Love at First Laugh

Image by State Library of New South Wales collection via Flickr

She giggles...
and you know--
you just know--
that you want that sound
in your life.
As often as possible.
The sound,
love at first...
laugh.
Because there's comfort enough,
for doubled-over,
knee-slapping,
soda-out-the-nose
hilarity.
The best medicine.
Thank you, ma'am,
may I have another...
smile in a snapshot?
Pour our hearts out,
arms entwined,
toast to two cups of love.
LAST CALL!
"When I drink this,
it'll be with me forever."
To go.
"I know," she agrees,
and pounds her cup.
"No time like the present," I say,
and drink it down.
"Ready?" I ask,
Her answer comes in a tightly wrapped
arm around my own.
"Thank you," she whispers,
and I feel her heart closer to mine.

Can You Live Without Love?

On my Facebook "being IN LOVE" fan page, I asked a question that had been on my mind of late:

Once you know what it's like to be loved, could you live without it?

Now, it's pretty easy to assume what most of the answers to this question will be like, but what I enjoyed more were the reasons for the answers.

• 10860 total fans
• 40 Comments
• 19 Likes
• No (80%), Yes (7%), Yes, but painful (13%)
  

The most common theme in the comments was about the addictive nature of love. Like a drug, they said, once you've had it there is nothing but a void, an emptiness, in life without it. Fans said they would be unable to breathe, that they would be off-balance, and that the purpose of life is love.

Great comments. Inspiring. Powerful stuff.

I invite you to join us, and to participate, in our great fan page about "being IN LOVE!"

Enjoy your weekend! *hugs*

The First Kiss

As many of you know, I started a "Being in Love" fan page on Facebook several months ago (we're almost to 10,000 fans, so join us!). For the past few weeks, I've been asking a daily question that has something to do with love and then compiling the stats, mostly for interest, but I also assume that I'll be able to make some interesting comparisons when I ask the same questions a year from now.

On October 14, 2009, I asked, "How old were you when you had your first kiss? Where did it take place?"

• 57 of 9959 fans responded (.57%)
• Average age of first kiss = 14.1 years.

Kiss was...

• Behind something (tree, bush, other): 23.3%
• At school (playground, bus, other): 13.3%
• At home (inside): 13.3%
• On a walk: 13.3%
• At home (on front porch): 10%
• During a date: 10%
• Long tail of other answers make up the rest

I'll look forward to having a larger sample size the next time this question gets asked, but I found it entertaining that so many first kisses were "behind" something. We're just a bunch of giggly kids, eh?

Next time it might be smart to define or clarify "first kiss" as first "serious" kiss or first "playful" kiss... respondents had to make their own choice in this survey.

GO KISS SOMEONE!

Is age just a number?

When I was in high school, I used to say such wonderful things like, "Life is more than a series of consecutive years," and "Cold is only in the mind." Yeah yeah, whatever, dude. I was remin

Image by THEfunkyman via Flickr

ded of this when I got into a discussion with a friend the other night about age and whether it's just a number. In my trek for true love, I have to consider age because I'd like to be a father of children that I helped to bear. Although I realize there are alternative ways to do this, my first desire would be to do it with my partner. So, for that case, I'm limited to an upper age limit in my search for the right woman.

Is age just a number?

Growth is an important part of life, physically and mentally. I believe that challenges breed growth. Someone that's 5-10 years younger than another could have easily faced more challenges in life and attained more growth than someone that's been fed with the silver spoon for 35 years. This is where my "horse girls are psycho" comment comes from; when you've been handed everything that you have in life, you'll stand around with your hand out a lot. On the other hand, if you've endured great challenges, if you've had to rearrange the plan that you made for yourself, if you've had to roll with the punches or find a new way, then I think you will be much more mature than those around you that haven't.

My foreign friends always laugh at American girls and their "plan" for life. Why? Because the plan is like a business plan these days, practically out-dated as soon as you finish writing it. If you write a plan in a way that details exactly what is going to happen and when it's going to happen, then you're setting yourself up for disappointment. And, it gets worse, if you do that and the entire thing is given to you, on schedule, then you've likely lost plenty of opportunities to grow and mature.

Emergent theory, expect the unexpected, is found in life.

So, the next time I say that I'm interested in a woman in her mid-twenties, don't gaffaw or tsk-tsk. Just because most women in their twenties are a mess doesn't mean that all women in their twenties are a mess.

And, most women in their mid-thirties are a mess, too. Hell, I'm kind of a mess when it really comes down to it since I'm so hell-bent on finding the right person like I was told to do in a dream 35 years ago... but that is a whole 'nother story.

The Love Flow

I've been running some experiments on the Facebook fanpage, "being IN LOVE" to measure interactions relative to the types of comments that I leave on the wall. Good stuff, fer sure.

First of all, the makeup of the 8100+ fans is:

• 77% female
• 59% female aged 13-24*
• ~30% residing in the US

*Apparently, the kids in other countries are still on Facebook.

When I post something esoteric and positive about love on the wall, I easily get 20 likes and 30 comments (Facebook calls these "interactions") in a few hours. Most of them are people saying how much "in love" they are or how much they believe in love. It's quite fantastic to experience.

However, when I post something action focus, like visiting a blog or a twitter profile, I get very few interactions. Unfortunately, I can't see clicks nor have I taken the time to look at referral logs, but the uptick on blog follows/comments and Twitter followers doesn't increase much.

I invite you to try your own experiment and feel the love:

1. Join the group (if you haven't already).
2. Post something fun and loving on the wall, ask a question if you like.
   
3. Feel the love flow to you!

ENJOY!

The "Being IN LOVE" Fan Club

Hey hey hey... good morning my favorite peeps and tweeps! I've a lot of work to do this morning, but I've been trying to do the morning writing thing, either with a blog post or with something offline (like this big ol' book I always refer to) because it helps to wake up my brain.

But this morning, I want to tell you about the Facebook FanBox that I added to this blog (see it, over to the right, down, down, there, yes, there!). I started this fan page on for "Being IN LOVE" many moons ago simply to see what the functionality was like (you know, I do that marketing thing in my other life) and when I came back a few months later, there were THOUSANDS of fans!

Well, I've decided that I should start to participate more on the fan page and we've already had some great conversations there.

7920 fans are already there, so come be a fan of BEING IN LOVE.

I look forward to seeing you as a fan and to your participation in the club!

Much love!