Crazy in Love?

Or Just Plain Crazy!

Turns out that you can think you are in "love" but just a bit delusional- remember that Fatal Attraction Glen Close chic? Turns out there is a phenomenon called "Limerence" which is an obsessive-compulsive disorder likely to be soon listed with the American Psychiatric Journal as a real mental disorder. http://news.aol.com/health/story/_a/limerence-makes-the-heart-grow-far-too/n20080207103309990058 . There is an old classic book called "Obsessive Love" that touches on the phenomenon.
You know it when you see it- everyone knows it when they see it- it's usually patently obvious to the world- sometimes before even it's object of attention figures it out. It's that glassy drooled glint in a lonely eye that fixates obsessively on someone like the person is their entire salvation. They stalk them. They cleverly sabotague anyone threatening their "relationship" which is usually more fantasy in their head than anything truly reflective of anything real. This of course is pure idolotry and displaces the rightful savior from the picture in the place of a fantasized super-human whom they wrongly imagine will fill that God shaped hole that only God can fill. It distorts and exaggerates the significance of a person to a degree where they are viewed as something larger than themselves-larger than life. The types of people who get targetting for this sort of Limerence are typically successful, they may hold positions of visible power or achievement- they may have a public image or profile that projects an illusion feeding into the fantasy. They attract the Hinkleys of the world, the Fatal Attraction Glen Closes.
Tonight I was at a Valentine's party followed by a movie with a film club I like to hang out with (because a great friend organizes it). There was wine and chocolate and people chatting over background music at the Goethe Institute, the German Cultural Center in Washington. No one was dancing. I was surprised that a guy I had never seen before walked up to me and asked me to dance. I may be uncharitable to the poor bloke but the thought of dead rabbits crossed my mind and "limerence threat" orange alerts flashed before my eyes. The song playing at the time was dreadful- beatless and metalic. No one was dancing. The man's eyes looked wierd. No other way to describe him- just wierd. I got a wierd vibe. I didn't know how to be gracious. The first thing that blurted out of my mouth was "would you be terribly offended if I said No?" He got a bit insistent- "Come on! We will break the ice!" He started to grab my elbow to coax me to the dance floor and I jumped back away. I said as politely insistently as I could
again "terribly sorry this just isn't my kind of music but I appreciate the thought." I didn't really, the thought of dancing with him was a bad stomach acid "flee now" sort of feeling. I fled and hid in the movie theatre.
This little encounter was actually my best Valentines present. It was from God. I watched earlier not long ago a similar episode in reverse where I observed a man have the same response to a woman asking him to dance recently. I didn't understand what was going on. God showed me what it felt like by staging it with me in the place of the person I watched.
This was the best Valentines Day. I got chocolates and wine at a party and got to feel exactly what it must feel like to be too sexy for my shirt (even though I was wearing Mission black).
God cracks me up with his sense of humor. It's past midnight on Valentines Day and God and I are still cracking up over it.