Why Is the Heart the Symbol of Love?
It’s funny how the heart just naturally comes to mind when we think about love, isn’t it? You see it plastered on Valentine’s cards, in doodles when you’re bored, and glowing in red on every rom-com poster.
But how did this shape—this part of your body—become the universal symbol of love? Let’s dig into that, starting with how we, as people, have always felt the link between our feelings and this little pump in our chest.
Emotions and the Heart’s Deep Connection
Think about it—when you feel something intensely, your heart reacts. That fluttery nervous buzz from a first date. The tight, aching squeeze during heartbreak. That overwhelming warmth that floods your chest when someone shows you kindness. The heart doesn’t just beat to keep us alive—it reflects back the deepest emotions in ways that words can’t always capture.
It’s probably why throughout human history, people have anchored their feelings to what happens in their chest. In ancient Egypt, for instance, the heart wasn’t just seen as another organ—it was considered the source of your soul. Egyptians believed the heart recorded your thoughts, deeds, emotions, and desires. Upon death, it was weighed against the feather of Ma’at, the goddess of truth and justice, to see if you’d lived a moral life. Love, then, wasn’t just about living; it became part of the legacy your heart carried.
Aristotle doubled down on this idea by claiming the heart, and not the brain, was where every thought, emotion, and desire was born. He wasn’t entirely wrong—we often experience emotions in our bodies first, don’t we? When you’re deeply in love or in the grip of sudden fear, you don’t think about it—you feel it before you can even process why. Those butterflies, that pounding heart, the heat that rises in your chest…it’s instinctive, visceral.
Even in the Bible, the heart is central to human experience. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul” (Deuteronomy 6:5). Notice how the heart is mentioned first? It’s because love—and perhaps every desire—feels anchored there, in the space beneath your ribs. The heart becomes this internal compass for emotion and morality.
But let’s bring it back to you for a second. Have you ever noticed how emotions seem to physically live in your chest? When you feel close to someone, it’s like there’s an invisible pull coming from right there. And when things fall apart, it’s not just your head that hurts. That dull ache in the middle of your chest sometimes feels like it’ll never go away, right?
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There’s even a fascinating physical explanation for this: emotional stress, like heartbreak or grief, can mimic symptoms of a heart attack. It’s called “broken heart syndrome”—a real medical condition where your heart muscle weakens temporarily due to intense emotional stress.
It’s crazy to think that a symbolic thing like “heartbreak” can actually rewrite the rhythm of this physical organ. But it just goes to show how tightly bound our emotional world is to our bodies.
Culturally too, we’ve always painted the heart as the center of affection and connection. For centuries, poets, writers, and philosophers have written about the heart in ways that connect directly to how we live and love.
Rumi, the 13th-century Persian poet, said: “Your heart knows the way. Run in that direction.” Such a simple line, but it speaks volumes. How often have you ignored logic but trusted that pull in your chest—the one guiding you toward someone or something that feels right?
Even today, science sides with this poetic wisdom. Research shows that emotions, especially love and joy, activate our parasympathetic nervous system, which slows the heart rate and literally creates a state of calm. Ever felt safe and utterly at peace just by holding someone’s hand or hearing kind words from them?
That’s your heart, responding on an instinctive level. In contrast, anger and fear do the opposite—they kick up your heart rate and pump adrenaline into your system, stirring your fight-or-flight reaction. So when we say someone gives you “peace of heart” or “makes your heart happy,” it’s not just a metaphor—it’s biology in action.
And here’s the best part: the heart doesn’t just replay love externally; it also holds onto the love you give yourself. It’s why self-compassion is so powerful for calming your mind and body during tough moments. That heavy chest you feel after failure or rejection? When you slow down, breathe deeply, and remember to be kind to yourself, your heart has this incredible way of settling back to balance. You feel lighter, quieter, and stronger.
Ultimately, the connection between the heart and emotion isn’t just symbolic or poetic—it’s a direct bridge. Whenever you open yourself to feel something deeply—good or bad—you’re not only engaging your brain but inviting your heart along for the ride.
Maybe that’s why love feels so profound. It isn’t just in your head. It’s living, pounding proof of life right there beneath your chest.
The Origin of the Heart Symbol
If you’ve ever looked at the actual human heart, you might have had to wonder, “How on earth did someone decide this is the organ to represent love?” That weird, fist-sized lump inside your chest definitely doesn’t resemble the clean, symmetrical two-lobed shape we call a heart today.
And yet, somehow, the heart symbol we doodle in notebooks and scroll past on emojis has stuck around for centuries. So, where did it actually come from?
One of the boldest theories about the origin of the heart symbol ties it to an ancient plant called silphium. Imagine this: thousands of years ago, in ancient Greece and Rome, silphium was more than just a plant. It was practically a cultural icon. It was heavily sought after for its medicinal properties but more interestingly as a form of birth control.
Yep—this plant was so closely tied to sex and romance that its seedpods, which had a rounded, lobed shape remarkably similar to today’s heart, became associated with love itself. Ancient coins even depicted the silphium seed in its heart-like form, blending nature and desire into a single image.
But here’s the catch—silphium was too popular. It was harvested so much that it ultimately went extinct. Despite this, the heart shape it inspired found its way into medieval art and culture. During the Middle Ages, the symbol began popping up in European manuscripts and religious artwork, not as a nod to romantic desire but to represent something much loftier: divine love.
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Think about the famous depictions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Catholicism. In these images, the heart, often depicted burning or surrounded by light, symbolizes Christ’s unending and passionate love for humanity. The fire represents intense devotion, while the crown of thorns often shown around it mimics the pain and sacrifice that inevitably come with deep love.
This connection between the heart symbol and spiritual love rooted the imagery deeply into Western art. Over time, it transitioned from religious love to more personal forms of affection, slowly becoming synonymous with romance.
Now here’s where cultural history gets a bit hazy but fascinating. By the Renaissance, the heart shape started appearing more frequently in secular art, often linked with the ideals of courtly love. In that era, love wasn’t just about affection or passion but was often idealized as chivalrous and noble.
Knights would pledge their loyalty and their “hearts” to noblewomen in a way that was both symbolic and aspirational. Imagine all those intricate love stories in medieval literature—like Lancelot and Guinevere. Every act of love or heartbreak was tied back to imagery of the heart as the ultimate representation of both loyalty and vulnerability.
The symbolic heart wasn’t just confined to the West, either. Similar shapes pop up in cultures across the globe. In Islamic culture, for instance, the heart (qalb) is seen as the spiritual center of life, often referred to in mystical poetry as the place where divine love resides. Persian poets like Rumi and Hafez invoked the heart frequently as a container for both intense longing and union with the divine.
Outside of religion and spirituality, biology might have played an accidental role in the symbol’s evolution too. Some historians argue that early depictions of the anatomical heart exaggerated its features, particularly its two chambers and vessels, until what we now recognize as the “classic” shape gained prominence.
It wasn’t meant to be naturalistic but rather idealized, stylized, and tailored to fit humanity’s need to visually simplify complex emotions.
By the 18th and 19th centuries, the heart symbol made its way into romantic culture more fully. Think about Valentine’s cards—you know, those sweet hand-drawn cards from the Victorian era filled with lace, flowers, and elaborate heart doodles.
This was an era when courtship relied heavily on coded language, and the heart shape became a simple way to wordlessly express affection. It said, “I love you,” loud and clear, without you having to say it aloud—a kind of proto-emoji, if you will.
Fast forward to today, and the heart symbol is everywhere—social media reactions, text messages, logos, tattoos. The “<3” emoji is one of the most instantly recognizable visual cues of care and connection across the digital world. What’s wild, though, is that despite its omnipresence, it still holds so much weight.
You can slap a heart emoji on a funny meme, sure, but when you receive someone’s heartfelt message punctuated with a little red heart? It feels different. You know they mean it.
The shape’s evolution from a silphium seed and spiritual devotion to romantic shorthand is a journey that reflects how humanity’s relationship with love has evolved too. At its core, though, the heart symbol endures because it’s versatile.
It’s a powerful emblem of physical passion, emotional vulnerability, and even transcendent care. In a way, the heart shape itself is like love: universal yet deeply personal.
Love and Biology’s Effect on the Heart
Isn’t it strange how falling in love can feel like a full-body experience? Your chest pounds, your palms sweat, and your breath quickens. It’s like your entire being comes alive the moment someone captures your thoughts, and suddenly, you can’t hide what you’re feeling—even if you try.
Whether it’s the butterflies or the ache, it all seems to start with the heart. But why does this particular organ react so dramatically? And what’s really happening inside us when we connect with someone on such an intense level?
When it comes to love, science hasn’t exactly left the heart alone. While poets and romantics have long treasured the heart as the seat of love, biology offers a pretty wild explanation too. Let’s start with what happens when you’re near someone you’re attracted to.
Your brain kicks into high gear and starts releasing a cocktail of chemicals—dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and adrenaline—all of which affect not just your mind, but your body.
- Dopamine: Sometimes called the “feel-good” chemical, it’s the reward system’s MVP. Being around someone you love triggers dopamine, making you feel euphoric. It’s like a tiny hit of bliss that keeps you wanting more.
- Oxytocin: Known as the “bonding hormone,” oxytocin brings people closer. It’s the reason cuddles feel so comforting, or why holding hands can make your chest soften with warmth.
- Adrenaline: Now, this is where the heart comes in. Adrenaline gives you that classic “palms-sweaty, heart-racing” feeling. When sparks fly, your adrenal glands release this hormone, triggering a fight-or-flight response. Of course, you’re not fighting or fleeing—you’re falling—but the sensation of your heart pounding is undeniable.
These chemicals work together to create everything from the spark of infatuation to the steady comfort of deep connection. Your body isn’t just living in the moment—it’s literally rewiring itself.
A study in the Journal of Neurophysiology even showed that people’s hearts synchronize when they look deeply into the eyes of someone they love. Think about that: your heartbeat actually matches theirs. No metaphor, no poetry—literal biological alignment. That phrase “two hearts beating as one”? Turns out, science might back it up.
But it doesn’t end there. Over time, when you’ve been with someone for a while and the adrenaline rushes calm down, your heart’s role in love doesn’t stop. Long-term connections are about oxytocin and serotonin, which create the feeling of safety and contentment.
Researchers describe this phase as “companionate love.” It’s the kind of love that calms the storm, slows the racing heart, and helps you feel…home.
The link between the heart and emotions goes even deeper when we consider phenomena like heartbreak. Have you ever felt a literal tightness or pain in your chest after a breakup or loss? That’s not just in your head—it’s in your body too. There’s even a medical condition called takotsubo cardiomyopathy, or broken heart syndrome. It’s when emotional trauma—like losing a loved one—causes your heart muscle to weaken. While it’s rare, it’s proof that the connection between heartbreak and your physical heart is more than just poetic. Your heart actually hurts.
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There’s also evidence to show that love—yes, good, genuine, fulfilling love—can make your heart healthier. Studies suggest that people in happy relationships tend to have lower blood pressure, lower stress levels, and even better cardiovascular health. Ever heard of laughter being like medicine? Well, love might be, too.
Holding hands with someone you care about can reduce cortisol levels (your body’s primary stress hormone). So, every time someone says, “You’re good for my heart,” it’s actually true on a physiological level.
Even the placement of the human heart has contributed to its symbolic weight. Sitting slightly to the left of our chest, the heart’s position has always felt oddly personal, like something that’s just ours. It’s right there, smack in the middle of your most vulnerable space.
When you hug someone tight, your hearts align; when you’re in pain, you instinctively clutch your chest, as though that alone will console you. The physicality of the heart makes it an easy vessel to fill with meaning—especially when it’s actively responding to love, whether pounding loud or quietly steady.
Let’s not forget how powerful it feels to focus on your own heartbeat during moments of reflection. Meditation techniques that involve breathwork often bring you to a calmer state, partly because slowing your breath naturally slows your heart rate. That rhythmic beating not only sustains you physically but also serves as a reminder that, no matter what happens, your heart keeps going—and so do you.
When you mix the science with the symbolism, it’s no wonder the heart ended up representing love. It reacts in real time to your feelings, paints your emotions vividly, and even plays a role in keeping you grounded through connection and care.
It’s emotional, biological, and personal all at once—a perfect match for the chaos and beauty of what we call love.
Stories That Tied the Heart to Love
Stories have always shaped how we understand the world, haven’t they? From ancient legends to modern Netflix dramas, the heart has been front and center when we talk about love.
It’s not just a symbol; it’s a character on its own—breaking, aching, racing, and longing alongside the people in the stories we cherish. Let’s explore how storytelling turned the heart into the ultimate emblem of love.
Ancient Myths and Romantic Devotion
The connection between love and the heart starts with some of the earliest stories humanity told. Think back to Greek mythology, where love itself was personified by the god Eros (or Cupid, as the Romans called him). While Eros is often depicted with arrows aimed at unsuspecting lovers, it’s interesting that the heart becomes the implied target.
The idea was clear: when an arrow strikes the heart, it brings life-changing, uncontrollable emotion. That imagery has stuck with us—how often do we still talk about the “arrows” of love, even today?
Similar threads weave through other cultures. In Indian mythology, the heart—and particularly the feeling of anahata (unstruck sound)—is tied to the spiritual experience of love. The heart chakra (anahata chakra), one of seven energy centers in the body, is seen as the seat of unconditional love, compassion, and balance.
The stories surrounding these chakras often talk about divine love as something that radiates from the heart outward toward the world. It’s not just physical love, but love that transcends, elevating the heart into a universal space for emotion.
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Even in tales of sacrifice, the heart plays a starring role. For example, in Aztec mythology, the heart was central to how people honored love and connection to the gods. During rituals, the heart was seen as an offering of the deepest sincerity and devotion—as if giving away your heart, metaphorically or physically, was the ultimate proof of love.
While these practices feel worlds away from our Valentine’s Day traditions, the idea that the heart carries something uniquely emotional and sacred still resonates deeply.
Timeless Poetry and Language
When it comes to literature, poets and writers have basically been obsessed with hearts since the beginning of time. Maybe it’s because poetry is often where emotions are stripped to their raw core, and what better metaphor do we have for vulnerability than the heart?
Take Shakespeare for example—he practically wrote a user manual for romantic hearts in lines like, “My heart is ever at your service.” It doesn’t get much more devoted than that, does it?
In his sonnets, Shakespeare used the heart as a way to describe everything about love. It wasn’t just a symbol for passion. It was also where doubt, longing, and loyalty lived. In Sonnet 46, he wrote about a debate between his heart and eyes: “Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war, how to divide the conquest of thy sight.”
The heart wanted to house his feelings, but the eyes wanted control. It’s a striking image, isn’t it? This idea of the heart not just as a feeling, but as a battleground where love wars with itself.
Another timeless example is the work of Persian poets like Rumi and Hafez, whose verses often read like love letters to the human heart. Rumi captured the depth of the heart’s role in longing and devotion when he said, “Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.”
The heart’s pull, though intangible, is undeniable—and their poetry makes it feel mystical, as though the heart knows things your mind might not.
Language itself reflects how stories have tied the heart to love. Think about how many expressions we use that center on the heart: “follow your heart,” “wear your heart on your sleeve,” “have a change of heart.” It’s all proof that our deepest cultural metaphors anchor emotion squarely in the chest.
Even phrases about heartbreak show just how much we pair love and the heart together: you don’t “brain-break” or feel “liverache” after love fails—it’s always your heart that bears the hit.
The Romantic Heart in Modern Stories
Let’s fast-forward to pop culture. The heart has evolved alongside how we tell stories, but its role as the ultimate love symbol hasn’t budged. In fact, it might feel even more personal now because of how casually and emotionally we use it every day.
Take the quintessential romantic storylines in movies and novels: Titanic, for example. Jack tells Rose, “You jump, I jump,” a promise that seems too big to fully explain in words. It’s a sentiment carried by their actions but rooted in the image of the loving and self-sacrificing heart.
These grand, sweeping narratives take what feels deeply personal about love and scale it into something almost cosmic. You don’t just feel their bond in your mind; you feel it in your chest.
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Even characters in fantasy or allegory use the heart to symbolize love and identity. Think of The Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz. His entire arc revolves around seeking a heart, which to him represents humanity and love. At first, he believes the lack of a heart makes him unworthy of love or connection, but by the end, he realizes his actions—his courage, his loyalty—demonstrate the very love he thought he lacked. Stories like these remind us that love isn’t just about having a heart, but understanding how we use it.
And we can’t ignore music—possibly the most direct way pop culture connects with our emotions. The heart shows up in countless songs across generations, from Elvis Presley’s “Don’t Be Cruel to a Heart That’s True” to Toni Braxton’s “Un-Break My Heart.”
These songs tap into something universal: the heart as a vessel for love that can soar or just as easily shatter under its weight.
The Power of the Heart-Shaped Symbol in Everyday Life
Here’s what’s wild: despite everything we’ve read, seen, or sung, the heart as a love symbol isn’t just stuck in grand romantic narratives. It’s become part of your daily life too.
Today, when you react to a friend’s photo with a heart emoji or handwrite a card with a heart at the end, you’re participating in this long history.
It’s your way of wordlessly saying this matters to me. It might seem casual or even silly, but in its simplicity, the heart symbol connects every love story—fictional, historical, or real—and reminds us that love endures, across time and cultures.
The Ache of the Heart in Loss and Love
Here’s the truth—if love and joy are tied to the heart, then so is sorrow. They’re inseparable, two sides of the same coin. When you open your heart to love, you’re also opening it to the possibility of loss.
Yet, despite the heartache that comes with loss, we keep loving. Why? Because even the ache is proof that love, in some form, still resides in you.
Ever felt your chest physically hurt during heartbreak? Maybe it’s a tightness, a heaviness when the tears come, or even an empty ache that won’t go away no matter how much you distract yourself.
It almost feels like your heart is mourning right along with you. That’s not just a metaphor—or something poets dramatized to make you cry. This pain is real, and there’s science that explains exactly why it’s so visceral.
Heartbreak Is More Than an Emotion—It’s Physical
When we lose someone we love—or even feel rejected or betrayed—it triggers the same areas in the brain that process physical pain. The emotional experience of heartbreak isn’t “all in your head.”
Your body responds as if you’ve been wounded. This is why, for some of us, grief or heartbreak doesn’t feel abstract; it feels like something you’re physically carrying around, right there in your chest.
On top of that, there’s “broken heart syndrome,” a stress-induced condition that mimics a heart attack. Known medically as takotsubo cardiomyopathy, it happens when extreme emotional distress disrupts the heart’s normal function.
It can happen after a breakup, the death of a loved one, or even a moment of intense fear. While the condition is temporary in most cases, it’s real enough to remind us that the heart isn’t just a romantic symbol—it’s a barometer for our deepest emotions.
On the flip side, grief isn’t always tied to one catastrophic heart event. For many, heartbreak lingers as a low, constant ache. That’s where the term “heartache” comes from—it’s this throbbing sadness lodged somewhere deep in your chest.
Think about all the movies and books where characters hold their hands to their chest during sorrow. There’s something primal about that motion, as if trying to protect the vulnerable space that feels shattered.
Where Stories Help Us Heal Heartache
Because love and loss travel as a pair, it’s no surprise that some of the most beautiful art is born from heartache. Think about Adele’s albums—entire landscapes of heartbroken lyrics set to music that seems tailor-made for someone curled up in bed, trying to process their feelings.
Or take Emily Dickinson’s poetry, like when she wrote, “Till I loved, I never lived.” Sometimes, loss forces us to understand the depth of our feelings in a way nothing else can.
Even ancient myths tie heartbreak to monumental lessons. Have you heard the story of Orpheus and Eurydice from Greek mythology? Orpheus, madly in love with Eurydice, loses her to death but refuses to let go. He travels to the underworld, singing with such heartbreaking beauty that even Hades is moved to grant him a chance to bring her back—on one condition: he must walk out of the underworld without looking back to see if she is following. But love and grief consume him so much that he can’t resist, and she’s lost forever.
Their story is one of eternal longing, showing us how heartbreak is, in some ways, what keeps us human. It reminds us that even our sorrow springs from a place of love.
And who hasn’t resonated with broken-hearted stories in pop culture? In modern narratives, heartbreak feels universally relatable. Think of La La Land’s bittersweet ending—the kind of ache you feel when love doesn’t align with life’s messy realities.
Or when in The Notebook, Noah cradles Allie as she succumbs to dementia, his love persisting even as her memory fades. These stories pull from our deepest pain, guiding us toward catharsis.
Why We Keep Loving Even After Heartbreak
What’s most fascinating about heartache is that we experience it…and still take the risk of loving again. Isn’t that wild? It’s like our hearts have this astonishing capacity to recover, even after shattering into what feels like a thousand pieces.
You might think, “Why put the heart through that again?” But pain itself can deepen our ability to love, making it more vulnerable, tender, and empathetic. In the Bible, Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Heartache, for all its devastation, can actually bring us closer to the people around us or guide us inward toward self-compassion and growth.
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From a psychological perspective, heartbreak shakes us out of complacency. It forces us to face our emotions—the beautiful ones and the uncomfortable ones—with raw intensity. Healing requires us to rebuild our hearts piece by piece, a process that eventually makes the love we carry more intentional, even more profound.
And maybe that’s why the symbol of the heart never loses its power, even during grief. It represents the full spectrum of love: the joy, the passion, the fear, and yes, the pain. Heartache doesn’t replace love—it reinforces it.
Think about it. If heartache hurts so much, isn’t it proof of how deeply we’ve been connected to something, or someone? The ache confirms that love was there, alive and real. It’s not the absence of love that hurts—it’s its shadow lingering after the light fades.
Heartache as a Reminder to Love Yourself
This is the part where the heart’s symbolic role gets beautifully layered. While we often associate heartbreak with losing someone else, it can also teach us how to nurture our own hearts. How often do we forget that self-love deserves just as much attention as romantic love?
When your heart feels shattered, it can be an invitation to turn inward. Self-compassion becomes the glue that holds your heart together. By learning to treat yourself with the same care you would show someone else, the heart becomes a place of recovery, not just a vessel for giving love away.
And perhaps that’s the greatest lesson heartbreak gives—your heart doesn’t truly “break.” It’s not glass; it’s elastic. It stretches, finds meaning in pain, and rebuilds itself stronger than before.
Over time, the ache fades into something bittersweet: a reminder of love’s capacity to change you and make you more human.
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Why the Heart Will Always Be the Symbol of Love
Isn’t it incredible how much the heart carries? It’s not just an organ quietly keeping you alive—it’s a symbol that holds life’s greatest joys, its deepest aches, and everything in between.
Over thousands of years, across cultures, from divine myths to modern love stories, the heart has steadily remained the way we express what words never quite can: the vulnerability, intensity, and courage it takes to love.
When you think about it, the heart is the perfect symbol for love because it’s as complicated as love itself. It beats faster when we’re excited, slows when we’re at peace, and even stumbles when emotions overwhelm us. It physically reacts to both the highs of connection and the lows of loss.
Love makes us feel at home and yet challenges us to open ourselves up to both joy and risk. The heart feels like the only thing that can hold all that complexity.
Over time, this symbol has evolved from sacred devotion in religious art to modern-day emojis on our phones. But even though the way we represent it may have changed, its meaning has stayed the same.
When you draw a heart on a sticky note or send someone a text with a little red emoji, you’re sharing in this incredibly old, incredibly human tradition of saying: I feel something deep within me, and I need you to know you’re part of it.
And maybe that’s the most beautiful thing about the heart as a symbol. Whether it’s beating together in harmony during love’s sweetest moments, aching sharply under heartbreak, or quietly standing back up after the pain, the heart reminds us of what it means to be alive. It doesn’t just symbolize love—it reflects it.
Every scar on your heart, every burst of joy, and every quiet moment of connection you’ve ever felt is a testament to this organ’s role as the keeper of your human experience.
So the next time you see a heart—whether in a poem, a movie, or a doodle on a napkin—remember what it really represents: the courage to love even when it’s messy, the resilience to survive heartbreak, and the hope to try again. That’s what makes the heart such a timeless, universal symbol. It’s not the shape itself—it’s what it represents.
At the end of the day, the heart’s not just a symbol of love. It’s a symbol of you.
