[dance anthem of the 80's]

an addiction to hands and feet
there's a meat market down the street
the boys and girls watch each other eat
when they really just wanna watch each other sleep

-regina spektor


[laws of attraction]



could someone explain to me why we fall?
what is it that drives the forces between people?
is it all just our chemical composition? the way it mingles with theirs?
does it really just boil down to atoms and molecules?
and if so, how is it such a powerful force?

and tell me, if such things are so biological, then how and why is the conscience involved?
is that what makes us so intrinsically human?
the ability to reason? to feel compassion? to love?
lust is biological, primal. the cerebral cortex takes over in order to procure the survival of the species.
love is...is something else entirely.
love does not ensure the survival of a species.
love does require rational thought, the ability to experience complex emotions. truthfully, though, i'm not sure how much of love is truly rational. maybe a better way to phrase that concept would be to say that love requires a being that is capable of rational thought, because of the other functions and processes that occur in tandem with a highly developed brain.
yet often, when in love, or the process of falling, we often act so irrationally.
so much of love is absolutely counter-intuitive.

we fall for people already in a committed relationship.
we fall for people that we know will break our hearts.
we fall for people that are completely incompatible.

but really, what is falling?

and why is it so essential to our being?
one could argue that love is necessary to the survival of our species. could anyone truly live without love?
is it possible to control how we feel about another person?
and, if so, then how is it possible to untangle the nasty mess of love, lust, compassion, attraction, and every other emotion that sinuously weaves itself into the convoluted tapestry of human existence in order to experience something pure?

why is it so integrally important, so essential to be touched, appreciated, desired, needed, connected, understood, intertwined with another human? more importantly, not just any human. one that we, in turn, find desirable, attractive, lovable, and the other myriad qualities that each individual deems necessary. a person that fulfills an invisible (biological?) list of mandatory prerequisites.



why, damn it all, do we fall?



an addiction to hands and feet, indeed.