Learning to Cover the Sun with My Finger (Part I)

Ok, so I admit that I have a bad memory. Just a couple of days ago I locked my car keys inside the car and if you asked me to tell you what I had for lunch today I would need to think about it for a few minutes. However, when I came to learn Spanish I realised that having a lot of imagination can make up for my lack of a properly functioning memory.
A good example comes with the traditional Spanish expressions, which really caught my imagination and helped me learn a lot more easily than simply trying to memorise loads of words which don’t mean anything much on their own.

Hacer de Tripas Corazón

There is a restaurant near where I took my Spanish classes which is called “Tripas Corazón”. I thought this was a brilliant name, as it translates as something like “Guts and Heart” and brings to mind suitably grotesque dishes splattered with blood and intestines. I then heard the words in a song and I realised that it is actually part of the expression “hacer de tripas corazón”. I haven’t yet had the courage to use this phrase in real life yet but it seems to mean to make a great effort to overcome some sort of problem or fear. I have been waiting patiently for the ideal moment to use it (casually, of course) but it hasn’t yet arrived.