When it comes to choosing topics for a newspaper column, sometimes a writer needs to be serious. Over the past several weeks, I’ve written about Hurricane Helene and the 2024 Presidential election. I’ve written about the post-inauguration death of William Henry Harrison and about Donald Trump and Elon Musk running roughshod over the U.S. Constitution. I’ve written about the Tennessee General Assembly passing a school voucher law. I’ve written about pet store snakes eating pet store mice.
Perhaps it’s time to lighten up a bit. So this week, because I’m in a Valentine state of mind, I’m writing about hearts.
Not cut-out hearts that adorn homemade Valentine cards (though I love such things). Not heart-shaped boxes filled with chocolate candy (though I love those, too). Not the real-life hearts that beat in our chests. Nope. This column is about a private Facebook group I joined several years ago. It was begun right here in Cookeville in 2018 when my friend Cella Neopolitan, who for some time had been taking photographs of heart-shaped objects, decided she wanted to share her serendipitous discoveries with others and encourage them to do the same.
Thus was born the group “Accidental Hearts.”
Prospective members must be approved by either Cella or co-moderator Barbara Greeson. Once accepted, members can look at and comment on posts and add posts of their own if they wish. Accidental Hearts currently has 239 members, hailing from 18 states and six foreign countries. Pretty cool, huh?
Here’s a list of just some of heart-shaped objects that can be found in the photos: biscuits, tracks in snow, torn off pieces of paper napkins, holes in ice, chunks of ice, the pattern on a kitchen scrubber, spots on cats, spots on dogs, spots on goats, spots on cows, spots on horses, clouds (lots of clouds), rocks (lots of rocks), leaves (lots of leaves), heart-shaped “defects” in hardwood floors and asphalt roads, pretzels, potatoes, sliced sushi, owls with wings spread, the chest of male rose-breasted grosbeak, chipped sea shells, marks on pumpkins, dog nose smudges on windows, water stain on a blue U.S. Mail mailbox, drops of water on kitchen counters, shriveled blueberries, a dirt clod that fell from a broken flowerpot, clumps of kitty litter, resting moths, butterfly wings (opened just right), potato chips (more than you would suspect), sliced tomatoes, sliced strawberries, rain puddles, mud puddles, mushrooms, oatmeal cookies, ginger cookies, chocolate chip cookies, slivers of garlic skin, a trailer hitch cover, soap bubbles, a curled-up Dekay’s brown snake, a drop of cream in a cup of coffee, tree bark and—last but certainly not least—the Pinnacle Overlook at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.
Whew!
So what’s the point in all this? Why belong to a group that goes around looking for hearts in everyday objects? To quote Cella, “Some hearts tickle the child in me and bring a little laugh. Other elicit outright guffaws. Still others are so beautiful they reach out and touch my own heart. The many and varied places where accidental hearts show up is mind-boggling!”
Her response made me question my own reasons for joining the group and for perusing it most every day, whether I’m posting or not. For starters, Accidental Hearts is a happy place. Nobody, and I mean nobody, can feel sad when looking at a tiny black kitten with a white heart in the middle of her forehead. And everyone who posts or comments is pleasant and affirming. Nobody argues or tries to one-up anybody else. Refreshing, in real life and on Facebook.
But perhaps the biggest reason I enjoy Accidental Hearts is that it has encouraged me to pay incredible attention to my surroundings. I look for hearts, and often find them, in the most unexpected places. Love is all around us, if we’ll just take a little time to seek it out.
(February 15, 2025)