Have you ever pondered, fellow Alchemists, the Science of Love? If ever a true alchemy existed, it is in this form.
Love twists you out of shape--you are delirious with joy, then just as easily, angry at that same person whom you "love." What is love? Such a question is not one that may be answered completely in the space of this blog....
In December 2006, the Journal of Neuroscience reported a study on how seeing another person smile, or hearing someone's laughter, activitated a certain area of the brain, causing the person on the receiving end to actually feel happier. Essentially, smiles and laughter are infectious. While we didn't need a medical journal to tell us this, what the study did confirm is how much we need each other. A HUGE factor in the Science of Love.
When we love, we have a constant-other, a companion whose every smile brings us equal happiness, whose ever laugh brings us equal joy. But what happens when that other frowns or crys, or perhaps worse, is blank--not acknowledging you or your needs, not contributing those essentials smiles, that essential laughter, to your life?
According to the journal article, hearing someone wretch or make unpleasant sounds did not seem to effect the study group. And yet, we know that when that person who is our life's center is not sharing joy with us, we feel sad, tremendously so.
The Science of Love is much like the science of super-string theory, an unpredictable entaglement at the sub-atomic level, the thing that has so many infinite dimensions, you never know where you really are.
And despite the topsy-turvy world of love, I still recommend it. My old heart is old enough to tell you that even miserable love is worthwhile. Being in love is glorious, even if it doesn't last. Never stop falling in love. There is no science that can really explain it in full--which is why I call the Science of Love the truest form of alchemy. It is like a magical stone that turns everything into gold, and is just as quickly shown to be untrue. It is taking the elements, using philosophy, and mapping out an intricate mandala for your life.
That person, the one you are in love with, holds your very heart in his (or her) hands. So easy for that person to crush it--but always remember, when you give your heart away no human can ever destroy your heart fully--except one...you.
Good night, you princes of alchemy, you queens of science! Until next we meet....
The Literary Scientist
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