Chemicals
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, "And in the end, we were all just humans... drunk on the idea that love, only love, could heal our brokenness."
This very idea intoxicates the human race, driving us to lengths beyond comprehension for one not currently drunk on this chemical cocktail. With that said, it is also an idea that I never wish to seek sobriety from.
What is the point of living if not love? All else in the world is simply the work of entropy, while love is the force that binds us and makes us whole.
Because today is the one day designated to a force that deserves celebration every moment of our existence, I figured that I would use this obligatory post to point out some of the absurdities revolving around this crazy little thing called love. By the way, you're welcome for Queen playing in your head the rest of the day.
I attempted to blow your mind with a statistic on how many love songs have been made in the last century, and unfortunately my research failed, but I did find a statistic that claims a song is written every 2 minutes, and would argue that love drives most of them.
Anyhow, what is it that drives us to obsession in which music, movies, clothing, career choices, and nearly every life choice we make is somehow shaped by love?
To answer this question, let's get scientific! The feeling we describe as 'love' derives from a chemical cocktail made up of, phenylethylamine, dopamine, epinephrine, and oxytocin, to name the important compounds.
Now, some people see this as a gigantic disappointment, as if this truth makes the feeling of love somehow less magical. But I'd argue the opposite. Love does not simply come to us out of thin air, like cupid's arrow sticking us in the buns; we synthesize love from our own beings!
In essence, we are love, and though entropy displaced us into a chaotic state, the right people help bring us back to proper completion. That is nothing short of awesome!
But, our need to reach this true human form is so great, that it drives us into sheer madness. Sometimes, it's subtle, like a change in behavior creating a manic state or extreme jealousy. But other times, the madness takes over and drives people to kill a cheating partner or the other lover, often enough that our legal system carries the term 'crime of passion'.
Though I do not believe that love itself actually makes people kill, the desperate thirst for a denied drink does. Sometimes the thirst becomes so great, that the prospect of living without it drives suicide.
Not all who die of a broken heart do so by their own hand. Occasionally, the heartache is so great that the person simply ceases to exist. Okay- admittedly, I am being a bit dramatic, but the condition Broken Heart Syndrome truly exists. It occurs when extreme stress (like heartache) leads to your 'heart strings' (yes you really have them), the chordae tendneae, tensing and causing the heart to balloon at the apex. Though it can lead to heart failure, it's usually treatable because, science and stuff. For the purpose of driving my point home, let's focus on the fact that you can die for a second.
Enough about the downside of love, because love is amazing and deserves credit for so much more than insanity and heartbreak. Actually, this leads into the biggest absurdity involving love: avoidance.
Granted, I am one of those people with a Sponge Bob cheese and twinkling eyes over PDA that makes most people grab for a barf bag, but still, this is relevant for everybody. Purposely evading love goes against every substance of our existence! Remember your quick chemistry lesson- we are love.
Yet every day I see people denying this intrinsic need and avoiding feelings like the plague. And once in a while, I catch myself participating in this nonsense. WHY??? Seriously, why do we avoid feeling or pretend not to feel our deepest constituent? What does that do for us, aside from scattering us further into oblivion?
We need to stop denying what we are: the strongest chemicals on the planet, destined to bond so our brokenness can be healed.
