Love
Should have known, but didn't, that there are, literally, millions of web pages containing the word "love". Over 100 million according to Google. With so much "information" about love already available it made me wonder what Proverb and I had to contribute on web page number 100,000,001.
Spent a good part of the last few days looking at sites and pages about love. Took a few compatibility tests, read several articles about what to do and not do on a first date, and checked to see if our astrological signs made for a good match. Asked the Magic 8 Ball page if our future together looked rosy. It answered, "All signs point to yes." We slept well last night.
Realize now that it was a bold step on our part to build a website dedicated to love and healthy relationships. What were we thinking? Neither of us is nor wants to be a relationship expert, love guru, or motivational speaker.
Proverb and I thought we had an interesting story to tell -- people from different continents connect online, fall in love, maintain a very long distance relationship, finally meet, and a year or so later, marry. Of course, would have been great from a story point of view if we had started this side-by-side journal a week after we found each other in 1999 instead of four years later and a month before our wedding, but who knew?
So now, again from a "story" perspective, we have to ask, has the climax already come and gone? A pity if it has. We never even got to really share all the plot conflicts that had to be overcome in order for us to make a life together; all the anxiety, tension, paperwork, and expense required to make a long distance dream become a reality.
But this is real life. Our marriage is the beginning of a new story. Here I am, living in Portugal, still unable to work due to my tourist visa, a true stranger in a strange land, and next to me is Proverb, suddenly married to a foreign citizen she met four years ago when he replied to a simple email.
"Love" is an amazing word, an amazing thing. All words and languages are amazing. We are surrounded by words and the ideas they represent. If there are over 100 million web pages related to "love", how many words, in total, must there be on the Internet, in books, in the air? We are overwhelmed by this mass of words and concepts.
But words and concepts never lose their power over us. It would be a serious mistake to think we become immune to words and ideas through over exposure. The graveyards of the world are full of those who sacrificed themselves for something as intangible as a belief.
The question is, what words do Proverb and I have to contribute to this ocean of written opinion? Something more than common sense repackaged in uncommon language? As said above, we profess no expertise in the practical application of love to relationships. We are far from being practical.
From my survey of love and relationship websites I realized that what most people who visit such sites find interesting, and are in need of, is information and advice on the psychology of love, while Proverb and I are more interested in what could be called the philosophy of love. Unfortunately, "philosophy bakes no bread" and won't directly answer the question of what you should and should not do on a first date.
As for Adverb and Proverb - The Story, we hope you stay with us for the ride.