see what happens.

During a late night phone call (the details of which are not important,) the caller declared I "lead with my heart." I had to ask her to repeat that. I had an image of a person with a huge heart on the outside of their chest - beating and pulsating and scaring the crap out of people as it enters the room a few beats before the person wearing it. Also, I was drawn back to my Catholic roots and the often graphic images of an actual bleeding heart. Did I mention it was 3 a.m.?

That got me thinking about "heart" people. I know a lot of them. Their heart allows them to love unconditionally and make choices based on emotion rather than logic. There's a section in the Meyers/Briggs Personality Profile dedicated to that subject. On one end of the spectrum are the completely emotional, with logical thinkers on the other end. Apparently, we humans fall into one category or the other, with a balance of both being the optimum for good mental health.

Head people are the logical ones who see all of the dangerous possibilities in a situation. They are calculating and make great architects and bankers. You want a strong head person building your house, for example. While a heart person might build on the edge of a cliff because "it has such a pretty view" - a head person will point out the potential hazards in doing so. A head person's house rarely drops off a cliff or disappears in a mudslide.

Heart people often rescue animals; lots of animals. They are the ones travelling to Thailand to help save the dogs and cats from the meat trade. They are also the ones who enter into serving careers - ministry, nursing, counseling, etc. Heart people cannot stand to see suffering; head people try to figure out a way to end the suffering.
I scored so far on the emotional (heart) end, I almost fell off the graph. Since I have always been this way, I'm pretty sure I will die that way as well. It is why I have the perfect life partner - a guy who scores high on the logic, but also has a degree of emotion thrown in there.

Heart people (and you know who you are) are the ones who stop and risk their own lives to help a turtle cross a busy highway. Now, a total head person will most likely drive on by; recognizing the risks. My husband, being a balance of both, will figure out a way to solve the problem without any casualties; reptile or human. He has helped me to safely save many creatures this way from duck families to injured animals.

While, he has been with me during the more successful rescues, my ventures solo have had very different outcomes. I recall the time my kids found a seagull walking in circles with a bass hook caught in its beak and wing. I just threw the bird in the car without any thought as to how I was going to deal with a bird unencumbered in the car. That was a fun day. Now, if my husband had been there, he would have been two steps ahead and thrown a crate in the back seat.

Then there was the time I drove a baby possum across town to a rehab center. That little thing emitted such a God-awful smell I had to pull over and rid myself of breakfast before moving on down the road with all the windows open. I drove most of the way with my head out the window as well.

I have never been accused of using my head. Ever. I make all decisions based on emotion. Every animal in this house got here because I brought them in based solely on what my heart told me to do. There was never any logic involved. Petey is here because I was in a pet store one day and they announced "free hamster to a good home." Apparently Petey was being picked on by the other male hamsters, not because he was too small, but because he was too big!

Roxy's former owners were just going to release her to the "wild" because their daughter was allergic. Seriously, how could I let that happen? Each creature in this house has a similar story. Oh, and each one arrived as a surprise to Andy because the logical part of him would have said no.

Head people might be logical and precise and "right" but I believe the heart is a stronger organ and generally makes the kinder choice. They may be left of center, but heart people simply can't be any other way.