If There's Love, I Just Want to Have Something to Do With It.

I just finished watching a movie (in two parts): Paper Heart. It's a story about a young girl (Charlyne Yi) who tries to figure out if love exists by interviewing different people on the topic, and making a movie about it. While making the film, she, the biggest love skeptic, finds it (in Michael Cera). It is an adorable film. One that makes me believe and fills my heart with hope that true love does exist. As Charlyne goes around the country asking people what true love means to them, some of the answers really got me thinking.

"When I was stuck under the freezing cold water, I thought - I can't die this way. Then I saw my ex-wife's face. She didn't say anything or do anything, but I remember feeling serenity and I swam up and made it to shore. I didn't see my first and what I thought to be my true love's face - but my ex wife's. What this told me was that that love was real, and it was there."

"I think it's going to last a really long time.. even though we are so young. It's real."

"It's that person who you don't want to be without."

"It's all about the 'like'", one man said. And his wife agreed.

"It's one thing to love someone on some level, on multiple levels even, but to really like that person. To genuinly enjoy them around. And to not want to see a day without them in your life. And then to also have that certain level of love."

I've been in love. On one of those levels that this man talked about. And even thought I haven't felt a love like this since, I am convinced that this love was real. But there seemed to be lacking something, and that something was the 'like'. I see this now. Interesting. I didn't know you could love someone without liking them. I mean, I must have liked them at one point. Then that 'like' went away, but the love stayed. Somewhere. And I don't think that love will ever go away really. But I think this love that I have experienced is just one level I have seen myself be capable of. There are so many other levels that I have and have not fallen into yet.

If I do fall in another level of love, I don't think that erases the first level. It just keeps adding.

I've been in like. And I've loved them on some level. But perhaps not the love. Crazy, romantic, passionate, consuming, ridiculous love. (Okay, I might have taken some of those adjectives from Sex and the City.. but Bradshaw's got a point). If that crazy level of love had been there, it may have been perfect. I kept hoping it would show up but it didn't. When I was in love, I was waiting for the like to come back. And while I was in this like, I was waiting for the love.

People always say that the person they spend their life with "complete's them", right? Maybe that person can fulfill aaalll your levels of love at once...

With an enormous side order of like.