What is heartache?

I was on a road trip today and started reflecting on the year. I thought about the many great times, adventures, joys, sorrows and heartaches of the year. That got me thinking about heartbreak. Something many people feel this time of year as we reflect on the people we've lost in our lives, the relationships that have ended, or just the disappointment that comes along.

Heartache is a very real feeling that we all have experienced. That physical weight, pressure, pain and sensitivity in our chest. I wanted to know what actually caused that. This day and age, I believe I can find almost any answer I am seeking via a cursory search of the internet. I searched and searched and the answer to what I thought was a rather simple physiological question was no where to be found. Every piece about the topic simply described the associated feelings and admitted that the answer was unclear. There was minor evidence presented about the long term effects of continued heartache on the actual heart, but nothing to explain the phenomenom of heartbreak.

My roommate suggested that it may be an indication of a higher power, which I do believe, but this made me consider even more the presence of some sort of soul. If the same biological science that can trace blue eyes to one piece of a chromosome cannot explain the global phenomenon of heartache, it may be beyond science. Perhaps its part of humanness.

This is not meant to be a dissertation or proof, simply a consideration. I'm reminded of a question from the Broadway show Wicked, "What is this feeling, so sudden and true?"

Happy Holidays!