Where's the Love?

"The god of love lives in the state of need." Plato

As America rapidly approaches its Valentine's Day confluence of hype and false super emotion, the gloom and doom of a decelerating and disintegrating economy slaps a soppy wet blanket of reality over the celebration. Add republican angst and their trumped up wedgie issues (e.g., we can't get no respect) to the conversation and the wet blanket develops an unbearable stink. In the midst of this struggle to dredge up a spark of romance during these tough times, we are assaulted by our corporate media's loyalty to insignificance and cheapness. Now, more than ever, we need to connect and understand the real nature of attraction, love and relationships. Things are serious this year and I've become almost superstitious about attracting the bad luck kind of love ala Anna Nicole, Princess Di, Britney so overexposed in the corporate media. Even in these plastic tales of love and woe, we learn about the power and obsession of romantic love.

Most of us have made a love connection and wondered why we are or were so strongly attracted to that one person who managed to float our boat. Your lover's scent, touch, voice, and body thrill you. Your lover's words, laugh and smile bind you to him, body and soul. It's beyond rational reason. It's primal. Where does "it" come from?

“Romantic love has many characteristics in common with drives (Fisher 2004). (i) Like drives,romantic love is tenacious and emotions ebb and flow,(ii) romantic love is focused on a specific reward and emotions are associated with a range of phenomena instead, (iii) romantic love is not associated with a distinct facial expression and the primary emotions are all associated with specific facial expressions,(iv) romantic love is difficult to control and all of thebasic drives are difficult to control, and (v) human romantic love and mammalian courtship attraction are associated with dopamine-rich neural regions and all the basic drives are also associated with dopaminergic pathways.” - Helen Fisher

In other words....