Love.

Here’s what The Beatles had to say about Love: “Love, love love… you can learn how to play the game. It’s easy”. 

Is it? I can tell you that I think about it all of the time, I write about it a hell of a lot, and I throw “I love you” around like it’s my job. To friends, family members, random cats and dogs on the street… So, there’s definitely ‘that’ kind of ‘love’. Then there’s the kind of love without one proper definition. The kind that mystifies us. As Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson’s characters in the mediocre but heartwarming film, ‘It Takes Two’ say: “It’s that can't eat, can't sleep, reach for the stars over the fence, world series kind of love.”

I think ‘that’ kind of ‘love’ makes you do things you never thought you would do. It makes you take risks. Please excuse all of my romantic comedy references here but, in the film ‘French Kiss’, Timothy Hutton calls up his current fiancé to tell her he’s fallen in love with another woman. The only way that he can describe his state of euphoria is by saying that he could “urinate with someone standing right in back of him”.  In other words, he could do anything. In a situation where he would normally be scared, he let’s go. 

I’m not defining love here; I just want to talk about it. I’m the kind of girl who loves ‘Love’ so much that I would buy it in a store if I could. The problem is, I have no idea what it looks like. If it was an object, I wouldn’t know its shape, size or color but I’m starting to have a good idea of what it feels like. Someone once told me that I had never been in love before. That hurt. The people closest to me will tell you that I live for falling in love and I’ve attempted one too many times. The truth is, even though I’ve made last minute trips overseas and stood outside a boy’s apartment with flowers, I did those things for the idea of love… not for the love I felt for them. 

When I write about it, the character’s love epiphany is usually followed by a chase to the airport or a surprise visit to the one they want and need. So what I’m thinking is that love is the Gatorade that fuels the marathon. It’s this wild energy that swings back and forth between you and that other human. It’s not just about you and it’s not something you can ask for and get right away. It's caring, it's sharing, it's passion, it's vulnerability, it's a lot of things rolled into one and it's born from your experiences with that other person. It does happen when you least expect it and it does drive you crazy. Love has a fighting quality about it. It’s not easy. It’s definitely fantastic. It’s going to pull you in all sorts of directions. When it’s present and you can recognize it, you’d be stupid to let it go. 

For fun… here is the soundtrack to my chase for love.