I always thought it was bizarre that if someone were to accidentally kill or injure another human being while driving under the influence, their penalty, in many cases, would be less severe compared to if the driver were sober. It always struck me as pretty disturbing that simply because the driver's faculties weren't completely present, he's not as completely at fault. While I still find this odd, I now understand the logic. Perhaps this line of thinking should apply to people who claim to be in love.
Love can be an addiction just as potent as those registered under DEA Schedule I - often, more so. The high can be just as euphoric, and the consequences, just as damaging.
We often hear people advising, "never trust an addict," and yet the people closest to us who are addicted to love are the people we trust with absolutely everything. We let them into our space, physical and emotional, and we give them permission to stay, permission to take what they want - from our refrigerated items to our most personal secrets. Yet, we insist on feeling betrayed when things do not go as planned and our partner falters in some aspect. Why the sense of betrayal?
"I want this to last forever."
"I want to be in your life always."
"I would do absolutely anything for you."
How seriously should the above statements be taken when the producer of these words has an abnormal spike of oxytocin in their brain - or an excess of seratonin?
It's a difficult question to answer. No one wants to go through a relationship with a cynical attitude, and no one really wants to be overly cautious so as to not run the risk of having inadvertently lied, at some point. We all want to be sincere. Time (compounded with reflection), of course, is the only entity which can provide true clarity, but, by then you would have already invested yourself so fully, so completely into the relationship at hand - all your emotions, all your dreams, your saltshakers and coffeepots, your love and unintentional lies.
Such is the paradox of love.
"Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
1 comment:
Hmmm... I feel like one maintains a pretty hefty amount of themselves throughout their lives, after adolescence of course, that doesn't really change. I feel like these core aspects of oneself are what we keep in mind when searching for a counterpart, not the more instantaneous feelings that would create this temporary 'intoxicated' or 'high' feeling.
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