A lot of heart

I saw Zsa Zsa Gabor's name recently and was reminded of the post I wrote about her back in August of 2010. At the time I wrote that post, I thought she was about to die.

But she is still alive at age 95, after all those health problems and the amputated leg. She must have a very strong heart.

Is that where the expression, "a lot of heart" comes from? "Heart" is a metaphor for courage, but perhaps it's an even better one for energy and vigor. After all, whenever I get scared, my heart starts to beat more rapidly -- which is hardly a sign of courage. But it is in fact an adaptive "fight or flight" response.

Every now and then, I read the obituary of someone who dies at a very advanced age. It occurs to me that that person must have had a strong ticker. I then look at their lives and accomplishments and "see" a lot of vitality reflected there.

Of course, that may just be a matter of perception. You can look at Zsa Zsa's life, with those nine husbands, and see the resume of a woman with a lot of energy. Or you can just see someone with a need for attention.

Then again, maybe drama queens are drama queens simply because they have excess energy to work off. This isn't a politically correct thought, but I often think that if you gave some of these drama queens six orgasms in a row, it would drain the histrionics right out of them.

For a while, at least.

Zsa Zsa evidently still has a little bit of drama left, which is a testament to her vitality.