"Love, Love, Love ..."

If you know me, then you know that I'm a romantic. I don't know how I became this way ... was it innate? Part of my internal make-up? Learned from my environment? From a reaction to poetry? Neruda? To film? Music?

I know that love has been flowing through my veins for as long as I can remember. As a matter of fact, it is my belief that I am on this earth to love and be loved. I can't think of any other reason that any of us would be here. Without a belief in god or religion or an afterlife, there is that in which I believe -- love. Connections. Energy between beings.

So, of course, I should not have been surprised a few minutes ago when tears were racing down my face as I caught the final 20 minutes of "Sleepless in Seattle." And, I'm certainly not alone as they allude to the classic movie "An Affair to Remember" and refer to the fact that women have been crying over that movie for decades! There's something about watching people wish for love, search for love, find love ... it moves us all, on different levels. Some of us shed tears. Others smile. Some empathize. Others have memories triggered. Hopes ignited. And, then there's me. I cry. I think. I overthink. I cry a bit more. I dissect the lyrics of the song playing as the credits begin to roll: "Make someone happy; make just one someone happy; and you'll be happy, too." And why do we need to make just one person happy? Because "love is the answer!" Jimmy Durante sang the truth.

And, it is innate! Look at the sweet, sensitive little boy in the movie who had lost his mommy. Instead of focusing on his own loss and pain, he proactively searched for someone for his father. He wanted to find love for his dad. And, in the final scene, as the elevator doors close with Annie and Sam holding hands as they look at one another (full of surprise and awe and excitement), the little boy is standing in front of them with a big, satisfied, peaceful smile stretched across his face. Scene!

How brilliant. What could make the boy happier than knowing that he played a hand in this connection? That he lit the fire. That he just brought so much joy to his father --that he just provided him with the answer.

We know it as kids. In our innocence, it's clear that love is all you need. (Some more good lyrics.) Yet, it gets more complex as we get older. It's not just about love. It's about sharing goals and dreams and desires. It's about circumstances. It's about timing. Can that really be? How is this diehard romantic to accept the possible reality that love has so much (or everything!) to do with timing? Maybe that's why the tears traveled rapidly down my face, as well. Sam got in the elevator to go down from the Empire State Building. Annie was simultaneously going up. They weren't going to connect! The fates were not working. It is all just timing ... no!!! But, the backpack. The little boy left it and so the dad had to go back up, and there it happened. Fate. (Phew.) Timing. The energy of the world. Oh, what was it?!! Maybe just a good screenplay.

The concept has always overwhelmed me. I think that is part of the reason that I am so moved by music. The lyrics ... the pain ... the yearning ... the desire. Even the hardcore rockers slip in their love ballads. They may thrash around on stage, but, even with a shattered guitar in hand, they still are moved by love.

And, so it is. And so it was. And so it always will be. For centuries, poets have been consumed with love, as have writers, film directors, children, parents ... all of us. The key is to let it flow, for it exists within all of us. If we could only have the wisdom that we are born with -- that innate wisdom that love is all you need. If only we didn't learn about cynicism and pain and worry and fear and disappointment. Some of us are paralyzed by that, while others bury it and tread forward with overflowing hope and courage. Clearly, I am in the latter category.

So, with vulnerability and hope and desire and abounding love, I will now go to sleep. And, if I have made just one someone happy for a moment today, then, as I lay my head on the pillow, I will be happy, too.