Corazonada
For over six months now I have been dedicated to studying Spanish. My ability to read, comprehend and speak has greatly improved. Since, however, I don’t have a natural aptitude, my six-year-old nephew speaks better than me, but heck, at least I’m trying. I do love the language though. It is interesting to explore how different cultures decide how to express themselves and how the way we speak can change how we see and experience the world.
The Spanish language uses a lot of suffixes. Add “-ito” or “-ita” to the end of a world and it means little or dear. For example, the cat or gato that often sneaks into my house becomes a “gatito.” Add “-udo” or “-uda” to the end of the word and it means a lot of. Mi gatito es peludo. Pelo meaning hair becomes peludo meaning hairy or furry (or leaving blankets of white fur in my house when it sneaks into my home).
Another suffix which is used is “-ada.” This suffix can be used to mean the result of use. For example, cuchillo or knife means stab wound when -ada is added, cuchillada. It can also mean a large quantity of, so spoon, cuchara, becomes spoonful, cucharada. It can also mean the act of carrying out a verb. Llamar or to call becomes una llamada or a call, and nevar or to snow becomes nevada or snowfall. The other day, I saw -ada added to corazón.
Corazón means the heart. When -ada is added to it, “corazonada” literally means the act of heart, full of heart, or to act with heart. The translation of corazonada is a feeling, a hunch, or a sudden impulse to act. Across cultures and languages, we have tied our intuition, our instinctual knowledge to our heart. We are not acting from our knowledge or reason, but acting from a deeper knowledge which comes from the heart.
I love my mind. It helps me write these posts in mostly perfect grammar. It usually helps me with math problems. It can help me reason out different options to a problem. And, more times than I like to admit, my mind can also mislead me. It can keep me up at night playing through again and again what I did wrong, what I could have done differently, or what I prefer to have happened. My mind sometimes thinks it is right and correct, even when the world is pointing to something different. My mind can make me think I am better than or worse than others.
That is why I have been trying to have more balance between my heart and my mind. The HeartMath Institute has been studying and teaching for years the importance of our connection with our hearts. What has been known in the scientific community for some time, is that our heart sends as much if not more information to our brains than the other way around. It is our heart, not our minds which are running the show. In this informative video, the HeartMath Institute outlines how we can regulate our stress and ability to think under stress, by working to smooth our heartrate and help our hearts and minds connect. It is not just the brain or not just the heart, but getting these two to play together which can make a difference in our lives.
When you get angry or anxious, do you feel your heartbeat increase? Have you ever used meditation to calm your heart which in turn helps calm your mind? What are your thoughts on living more corazonada?
