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Nina Yang

Gardner
English 10H
22 January 2015

I'm thinking about what to write. Which body part to write about. Which words to use
and how to write them. I'm thinking. Thinking..Where do thoughts come from? The ancient
Egyptians believed that the heart functioned as the processor of information and that the brain
was, in essence, useless. When mummifying their dead, they'd take out the brain, leaving only
the heart inside of the body. If they only knew that that the heart is only a muscular organ that
pumps blood through the the blood vessels of the circulatory system. It doesn't think. It can't. The
only thing it does is keep time in a tempo that is forever changing fast, slow, fast again, slower,
slower, faster, slower, until it stops. Even so, the heart has been revered as the most important
organ since ancient times. Theres only one thing that can possibly hold as much significance as
the heart: the head the upper or anterior division of the animal body that contains the brain, the
chief sense organs, and the mouth (Merriam-Webster). The center of rationale, the part that
dictates the actions of your body. It contains the brain, the product of thousands of years of
evolution by which nervous tissues become concentrated in one area of an organism. Sitting on
top of the body, it rules from atop its throne. It houses intelligence, allowing us to make logical
decisions from a purely objective point of view; conversely, the emotions processed by our brain
are what causes us to make rash decisions and be biased. To me, my head is also a sanctuary
where I can do anything. I like the head more because the brain protected in a wall of bone and is
less vulnerable than the heart in its cage.

In my seventh grade band class, we learned about the brain in addition to the notes and rhythms
on our music. There are two sides to the brain: the left and the right. When we play music, we
are developing the right brain. If you tap your left foot as you play in time with the beat, you're
also working your left brain. Having both sides balanced will help you become better musicians
and in school. Mr. Klemenok said to us one day, right before telling us one of his corny jokes.
Next to me, Zo whispered, Im left handed so I'm more creative. Actually, I'm pretty logical
too, so ha! She emphasized the ha by thrusting her finger into the air in front of my face. I
did some research on what Mr. K said and found that according to the left/right brain theory,
imagination and creativity are associated with the right side of the brain and logic with the left. I
like to think that I'm a left brained thinker. (Fun fact: psychopaths rely more on the left
hemisphere of their brains.) I always try to find a scientific explanation and be impartial. I have
little to no imagination except when I think about how one little thing I do will turn into a
tragedy. I dont understand things like love, which is an abstract and highly irrational concept,
and sadness. When my left brain takes over, I become a different person than my carefree, bad
joke loving self. I remember, about a year and a half ago, I had to deal with the closest thing to a
tragedy that I've ever known: the death of Mitch. Mitch was my sister Sandys rabbit and the first
death weve had to deal with. (I've been told that a family peta tortoise had died before, but I
was 3, and I don't even remember having a tortoise. RIP Mystery Tortoise whose existence I'm
still unsure of.) I was pretty close to him too(Mitch, not the tortoise). He was a weird rabbit and
liked licking people. That love of licking strange objects is what got him killed. Sandy had taken
him out so that he could hop around the backyard and he came across some rat poison. Needless
to say, we found a dead rabbit when we returned to take him inside. I'm going to leave out the
details since it was a little bit gruesome but just imagine a pile of fluff convulsing and then lying

still. Somehow, he had gotten himself wedged between a tree and a rock(our backyard is strange)
and Sandy called for my help. I was the only one who hadn't retreated into the house. I don't
think anyone besides me could have stared at Mitch and calmly grabbed the dead rabbit. My
sister was crying as she dug a hole for her pet. My mother and even my brother shed a tear for
Mitch. I had to turn away so that no one would see my face. My perfectly serene face with
maybe a hint of guilt. Guilt for not feeling sad. This is how I analyzed the situation: that animal
is no longer alive. Neither is the peach tree we buried him next to. I could cry, but that wouldn't
help the tree and it won't make me feel better. I'm not very good at associating the correct
emotion to a response that is appropriate for the situation and so I create lots of awkward
situations. I have no idea how I'm going to act when I lose a family member instead of a pet but I
hope by that time I have accumulated enough experience so that keeping a cool head in
doesnt mean casual indifference. I want to achieve a balance where I'm able to make important
decisions without the influence of emotions but have empathy when the time calls for it. When
Aristotle said that the organs exist for the heart, he didnt have the same information as we do; I
know that my brain is the king, and the heart, a lowly peasant. If the heart represents love then
the head is the stone cold face of reality. A reality where two bundles of nervous tissue fight for
control over a system of organs.

Works Cited
Head Merriam-Webster.com Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2016

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