“Emotions course through the veins, engage the heart and the lungs, the bowels and the genitals, the muscles, the skin and face.” (Rose/Abi-Rached, 230)

The physical reactions of the non-physical…can emotions be mapped in the blood even if they can’t be found in the brains? My heart stops and my lungs contract and my muscles ready themselves for the chase whenever I look at love, my veins quicken and quiver with excitement, but I have the same reaction when I look at hate…so far removed and yet so close. Does my body recognize the nuances of difference or only the heat of the response? My face is the only thing that changes and that is cultural conditioning, not something written in my bones and blood.

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