Love and Limerance

I used to think they were the same thing.

Limerence is a flicker that feels like a spark.

Igniting a flame into a furnace.

Engulfing the moment in passion.

The whole world revolves around this moment.

A glance in the street.

Sharing a moment of mystery with a stranger leading to a flutter of the heart. And a flicker of the mind.

What you don’t know is the attractive part. The what ifs, the fantasies, the projections.

But that moment of limerance is like a drug. A firework.

The dopamine rush of feeling what you don’t have.

And letting the mind spiral into imaginary tales. The dream wedding, being seen as a king when you are actually a beggar.

Streets of people congratulating you. Admiring you. Commenting on how good you look together.

And then one day it’s gone. Because it never really was there.

Love is the furnace that keeps growing, keeps burning.

Slow at first but steadily growing, and always growing.

Like a candle and not a match. It never burns fast, but burns long.

And to this day stays strong.