On Sex and Love

I find myself going back to these works of art whenever I contemplate sex and love, seperately or together. I've been saving this post for a time when I could adequately comment on each collection of words, but I am now worried that that time may never arrive. My conclusion is then that at this point in my life these works say it all, mind body soul.

       mind
135 Minutes of Commute: Still Searchin' - Damien "Jr. Gong" Marley
Me is ah boy could get a whole heep ah girl ya heard me
Many are called but only few deemed worthy
Body have ta physically strong and sturdy
Spiritually balanced fi clean and purge me
Mentally advanced fi always urge me
Read couple books and challenge the clergy
Read a couple psalms up inna the morning early
Could you be so kind
Then show me a sign
I've been searching and it's so hard to find
Decent values with a decent wine
Decent jubee running it down the line
Maybe it's my mind
Maybe I'm blind
Maybe it's the way that I've been spending my time
I'm still searching for a fine peace of mind

       body
i like my body when it is with your
body.  It is so quite new a thing.
Muscles better and nerves more.
i like your body.  i like what it does,
i like its hows.  i like to feel the spine
of your body and its bones, and the trembling
-firm-smooth ness and which i will
again and again and again
kiss,  i like kissing this and that of you,
i like, slowly stroking the, shocking fuzz
of your electric fur, and what-is-it comes
over parting flesh.... And eyes big love-crumbs,

and possibly i like the thrill

of under me you so quite new
- e. e. cummings

       soul

The results were surprising. For a start, a relatively small area of the human brain is active in love, compared with that involved in, say, ordinary friendship. “It is fascinating to reflect”, the pair conclude, “that the face that launched a thousand ships should have done so through such a limited expanse of cortex.” The second surprise was that the brain areas active in love are different from the areas activated in other emotional states, such as fear and anger. Parts of the brain that are love-bitten include the one responsible for gut feelings, and the ones which generate the euphoria induced by drugs such as cocaine. So the brains of people deeply in love do not look like those of people experiencing strong emotions, but instead like those of people snorting coke. Love, in other words, uses the neural mechanisms that are activated during the process of addiction. “We are literally addicted to love,” Dr Young observes.

The science of love: I get a kick out of you, The Economist, Feb 12th 2004