In Straight Silhouette

What happens when we fall in love? As a result of certain stimuli, the hypothalamus releases a powerful discharge of endorphins, but why exactly that woman or that man? Is there a release of odorless pheromones that correspond to a complimentary genetic signal? Or is it physical features that we recognize? A mother’s eyes, a smell that stimulates a happy memory. Is love part of a plan? A vast war plan between two modes of reproduction. Bacteria and viruses are asexual organisms. With each cell division, each multiplication, they mutate and perfect themselves much more quickly than we do. Against this, we respond with the most fearsome weapon: Sex. Two individuals, by mixing their genes, shuffle the cards and create an individual who resists viruses better the more disimilar he or she is. Now, are we unknowing participants in a war between two modes of reproduction?

All men fear death. It’s a natural fear that consumes us all. We fear death because we feel that we haven’t loved well enough or loved at all, which ultimately are one and the same. However, when you make love with a truly great woman, one that deserves the utmost respect in this world and one that makes you feel truly powerful, that fear of death completely disappears. Because when you are sharing your body and heart with a great woman the world fades away. You two are the only ones in the entire universe. You conquer what most lesser men have never conquered before, you have conquered a great woman’s heart, the most vulnerable thing she can offer to another. Death no longer lingers in the mind. Fear no longer clouds your heart. Only passion for living, and for loving, become your sole reality. This is no easy task for it takes insurmountable courage. But remember this, for that moment when you are making love with a woman of true greatness you will feel immortal.

—Ernest Hemingway,  Midnight in Paris.