Fingers in symphony

July Writing Challenge- Day 3

As a child, romance was what I saw on the big silver screen- when a hero danced around the heroine in rain while she blushed. It was what happened to grown ups in larger-than-life scenarios.

Then as an adolescent, it happened to me and it was as if you’d fallen into a giant cauldron of caffeine. A feeling so ethereal and also delusional.

Then as a young adult, it starts to wear off a little- like the magic shows you watch as a child- your mind is blown the first time- but then you watch it more times and you know when the trick is going to hit and you brace yourself for it. By the end, you feel clever but also devoid of the emotional blitzkrieg that swept you up in its throes the first time.

I wanted to use a drug analogy here but I lack the experience to credibly make that comparison, though science calls the two experiences quite similar.

Then finally, post 25, after your frontal cortex fully develops, romantic love begins to feel different. It’s no longer a riptide that tosses you around. It becomes more like the stillness of a lagoon, calm, grounding and safe.