Ponder Place

Natalie said:

How do you know if you’re in love? If thats really what it is.

Love is a tragedy. Which when you think about it, is a really good thing, right? It plays so well into the genre. Love is the tearing of souls which allows them to mend together in the forming of a greater being.

Or so the theory goes, it’s all unproven speculation at this point.

Love is a tragedy, not in the way you think it is, or in the way that the Notebook* portrays it to be. Instead it is one of those great tools that is over used and to a great degree, used in ways unintended.

I’m getting at the manipulation game. Where one person uses love as a tool to get another person (who themselves must be a Tool for falling for such shenanigans) to do something.

It would seem I’ve strayed from your question. What is love?

It has been spoken that love is the strongest “thing” in our existence. It can be the motivating force for some pretty impressive feats.

Knowing this it would suggest that love is more than just a placebo effect. Mind you, its a suggestion, but lets humor it anyway

If you yourself are to experience love what is required for this to occur?

A pony.

You may be surprised at my answer, but let me explain. First of all, lets just make it clear that I have no idea what I’m talking about when it comes to love. But also understand that I’m never wrong when I discuss the subject. This creates a very interesting parallel.

The reason I suggest a pony is this.

In general terms, ponies are so much easier to love that a human being. Because they give, and they do not require that you give as well. Aside from feeding, and basic living needs, they are very willing to be your best friend. Granted, its difficult for them to convey their feelings in the way a cat or a dog might. As this would likely end up causing injury and in some cases death. The principle still applies.

A person is much more difficult to love. They are needy, uncertain, and insecure … not to mention untrustworthy. The levels of each of these vary from person to person, but inevitably it is present within everyone around you.

It comes down to math. You need to take each possible subject that you have interest in loving. Then you need to calculate the love to benefit ratio of each subject. You may also want to take into consideration the risks.

For example, with a person, you would require X amount of effort to get X amount of love (some say you cannot measure love, I say they are just lacking a complex enough calculation). Then decide what you have a budget for. If you can afford (emotionally, financially, et cetera) the love of a person, by all means go for it. If everything crashes and burns (most likely scenario) you’ll have an excellent experience that will assist in avoiding future pitfalls.

Throughout history people have attempted to define love. Each one providing their best estimate of what love truly is. In the end, it seems to be that love applies so uniquely to each of us that no one explanation can serve every situation.

Its one of those things that you have to keep trying until you are successful. Or at least, close enough to “right” that you are satisfied.

*I’ve never seen the Notebook, my accuracy on the subject may suffer from this lack of research.