A. There are at least two ways to picture a broken heart, using "heart" in its original meaning, not merely as the seat of the emotions but as the core of oyur sense of self. Though this won't take the pain away, adjusting your attitude may soften the edges and change the outcome.
The conventional image, of course, is that of a heart broken by unbearable tension or pain into a thousand shards - shards that can become shrapnel aimed at the source of the pain. Every day, untold numbers of people try to "pick up the pieces," some of them taking grim satisfaction from the way their hearts' explosions have injured their enemies. The have hated Valentine's Day, refused to hear apologies, or barricaded their hearts inside impenetrable bunkers of anger. Here, a broken heart is an unresolved wound that is too often inflicted upon others.

But there is another way to visualize what a broken heart might mean. Imagine that small, clenched fist of a heart "broken open" into largeness of life, into greater capacity to hold one's own and the world's pain and joy. This, too, happens every day. Who among us has not seen evidence, in our own or other people's lives, that compassion and grace can be the fruits of great suffering? Here, heartbreak becomes a source of healing, enlarging your empathy and extending your ability to reach out. Try it?