Search This Blog

Sunday, December 06, 2009

A work of beauty



Sometimes we assign importance to an object or to a person by saying that the object or person is the "heart and soul" of something. It would seem that the terms are redundant, and English, in general, resists redundancy (although it has its fair share built into its grammar). I guess the two terms could be considered redundant simply because they are synonyms. Someone could be the heart or soul of a company, for example, because (s)he feels so passionate about what the company does, and passion is represented by both heart and soul.

But, I think the terms could also be seen differently so that they are not repetitious. Heart is used sometimes to refer to courage, and soul is sometimes used to refer to the personality exuded by someone. So, if a person is the heart and soul of something, then perhaps (s)he is the courageous one and the one that everyone thinks of first because the entity is best represented by the traits of that one person.

I love meeting people who provide heart and soul. I know several of these people. One stands out. I love the sparkle and glitz, the courage, passion, and social networking this person provides for everything and everyone. It is sheer beauty to see.

No comments: