Do you know the feeling of being in a loved one’s arms? When you’re just surrounded by the warmth of someone you care about, and you feel completely and utterly safe from the world? Do you ever find yourself listening to their heartbeat, and feeling content with knowing that they’re right beside you, every step of the way? It’s this scenario that many artists and writers have taken advantage of. From the many nights with a lover, or even the humble beginnings of a one night stand, it’s a commonality that readers and writers have enjoyed.

We often use the heartbeat to understand just what it means to be in love with someone. Our emotions are tied to our hearts, so of course, whenever we feel strongly about someone, our hearts tend to react in a way that reflects our emotions. Below are a few reasons how we, as humans, use our hearts.

Falling in Love
In the Youtube short film, In a Heartbeat, a young boy is in love with another classmate. And while he’s watching his crush from afar, his heart, of course, pops out of his body and excitedly tries to go over to them. That doesn’t sit well with our protagonist, but it’s nevertheless a cute way to show how we fall in love. Characters in the romance genre, in particular, are usually prone to this, having those strange butterflies in their stomachs when they’re around the people they love, or stumbling over their words just to try to express their feelings. However awkward it may initially seem, we enjoy the time we get to spend being in love, even if being with the person is just in our fantasies.

Falling out of Love
Falling out of love with someone is particularly painful. Whether that be because your characters have grown apart, or that something happened and one of them had to leave, it’s something that leads to a dull heartache within us. Even so, it’s something that we can’t help but write about. After all, pain is one of humanity’s greatest muses.

Being in Love
Then of course, there’s actually being in love. It’s an enduring love that helps your characters stay together despite the hardships they may suffer. It’s this kind of love that has led people to accepting the other person for who they are, rather than for their looks or talents. The Heiress to Waitress series by Ginny Clyde is a prime example of this. Despite the two love interests being only teenagers, they were willing to stick it out and to save one another, simply because they loved each other. And while that love may be susceptible to time, it nevertheless is a beautiful thing. As for a character’s heart, while they may not notice it, their heart is already there.

The heartbeat is something that no one should underestimate. Yes, the heart is an organ that pumps blood throughout our body. But more importantly, it’s something that we can’t help but focus on in our writing. At the very least, it’s an excellent way to reminisce on our lives, and know that our romances made us who we are.